I Do Stuff…

MMW

Oh the long awaited return of MMW!  I was last able to see the guys for a two night run at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond and the following day at the Rams Head Live! In Baltimore. This was suppose to be a two-day mini-tour with Jeremy, unfortunately he couldn’t make the tour and I had to go it alone.  This time around it would be another two-day mini-tour, but would be MMW at the Norva and Phish the following day at nTelos.

MMW kick a whole lot of ass and I have been catching their live performances for almost 10 years now. They just have this jam, this groove, this funk that I just love. It is only three people but they play some amazing stuff. For an added bonus there was the possibility of Trey from Phish sitting in.  Phish had Monday off before their show Tuesday at nTelos Pavilion and that left the door open for a possible appearance by Trey as a special guest. Years ago Jeremy and I saw MMW at the 9:30 Club and we noticed Trey in the VIP balcony area. We were hoping to see him join the band, but that never materialized.

Getting down to Norfolk proved to be a bit of a hassle. We got such a late start I was worried we might miss the opening set. When Jeremy finally did get down to my house he forgot the parking pass at his house. Luckily we found an open spot in the general parking lot so they wouldn’t toe his car. Finally just after 5 we hit the road, in time for rush hour traffic. Just over three hours later we arrived at the hotel and checked in real quick before driving 6 miles down the road to the Norva.

The Norva marquee

We arrived at 8:30, what turned out to be early. The “special guest” was an opening act that we walked in on near the end of their set. Not bad, but I certainly could have missed them and been just fine. I was just happy to make it to the venue before MMW came on stage.  After a short intermission the band took the stage just after 9pm and started with some heavy jams.  We took up a spot along the upper balcony and had a pretty good view of the stage.  For the second set we moved down stairs to get a little closers to the stage.  Not surprisingly the venue was pretty empty.  I was torn about this issue.  I always like small intimate shows, but there is just something about a large crowd jamming to the music.  I also fear that if ticket sales are poor they will not be invited back.  But then that just means they might come to a smaller venue.  What they need to do is come back to the Birchmere again.  That is the perfect size venue to hear them in.

I would say the performance was standard for them.  There were no bust out songs or long series of jams like in shows past.  Just a solid peformance.

Set 1 start time 9:10
1. ?
End time 10:15

Set 2 start time 10:48
1. ?
12:09 set ends

Encore start time 12:12
2. ?
End 12:18

loved the green moss on the rock

Photo Gallery

I totally forgot to make a post about my recent, well over two months ago at this point, hike to Whiteoak Canyon in the Shenandoah National Forest.  Since my hikes early in the year to Prince William Forest in late winter and Pinckney Island while on vacation to Hilton Head, I have not been able to get out and enjoy the spring weather.  During spring the weather was not sure what it wanted to do.  Some days it was cold and other times it was mid-summer hot.  Once day it broke a record and reached temperatures over 90 degrees.  Throw in unpredictable rain and it made for a pretty bizarre spring.

After much debating I was determined to get out and hike somewhere, anywhere for an afternoon.  I couldn’t have picked a worse weekend to try and get outside, but with my busy schedule I can’t be to choosy.  I set out early Sunday morning for Old Rag and the weather was not looking good.  My house was suppose to get rain in the afternoon and the Shenandoah looked pretty clear all day.  I decided to take my chance and make the 2.5 hour drive regardless of the weather.  I figured it couldn’t be that bad and if things did turn south at least the drive would be nice.  The whole drive West the sky was filled with dark clouds and a cool breeze, but no rain.  As I passed Sperryville down 231 it started to drizzle and I was getting worried.  By the time I got to the parking lot for Old Rag there was a pretty steady rain and I decided to drive a further south to Whiteoak Canyon and try my luck there.  I was hoping that further South I drove the weather would be more cooperative.

When I arrived at Whiteoak Canyon, I was surprised to see a good number of people in the lot.  They, like me, were not going to let a little rain ruin their opportunity for a hike.  I was able to get a parking spot close to the trail head and started hiking soon after getting my gear organized.  I decided to travel extremely light this time just in case the heavens did decided to open up beyond an annoying drizzle.  This unfortunately meant most of my camera gear stayed in the truck, my 18-55 lens was all I brought.

nice view for lunch

The clouds never broke and the temperatures remained rather low all afternoon.  Fortunately the heaviest rain passed well north of my location so a mild drizzle was all I got.  I snapped a few photos and did a little adventuring near the lower waterfall.  There is a little creek that flows into the main body of water just before the waterfall.  I have passed it numerous times and finally decided to do a little explorer.  The creek leads into a small valley that is strewn with boulders of all imaginable sizes.  I did my best to climb up them, but eventually I gave up and tried climbing the steep raven walls.  This little adventure caused me a lot of trouble, I had numerous battle wounds when I finally got back to the main trail.

When I arrived at the waterfall I climbed to the top and enjoyed a packed lunch.  That last little hike up to the top of the waterfall is steep and took it out of me.  The cool temperatures allowed me to cool off while I ate my lunch and get a little entertainment.  I watch three guys climb down the side of the mountain from the top of the waterfall, instead of taking the trail.  The trail might be longer, but it certainly is safer then walking straight down the hill.

After enjoying the solitude for a while I made short work of the hike back to my truck.  The weather condition where certainly not ideal, but I needed to get outside so badly I didn’t care what the weather was like.  As I write this post it has been over two months to the day sense this hike and I am jonesing for another.  I will be traveling to Portsmouth, VA with a friend for MMW at the Norva Theatre followed the next day by Phish at nTelos Pavilion.  Hopefully I can squeeze a hike in between the shows.  If not, I know I will certainly have the time when I am up in Saratoga Springs, NY for a weekend filled with yet more Phish shows.