Music Lover Goes Partying First

How is that some nights I have invitations to do four fun things and other nights I am desperately seeking even one worthy destination?

Tonight I whittled the four down to two and spent six thoroughly enjoyable hours with old friends, new friends and music lovers, but still didn't get to do everything I wanted to do.

Yesterday I'd gotten a last minute party invitation from a friend celebrating all kinds of things: openings, anniversaries, life in general.

The crowd was comprised of foodies, wine geeks, stellar cooks and only one thumping bore, whom I avoided.

The conversation was as varied as the crowd.

The food was extensive and creative: tilapia ceviche, rare dry-rub flank steak, arugula and white bean salad, smoked salmon salad, onion confit with cheese and bread, roasted pork loin, bean and corn salad, pasta with asparagus and pesto, and way too much more to remember, much less mention.

I did my best to taste it all in the name of being a good guest.

Because of the abundance of wine reps, there were all kinds of liquid delights, both the grape variety and the hop variety.

There were beer tastings (the creamy chocolate stout surprised me) and wine tastings (same wine, same year, one corked and one in a screw top; surprisingly, the screw top yielded more on the nose and slightly fuller flavor).

I did an Octagon tasting with a friend's handsome brown-eyed man.

There were toasts to obscure grapes. Far too many pictures were taken and will doubtlessly appear on Facebook and embarrass us all.

Eventually the music got louder and dancing began, with several white guys showing off their dubious hip hop moves .

I got reacquainted with a girl I'd met at the Man Meat dinner two years ago and we delved into our relationship tales; the parallels were uncanny (the differences were in the endings so far) and we made plans to meet again far from the madding crowd.

I enjoyed extended conversation with our local jazz DJ, a fellow radio rat.

I was thanked by a wine rep whose tasting I'd written about in my Belle column last month.

He was tickled when he realized it was me who had sung his praises (the event sold out).

But finally, I had to beat feet or risk missing music and my second stop of the evening.

It was Live at Ipanema tonight and I didn't want to miss the River City Band's take on bluegrass.

Nor did several local musicians, including Alison Self, Chris of the Colloquial Orchestra, Josh of Mermaid Skeletons and the multi-talented Jonathan Vassar.

As I sat at the bar before the show talking to the bartender about the small crowd (it grew much larger later), I mentioned all the other events going on tonight that may have splintered the audience.

The guy next to me turned and introduced himself as Grant, one of the musicians playing tonight.

He seemed to know I was Karen and said that he reads my blog.

"For the music, I guess?" I asked. "And for the restaurant stuff and all of it," he added.

Quelle compliment!

River City Band was made up of an upright bass, banjo, guitar, mandolin and occasionally violin (Jessica was borrowed from Zac Hyrciak and the Jungle Beat) and their set included original material and diverse covers, including Jimmy Cliff's "The Harder They Fall" and one by Jonathan Vassar.

They had a great sound and several excellent voices.

The only sour note was the incessant talking of the audience.

Despite strong performances by the band, and the fact that the show was being recorded, they had to fight to be heard over the drunken conversations of the crowd; I hate when that happens.

Luckily for me, River City Band will be playing the Listening Room in October so I can enjoy them more completely then.

And with any luck, there won't be three other must-dos competing for my time that evening.

But if my dilemma is having to choose which event to attend on any given evening, I really don't have any problem at all.