It’s a Friday night. I hate going out on Friday nights. I know that’s probably weird but I like to stay in on the weekends and go out during the week. It’s better [for me] that way. So now I need to decide whether the fact that I haven’t seen a show since last Sunday and I haven’t seen Nicki Bluhm since last summer (and it was only marginally satisfying) are enough reasons to get me to go out tonight. There are still tickets available which is both a good and bad thing. I want my favorite performers to sell out, but I also want to be able to make last minute decisions about shows. I had someone recently question me as to how I can still get tickets to shows at the last minute; I think they don’t realize that I don’t usually wait til the last minute to buy tickets and I also think they may have been judging my musical taste.

So let’s see… Nicki Bluhm is amazing. She’s gorgeous and she wears these amazing (circa 70’s) outfits and she has some pipes on her. She used to play regularly as Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers. She also used to perform as Brokedown in Bakersfield.

The Gramblers included her ex-husband, Tim Bluhm (also from the Mother Hips). The last time two times that I saw her with a band, it was after she and Tim split up. It appeared to be some (maybe all) of the former Gramblers minus Tim. The first time was at Kate Wolf and I thought they were great. I didn’t really notice any difference with or without Tim, other than the lack of sartorial flair on his side of the stage. The second time was at Stern Grove last summer and while I thought Nicki was great, I thought the band was terrible. They seemed like they were just going through the motions and I was glad that Fantastic Negrito had been such a good opener as I would have been borderline disappointed if Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers had been all the entertainment that day.

I think tonight she is playing alone though I can’t find any info on the show. Under event details, it just takes you to the buy tickets page. I saw her at the Independent playing alone a little over a year ago and she was pretty awesome, so I’m inclined to go to this show and see her again. She was a local girl (Lafayette) who has moved to Nashville so the opportunities to see her are fewer and further between. Also, there’s a rumor that a certain redhead is thinking about attending this show and I haven’t gotten to get my giggle on with her for awhile now, so that could get me out as well.

I would tell you that I was holding out hope that Nicki would bring Ben Morrison up onstage with her since she just recorded another song with The Brothers Comatose. Sadly, The Brothers Comatose are touring in Utah tonight. (I think they are in Utah, they may be somewhere else, but they are definitely not in SF.) Maybe she will bring Greg Loiacono up onstage with her again. That caused quite a stir when I saw her at the Independent. There was an audible gasp when she introduced him. For anyone who doesn’t know, Greg is another quarter of the Mother Hips.

So if you are looking for both eye and ear entertainment tonight, consider The Independent. Tickets are $25 which is a little spendy IMO, but I think it’ll be worth it.