I'm a little tired. It was a good concert though.

I woke up and went to racquetball. We met, the course was explained. Then John and I played a few games. It was like the old days. Also known as 2 weeks ago. We're pretty rusty though.

I went back, got changed, then went to my physics lab. I got to the building to learn that there are no labs until Monday. Oh well. It was a nice day.

A free day. In its entirety.

I sat around, biked around, downgraded my meal plan. I figure there's no point in paying all that extra for food that won't be eaten. It made sense to me. I have leftovers anyway.

During lunch, I read that Jolie Holland was in town and would have a concert tonight and tomorrow. I've heard and enjoyed her music before, so I was thinking about going. I decided that Patrick would probably be the best person to invite, as it's his kind of music.

When I got back to my room, I went to the Delta of Venus website to learn more, only to see the title: Sonny Smith (SF) + Jolie Holland plus Patrick Ferris. I literally did a double take. I then immediately jumped up and went to Patrick's room. I explained the situation, how I was going to invite him to a concert that he was apparently already attending. He then got a little defensive, explaining how he didn't want anyone he knows coming, as it's his first concert and wants to get the feel for things before inviting others. But as I was planning on going already, he gave me permission to attend. Sweet.

So I probably did some other stuff, but that's not important. Here's a ditty I wrote about the concert:

I saw Jolie Holland in concert tonight. It was very impressive.

A small cafe converted from a house. It was outdoors, nearly on the street. Cars and buses rushing by, bikers everywhere.

Opening for her was Patrick Ferris, a good friend of mine. After his impressive old blues set, Sonny Smith came on. I was deeply impressed by Sonny. His mild guitar set a wonderful stage for the stories he told. They way he performed was so casual, you weren't sure if he was still testing the mic or tuning. He would simply start talking, telling a story. But as he progressed, the tone of his voice told a melody as well. It was amazing.

Near the end of his set, he asked Jolie to come play with him, so she hummed some background violin to his last pieces. Magnificent.

Then came Jolie. Her soft voice and mild guitar put the audience in a beautiful daze. What got me the most was not the caress of her voice, but rather her amazing melodic whistle. If you have never heard this lady whistle, it is definitely something to check out. Throughout her performance, there was another man gently backing her on the mandolin. Simply gorgeous.

I'm hopefully going back tomorrow night to purchase some CDs. They were all very nice and glad to have people like their music.

One extra funny connection is that I heard about Jolie through Ben Popik of Olde English, the sketch comedy group I wanted to see in San Fransisco, so I forced Patrick to take me there. Now he's opening for the artist. Weird.

My head is full of smoke from the hippie cafe. I'm going to get ready for bed, then maybe catch Patrick's radio show as I'm falling asleep.