| Sean Altman House Party & Trip Review Ann Arbor and West Bloomfield, MI June 14-15, 2002 |
| My second day started kind of slow. I woke up to 55 degree temperatures and a nasty drizzle outside. All I could think of was, ewww...I have to drive more. So I got up grabbed breakfast, got stared at by the NASCAR weirdos, and headed out to my grandparents' house. I will spare you the details of the grandparent visit so I'll skip ahead to the show that night. I got to the second gig literally about 2 minutes after Sean and Inna arrived. I was really trying to get there late, but it didn't work too well. I said hi to Sean and Inna and introduced myself to Kristin and her sister (who were hosting the show) and headed into the house. There were quite a few more people at this show than the one the night before (20-25 I think). Ironically, one of the ladies at the show had lived in Covington, KY and gone to college at Centre College in Danville. *insert those evil little dolls singing "It's a Small World"* Another man told me his brother-in-law was from Flat Gap, KY. Anyway, we all get settled and Sean comes out. He thanks everyone for coming to see him and gives me a special thanks for coming up from Kentucky and mentions that it's my second show in as many days. I get applause for this. :) Sean starts his set and everyone is to be pretty enthusiastic. He gets to "Love Potion Number 9" in his set. The previous night, he had one of the guys in the audience sing the line "I took a drink." Sean gets to that line in the song and kind of points to the audience with the intent of a male audience member singing the line. Well, everyone is kind of confused and Sean looks desparate for someone to sing the line so, being the helpful person I am I sing the line in a really deep voice. I didn't think Sean was going to be able to resist laughing and keep singing. Everyone cracked up. They were all more helpful in singing along for "The Notion" aka "the sing like an elf song" and "Too Old, Too Ugly." At one point Sean borrowed one guy's glasses to sing a Buddy Holly tune. (Apparently, Sean dresses up for Buddy every Halloween according to Inna). I don't know how well he could see, but if it created a better vibe for him to sing, then it doesn't matter. During the snack break, I asked Sean if he'd sing "Presto Change-o." He said sure, that he'd do it towards the end of the night since it has some high parts that a bit tough to sing and didn't want to kill his voice before he got through most of the second set. He asked me about the digital camera I was using to take pictures (which sadly belongs to the Historic Preservation department). He sang a couple of songs ("Dick About Me" was one of them) he hadn't performed the night before during the second set. Oh yea, I forgot to mention, that both nights Sean had his girlfriend Inna sing a couple of songs with him. She's an operatic soprano and sounds pretty good. They were so cute. I have to wonder what exactly Inna thought of all these people who show up to hear Sean sing, particularly someone like me driving a few hundred miles to hear him. Regardless, they have that happy couple look. She gave him a rough time after the show when someone asked about the article he was misquoted in about them being engaged. Sean signed my copy of alt.mania and took a couple of pictures with me. He thanked me for coming up for the shows. He did say he appreciated the fact that I looked enthusiastic, particluarly for the first show since he knew that I would show some emotion if he sang to me. He told me that if I ever get to NYC to come see him there cause it's even cooler with the full band. I got a hug before I left and said goodbye. I headed back to my grandparents' place for the night. I got up the next morning and drove the 8 hours home with a definite feeling of the trip being worth my effort. I have to admit I'd do it again in a heartbeat. |