Live at Ipanema

I hadn't been out to hear live music in over a week. Appalling, I know.

By choice, that's just not the way my world works.

So after a whirlwind weekend away, the Live at Ipanema show last night presented the ideal way to get my music fix and catch up with people.

True, I didn't intend to close the place down, but F.R.O. and I got started and just kept talking (except for during the show, of course).

Assorted people joined us for a while and then moved on, so we had plenty of fresh input throughout, always a good thing.

Nick Coward and the Last Battle were playing (and being recorded) and I love the fullness of their sound: strings, horns, guitar, drums, multiple voices.

The surprise was that they all were even able to fit into that tiny little space.

Last time I saw them, they took up most of Gallery 5's stage, a considerably larger area to put so many musicians.

Their set had been short then, so I didn't want to miss an opportunity to hear them again.

The place was quite full and not everybody shut up, but the music was really well-done and the performance will be posted on RVA News in a couple of weeks if you missed it or need to revisit it.

Luckily, I planned this week to be much heavier on live music than last.

And I purposely plan every week to be heavy on conversation, preferably with those who enjoy verbal discourse as much as I do.