Tonight was the annual Over The Rhine Christmas concert at the Taft Theater in downtown Cincinnati. Wendy & I attended as guests of the band with our friends Brian & Milan.

The four of us met for dinner at SHANGHAI MAMA’s, a few blocks up from the theater, for an excellent dinner of Asian-inspired food. I just love their house-made noodles! After dinner, we took the long way around to find Starbuck’s for a cup of (overpriced) coffee before walking to the theater. It was a fair amount of walking, but we didn’t mind after the big dinner. The fact that the weather was unseasonably warm made it even more comfortable, and a nice contrast to other year’s when this concert is on what seems to be the coldest night of the year.

We had great seats thanks to Karin & Linford, and enjoyed opener Mary Gauthier more than we thought we would. Over the Rhine came on and did a very nice show, featuring many songs from their new Christmas record, SNOW ANGELS. Since we hadn’t yet gotten the record, most of the songs were new to us. Karin’s lazy diction made it difficult to understand the words she was singing, but we enjoyed the concert nonetheless.

After the show, we were invited backstage to say hi to the band, which we did before ducking out early and heading home.