Shangri La Happy Hour

Shangri La records, just down the street, has built a new indoor stage and is hosting weekly happy hours with local musicians. On Friday we couldn't pass up the opportunity to see live music in a smoke-free venue before dark. Especially when Harlan T. Bobo was on the bill.

We arrived around 5:45pm, and immediately bumped into Chip and Connor. I had given the monkeys a nutritious snack at home and candy necklaces for the road in order to keep them sated during the witching hour. It seemed to be working as they casually walked around the store quietly looking at albums.


Soon the three monkeys had discovered a secret hiding place between some shelves and stayed out of our hair long enough for some adult conversation.

Harlan T. and Paul B. quietly waited for their bass player to show up.


He arrived a little after six along with a whole swarm of people...and children. In addition to our usual crew of Team Urf! (half of them anyway) and S.A.M. & Miss M, there were several other people who brought kids. Not coincidentally, most of these people were also Rock-n-Romp regulars. While it was cool to be crammed into a record store spitting distance from Harlan T. Bobo, it wasn't quite as cool as being spread out in a lush midtown backyard with Harlan T. Bobo.

Anyways, this is all to say that the crowd was most appreciative of the opening act:


(That's drummer, Paul Buchignani's son, Nickolai. He was actually pretty awesome for a three-year-old.)

Harlan started off the show with a prayer song that I had actually just heard the day before on WEVL, making me feel super cool.


Despite the scene being "way too intimate," Harlan totally rocked out. We were sitting right in front and I was once again glad that I had kids who were into loud music. Jiro especially seemed to enjoy the show. Satchel complained of being thirsty and was more interested in playing with JP than listening to the music. (Although he did enjoy Harlan's stories between songs.)


Eventually I gave in and took the monkeys to see their friends (and mine) in the back of the store. Once together, the kids got a little rowdy, but the show ended soon after.

Since we were close to home and indebted to the crew, we invited everyone over for an impromptu spaghetti dinner and (adults only) poker game.


The kids used every pillow and blanket in the house to build a giant fort in the livingroom, got out every costume Satchel and/or Jiro had ever worn for Halloween, and watched (parts of) almost every DVD in Jiro's collection.


The next day Satchel said, "Did you use the money in my piggy bank for your game last night? Don't ever do that again!"

As of now there are no there bands listed on the Shangri La site for future happy hours, but I will be on the lookout. I'm also rallying hard to get Harlan on the 2007 Rock-n-Romp schedule.