Sunday, October 23, 2005

Zola and Othello

Last night we had dinner at Zola (fabulous - except the bathroom) and saw Avery Brooks in Othello at the Shakespeare Theatre. 



Zola was great.  I had a fondue with sausage and sourdough, a really amazing halibut dish with ginger grits, and a peanut butter and chocolate trifle for dessert (you cannot go wrong with peanut butter!).  Jeff's favorite was the lobster mac and cheese.  We will definitely be coming back.  However, I was supremely disappointed in their bathrooms.  They say on their website that their bathrooms are the best in D.C., so I was really curious to see why.  I still have no idea.  The bathroom was fine, but just a bathroom.  Nothing special at all.  I left wondering if maybe there was a super secret bathroom that I had missed (Zola is attached to the Spy Museum after all).  Oh well.



Othello was great as well, though Iago stole the show (as tends to happen in Othello, I guess).  Avery Brooks' performance was great, but Patrick Page's (Iago) was better.  I enjoyed the staging as well. 



We definitely need to make it out to the Shakespeare Theatre more often.  The last time we had both been was in college.



Sunday, October 16, 2005

New Pornographers at 9:30

I dragged Jeff to see the NP's at the 9:30 club last night.  It was a sold out show so I wanted to get there early to get a good spot (though at 9:30 there isn't really a bad spot) and also because I wanted to hear the two opening acts: Immaculate Machine and Destroyer.  Immaculate Machine is AC Newman's niece Kathryn's band and they were a pleasant surprise.  I'd never heard any of their music before, but it was really pretty good.



Next up was Destroyer - Dan Bejar's band.  I really liked Dan's contributions to Twin Cinema, so I was looking forward to this set as well.  It ended up being a huge disappointment.  I think largely because Dan was very obviously intoxicated.  The high point of the Destroyer's set was when the guy next to us started heckling Dan for being drunk. 



The NP's finally came on around 11:30 and they were great!  I love shows at the 9:30 because they are so intimate and this show was no exception.  AC told us a story about getting pulled over for speeding on his way to the show and then started taking audience requests.  :) 



The one downside of the show was that their performance mirrored their albums a little too well.  One of the best things about live music is hearing the little differences between the songs live and the songs as they are on the album.  In this regard, the NP's seemed a little scripted.



Regardless, it was definitely worth the $15 to see them live...especially with Neko Case.  I know that they have frequently toured without her, but I can't imagine that those shows were half as good as the shows where she was included.  What a voice.