We recently returned from a trip to Asheville and Charlotte, North Carolina to visit friends in Asheville and to go on a road trip to Charlotte, NC to see Billy Idol and Joan Jett in concert at the PNC Music Pavillion. Yes you read that correctly, rockers Billy Idol (68 years old) and Joan Jett (66 year old) are still rocking in their late/mid 60s!
The Concert
Joan Jett opened for Billy Idol and performed her catalogue of hits (most of the songs I knew). We had fun singing along to songs like “I Hate Myself for Loving You”, “I Love Rock’n’Roll, and “Bad Reputation” (if you are familiar with this song, we were all loudly singing, off key, “I don’t given a d*mn about my bad reputation…”, ha!).
My favorite performance of her opening act was her cover of Sly & The Family Stone’s song “Everyday People”:
A very timely performance with all the interesting stuff going on in my country the past 5 months…
Sometimes I’m right, I can be wrong.
My own beliefs are in my song.
A butcher, a banker, a drummer, and then
makes no difference what group I’m in.
I am everyday people! (yeah yeah)
There is a blue one who can’t accept the green one
for living with the black one trying to be a skinny one
Different strokes, for different folks!
And so on, and so on, and scooby-dooby-doo. (oooh, sha sha!)
We’ve got to live together!
I am no better, and neither are you.
We are the same whatever we do.
You love me, you hate me, you know me and then,
you can’t figure out the bag I’m in.
I am everyday people! (yeah yeah)
There is a long hair who doesn’t like the short hair
for being such a rich one that will not help the poor one.
Different strokes, for different folks!
And so on, and so on, and scooby-dooby-doo. (oooh, sha sha!)
We got to live together!
There is a yellow one who won’t accept the black one
who won’t accept the red one who won’t accept the white one.
Different strokes, for different folks!
And so on, and so on, and scooby-dooby-doo. (oooh, sha sha!)
I am everyday people!
Billy Idol was amazing as was his band. I smiled when he said his granddaughter was in the audience. Mr. “White Wedding”, “Dancing with Myself”, “Eyes Without a Face” is a grandpa now – awesome!
I took a couple video clips but they weren’t worthy an upload to YouTube but if you want to virtually experience the concert I attended here’s the full concert someone posted from the week previous in Tampa, Florida – you can see grandpa Billy rock out (warning: there is some profanity in the performance):
We road tripped from Asheville, NC to Charlotte, NC in our friends’ electric car – a Ford Mustang EV. It was my first time going on a road trip in an electric car and the 130+ mile (209 km) road trip was very smooth!
We arrived to the concert early so we had fun “tailgating” in the concert parking lot having a picnic from the car’s trunk/boot.
Touring the Post Hurricane Helene Devastation
In late September 2024 Hurricane Helene devastated large sections of Asheville, NC (in addition to other areas of North Carolina and surrounding states) but our Asheville based friends live in a housing community on a higher elevation than the lower areas impacted by the river flooding. During the hurricane and after they lost utilities (water, power, cellular service) but their home was not damage. Their previous car however was destroyed by a fallen tree. Thank goodness they were not in it!
While we were visiting Asheville for a couple days before heading to Charlotte they drove us around some of the areas devastated by the floods that still have not recovered.
I took a bunch of photos but they seemed too sad to post, homes and business lost (not to mention all those lives lost) so I thought I’d just share a couple to give you a little taste of what I saw.
On a happier note, my friend S and I spent a day during our visit thrifting and going to bookstores while John and E toured whiskey and cigar bars. We met up for dinner at a sweet outdoor eatery in the River Arts District in downtown Asheville.
Cats Obsessed with Lace
Our friends have two cats and the cats are obsessed with LACE! This was discovered accidentally when S trimmed some lace off a skirt she didn’t want and left on the floor. The cats battled over the lace. She had to cut it into two pieces so each cat could have their own piece of lace!
Here is one of the kitties enjoying their evening “lace time”:
Garden Tour
I’ll close out this post with some images from an amazing eatery in Asheville we visited for breakfast one morning – Sunny Point Cafe.
The restaurant has a wonderful onsite garden where they grow and harvest the produce that they serve at the eatery! You can eat in the garden or just wander around after eating in the main restaurant. It was so zen I didn’t want to leave!
tierneycreates 