Last Friday night, I spent $80 that I really don't have right now to take the Aussie and myself to see Lyle Lovett in concert at Krannert Center here in town. Despite listening to his music for more than a decade now, this was my first chance to see him in concert, and he didn't disappoint. Instead of his Large Band, he was backed by four musicians (drum , electric guitar, keyboard, and upright bass). They played for a good two and a half hours without any intermission, and chose songs that ranged over his entire career. Lyle was pretty chatty, too, and explained a few things I had always wondered about, like, what the hell is going on in "Penguins"? (Short answer: there was some girl he went to A&M with who had an entire apartment filled with penguin-themed decor. The song was just a riff making fun of her.) He also talked about the reason he mentions his own name and Robert Earl Keen's in "Record Lady"; they were total unknowns at the time, and figured it might help their College Station audience remember who they were!

We had seats up in the second row of the balcony, although I spied a couple of friends that had been lucky enough to get seats only four rows back on the main level. The heat was turned way up high, for some reason, so we were all roasting a little, and the guy next to the Aussie smelled like feet. Other than that, pretty much a perfect concert experience.