Date Night For The Gunfighters

Last Friday night, I got the chance to do something that I don't get to do very often (behave yourselves!, this is a family blog, ok?); I got to take my best girlfriend out on a date.

Last week was a long week for both of us, as we were both crashing on projects that required lots of time, attention and focus.  To those things add two soccer practices, church activities, and attempting (and miserably failing) to get all of the laundry finished, and we were pooped.

This Friday was going to be different though, because soccer girl was going to the neighbor's house for the evening, and me and my lady were stepping out.

We drove up I-95 to the Glebe Road exit, and drove to The Birchmere, a popular entertainment venue, to go and see the wonderful Tuck & Patti Perform. 

What's that?  You've never heard of Tuck & Patti?

Oh my... you need to get over to you tube and find some video right away.  Those two are just fantastic.

Mrs GF and I have been fans of T & P since we first started dating in 1992.  We started listening to them as the result of an impoule purchase that I made at a "record" store in downtown DC on a snowy December evening as I was leaving my gym.

We first saw Tuck & Patti (who have been married for nearly thrity years now) perform at Blues Alley in the spring of 1995, and have tried to see them whenever we are in the same place as them. 

Tuck Andress is a virtuoso guitarist, and does things with a guitar that I never heard from anyone else in the sixteen years that I have been listeing to him.  Patti Cathcart has the most clear, beautiful voice.  What makes them so special is that the way they sound on their albums is exactly how they sound in person.

 The music was great... and we discovered an artist we had never heard of before, Judith Owen, who opened the show (we bought one of her CD's the next day).  Mrs GF and I had a great time, but being that we are entering old fogey-hood, we were happy to get home and get some rest.

The best thing about the evening wasn't that we saw some of our favorite artists.  The best thing wasn't the overpriced meal that we shared, it wasn't even the music, although we ejoyed it immensely.  By far, the best thing about the evening was the ability to put my arm around my wife as we swayed to the music, and to be able to talk/listen to her without the interruption of an energetic nine year old.

Good Times, good times.