DiNizio is the real deal

Here I am, lying in bed at 2:00am Saturday morning, laptop on my belly, totally exhausted from several days of little sleep and way more to do than time in which to do it. I'm just home from a long, exhausting and wonderfully weird day and night with Pat DiNizio playing at the Stump. Pat arrived at around 1:00pm today, in a car smaller than I expected and with so little gear that I couldn't help but be impressed at the economy of it.

Pat was great from the word hello, greeting Kim and I with hugs and a smile, some silly jokes, and a sense of purpose and pride in what he is doing with this surreal Living Room Concerts Tour that he is in the middle of.

His performance this evening was stellar, filled with humorous stories and anecdotes between songs, and musically a real ball buster as he delivered each tune with what seemed like every ounce of energy he could muster. This was no laid back, loosey-goosey affair. No hesitation or uncertainty. He knew exactly what he was doing, and played every song with a certainty and confidence that you would expect from someone who owns a gunny sack full of hit songs and more "war stories" from life on the road than you can shake a stick at. The guy is a pro, plain and simple, but one who's also able to mix it up with folks and display a genuine gratitude for those who appreciate his work. And there were plenty of people at the coffee shop tonight who did indeed appreciate what Pat has accomplished in his career and what he was putting out on the stage tonight.

I'll write more about the show itself tomorrow (today); right now I want to say a couple of things about Pat's Living Room Concert Tour before I pass out. I just finished reading his post from the road titled PAT DINIZIO: Notes From the Road #1 "NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD" off his website patdinizio.com. This is a thoughtful, somewhat melocholy, and well written essay about growing older and trying to find meaning in what one does. This tour he's on makes me wonder. It's got to be weird, running into all sorts of people and situations, up close and personal, in the homes of fans and people you're meeting for the first time, performing in front of them without the "protection" of distance or bandmates. I'd think you would need a good sense of humor, a little bit of "hard-assness" and a fair amount of both humilty and healthy ego.

Frankly, I find it to be an astounding undertaking. I'm bone tired myself right now...I can't imagine how Pat feels at the end of a week of driving hundreds of miles and performing several shows with the intensity that he showed tonight. I find myself feeling concerned for him on this tour, hoping that the people who see him perform appreciate what this guy has done and what he's doing with this adventure. It seems both magical and ridiculous, ridiculous in the sense that he's even doing this, putting this kind of thing on all by himself, and magical in the sense that we're experiencing this amazing and wonderful music, that many of us dug so much when we were younger, live with Pat himself at a local coffee shop or in a friend's living room. Wild stuff.

I chatted with people at the shop tonight during the performance. It was so gratifying to hear all of the wonderful compliments that were being made about Pat, his music and his being there tonight. He was a hit. Again, more on the show later today. I gotta get some sleep.