Park Twice, Party Thrice

What does it say about my evening that I used porta-potties in two different locations tonight? Or that I had no clue about the downpour until hours later when someone mentioned it casually in conversation? Or that I turned down the one man who sincerely wanted to dance with me? Nothing much.

My friend and I began our evening at Aziza's at my suggestion and because it had been a good while since she'd been there. It seemed foolish to consider ordering glasses of wine when a bottle of Vino Verde could be had for $17. "It's my favorite wine on a day like this," our server told the two women who subsisted all last summer on vino verde and late night conversation. Still, it's always nice to have one's choices validated.

The cheese plate kept us occupied while we whittled down our dinner selections, finally deciding to share the griddled garlic shrimp, white beans and pancetta, a salad and a side of asparagus. It was more than enough food and, in truth, we weren't able to finish all the cheese. The white bean and pancetta dish was unexpectedly warm and dangerously close to comfort food if not for all that healthy fiber. Given my lunch today, that's a lot of musical fruit in one day.

Our next stop was Brown's Island for the Grace Potter and the Nocturnals show to close out the first day of Riverrock. We arrived shortly after the mud race, so we saw many people in various stages of muddiness and undress. Others still had their runners' numbers pinned to their shirts. My friend mentioned that she always feels like a fraud at such events given her non-athletic status (and mine is even lower than hers).

The last time I saw GP&tN was fall 2007 at Toad's Place as the opener for Govt. Mule (without a doubt the most patchoulie-stinking, hippie-like crowd of any show I'd ever been to). Clearly the record company had gotten hold of this band in the interim and gussied up their image; Grace was not a short-skirt wearing blond when last I saw her. Their bluesy rock sound harkens back to the 70s and the crowd present were clearly devoted fans, singing and dancing to every song. And why shouldn't they have been, given a free concert on a balmy May evening?

The people watching in a crowd like that was stellar and luckily there were enough porta-potties to keep the lines short. There was a guy dancing in front of us who kept turning around and glancing toward my feet. My friend had concerns that he had a foot fetish until we noticed his recording device and mics near my feet and realized he was just checking his power levels. Of course, for all we know, he had a foot fetish too.

We made our last stop Capital Ale House to hear Bio Ritmo, a band neither of us had heard in years, despite having a friend in the band (we've sen him far more often in one of his other projects). It's tough not to enjoy a Bio Ritmo show given their enthusiasm, the nature of the music and all that percussion. It was there that someone mentioned the earlier rain of which we had been completely unaware, tucked away as we were in beerland (and not drinking beer).

Tonight, the dance floor was filled with dancing couples showing off their salsa and merengue moves. some more successfully than others. There was even a guy doing his pop and lock moves when he wasn't trying to entice some hapless woman to join him on the dance floor. In other words, the floor show alone was worth the price of admission.

We had parked once to party twice, so it was a bit of a hike and as we walked back to the car, I found nature calling. In a fortuitous find, there was a random porta-potty on Canal Street, so I ducked in while my friend stood outside talking to me through the door. She was sharing her concerns about the wisdom of me using a porta-potty on a deserted street at 1 a.m. while she stood there appearing to talk to herself; I assure her that she didn't look any more foolish than the bluetooth set.

Or any more foolish than I'd have looked on the dance floor. It's important to know one's limitations, whether they apply to pit stops or tripping the light fantastic.