I wanted a Roomba. Sa Rah, however, was adamant that she wasn’t getting her husband a vacuum for his 30th birthday. I argued that a Roomba isn’t a vacuum…it’s a ROBOT!!! A ROBOT SLAVE!!!

My arguments got me this*

And this:

Now I know it’s hard to see what those photos are of so let me spoil your guessing fun and tell you that it’s The White Stripes at Starlight last night (you like that rhyme?). Holy cats! What a show. A show we almost decided not to attend because we spent damned near two-and-a-half hours changing out the chandelier in our breakfast nook. After that frustrating experience we both looked at each other and said – Do we really want to head out to a show? We bucked up and went and DAMN DAMN DAMN the Whites tore shit up. Without coming off too hyperbolic I think the Stripes are the best pop (read: on the radio) band currently doing their thing. Now before you go off on me (and please do feel free to comment otherwise) – we saw the Stripes two years ago at Memorial Hall, and while that show rocked, it didn’t make me pause and consider how much larger than life the band’s songs seemed. The songs last night, in particular the songs from ‘Elephant’, had a fullness and a familiarity that made it seem as though they had been flitting about in the popular consciousness for more than 20 years, an effect which made the entire show seem like a Greatest Hits Reunion Tour or something. The songs blended one into the other and, in accord with the new album’s branching out into different instrumental accompaniments, each song felt distinct and capable of holding the crowd enrapt…another feature that seemed lacking the last times the Stripes hit KC.

What I’m saying to you, folks, is that The White Stripes have grown sooooo much in the past two years – and they’re still so comparatively young – that I’m anxiously awaiting to listen to the next chapter of the sonic novel they’ve been composing. In the meantime, I’ll be revisiting their current and past excursions.

Did anybody else see this show? Damn…

*Footnote: Less than a week after getting that hilarious card from my wife I happened upon this all-too-appropriate-for-the-situation song, which turned us on to a musician we now love.

I still want a Roomba.

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Posted by: scoville