Blame It On Being A Girl

Thursday, April 1, 2010

In Which Francis Dunnery Returns to the Burgh And Is On Our Show

Okay, so back in January when Geo and I had our house concert, we tried to get Francis Dunnery booked at our favorite night spot, Club Cafe. They didn't have room on the schedule then, but penciled him in for Thursday, March 25th.

Last week Mr. D came back into town for a rare bar tour with an even rarer full band, The New Progressives. Part of his journey west included a spot on our little dog and pony show, Pittsburgh Today Live. (A big sloppy thanks again to our producer, Jill) He did splendidly, as I knew he would. And get this... there were at least six people at the show that night who told him they came out to see him because they saw him on the TV. I don't know what surprised me more... that viewers made the trip out or that we have, you know... actual viewers.

Anywho, afterwards I drove he and Erica to President Obama's favorite diner, Pamela's for their famous pancakes and kick-ass breakfast. We ate our fill, engaged in great conversation and fought over the check. I felt bad Geo couldn't tag along. He would have enjoyed the hell out of it.

Funny story: anyone who knows Francis Dunnery is aware of his love of swearing and particularly his ubiquitous use of the f-bomb. Being the professional he is, he refrained from swearing during the broadcast. As soon as he closed the door to my car, he let loose with a string of every curse word imaginable, let out a big sigh and declared "That's better. I haven't f*cking swore in 20 f*cking minutes!?! Right. Let's go."

Ha Ha Ha!! Ya gotta love it.

The concert was great! It has been years since we saw him perform with anyone, let alone a full band. The band was tight, the crowd was singing along and Francis was his charming self. A very good time was had by all.

So whereas last year the musical entree was Rhett Miller/Old 97's shows with a side order of Francis. This year's musical menu is leaning towards a main dish of Francis Dunnery with Rhett as a tasty dessert.

For those of you keeping score, namely moi:

Francis- 5 1/2 (the fraction being PTL)

Rhett- 3 (we're seeing two Rhett shows back to back this weekend. *swoon*)

After Saturday we've got nothing else definite on the back burning, but you never know what might come up, right?

Here are some photos from the day and a video from the evenings show. Enjoy!