Agent Cooper's LiveJournal Day [entries|friends|calendar]
Agent Cooper

[ userinfo | livejournal userinfo ]
[ calendar | livejournal calendar ]
[ milestones | livejournal highlites ]
[ photos | some of my photos ]
Site Meter

Dr. Demento [02 Aug 2008|01:05pm]
Because iTunes keeps shitting itself today, and I don't feel like mowing the lawn, I suppose I should write something.

Yesterday [info]gapey and Gina commandeered my kitchen to make tiramisu. Which seemed to involve swilling down brandy and cognac. I mostly stayed out of their way and played Guitar Hero.


Afterwards, Gina went on her way while [info]gapey and I hopped a bus downtown to The Triple Door to see Dr. Demento.

This was a childhood dream come true for me! My brother and I used to lay in bed at night with the lights off, late late Sunday night, listening to Dr. Demento on the clock radio, volume down so our parents wouldn't yell at us. Tuning it on a dial, a fricking dial, in the dark misty times before the internet. Actually needing to BE THERE at the proper time, the little thrill down the spine when the show started, knowing you'd just stepped into that happy familiar world. Trying to stay awake until the Funny 5 countdown.

Time and again I heard this story repeated in the Triple Door. As one guy told me, "You can be 19, 33, or 50 - we all huddled under the covers when we were 11, lights off, Sunday night. Same experience, different decades." 37 years of Dr. Demento.

Like all childhood dreams, it didn't quite ring true - Doc seemed pretty tired and appeared to be phoning it in, but with a radio personality it's hard to tell. He didn't turn down a single photo or autograph though.

First about The Triple Door - this is a fun space! Classic dinner theatre. You're seated at a table and presented with a rather expensive menu of Pacific Northwest/Asian fusion. You can order food and drinks throughout the show. We ate spring rolls, fried prawns, 7-flavor beef, seared ahi tuna, and a $45 bottle of Malbec. I'd go back frequently given the chance, but next time I'll pass on the over-priced wine. I don't think they had any bottles for less than $35.

Demento's live show is fun - mixed media. It's basically him in his signature tux and top hat, a portable CD player and DVD player, and a stack of disks in paper envelopes. He could do most of the show with an iPod and projector. The night was a combination of music videos, songs, an introduction by a music historian, and two live performers.

The show had local favor - Doc played a song about the Space Needle recorded in 1962, and both performers were from the area so that was cool. And it wasn't all yucks; one got a sense of learning something about the history of music.

Highlites: watching Dana Lyons play Cows With Guns live on stage. Dr. Demento autographing my ticket stub. Sharing tasty bites with [info]gapey. This beautiful song, all the more touching because the grinning happy singer was dying from Leukemia.


On the down side, I feel sick to my stomach today. Not sure what's up with that.
15 comments|post comment

navigation
[ viewing | August 2nd, 2008 ]
[ go | previous day|next day ]
Site Meter