New Music, New Adventures 2025 #10
Five days of driving across the U.S.
So, we began our journey from Palm Springs back to the Midwest on Saturday. Our first stop was in Tempe, Arizona. I had bought advance tickets to what I thought was a Chicago Cubs pre-season game, only to find that the team was in Japan and only “prospects” would be playing. Forget that! I thought this represented fraud on the seller’s part, so I contacted my bank, and they credited my account. Since we were locked into a particular hotel, we instead went to see a show at the Tempe Center for the Arts. What a great space! I believe they have three stages with multiple shows going on at the same time.
The artist we saw was Mike Masse, who has made a career out of doing acoustic covers of classic rock songs. The former lawyer has a significant following and has toured around the world. I wasn’t sure what the experience would be like as it was clear the audience was pretty hetero and they all seemed to know him. He started with a cover of Billy Joel’s Piano Man, which was interesting since he doesn’t play the piano. It was great. He then launched into over two hours of covers including songs by Bob Seger, David Bowie, Elton John, Rush, and James Taylor. The crowd consisted of people mostly in their 40s through 60s. When Masse asked for requests, they loudly chanted their interests, which included everyone from Led Zeppelin to Bette Midler. One guy was clearly drunk and wouldn’t let the Midler request go. Masse though is very personable and clearly knows how to work with his audience, especially those who get increasingly drunk. While he never did sing anything by Midler no one seemed to mind the interruptions, so I guess this is par for the Masse course. As the evening went on, the show got better and better. Then came a moment near the end when he sang Neil Young’s Harvest Moon. I’ve never really been a major fan of Young’s or thought much about this song. By the end of it though, I couldn’t stop the tears. It was such a beautiful rendition that I had to keep wiping the water away from my cheeks. Clearly, I’m now a fan of Mike Masse and look forward to seeing him again.
The next day Frank and I continued our journey towards Albuquerque, New Mexico. While driving the beautiful twisting roads of Arizona we listened to more Masse (he’s got a LOT of covers on Spotify) before turning to the Hit Parade podcast in which host Mike Molanphy discussed what it means for an artist to have an “imperial” period of hits, covering everyone from Pet Shop Boys to Taylor Swift along with a detailed follow-up episode on Madonna’s span of hits in the 1980s. It was a pretty satisfying listen. For the rest of the drive, we listened to a playlist filled with Madonna, Whitney Houston, Tina Turner, etc. Our day ended at a Holiday Inn Express that shared a parking lot with a company location my friend Pat helped establish. It was a total coincidence.
Day 3 began by having to decide: do we follow our planned route through Texas and Oklahoma where high wind warnings, red flag warnings, and fire hazards were in the vicinity or find a different route heading away from that havoc? I’m usually the one who plans the direction we head and book hotels, usually Holiday Inn Express Suites. Fortunately, we were able to make a change and booked a room in Pratt, Kansas. I know, not a known city BUT they lay claim to the community college which hosts the Miss Kansas pageant! (Ok, maybe that’s not saying much…) It took us almost eight hours to get there but we were able to avoid the heavy winds and fires. I then spent a little time grading some of the final projects for my last online course at DePaul. Within a week, I’ll be retired!
Tuesday, the 18th of March, we spent driving from Pratt to Des Moines, Iowa. It was a pretty uneventful trip. Frank and I listened to our share of podcasts including The Oscars: What Were They Thinking? Comedian Bruce Vilanch discusses various Oscar years with Adam “Tex” Davis. Vilanch has incredible knowledge of the ceremonies as he was writer for 25 of them. They discuss the shows, the nominees, and winners. This is the kind of stuff Frank and I geek out about. It’s a pretty entertaining show. We also listened to a lot of the music on Spotify’s Discover Weekly playlist. There was very little new though that spurred my interest this week.
As a result, my “new” music selections this week (listened to driving across the country) is a playlist of Mike Masse covers. Check it out and support this guy’s work!
When we arrived in Des Moines the temperature was 80 degrees. When we woke up the next morning it was 40….and so goes the Midwest… We began the final leg of our drive in rain, sometimes quite heavy but made it home unscathed.
Do we want to do this drive to and from Palm Springs every year? Perhaps. It helps to have someone with you that you love that can handle your nagging about the amount of stuff that he brings. We also agree on the music and podcasts we listen to which helps. I do all the driving to keep me in control, which Frank doesn’t seem to mind. He has also discovered AI and I don’t mind how he got it to manipulate my 62 year old body!
Ah well, we can dream…
Now we’re back and ready to begin Spring in the Midwest! (Although we’re supposed to get snow tomorrow…)
Finally, I finished all of the grading for my online course last night and have officially submitted my final set of student grades ever! It’s all time for celebration!
What’s new with you this week?
Congrats on your upcoming retirement! It must feel awesome.
Welcome home! I will have to check out Mike Masse. Alan is a big fan of Neil Young. Harvest moon is a lovely song. Glad you are back safe and sound!