The rain proved advantageous. It provided for a little tequila time at the Sandia Casino bar while simultaneously delaying Robert Plant’s show at the Sandia Ampitheater the night before last. I was actually going to stay home and watch election returns, which would have been a colossal mistake, shattering my hopes for Albuquerque’s chance of someday being something more than what she is today. But thanks to the kindness of a friend who works with a Mormon woman who doesn’t know Robert Plant but loves to win tickets on the radio, I found myself a few rows back for what turned out to be a rockin' good show. Albuquerque came out for Plant and in return the Original Hair Farmer dug deep into the Led Zep catalogue (Black Dog, Gallow’s Pole, Thank You, Going to California, What is and What Should Never Be) and the fans went nuts. Then I woke up yesterday morning to face the inevitable: four more years of Marty with Mustang Sally Mayer added on for good measure. Goodbye Miguel Gómez, we hardly knew you. Don Harris and Tina C. get to battle it out for the final seat in what amounts to a race to the bottom when it comes to bringing fresh ideas to the Council Chambers. At least Don Harris rode a bike while campaigning door-to-door, so there is still hope for humanity.
One last thing about Plant. When he showed up at SXSW back in March to pimp his new CD, he told a story at the convention center about the time he was in the midst of a stadium tour in U.S. with Led Zeppelin in the '70s and happened to be in the same city when Elvis was appearing in concert. Plant said Elvis was his idol as a kid, so he went to the show. During one song, Elvis’ band screws up and Elvis stops the song and says something like, “C’mon boys, we gotta get this right. Led Zeppelin’s in the house tonight.” Plant said being acknowledged by the King (who by that time was looking like Evil Knievel nine months pregnant) made him want to put his face in his hands and weep.
Moral of the story: If Robert Plant could be humbled at a time when he was the reigning rock god of the world, maybe there’s hope for Marty showing a little humility in his next term.
