I'll admit to some trepidation about seeing a band that touts themselves as uppity and blues. As I have mentioned in previous columns I am not especially a fan of the blues. And who likes anything uppity? I went to the show on the suggestion of Maureen Cox, who I would follow anywhere. In this case it was to the Music Mill. Saffire and the three talented uppity women who make up the band happily surprised me. The three musicians took turns performing their original songs. They mixed in some great blues standards. All of the songs were about the power and pain of being a woman. They also taught me about blues. I always equate blues music with long meandering songs. These songs were full of history and had a pop vibe to them.

Singer-electric bass-mandolin player Andra Faye calls Rocky Ripple her hometown. Her mother was in the audience. I'm not sure I could sing those songs in front of my mom, but I'm shy and prudish that way. It was a great evening, and I'm glad that I went.

As always, the Music Mill was a great place to see a show. For this performance they had enough chairs for the audience to sit down. I also might venture to say that the Music Mill has the best restrooms in rock-and-roll.

As you dear readers know, I work most Saturday nights at the Red Key, which means I don't get to see Saturday night music very often. My coworker Brandi suggested that we see one of her favorite bands, the Twincats, after work. Even by my crazy standards, it seemed a little weird to be walking in to a bar at 1:45. The place was packed! It was hard to get to the bar (in retrospect, that was a good thing) and people were twirly dancing. The funk band features twins Adam and Seth Catron on percussion and guitar. I can see why Brandi loves them. On a side note, I am old enough to be Brandi's mom; in fact I think that her mom is a year younger than I am. Brandi and I wound up dressed alike for work that evening. Black tee shirt, cuffed jeans and pink Chuck Taylor tennis shoes. As they say, keep things long enough and they will be back in style. I twirled myself out the door during the Twincat's last song.

I know that I lead an interesting life. On my way home from work I stopped at the Stutz building to pick up my dad's teeter-totter that is being used in a film shoot. I drive a little pick-up truck, so part of the board was resting on the cab and the other end was sticking out of the back of the truck. I'm sure I was quite a sight driving through Broad Ripple. Here is an account of the rest of the evening:

I was meeting the Marigold crew at the party, and in true Nora fashion I did not write down the address. I tucked the seesaw mobile behind my bank and walked down Carrollton to the preview tour. I walked up the driveway of a house hoping that I was not crashing a party. A homeowner and former CATH customer greeted me and assured me I was in the right place. There was delicious food from Three Sisters and wine from Cork and Cracker. I loved touring Rob and Gretchen's home. They were both coffeehouse customers before they married. It's been fun to see them through the courtship, marriage and now as parents. There were three homes on the preview tour. Next-door neighbors Chad and Rick also had an amazing home. I was experiencing major house envy. We wandered over to the third house, and would up on one that was not on the tour. Newlyweds Autumn and Zack were gracious and led us through their house anyway. They moved to the neighborhood in August and have made great improvements on the house already. Welcome to the neighborhood Autumn and Zack, and we promise not to barge in again-at least until the next home tour.

We walked over to the Upper Room for the Born Again Floozies' CD release party. This talented band features tap dancers, a tuba player, guitar and a marching bass drum. I cannot do them justice about how fun they are. The Upper Room was as packed as I've ever seen it. The crowd was very diverse. I was squished up against musicians, politicians, attorneys and every thing in between. The Floozies play original songs and some quirky covers. I never thought I'd see tap-dancing to the song Highway to Hell. From there I headed down the street to. . .

. . . see a hip-hop band. Greg from the group Cleptoz is a trainer at my gym. And when I say "my gym", I mean Monon Fitness, just down the street from me where I have a sometimes membership. I guess if I would ever set foot in the door, I could claim it as mine. I've wanted to see Greg perform for years. I always say that I like hip-hop music but I don't know much about it other than being a fan of Q-Tip from a Tribe Called Quest. I got to see three other groups before Cleptoz took the stage. I'm not sure who the first two were. I did hear "dude from Butler" to describe the second group. I really enjoyed the third group, Boondoc Saints. Their socially conscious rhymes were about homelessness and hunger. Around midnight Cleptoz began. One of their songs was about the "ladies in the back of the room"; I don't think they were talking about Liz, Sherry, Michelle and me, all feeling like chaperones. In fact I met Betsy, the daughter of a friend of mine there. I really enjoyed the music and the crowd. Often when I'm at shows I'm struck by the number of twenty-somethings smoking and not in good shape. This bunch was mostly non-smoking energetic and healthy.

Tad Armstrong and David England met at the Patio three years ago when their bands shared a bill. Armstrong fronted Indianapolis favorite alt-folk band Middletown and England was playing with Bloomington indie darlings The Mary Janes. Tad and Dave are both amazing singers and songwriters. Tad is my "desert island" singer. If I could only listen to one person for the rest of my life, if would be Tad.

Edie has an amazing voice and is a terrific songwriter. She has a fun, self-deprecating sense of humor and is a great storyteller. She was a CATH favorite. She is touring with equally as talented Anne Heaton. It is a great day when you can see Edie and Anne at the same time. I'm looking forward to hearing new songs and catching up with old friends.