Monkey Play at the El Rey in LA

When we heard that 100 Monkeys were going to wrap up their 45 city tour with several Southern California shows, we just couldn’t resist throwing all good judgment to the wind and making a long BookClub weekend out of it. Having unlimited wealth, no responsibilities in life, and a complete lack of priorities (only one part of this sentence is actually true), we decided to hit the road and become the 100 Monkeys version of Deadheads (but with daily showers).

The first of our four Monkey encounters was at the El Rey Theatre in LA, a fabulously renovated art deco theater from the 1930’s that makes you think old time Hollywood. The five of us (Twifixx, ZAnyMouse, Twi-daughters Nicole and Megan, and me) got spots in the center right up against the stage, the perfect location for maximum Monkey enjoyment. As always, it was a highly energetic show with the very enthusiastic crowd dancing and singing along the whole time. Every time I see the Monkeys perform, I’m convinced that it was the best show I’ve ever seen them do and this one was no exception. Jackson learned some mighty fine new moves during his travels these past few months and the band clicked together better than ever.

Yes, that really is a camera on Jackson’s hat. It took me awhile to notice the flashing red light and realize that we were being recorded every time he looked our way.

In honor of my good friend kiTT (who I’m convinced is the originator of Jared’s nickname “Mohawtie”) and thanks to a terrific suggestion from 17foreverLisa, we made neon green signs to try to get Jared to choose "Mohawtie" as the improv song. His sister was in the audience and he went with her title of "weightlifting snowman," but at least we made Jerad and Jackson laugh.

At the autograph table afterwards, Jerad told us that he would have picked our song title if his sister hadn't been there. I’m sure Jackson could have come up with some very interesting lyrics for that one! When Nicole gave them the Mohawtie sign to autograph, Jared drew a cute picture of a fish on it and then jokingly stuffed the page into his shirt. I'm not sure why he did that, but it was pretty funny and then Jackson acted like he was afraid to touch it. When Uncle Larry signed the page, he asked Ben J. what "Mohawtie" meant and Ben told him that it was because "Jerad has a mohawk and people think he's... we'll... you know.... hot" and then he looked really embarrassed from saying that. I thought it was such a generous and personal touch for the guys to stay after the show for an autograph line when it was so late and they were clearly exhausted.

We’ve seen 100 Monkeys perform quite a few times now and it’s hard to explain to people exactly what it is that keeps us coming back over and over again. I guess the best way I can put it is that it’s a chance to escape from real life for a bit with my two best friends (and future commune co-dwellers) and our wonderful daughters to dance and smile with a group of multi-talented guys who are very easy on the eyes and seem just as happy to be there performing for us as we are being there listening to them. What’s not to love?

And speaking of easy on the eyes... here's a favorite shot from one of the best magazine shoots EVER! I realize he's not a member of 100 Monkeys, but it just isn't right to leave him out of a TwiBite post.

TwiloveSue XOXO

P.S. Thank you to ZAnyMouse for naming my Monkey posts!