Mojave 3 at Slim's (or, Why Dinner Tickets Rule)

In about a month, Mojave 3 will be playing at Slim's, so I'm currently rotating the three albums I own.  Out of Tune is my favorite of the three and sits firmly in my Top 50 Albums of All Time.  Generally speaking, it's soft, slow alt-country / folk rock played by British people.  The two newer ones, Puzzles Like You and Spoon and Rafter, are still country-rock but have a more distinctly Britpop feel to them.  A little faster, a little more catchy and more friendly to those of you who think you hate all country music.

For those of you who don't know Mojave 3, I highly recommend you check them out on Pandora or some other streaming service.  I would also recommend checking out Slowdive, the band from whence Mojave 3 sprang and a cornerstone of the shoegazer movement of the late '80s / early '90s.

Anyway, back to the point of this post: dinner tickets at Slim's.  If ever given the opportunity to purchase dinner tickets for a show at Slim's, do so.  The food is actually pretty good (and definitely a step up from the bar chow available on the floor), and you get to sit down for THE WHOLE SHOW.  If you get one of the first few tables, you have an unobstructed view of the stage.  No jockeying for position with a guy who hasn't showered in a week, no getting trapped behind the only 6'6" 260-lb. guy in the room, no moving out of the way for people who will inevitably spill beer on you.  Wonderful.  I'm getting giddy just typing about it.

Obviously, my love of dinner tickets (and assigned seating in general) illustrates just how old I've gotten - not chronologically old, although that is certainly also the case.  I really am turning into Crotchety Old Guy.  I'd rather see a band at the Warfield than the Fillmore.  I prefer balcony seats to being on the floor in general admission.  And I don't like waiting in line.

That might be at the root of all this, really.  I remember a time before you could purchase tickets online, when getting good seats to New Order or Depeche Mode or INXS required you to go stand in line at a ticket retailer (usually a record store) before the crack of dawn and hope that you didn't get the stupid guy who couldn't work the machine fast enough.  Sure, you could constantly hit redial on your corded phone and deal with the beep-beep-beep of a busy signal or the "all circuits are busy" message, but what fun is that?

Unfortunately for me, most of the bands I like play smaller venues, i.e. bars that have no assigned seating... or seats at all.  All general admission - great when you're buying your tickets since you don't have to worry about buying them early to get good seats.  You just have to buy them before the show sells out.  However, if there's no line to buy the tickets...

There you are, standing in front of the bar waiting to get in.  You're at the end of the line.  It's 7 p.m. for an 8 p.m. show.  The line currently extends to the end of the block.  Forget grabbing one of the two booths or 6 barstools.  Forget being able to see the band over the massed throng.  Forget walking out of there without beer spilled down your back.

All this might make it sound like I hate live shows.  Quite the opposite.  I love seeing bands live.  I don't particularly love some of the people at the shows, but on the whole, everyone's cool.  And  I'm not opposed to standing.  I'd just rather sit.

So I'm really looking forward to Mojave 3.  I just hope we can get there in time to snag one of the front tables.