Norah Jones & Hurray For The Riff Raff Concert ~ And Other Vail Valley Fun With Bob 22Jul24

Bob & I had a great day in Vail Valley today. We hit the Gore Ck fly fishing in two decent spots ~ the mouth and the dawg park; we dined at Rocky Mtn Tacos and imbibed from the original Vail Brewing Co brew & tap spot; we enjoyed a great show at the Ford Amp. We'll start fishing... after a decent taste of green chili corn-beef hash and some coffee we jumped Vail Pass to Eagle Co. We first dropped onto Gore Ck at the mouth with the Eagle River. We "beat" a dad & son but just by 30 seconds and basically walked with them to our put in on the Gore. We "let" them have the upstream approach but didn't catch anything below them and ultimately skirted them to lead past the rickety bridge (which Bob took without issue). Bob caught a very nice brown, first on the day for the team. I lost a fat 17" rainbow on the chubby when she threw the hook and headed downstream hooked side haul (that I could not land among the big boulder dancing) but still posted a German myself.

We headed upstream to West Vail and the Dawg Pk. After rerigging with the cool bugs for the day we each frustratingly scared or spooked nice fish below the bridge; rejections... grrr. Undeterred we marshaled on upstream (though BR did suggest we head to lunch early ~ I ignored him). Bob got a bit caught up in a deep channel chase for some nice visible fish while I scored some more... including several rainbows.

Good outing on the Gore required some nosh at Rocky Mtn Taco's and and beers from the original VBC (Vail Brewing Company), the best in Eagle Co. It was that or 4 star dining and I chose low rent. We left the dawgs and headed to Eagle-Vail and VBC to meet up with the dogs. Yep, just like Summit Co, doggies are everywhere, but especially at the breweries. It was a blast with good nosh and groundwork for podcast breakthroughs, or at least the co-op thinking of such.

Once sated and tuned we headed toward Ford Pk, both needing showers but opting for parking deck nakedness behind the Crusher Too while changing into concert garb. We were early to the venue with way too much gear... I'd misunderstood seating in the bougie section and we toted seating for no reason; well not really no reason, Robert chatted up some dollies and offered one his seat in exchange for... nvmnd; she sat well as did we at center stage Q & M under the cover. Bob bought keen totties for the team. The venue is completely killer... much better than Dillon Amp, though ultimately the sound needs a significant tune IMO... mid-highs and treble are way lost to the entire amphitheater. I cupped my ears to pull in voices much of the show. Consider hiring The Dave of The NestMT.

1st up was a known great act (at least by me), Alynda Sigarra/Hurray For The Riff Raff. I may not have booked without her billing @ the show. She's folk come rock/pop/country and hails from New Orleans these days, but the PR initially. I own her recent album on vinyl and completely dig her songwriting and arranging. Her vocals and range of material is very fine. She's pissed about the environment and the general state of things ~ so yeah, my people. At the Ford Amp she was not dealt the deserved top vocalist feed to the audience I'd have expected. Further, the audience @ Vail is completely without respect ~ come on folks. Come to learn, throughout the night, beyond the disrespect, it is a fault of the sound system. Nonetheless, she was good, if not a bit drowned out by instrumentation. I met her and congratulated her at the end and was given her setlist with her artist's notes... cool.

I didn't leave the theater ~ it's 9 time Grammy winner Norah Jones for goodness sake. She had me at the debut album Come Away With Me, but the entire show was excellent. She was better at the piano, as expected, but capable on guitar... the songs she delivered there were very good. As normal, the biggest hits, that is from her 1st album, which cannot be compared to anything after IMO, were late in the show. They were great but it's of note that she's so stellar and wealthy/accomplished that there is no "one woman show" any more. She has spectacular accompanying females on rhythm and lead and harmonies/synchronies. Turquoise-clad Sasha Dobson on guit-box and soprano completely kicked ass (she is over the top good) and organ fill/2nd backer was cool AF. The beat boys in the the back of the theater were very good too. I love art expressed by the best we have doing their thing with depth and fullness like this. This was a great and well-produced show... thanks Norah for all that. Uhhh ~ Ford Amp ~ hire me for a sound righteously expressing female vocals (likely all vocals) well  to all patrons ~ something is wrong with your measurement mics, despite the completely killer venue... I'll come back, maybe.

I liked her sparkly high-top cons.