it's...

a BBQ joint!?!

the Birchmere (where Swing Out Sister is playing) is a freakin' BBQ joint! they're all strict when you walk in...check yer bags...confiscate your bottle of water...no standing or dancing...and the place turns out to be all row tables with red and white checkered tablecloths - weird. they may as well have played at Trail Dust Steakhouse.

the concert, strange settings and all, was quite good. the band was comprised of six people: Corrine (lead singer), Dee and Sylvia (background singers), Tim (guitarist), Juneroy (bassist), and Myke (drummer). they came out and performed sixteen songs over a span of 95 minutes. their concert ended at approximately 10:05 and we waited a good 30 minutes for our taxi, which wasn't even ours. it really was for these two guys on the bench, just outside the doors. lucky for us, they agreed to share their taxi since we were both headed for the Pentagon City metro stop. thank you guys from Atlanta...

now, while Swing Out Sister was great (as usual). the opening act was not. her name was KinneyStarr, a canadian performer who would have seemed more at home in a cafe that was sponsoring a poetry slam night. her act...songwriting...guitar playing...needs some polish. but hey, i'm sure that SOS likes to support the up-and-coming (if that's what you wanna call her) artists. and that's a good thing. after all, it's not easy getting up there to perform yer stuff in front of 500 people. just think how the Jimi Hendrix Experience was soundly booed when they opened for the Monkees on their first tour. and what about Prince opening for the RollingStones in the early 80's? you gotta start somewhere...