After seeing the Decemberists last night at the Bank of America Pavilion (Yes I still call it Harbor lights) I have to say that it was one of the best shows of the year thus far. It was an awful day for an outdoor concert which it always seems to be whenever I go to Harbor lights in June. But despite the 50 degree weather and the constant rain, the band preformed amazingly. The first set consisted of the Hazard’s of Love Album being played in it’s entirety. This was nice as the album is a complete work not just a collection of singles and really shines when listened to in it’s entirety. The band did not pause for a moment during the first set and never paused to even address the crowd, which was entirely fitting for the flow of the show. In my opinion the band really could not have sounded any better. The music was tight and at moments I wondered if they were lip syncing as the sound was so clean. The second set and encore was a complete 180 from the first set. The band was more relaxed, engaging the crowd in sing-a-longs and dragging audience members on stage to play with the band. Which while it sounded pretty terrible made everyone forget that it was freezing and raining. The band was full of energy in the second set, which to their credit seemed to really carry to the audience who despite the weather was having a great time. The band’s energy carried so well that even in our last row seat I had to be reminded by my lovely girlfriend that I was air drumming just a little too enthusiastically. During the set they covered almost every Decemberists classic that anyone would want to hear. One of my personal highlights of the show was to see all the perplexed looks on the faces of all the hipsters when the band covered Heart’s Crazy on you.
Overall the show far exceeded my expectations for a rainy Decemberists show on a cold Tuesday night and I can’t wait to see how the band translates all this to Newport Folk in a few weeks. So if the opportunity arises I highly recommend that you go to a Decemberists show. Even if you are new to the band or not really into the band, I believe that a good live show is the best way to start listening to a band. For those of you who have been fans for years, your passion will be validated once again.
PS.> Sorry about the lack of pictures. There was a no camera policy at the show. I know smuggling a camera into a show is like the least dangerous thing you can do but hey I am pretty fucking old now.
After a little while I decided to take a few minutes and enjoy a beer in Fenway Park by myself. It was kind of a strange feeling but I knew it was probably an opprotunity I wouldn’t have again so it had to be done even if it meant missing some of the awards. 
Fenway Park at night
I had dreams of having my cat Harry fight the lobsteters. I thought he would pummel them in the kitchen and all hell would ensue. But instead Harry, who has serious single child issues, tried to befriend the lobsters. He rubbed against them and was really never the same after we cooked them. 
Patty is a good hiking partner and really never complains about the weather, bugs, or the distance of the hike but she often does drink a large ice coffee from Dunkin Dounuts before we hike so she usually hike’s entirely too fast for me. 
I usually like to hike slowly and take it in, take some pictures and enjoy the outdoors. Patty on the other hand had to pee so we spent about four miles hiking in a near sprint. I told her to pee in the woods but she wasn’t feeling it. 
We also stopped by Weir Farm. Patty hoped for a bathroom but we were both surprised to find that this farm had some of the best views of the Boston skyline. 
They came to Boston for an education,
So Patty and I went to the Boston stop of the Volvo Ocean Race on Saturday. This is the only American stop over on a round the world shit crazy race on boats that cost more than my entire neighborhood. Who says the economy is slumping? For some reason Volvo and Puma and the rest of the race sponsors wants to host this event in the most beautiful part of Boston, on the long forgotten Fan Pier. Upon arrival at Fan Pier one must navigate the desolate parking lots filled with trash and chain linked fencing. Really a beautiful area for a sailing venue right? But after braving the walk through the lots you come upon the actual venue itself which is on a very nicely landscaped extension of the harbor walk from across the channel. Of course the area was filled with fun filled marketing presentations but over all it was actually pretty cool. The boats were amazing and the giant Volvo television played videos filled aboard the ships while they raced which reminded me of my favorite TV show Deadliest Catch. You couldn’t really help but to be swept into the excitement and the desire to talk about sail boats like you really knew what you were talking about. One of the race sponsors Puma has built what it calls a city but is more like a bar/store out of shipping crates down (see Pictures). While ordinarily I would have shunned such an obvious ploy for them to steal money from me, I found myself with a Narraganset in hand buying clothing. Surprisingly the store was reasonably priced and the multitude of college kids working there were actually pretty helpful. Oh yeah and the Narraganset’s were only 5 bucks for the big can, that helped.
Lack of Sleep 