A Night at the Neptune with Bruce

It was another wet and rainy evening as we braved our way to Seattle's "U" district to hear Canadian folk-rock singer/guitarist Bruce Cockburn perform at the Neptune Theatre.

When friends of ours realized they couldn't attend tonight's concert, we were the lucky recipients of their tickets! I, admittedly was not familiar with Bruce Cockburn's music, and I'd never been inside the Neptune Theatre, so I was completely on board to attend.

The Neptune Theatre, built in 1921, is perfectly situated on a busy intersection and is just a stone's throw from the University of Washington. It was originally designed to be a movie theatre until its conversion in 2011 to a theatre for live performances, such tonight's event.

Cockburn's performance was great, with his thick raspy voice, and exquisite guitar playing. The audience, consisting of many diehard Cockburn fans, was continually cheering and whistling and shouting out for more. Our seats seemed terrific until the lights dimmed and the four individuals seated in front of us continued to talk and laugh loudly, and get up and down and up and down, with one of them eventually lapsing into spastic bouts of loud, rhythmic clapping that were totally out of sync with Cockburn's music (or any music) and utterly distracting. I was tempted to begin my own clapping on this woman's offbeats to really take the insanity to another level, but better judgement prevailed.

I really ought to say more about Bruce Cockburn, but since I am new to his music, I'll end by directing you to his website to learn more.

Despite the glitch with the inconsiderate audience members, it was a wonderful evening at the Neptune, getting acquainted with a musician I now wish I'd known about a long time ago!