STEPH DEROSA: OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND >>>

Being sans 5 year old last night, Mr. DeRosa and I decided to take advantage of a Tacoma over-21 establishment.  I had every intention of meeting up with Joe Izenman and Kevin Freitas at The Red Hot for dinner, but I was out-voted on the idea of hot dogs for dinner.  (What?  Is he crazy?  How could you turn down The Red Hot???)

Fortunately Bandito Betty was slingin’ beers at The Parkway so we marched on in, ready to slam a few Boundary Bays and throw down some hamburgers.  I think being off-and-on sick for the past month has thrown off my tolerance, seeing as how one IPA got me pretty friggen’ buzzed.  Yikes.

At right about 7 p.m., we swerved down Sixth Avenue to find Joe Izenman accompanying Out of Sight, Out of Mind in a dynamic acoustic treat at Rhapsody In Bloom.

Joe’s dad gets my vote as “Best Dressed” for the evening.  A black sequenced shirt, suspenders, and black converse make my heart go bang-bang-bang-bang.

Joe’s original works were inspirational, heartfelt, and sincerely Izenman.  Yes, I’m making “Izenman” an adjective.  It now means: genuine.  I just might make an entry into Wikipedia about it.

My favorite part of the evening was Goodwin Trent’s Alaskan-type version of Shel Silverstein’s Dr. Hook and The Medicine Man’s “Cover of The Rolling Stone.”  It was brilliant and entertaining, my friends.  If my hair didn’t look like such crap underneath my hat, I would’ve tipped it their way.

Unfortunately we had to leave after one song with guest guitarist/vocalist Sue Tjardes.

It was good seeing Kevin Freitas and some local Tacoma peeps sip on Rhapsody’s delicious coffee while tapping their feet to some original, local tunes.  Good job guys, and thank you for giving us a great ending to a good night out.