Going out with a bang

This may be overstating it a bit, but considering the Opeth show was going to be my penultimate alcohol consumption for a while, I may have overindulged a bit. Four beers doesn’t necessarily sound crazy compared to some people you hear about, but it’s more than my typical and these were sixteen ounces, so it ended up being more than five typical beers. I paid for it yesterday, which was another example of how alcohol not only can diminish your life while you’re drinking it, but it also has a negative effect in its aftermath.

Feeling too hungover to accomplish anything of substance, I ended up just cooking some flatbread and later pizza, reading a bit of Dracula, and later just watching television while nodding off. I ended up not touching the three remaining beers in the fridge, my body was telling me to give it a rest. After a reasonably decent night of sleep, I’m feeling back to my old self but still feeling the bloat so I’m ready to start getting my act together. For the indefinite future, my only planned consumption will be the upcoming concerts, otherwise I’m giving it as long as I need to make some of those desired health changes I talked about.

The Opeth show was good, an okay sized crowd, although the venue was only half utilized and it wasn’t exactly packed in the pit, even though it seemed to be sold out online. The band and crowd were energetic and Mikael even commented that he was feeling good. Their stage show has grown a bit more elaborate, and this time they had a large video screen behind the band as well as one that was incorporated into the drum riser. Maybe I should say band riser because Joakim and Martin were also up on the higher section behind Mikael and Fredrik. They had mostly atmospheric video accompaniment to the songs, not unlike some of the typical Porcupine Tree and Steven Wilson shows. Mikael had even name-dropped them during some of the banter but I can’t recall the context.

I initially had a good spot about ten people back in the middle, but I was right on the perimeter of the bouncy castle (mosh pit) and kept getting hit, occasionally pretty hard. When it came time for a bathroom break, I just picked an open spot a bit more on Fredrik’s side and a little further back. That side eventually developed its own mosh pit as well, but I was back far enough not to be affected. I left about halfway through the last song, “Deliverance” (I know, sacrilege) which I heard them perform last time in full. I’ve grown accustomed to not having schedule disruptions and my body was telling me it was bedtime. All in all a good show and experience. I’d say I had a better time at the Gas Monkey show for Sorceress, mainly because I was against the rail right in front of Mikael and I prefer that venue over most in D/FW.

Today I plan to resume my regular schedule and I’ll need to hit the store later for my two-day workweek resupply.

Saturday means Opeth

At least this Saturday it does. I’ll be seeing them tonight at the Pavilion in Irving. One of my preferred venues all things considered - drive, parking, venue. The opener is Graveyard, haven’t heard of them but I assume they’re appropriately heavy. I’ll follow my typical practice and depart about thirty minutes before doors, 7:00 pm in this case. It’s been a fairly long time since my last concert, at least by my standards. Unless I’m forgetting something, Iron Maiden in September was the last show I attended. Over five months is a long time compared to my concert frequency for the past ten years or so. I’ve actually been enjoying the break and foresaw a decrease as preferable. As luck would have it though, there are several can’t miss shows this year - The Who (actually rescheduled from last September), the Rolling Stones in May, and Roger Waters in October.

The Who and Stones are two long time bucket list bands that I want to see at least once and I should be satisfied. Roger Waters is someone that I can’t imagine has too many tours left in him, but he keeps a pretty steady pace so there’s no telling and I’ll probably go see him whenever I can. That goes for a few bands like Steven Wilson and Opeth as well. I also got tickets for GnR at the new baseball stadium, and although this goes against my normal conventions, there is a pit and I’ve found that makes the gen pop experience much more tolerable. GnR isn’t necessarily a bucket list band since I saw them in 1988, but I was way back and it was hard to really take in that whole show. I’ve said before I thought Slash with Myles Kennedy was more enjoyable and I’m doubtful this will change my mind, but it’s another one-off I wanted to see.

Primus managed to pull a few nostalgic strings when they announced a tour in which they’ll play all of “A Farewell to Kings” followed by a regular Primus set. I haven’t listened to Primus that much, but I’ve been aware of their association with Rush (and Geddy has given his blessing for this tour) and so this seems like a worthwhile show to see. It’ll definitely be the first time I’ve seen the title track, Cygnus X-1 (full version), Madrigal and Cinderella Man played live, even if it’s Primusized. I’ve seen Rush play Xanadu and Closer to the Heart a few times. I also got tickets to Jason Isbell in August and will attend along with the Garrett boys and few old high school friends that I haven’t seen in thirty years - Tom Harris and Jamey Warneke.

I tried out the Nintendo Ring Fit yesterday, and I can say that it’s possible to get a decent workout, at least for my fat ass. They have enough variety so you’re exercising most major muscle groups - arms/shoulders, legs, core muscles as well as some cardio to boot. I’ve got some mild muscle soreness this morning but not as bad as expected. I assume my normal elliptical and running workouts, as well as the various instruments I play, haven’t allowed total muscle atrophy. I’ll probably continue using this program, maybe every other day or at least a few days a week. The limitations of the apple watch are evident with this program because I know I was demonstrably more “worked out” at the end of a thirty-minute session compared to my normal 45-50 minutes on the elliptical. That being said, my calories burnt was about half what I normally achieve on an elliptical workout.

Yesterday was otherwise a decent day. I DTD for the most part, although some elbow soreness made me skip bass practice. There are times where even if I have the mental motivation, I’ll decide it’s a better decision to rest if my old friend the repetitive strain injury is waking back up. I’ve been in a period of decreased severity with the symptoms, which has been nice and has afforded more practice time, but the symptoms have never completely gone away. They mostly manifest with guitar and bass, and so when I do practice I’m often stopping after thirty minutes when the symptoms start to kick in more severely. I’ve come to accept that I just won’t be able to put in several hour sessions on guitar/bass as long as it remains like it has been for the past few years. I try to pay more attention to fatigue and pain signals and I’ve also tried to notice anything I can change ergonomically to mitigate the issues as well.