Concert

Yesterday Alan and I got the opportunity to head out to LA for a Natalie Merchant concert at The Getty. We left around 2:00 in the afternoon so we could see some of the exhibits before the museum closed for the day. It rained pretty hard on our way out, but by the time we got to the museum, the rain had stopped. It was pretty chilly, though, and I wish I had dressed warmer and worn better shoes. Flip flops on wet marble do not go well together! All the outdoor walking surfaces are marble and even though it looks really cool, when it rains it just gets super slippery.

After we checked out a couple of the exhibits (one on Da Vinci's sculpture and another on photography), we ate a little picnic dinner. I don't know if it was because of the rain, or what, but there weren't any of the snack kiosks open so we couldn't find anything to drink. Fortunately, we had taken our own food and didn't rely on the museum for dinner! When we got over to the area where the concert was being held, they did have a little concession open so we were able to get some coffee. Much-needed coffee since it was so chilly!

I really enjoyed the concert! Natalie Merchant hadn't released an album in 7 years and this concert was to introduce her newest release, 'Leave Your Sleep' which came out last week. She took poetry, some from well-known poets and some from obscure poets, and put it to music. As she was writing the songs she got interested in the poets themselves and did a lot of research on them. During her show last night she shared a lot of interesting facts about the poets. Me, being the English major that I am, just ate that stuff up!

Fun little fact: Natalie Merchant used to play in the band 10,000 Maniacs which Alan saw in concert 20 years ago while he was an undergrad at UCI. :P