Stella Kim's 50th BD Party featuring Stu Allen & Friends
2014-11-08
Ripple, Sonoma, CA 3:00 PM, Saturday, November 8, 2014

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2014 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2014 event list! ☸ On to the next event! ☸

[4:10 PM noodling, and let's go]

1. [4:11 PM] ?
2. [4:15 PM] Satisfaction
   [4:20 PM done for the moment]

1. [4:44 PM] They Call Me the Breeze »
2. [4:50 PM] Back on the Train
3. [5:02 PM] Second That Emotion
4. [5:14 PM] Bottle of Red Wine
5. [5:23 PM] Peggy-O
6. [5:37 PM] Your Time Is Gonna Come
   [set ends 5:45 PM]

[6:22 PM Jordan alerts us that it's time to go dance; no Jen]

1. [6:25 PM] Gumbo (JF)
2. [6:33 PM] Backwards Down the Number Line
   [add Jen]
3. [6:42 PM] Happy
4. [6:49 PM] Boogie On Reggae Woman (JF)
5. [6:59 PM] Eclipse
6. [7:09 PM] Key to the Highway
7. [7:19 PM] You Ain't Goin' Nowhere (JF)
8. [7:29 PM] My Sisters and Brothers +
   [7:37 PM Birthday cake break!; looks like the band is breaking things down, I guess we're all done!]

The impromptu jam session part of the party begins about 8:15 or so, but we need to pack up and head out to our next event, so I didn't try keeping track of the tunes or players at this point.

• Stu Allen: guitar, lead & harmony vox;
• Jordan Feinstein: keyboards, lead & harmony vox;
• Neil Hampton: drums;
• Jen Rund: bass;
• Dan ?: + trumpet (s2t08).

Perfect weather today – warm and mild – exactly right for late September Indian Summer! Saturday traffic heading to Sonoma wasn't too much trouble, though it did get pretty thick once we got to the stop-light mediated one-lane highways. Chef Jeff whipped together an amazing spread for us, and the tuna tartare appetizer dressed with shaved fennel and fuyu persimmons deserves special accolade. I was more than happy to clear the dressing left behind by the fish -seekers!

It seemed to me as if Stu was running late today – all the other musicians were there pretty early – but hey, it was a party, not a show, so the shift in schedule meant more time to socialize with the other congregants.

The show itself was great fun, and it was hard keeping myself from boogeying to excess as the band worked through the first set. Having gotten dark, it had cooled off quite a bit by that point, so I made a trip to the car to change into warmer attire, coming back in at exactly the right time to hop into the dinner line and load up with tri-tip and butternut squash cannoli. Yum! Ting and I hung out in the kitchen/dining den where it was a bit warmer until Jordan came by to roust us all back out on the deck for the second set and more dancing.

Starting set two with two Phish songs was unexpected – I guess the Phish is bigger than I thought! Fun! Happy was a little rough – maybe one or more of the performers was a little unclear about how to run the changes through the bridge? – in any case, the crowd certainly enjoyed it, and the funky follow on with Boogie On Reggae Woman kept everybody dancing. Woo! All too soon the band wound things down to end the set, closing with the Birthday Song and a deliciously light strawberry-creme cake. I improved my slice by dousing it with a shot or two of Mount Gay rum from the bottle of temptation that had been calling over the entire night. Extra yummy to put rum-saturated fruit cake in my tummy!

Soon Jordan and Stu were tearing down their equipment rigs, so Ting and began to make our rounds to say goodbye, pausing last to give the birthday girl hugs and thanks for hosting such an excellent party.

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2014 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2014 event list! ☸ On to the next event! ☸