Celebrating One Year of Music Madness at Ipanema

Allow me to give you the highlights from tonight's Live at Ipanema's first anniversary show featuring Long Arms.

During a discussion of adding a drummer to his band and being a former drummer, I express surprise to Prabir on just now learning these things about him.

"I'm like an onion, Karen. Peel me and cry." Or laugh hysterically at his melodrama.

Talking to a group of classical musicians, somehow the subject of instruments as smoking devices comes up.

"Man, a bassoon would work great and look really awesome, " one enthuses. "No, man, a French horn. You could stick your whole face in it to inhale."

During the performance, though, one sticks his fingers in his ears to protect his delicate hearing from the rock and roll.

Wow, seriously?

The small crowd before the show begins to grow and my girlfriend and I check out the new arrivals.

"He's attractive, don't you think?" I ask her. "It's spring. Everyone looks cute," she pronounces nonchalantly and I realize she's right.

It's mating season and everyone's feeling it.

A well-known scene face comes in and mentions his new bruise.

I apparently don't react in a sufficiently impressed manner, so he drops trou and shows me a black and yellow mess covering half his thigh and most of his ass.

Now I'm impressed.

Long Arms begins by playing a few songs with the addition of Prabir and then they're joined by the violinist and bass player from Prabir and the Goldrush.

James, the leader of Long Arms, notes that, "It's like being born up here. It's really tight." The trade off for the tight quarters is an enhanced sound and lots of energy.

The crowd eats it up.

To celebrate the first year of the series, cake is served after the show.

The moist yellow cake with coconut icing and blueberry filing is amazing and somehow gluten-free.

If I hadn't had that enormous piece of double chocolate cake right before the band played, I might have enjoyed it even more, but I'm not about to turn down cake.

For that matter, I'm not about to turn down live music, clever conversation or ogling new arrivals, either.

Having to admire hematomas though, that I could probably do without.