A weekend away

Back in the Land O' Orlando, chalk up another wandering weekend for the tribe as we tripped down to Ft. Lauderdale for a gig at Alligator Alley. Jae and I scouted the place out while returning from Coral Gabels and the Titanic Brewery show, so we knew exactly where it was and how close our hotel would be. The El Palacio was a nice joint, a renovated old place with one of those really deep pools and purple and blue neon roped around the edges of the buildings, which were fitted with all kinds of Italian Renaissance decorum, stone columns, statuary, fountains, etc. It was like staying at the Italy Pavilion in Epcot.

The gig was fun, the food was great! I guess you could call the menu "everything gator" because that's exactly what was represented. If you wanted gator, it could be fixed up for ya in any way, shape or form you desired. As a practicing vegetarian, I was delighted to find a veggie jambalaya offered, and the buffalo shrimp were a nice kick-off to the evening. A very nice guy by the name of Jack Barnes opened up for us, playing a 40-minute set of acoustic guitar music. Then we took the stage and, without a set-list (as has been our custom of late), threw down one of the best sets in recent memory. Everyone was in-tuned to each other and Kilmo, the owner and sound guy (also a musician), set it up so that we could hear what we needed to hear through the monitors (the Mackie's that we've come to adore whenever we see them there on the floor). We expected Jack to come back up and play during our break, but Kilmo figured that he was too mellow for the crowd, who responded well to our fired-up antics, so we went back up and really poured on the juice. The response was fantastic, the audience really paid attention to what we were doing, and the comments we got midway through the evening during our break were very encouraging. Kilmo loved us and already wants us back, which is what we like to hear - especially in a place where everyone seems to love music so much, that that's what the conversations were all about around the fringes of the night - what they'd heard and where they heard it. It's immensely satisfying to think that music lovers of this caliber would be buzzing about Mohave in the weeks to come!

Our server, Tiki, was a doll - with her H.R. Giger tattoo and dreads - the place was just really nifty and everyone had a good time.

Now, back to the drudgery of the day-to-day.......