Bishop Allen!!!!....or not

One of my big excitements for my birthday this past weekend was going with my sister to Ames for the Bishop Allen concert. I had bought the tickets months before when I first found out they were coming. Since she introduced me to their music it is all I've been singing. I'm driving Jeff nuts walking around singing "News From Your Bed" and "Choose Again". So when she mentioned seeing David Sedaris, I mentioned seeing Bishop Allen. Of course we both jumped at the idea.

So Sunday I wasted most of the day until Em showed up at my door at 5:30. She was supposed to pick me up at 6 but was too excited. We jumped into the car and headed north. Ames is about 35 minutes north of Des Moines. We stopped in Ames to grab dinner at this wonderful little Thai place. The decor of Thai Palace wasn't anything special but the food was very tasty and very filling. Mmmm massaman curry. Then we stopped into a little bar for a beer before the show.

When we got to the venue at show time there was no one there. They were just starting to set up the stage. We picked up our tickets and then wandered into the student union to kill some time. The show was supposed to start at 8 with two opening bands. We wandered back at about 9 to see a printed sign on the door. "Show will be starting at 11ish". We were told that the band was having car troubles and had broken down. They were just barely in Omaha. After reading their blog I found out that they had broken down in Colorado but one of their opening bands had picked most of the band up and drove in.

My sister and I debated options. If we stayed, the opening bands would take the stage at sometime after 11. Bishop Allen would probably take the stage around midnight. And then we would be driving back home at 1 or 2 in the morning. Of course if we left, we'd miss the show we'd been waiting for for months. Plus we would have to kill the two hours in between which I knew probably meant a bar at that time of night.

After a bit of debating we made up our minds. Perhaps I'm getting old. We went out with some of Em's friends who had come up for the concert, drank a beer, and then eventually drove home. No concert. Bleh! I checked Bishop Allen's website (www.myspace.com/bishopallen) to find out that they went on shortly after 11. By that time, Em and I were hanging out at my house playing video games and laughing our heads off. We did Mario Racing and had a ball. I missed the concert but still had a great time. Thanks little sis!