a whole new world in Black Mountain
So Friday night we had an adventure. It was me, the husband and Aileen. Aileen’s husband decided to hang out at home and do some work (I still think he missed out on a lot, and am hoping he goes with us next time!!)
We left early. Like 5:40 or so and went to dinner at the Black Mountain Bistro. My husband, of course, had a school check (a book of coupons that we buy in March and they save us lots of money during the year.) Neither of us had ever been to this restaurant, and I have to admit that I had my doubts. I mean, it was Black Mountain and there’s not much happening out there…..which makes it even cooler in some aspects.
Dinner was fabulous. We had such fast service, that after the fabulous food had been eaten, there was nothing left to do but go over to the venue, the White Horse Black Mountain. (Oh and the show started at 8, we ate dinner at 6, and the town is SO big, that the restaurant was 0.1 miles from the venue.) 🙂 We didn’t have far to travel.
Earlier in the day, a co-worker emailed me and asked me about another show, and I told him I was going to one in Black Mountain. He guessed it was the White Horse, and I told him yes and that I was SUPER excited to see The Brilliant Inventions (especially because I had written about them and needed to show my support.) My colleague’s response?
been there but not for a show and they were super nice. nice venue too. the crowd seems skewed much older tho than I am accustomed too.
I just copied and pasted that from my email. And I was wondering just how old was this crowd? Aileen and I were both a little insulted. I mean, come on. I’m 30, not 80.
Then we walked into the venue and realized what he meant. Yep. The crowd is a little older. They definitely had their “regulars” – groups that obviously met there often, bringing their own chairs even. Walking around with canes and such. It was interesting.
We table-hopped before finally settling on a table with a decent view. An older man came out to introduce TBI and he mentioned the article, and referred to the guys as “the darlings of the Asheville Citizen-Times.” Clearly, this guy was not ecstatic about the opening band getting more press than the headlining group, but the other group was also mentioned in the entertainment section. I didn’t take kindly to the comment, but then again, I have heard worse about the paper.
Let me also mention that there was a screen behind the guys and it was displaying what the older man described as a “live shot” of the earth. Google Earth at work….except it was dated 8/1/09 and it was 8/28/09. Black Mountain is 27 days behind. Nice work.
Let’s go over the crowd for a moment. While they were older, they were also very chatty. To the group of women who my husband insists were all teachers, could you have shut up for just 10 minutes? Or at least while the bands were playing? You were RUDE and some of us didn’t appreciate your chattiness. And to the girls sitting at the table in front of us. What did we do to deserve your scowls? It was pretty obvious you weren’t happy with us every time you turned around and stared us down. We weren’t talking, we weren’t even singing (loudly.) Unnecessary, people. And rude. I don’t go for rude. And, to the girl sniffing the dozen or so coffee creamers at the other table close to us….what was that all about?
The set itself was pretty great. I love these guys. Watch this:
Did you hear the chatty peeps behind us? That’s one of my biggest pet peeves. Talking during music. Just don’t do it. Oh, and check out the earth, and the 8/1/2009 in the bottom left corner. Nice.
No great pictures, no great stories about the show. Something felt off. Maybe it was the crowd? It also felt like everything was cut very short. I do love the talking in between songs, and Friday night was no exception. We did have a good time.
Black Mountain is a different world. Where the people are set back several years and just a little more odd than the Asheville-types. Don’t get me wrong. I will definitely go back and hang out (would love to spend an afternoon there.) I just don’t know if this music venue was the best place for me.