Dogfood

Despite my multiple postings about my wonderful puppies, this post is not about Bubba and Charlie.

Last Thursday, March 19th, Kevin and I headed out to Canoga Park way, an hour an half into LA, to see my brother's band, Dogfood. Yes, their band's name is Dogfood.

I haven't seen him play, ever. My brother has been playing the drums since seventh grade, the year I moved to Riverside. I don't think ever went to a school performance; I was in school myself. After school Bud played with a band called When Beauty Dies. I never heard them either, except for the thump, thump of the bass drum from the garage over Christmas break. So when Dogfood came anywhere remotely close to the Inland Empire, he begged me to go. I didn't take much convincing. I love my brother and I was excited to see him. I was worried about the hour and a half drive, and the fact that Dogfood didn't go on until 9:45 on a Thursday night. Being the old woman I am, I took the following Friday off to recover.

As a side note, Tonight's episode of How I Met Your Mother, was all about being to old for certain things such as staying out all night. I found it pretty funny.

Back to Dogfood, we arrived at the Cobalt Cafe, and I must admit, I was quite surprised with what I saw. It wasn't pleasant. For some reason, I had pictured dimly lit bar. I should have been tipped off by the word "Cafe" and the coffee cups on the wall. It may have had something to do with Dogfood not being the type of music I would ever want to hear in a coffee shop. But this "cafe" wasn't serving anything! There was a counter across the room, but no one was serving. I was glad to see the A rating in the window. I guess it is pretty hard to screw up food service when everything is pre-packaged.

The room was pretty dark except for the lights on the stage. The carpet was a bad floral print the belonged in a Motel 6 from 1978. The were old red vinyl booths pushed against the wall. The blackout from the windows were peeling back from the front wall of windows. Dusty old cobwebs clung to the popcorn ceiling giving the illusion of bad Halloween decor. The worst part was we were the only ones there! We payed out $10 cover, walked in, and the only people standing on the floor, were the member of my brothers band, and their "roadie." When it was Bud's turn, the band after them watched with us. The music was so loud, my ears hurt most of the next day. He would never listen to me, but Bud will be deaf by the time he is 30; he doesn't care now. If I were smart, I would invest in hearing aid technology. All of those guys from the other bands are going to need a listening device as well. I am just old.

The music isn't my first choice, I can't understand most of the lyrics, but the are all very talented. Bud has come a long way since the off beat sounds that came from the garage. I don't know if they ever "make it big." But he is having a good time, and the guys in the band were very polite. I'm glad we went.