Tony's Week Seven: Rock and/or Roll

My Do Something Awesome of Week Seven, which feels like it was posted oddly quickly after Week Six, was seeing Ben Folds in concert in Knoxville.

Knoxville doesn't get a lot of big-name artists; probably since there are no suitable venues in town. So, I was pretty excited to nab some tickets for Folds a few days before he got in town.

Seeing Folds live would have been enough to qualify as a DSA. However, the event took place in a warehouse-turned-gay-club-turned-concert-venue called the Valarium, somewhere I had never been before. It was a non-descript building hidden underneath an overpass that you would have guessed had become forgotten to time had there not been a small neon sign indicating its name. Once inside, though, the atmosphere quickly changed to a very hip, alternative crowd with a egalitarian setup. No seating to speak of, just a large floor with a standing balcony, a bar, and a BBQ shack. And of course there was Folds rocking the suburbs. (See what I did there?)

This is the second time since DSA that I've stumbled upon an alternative crowd that I believed previously didn't exist in Knoxville. And it's the first live event I've been to in over 5 months. Sometimes I qualify an exciting night out as a 3d movie. It's nice to have the bar set a little higher again. Another successful week at unearthing the hidden wonders of Knoxville. Awesome.