Vision Quests and Veggie Delights

J.I. has seen many shows in unusual venues, including basements, art galleries, boats, and a recent one that involved a bridge and a naked fat man. But last night marked the first time we saw a show at a Taoist Healing Center, when we checked out John Shannon’s CD release party.

The actual healing center resembled a higher end yoga studio, with big mirrors and low lighting. Members of the small crowd mingled and drank herbal tea before sitting down to watch Shannon’s set.

We’ll be totally honest – it just wasn’t our thing. Shannon has a very nice voice and is clearly quite talented, but it was a little too mellow for our taste. We were antsy by the third song, and the intimate location made it impossible for us to fall back on our usual not-really-digging-the-show distraction (cell phone Tetris, best six bucks we ever spent).

In between songs, Shannon told the crowd about his vision quest, which was the inspiration for many of the songs on the record. Apparently, a vision quest involves sitting in a circle for four days, not eating and drinking only water. So, from here on out, models: you’re not starving yourselves the week before fashion shows. You’re on a “vision quest.”

J.I. stuck around for the dinner afterwards, and we were handsomely rewarded with some delicious vegetarian food. Compliments to the chef for making bean paste and tempeh taste better than any of the ribs we consumed at SXSW last week.