Living the Great Life at Gallery 5

On the Monday night after Christmas weekend, live music was just the thing to do to for something completely different from the past few days.

And approaching Gallery 5 tonight, hearing the windows rattling from the band playing within, I looked forward to a most un-holiday like evening.

The music was much more enjoyable to hear from within than from without, but still loud, so I was surprised to see a guy sitting in a chair, head against the radiator cover and napping hard when I got there.

He woke up once, checked his phone and went back to sleep.

Black Wine from New Jersey was playing to a rapt crowd when I walked in.

Their punk influences ensured that most songs clocked in at around two and a half minutes of pure energy, which made their choice of a song to cover completely out of the blue: "Windy" by the Association.

They did quite a decent job with it, though, speeding it up a bit and hardening it a little around the edges while keeping the harmonies (the female drummer helped a lot in this respect).

The headliner and reason for my outing tonight was Lemuria from Buffalo, about whom I'd heard good things.

Their website is lemuriapop.com, if that tells you anything.

With an indie power pop sound augmented with dual vocalists of both sexes and catchy guitars, they played an energetic set that was a pleasure to hear.

The band cites the Lemonheads and Superchunk as influences, so fans of 90s indie pop (okay, me) were bound to get into them.

Their choice of a cover song was "Grand Canyon" by the Magnetic Fields and their version really good.

I ran into a local restaurant owner in between sets, giving me a conversational partner for the rest of the evening.

After buying me wine, he proposed a toast to me having "the greatest life."

I protested that I have far less money than most people, but he insisted that I have far more fun that most and that's what's really more important.

He also wanted to know how I always know where to be for the most fun on any given evening and if I could text him with that information.

Of course, what I consider fun isn't necessarily anyone else's cup of tea, but the texting part aside (as if), it was a fine compliment anyway.

The show was over by 11, allowing attendees to get home to a reasonable bedtime on a school night, a benefit that has no relevance to my "great" life.

I write that with tongue planted firmly in check, just so you know.