February started off with a visit to the Rex Theater to experience TAUK. I have been listening to TAUK for a couple of years and was really blown away by the live performances I had seen on YouTube. On February 7, I was able to experience them live for the first time. The videos did not lie. This band is smokin live. Since they pretty much only play instrumentals, I wasn’t always sure what song was being played but it really did not matter. The whole night was a mind tingling, ear tickling spectacle of music. An extremely unique blend of funk, jazz, rock, and hiphop. I will not miss another show when they are in town.
Later in the month, my wife and I joined some friends at another concert – Twiddle. This show was at the newly renovated Roxian Theater in Mckees Rocks. This was my first time at this venue and my second time seeing Twiddle. We had fun hanging out with our friends and the venue was beautiful. One weird aspect was the sound. We staked out a spot close to the stage but by the wall at stage left. Right off the bat the vocals sounded muffled. I walked around to a few other spots on the main floor and the problem seemed to go away. I guess I’ll have to keep that in mind for future trips. I’d like to check out a show from their balcony some time.
With these two concerts in the bag 2020 was shaping up to be a bit of a return to my concert going days of the early 2000’s. I was eyeing up a few other bands to check out: Papadosio, Eric Gales and cbdb. All of these shows were at small venues, something that I have begun to really enjoy. I had also been excited to score tickets to see Phish during their two night run at the Giant Center in Hershey, PA. All of these concerts were planned for the first half of the year, who knows what shows would have been scheduled for the second half of the year.
Other than music, February rolled on in typical winter fashion. My bowling team had fallen in to a bit of a second half slump after a stellar performance during the first half of the season found us sitting in first place. I had also begun to dive in to learning the ins and outs of my new Sony a6000, which arrived in late January. Work consisted of inspecting bridges and walls and staying warm.
TAUK @ Rex Theater February 7, 2020