Animal Liberation Orchestra

Taxi's are a fabulous, though expensive, way to get around the city. Although I often just see them as a mode of transportation, there's another element that totally impacts the experience: the driver. Often the driver quietly and efficiently takes me from A to B, but sometimes banter comes into play. You meet nice drivers, angry drivers, scary drivers, and the occational race driver.

For 5 amazing minutes we entered the twilight zone, while taking a cab from Dave SG’s house to the Fillmore. Probably less then a mile. A large male Jamaican taxi driver who lacked a total command of the english language had some pretty strong opinions. When I told him we were going to see a band called "Animal Liberation Orchestra", he proclaim it is good to liberate the animals. When I told him that the band goes from city to city liberating the animals, he told us that we should not eat meat since animals do not eat meat. Most animals eat grass. Monkeys eat grass. "Monkeys eat grass?" I ask for verification. They sure do. The internet verified this. Yet, at this point Stina had to take the reigns of the conversation, cause I was about to lose my shit.

We missed the opener, Honeycut, but they came back out through out the night in various forms. They seemed pretty solid. This was ALO's first headlining spot at the Fillmore, and the energy of the audience was almost tangible. They sold it out too. Good for them. They totally deserve to.

I heard all the ALO staples I was craving to hear. We walked in and they launched into "Plastic Bubble". Joy. I believe Stina loves this band more than I, and I had a better time for it. It’s good to be around Stina when she’s real exited. ALO was pretty much on fire. They debuted a couple of new tunes - I didn't love all of them. Then again, it might take time to assimilate them. Who knows.

At the beginning of the second set, they brought out Jack Johnson. Now I was hoping this would happen, but I didn't believe it would as Jack lives in Maui. But low and behold there he was. People went berserk. It was the smallest venue I'll ever get to see him. And it was awesome. They played some ALO tunes and some Jack tunes. When he left the stage, they filled the void by launching into BBQ, another fan favorite. Too much fun.

There was even a poster.

Sweet, sweet poster.

I recommend you head over to archive.org and listen to some ALO if you are uninitiated.