Tina

(photo by pouryourheartintoit on flickr)

Last night was another first. I took Rae and the kids to see Tina Dico at the Triple Door (possibly my favorite venue in Seattle now). This was the first concert we'd been to together as a family. We had an entire booth to ourselves, and the kids were on their best behavior. It was a bit stressful for the adults, not knowing which way the winds might blow, but they didn't disappoint. And despite the fact that the Wild Ginger menu is nothing but frou-frou Thai-esque food, they each found something they liked.

Now, while Kayleigh and I are both avid Tina Dico (or "Dickow" as she is known in Denmark) fans, I have to say that Tyler was one helluva trouper. Despite a leisurely dinner followed by a 90-minute set of music he was only passingly familiar with, he did magnificently well, keeping calm and leaning against me to listen.

It should be noted that Ms. Dico is touring to support a new album. A three-disc, twenty-song magnum opus called A Beginning, A Detour, An Open Ending. No jewel case, just paper sleeves and booklet in a cardboard jacket. The packaging looks like an old-skool premium LP set, shrunk down to CD scale. Beautiful photography, copious lyrics and liner notes. An asset to the collection for sure.

(photo by pouryourheartintoit on flickr)

Although known for solo acoustic performances, Dico is currently touring with longtime collaborator Dennis Ahlgren and Icelandic pixie Helgi Jonsson (who, TFMD and I agreed, we'd love to take home and set on a pillow on the front buffet so that he could tell us Icelandic stories and play the trombone). Helgi opened the show with his own original, complex and eclectic set, which included breaking a guitar string, and stopping in mid-song to explain how difficult the next bit was (and praising his dad's guitar work on his album). Eccentric isn't even close. To draw a parallel with another Icelandic artist, "Björk-esque" would suffice.

Helgi's set was short but fun and put the crowd in a great mood for Tina, who played a diverse set of new material and a fair amount of older stuff, with the notable absence of any of her Zero7 material (which she used to include in her live performances).

It was enough for Kayleigh to feel familiar with and sing along to, and Raechelle even recognized a song or two (we're getting her indoctrinated by osmosis). The sound was great as usual, and the lighting was minimal and effective for such an intimate venue. The only detracting element was the group of women in the next booth who insisted on talking throughout the first half of the set, even raising their voices when Tina played a louder volume - oblivious to the killer stares of folks around them. But my honey is tough and scary when she needs to be, and she went and told them to be quiet - go get 'em, honey!

One of the new songs hit me particularly hard, and at times I found myself completely absorbed in and transported by the music and the performance - and those moments are what it's all about.

You were left with nothing as a child
Now that's a lot to carry
You've been empty-handed all your life
A heavy weight to carry

Things could be different
But it wouldn't be the same
You wouldn't be the man I love without this weight

'Cause all these years feeling small and misplaced
The only lonely man on Noah's ark
All these years dealing with radioactive waste
Has made you glow in the dark
Don't you know you glow in the dark
Don't you know
You glow

You've been digging graves since we first met
You've got a lot to bury
From the empty closets in your head
A heavy weight to carry

Things could be better
But it wouldn't feel this good
I wouldn't change a thing about you if I could

...and so on. What I remember about live performances is always the emotional impact, and this one got me good. I was extremely glad to be able to share it with my family.

And Bob Schneider is coming back in May. I think I just had what TFMD calls a microgasm.