A couple of weeks ago, Willy Porter came to town. (You should remember Willy from this post.) Anyway – we saw that he would be coming to town many months ago, but we just simply failed to plan for it at the time and subsequently lost track and forgot all about it. Until a few days before. I checked Willy’s site, saw the date, called the venue - a seemingly cool place called North by Northwest (a.k.a. NXNW) and procured a pair of tickets and dinner reservations. NXNW’s website describes themselves as a restaurant and musical club, so I thought we’d treat ourselves to a nice dinner and show. Besides, May 15th marked the 6th month since I’d popped the question, ironically, at a Willy show. Anyway, I got the tickets and made dinner reservations without telling GF anything, and when she asked later in the week what we would be doing over the weekend, I suggested that we have a nice dinner somewhere new. She agreed and didn’t think anything about it. My surprise trap was set.
The Friday night before, we were cruising neighborhoods (see this post) and GF asked me about what we were doing Saturday and she said that she wanted to work-out sometime in the afternoon (we usually go to the gym together). I said that would be cool, but reminded her that we would have dinner out that night and we couldn’t be too late coming back from the gym. She was quiet for perhaps 15 seconds (did I ever mention how smart and quick she is?) when she turned to me and asked, “We’re going to see Willy, right?” My face said it all and through a sheepish grin I just replied, “You suck.” My surprise was ruined. But, we were gonna get to see Willy again, so everything was ultimately OK.
That Saturday night we went to NXNW to see and hear Willy. IF you ever go see Willy is it is important that you actually see him. Hearing him is one thing. Most people assume when they hear a recording of Willy that there is some major production going on with his recordings because there is no way one man with an acoustic guitar can make that much sound. (By contrast, the beginning of Hotel California, by the Eagles features 8-13 guitar tracks – depending on whose story you read – and Willy easily makes more sound than that from his lone guitar.) Seeing him is believing. Actually, maybe not – I have seen other guitar players watch him with their jaw hanging agape in disbelief. Really – he’s that good.
So anyway – we get to NXNW and were seated at the absolute most horrible table in the entire venue. If we were to stand at our seats, we still wouldn’t have been able to see the stage. The hostess was extremely apologetic and later in the evening even tried to get us closer to no avail. The waitress was initially slow, but she eventually earned her tip and treated us well. The food was moderately priced, but bland. Bland bar food is OK when you pay bland bar prices. But this place claims to be a restaurant and their menu looks quite appealing. Just don’t believe it.
We suffered through dinner at our horrible table. Thankfully, the opening act was Angie Aparo, and Angie rocked. He gained two new fans that night and we bought two of his CD’s after his show. (Angie wrote ‘Cry’, which became a pretty good hit for Faith Hill.)
These was a tall table in front of ours (partly responsible for our horrible view) and it was occupied by a bunch of ‘Angie-Addicts’ who left after his set. I hopped up as they were leaving and laid claim to their table. So… The view still sucked, but at least we would be able to see Willy. Finally.
Willy took the stage and the show began. And the people around us wouldn’t shut up. The layout of the venue separates the stage from the bar area (where we were) and this separation disconnects that part of the audience from the stage. There were more tables on a raised area behind the bar area and I would imagine that those people were just hating life at that moment.
Two girls were sitting at the bar talking to each other, the bartender and their cell phones incessantly until I got up and asked them to shut up are move to the way back. The manner in which I asked, and the burning anger in my eyes must have told them all they needed to know because they were indeed quieter for the rest of the show.
No sooner did I get the pair of chatty cathies to shut up when the hostess, the bouncer and assorted other wait staff seemingly invited people in off the street for a party at the tables behind us (our initial crappy table). They were talking loud and proceeded to totally ruin what remained of the show for us and the other fans around us. (I don’t know for sure, but I strongly suspect that none of these people paid $20/ticket to get in that night.)
The disconnected audience showed in Willy’s performance too. He played well, he is after all a consummate professional, but that cool, connected vibe that usually exists at his shows seemed to be missing. I’m convinced the crappy venue was responsible.
Before we left, GF went to the bar, asked for the manager (he was one of the bartenders) and unloaded on him for his inconsiderate staff sitting behind us and destroying our experience. We left upset even before Willy finished his encore. We’re true fans and that statement alone should say everything that needs to be said.
Bottom line, NXNW sucks. We spent over $100 that night on tickets, dinner, drinks and tips and had what was bar-none, the absolute worst small venue experience either of us has ever experienced. It bears repeating. NXNW sucks. NXNW sucks. NXNW sucks. NXNW sucks. NXNW sucks. NXNW sucks. NXNW sucks. NXNW sucks. NXNW sucks. NXNW sucks. NXNW sucks. NXNW sucks. NXNW sucks. NXNW sucks. NXNW sucks. NXNW sucks. NXNW sucks
OK, I admit to google-baiting. I just want to make sure that if anyone is considering going to NXNW to see a show, don’t. NXNW sucks.
UPDATE: If someone from NXNW wants to contact me privately, my e-addy is: Clancy at Oferrall dot net.
Posted by Clancy at May 25, 2004 11:19 AM