Rock Bottom Remainders

A little over two weeks ago, Tim and I had a fun date night worth blogging about... (I know I'm seriously late in posting this, but better late than never, right?) We got a babysitter and went to a concert in the city, at the Nokia Theatre on Broadway. It was a World Vision Benefit concert, so we scored free tickets and were even VIPs. It was swanky. I don't know about you, reader, but I've never been a VIP before and I gotta say I LIKED IT. I could totally get used to having things given to me and being treated like royalty. There were little waiters walking about with trays of h'orderves (I didn't even know how to spell that - that's how "cultured" I am). We got our drinks and tried to blend in without looking too touristy, which was hard to do because I have no poker face. My eyes were round as saucers and I wanted to photograph everything. Honestly, I don't know why Tim takes me ANYWHERE! He's a good sport, though.



After we hobnobbed with the VIPs, we took our places for the concert. It was the Rock Bottom Remainders! I don't know if you've ever heard of them, reader. I had never heard of them until just recently. Maybe that is because they really aren't a group you'd buy a CD from. They are a bunch of published authors getting together for jam sessions, basically. They took their name from the publishing term "remaindered book" - a work for which the unsold remainder of the publisher's stock of copies is sold at a reduced price. Funny, huh?

It's a motley crew of writers, from Matt Groening and Stephen King, to Dave Barry, Amy Tan and Mitch Albom. Weird, huh? (I didn't really know any of the other writers, to be quite honest. I'm a children's librarian and never get a chance to read grown-up stuff.) But I thought Dave Barry was the coolest of the authors. Amy Tan was just plain bizarre. And Mitch Albom kept playing dress-up (seriously... he would leave the stage and come back wearing something new). What a strange concert! But how brave of them to throw caution to the wind and get out there on stage. Good for them. And it was for a great cause, too. It was for their "Wordstock" tour - supporting the efforts in Haiti to rebuild schools after the damage done by the earthquake.

Most of the songs they did were covers, like Paperback Writer and You Can't Judge A Book By It's Cover. If you are really interested, they did come out with a sort of CD. It's called Stranger Than Fiction and it's published by Don't Quit Your Day Job Records. For reals. I couldn't possibly have made that up.

Here are some pictures and videos for your viewing pleasure! (Amy Tan... and Dave Barry...)