Dean and I saw Dan Bern at Jammin’ Java last night. I think its been a year since the last time I saw him. I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve seen him perform, but it is probably somewhere around 30. Last night’s performance was a good solid show — not particularly noteworthy except that he seemed in a good mood the entire performance.

He played lots of his old and recognizable songs including Tiger Woods, Black Tornado, Suzanne, Chelsea Hotel, God Said No, & Jerusalem. He played a couple of songs from Two Feet Tall, his new CD intended for kids: It Vibrates and Hen Party.

He played The 5th Beatles which always makes me laugh. I guess I’ve not heard it enough to remember all the jokes in it. He also played a song I’d not heard before. The first line was “God is a concept by which we measure our own pain”.

I like sitting near appreciative new-to-Dan folks and seeing / hearing their reaction to some of his lyrics — last night we sat near a table of them. They laughed at all the right places: “I’ve got big balls…” “I am the messiah…”

The icing on the cake last night was running into a friend I’d not seen in years. It felt a little like old times again.