I went to see Dan Bern do a free show at the final South Street Seaport Summer Concert. Sadly, no one else was available, so my only company was my ipod, camera, and umbrella.

This was my first trip where I almost ran out of pockets on the way home. Keys, phone, ipod, umbrella, camera, wallet, and CD purchased at the show basically maxed out my cargo pockets. Secondly, I'm glad I wore shorts, since it was very hot in the subway station.

He played most of the songs from his new album "My Country II (Music to beat Bush by)" and it was great stuff. I'd link you to a place to purchase the album, but it won't be officially released until August 31. So eat that. CDDB had no idea about the album when I put it in my drive about 45 minutes ago. Who would have thought that I could legally get a disk before its official release date?

I recognized only two songs. Chelsea Hotel was somewhere in the middle. He closed with Jerusalem. I kept dreaming that he would sing Tiger Woods, but that was probably inappropriate for a free, family-friendly event. I would have enjoyed New York Women or Kurt, but he only had about a 80 minute set, so I can understand cutting them out. He mentions Kurt Cobain in quite a few other songs. Also, he does quite a bit of parody/tribute songs where he adopts other styles. He apparently doesn't care for Bruce Springstein's or Bob Dylan's accent. Of note, Mr. Bern has recently written a book, so perhaps I will go to the signing he is scheduled to have next week. I've got quite a bit of time on my hands at this point.

Regarding the concert venue, there was actually a "no standing" rule. To be in front of the stage, you had to agree to sit. Very interesting. I didn't mind it totally, except it did prevent me from slowly wiggling up for multiple shots from the front. As it was, I stood about 2 seated rows back, next to a guy who basically taped the entire show. I took one picture of the night from the perspective he had all night: staring down at his screen. I thought it was very meta. I hope you like it.