After working nights for the past year and a half, you can only imagine how excited I was when two weeks ago, my ultra-cool new boss swapped me to working days. But I was also a little nervous. For the past year and a half, my nightlife had been relegated to hoping that the good bands were playing on one of my two nights off each week...so I felt a little rusty going back to my previous life of going out three to four nights a week. Would I really be able to take back my throne as the Queen of the Honky Tonks?

Happily, the answer was yes.

I hit the ground running on Wednesday, January 16th (the previous two days were spent trying to work ahead, in anticipation of Punk Rock Bowling that weekend) with Cross Canadian Ragweed at my favorite venue, the House of Blues, Sunset. Last year's show was comprised of almost entirely new material from their then-current album, Garage, which was cool, but people come to see CCR for "17," "Constantly," "Bang My Head," and the like. CCR played a nice mix of the old and new this time around (Hey, they played that song, too!), and getting to sing back, "Sweet Home Alabama!" at Cody Canada's prompt of, "They sang about Savannah..." was one of the moments that I know I'll look back on fondly on my deathbed. Cody, by the way, looks a lot less scary now that's he's cut off much of his formerly waist-length hair.

Punk Rock Bowling that weekend consisted of a lot of driving, bowling, shopping (you need to see my boots), eating (I'm still thinking about that chicken I had at Billy Bob's Steakhouse), but mostly drinking. Got to see The Adolescents Friday night, and Throw Rag proved on Saturday night that even with a crappy sound system, they are still great - both clothed and unclothed.

I left Las Vegas early Sunday afternoon, concerned about the amount of work I'd have waiting for me at the office on Monday...and also wanted a bit of a "resting period" before the week began. My "resting period" plans were blown out of the water half-way through my drive when a friend reminded me that Pat Green was playing at the House of Blues, Anaheim that night. I've never been able to resist temptation, so I drove straight to Disneyland, with enough time to change clothes, get tickets, and still see the opening band, who was about as memorable as their name (I couldn't tell ya to save my life). Pat was awesome, but in case I was worried that Orange County wasn't as Republican as ever, I can now rest assured that that's not the case at all. Pat's mention of, "I'm looking forward to 2008! Yeah, there's gonna be a new jerk in office. Or a woman!" was met with boos, and when Pat sang, "Here We Go," and substituted "Toby Keith" for "Nashville" in the line, "I gave up on Nashville a long time ago," I was the only one who cheered. Great.

Wednesday afternoon found me at the taping of NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," as Shooter Jenningswas the musical guest. Watching the taping is truly an amazing experience - it really doesn't seem possible that they're able to write (especially without writers), produce, memorize monologues, rehearse, and execute a full hour show day after day. Guests included a contortionist, a crazy lady who spun dishes and bowls at the top of poles, and another crazy lady who made her housecats do all sorts of wacky tricks (they call this "Writers' Strike Filler"). Adam Carolla and Richard Roeper rounded out the guest list (Adam Carolla's voice isn't nearly as obnoxious as I remember it being on "Loveline" - that was part of his charm!), and Shooter was awesome.

I had sort of a dilemma in planning Friday night...Jason Isbell (formerly of the Drive-By Truckers) and Will Hoge were playing at Spaceland, but Todd Snider (who is a not-miss) was playing at The Mint, followed by Steve Poltz's CD release party. Fortunately, I discovered a work-around...if I went to see Jason and Will at the Vault 350 in Long Beach Thursday night, that would free me up to see Todd and Steve at the Mint Friday night. And I wouldn't have to worry about getting lost driving in Silverlake. Perfect.

I'd called the Vault ahead of time to get a rough estimate of when Will Hoge (my priority) would be going on (I knew I'd need to take a nap if he was going on late enough) and was told 11p. I figured if I arrived by 10p, I'd be able to see most of Jason Isbell's set, and all of Will's. Well, shockingly, I got lost in Long Beach, and arrived at approximately 10:15p to discover signs on the front door saying that Will and the opener would be playing extended sets because Jason was ill. From within, I could hear Will crooning, "When I Can Afford to Lose," the first song on his new CD, Draw the Curtains, so I was anxious to get inside, but not so anxious that I didn't let the doorman give me a comp ticket because I was cute (read: because I have a nice rack). Inside, I found that the torrential rains had kept most people away - there were maybe 30 people in the venue that I'd seen fit 700. It was cool, though, to be able to sit down and watch a great show at a great venue, and even Will sadly commented that the Vault had the best sound at any venue he'd played at during this tour, and only a handful of people had braved the weather to see it.

We were a bit late arriving at the Mint for Todd's scheduled 8p performance, but that was okay, because Todd was more than a bit late going on stage, so it all worked out. This was the third night that Todd had played the Mint, and he'd be back Saturday night, and if I had been able to, I would've attended all four nights - Todd is that awesome. I thought it was a little ironic that Todd was playing Los Angeles on the same night that his nemesis, Garth Brooks, was also playing Los Angeles (more about that in a bit), and yet, he didn't take on his usual diatribe about how one of the songwriters of Garth's "Beer Run," had stolen the idea from him, and in retaliation, Todd wrote a song called "If Tomorrow Never Comes," which has a completely different message than Garth's hit of the same name. Todd played both songs, but omitted his usual explanation.

Prior to Steve Poltz's set, a guy named Tim Bluhm, lead singer of The Mother Hips, played. Tim has a very nice voice, and a mellow, but not unenjoyable, set. Tim and Steve host a songwriters' workshop each year; this year it will be in Yosemite, and in Costa Rica next.

Although Steve co-wrote Jewel's "You Were Meant for Me," his sound is far from commercial-pop. Sonically, he's much more similar to Tim Easton, Blue Rodeo, and Jayhawks, but he's also definitely been influenced by Todd Snider, with his comedic and frequently self-deprecating explanations of how some of his songs came about.

It was time for something completely different Saturday night, as I held tickets to see one Garth Brooks play the last of five shows held over two days, an unprecedented move by any performer. The concerts were a benefit for the Southern California 2008 Fire Relief Campaign, with all proceeds from tickets and merch sales going to the fund. Garth had played two shows (one at 6p; one at 10p) Friday night, with the first airing live on CBS. I understand that Garth was not a fan of having to constantly stop and start between songs for the taping, and was much more amped up for the second Friday night show. Each of Garth's five performances had slightly different set lists (Garth says he knows that there are some die-hard fans who would be in attendance at all five shows and wanted to mix it up for them, and to have people compare notes and say, "No, he didn't do that at our show!"), and Huey Lewis was a guest at the Friday night shows, but not at the Saturday shows. Garth's wife, the phenomenal Trisha Yearwood, performed a couple of songs with Garth at all five shows, earning more applause than Garth himself! The chemistry between them was unbelievable during their Grammy-winning duet, "In Another's Eyes," even from opposite ends of the stage. I felt a little like I was seeing Garth fifteen years too late - in videos, we see him running all over and jumping off the stage, and this show didn't have that kind of energy - maybe because the man is now nearly 46 years old - and also because this was his fifth show in two days - and third show in one day! However, it was very clear how much Garth loves performing and how much he misses it - and also how much his fans miss him.

I haven't really had time to make plans for this week's night life, except I know that I'll be back at the NBC studios on Monday to see Dierks Bentley perform on Leno...but with Lady Antebellumat the Mint on Tuesday, Deana Carter at the Roxy also on Tuesday, and Mark Olson and Mary Gauthier at the Troubadour on Thursday...it looks like my dance card is starting to fill up.