The Yardbirds at The Crest Theatre in Sacramento

The Yardbirds consists of one original member and four Americans.

We obviously did not expect to see Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton or Jeff Beck but the reincarnation of The Yardbirds at the Crest Theatre in Sacramento last night was refreshingly enjoyable. My team member and Realtor extraordinaire, Barbara Dow, is always game to go with me to see acts from the 1960s. My husband was in diapers back then, so he doesn’t have a big interest in these shows. Aside from the brief moment of oh, yes, I recall that feeling for about 12 seconds in high school, it’s also great entertainment. I mean, I don’t care how good your music system, ain’t nobody playing bass live in my family room.

The Yardbirds played the Crest Theatre.

As usual, we scored front and center tickets. Now that we are both in our mid-60s, let’s just say we appreciate the experiences of our activities much more when there are no blockheads spilling beer blocking our view. Front row at The Crest Theatre is a very civilized way to see a show. I may wonder would I rather be at Slim’s in San Francisco, bouncing in front of the stage, getting squeezed by overly enthusiastic fans, and well, sometimes I would except my back might not last that long standing. At my age, sitting in a comfy seat with nobody in front of me, including the ability to wander to the bar and bring back a drink if I feel like it, is pretty much the best way to see a show.

Well, that and you can’t beat forty-five bucks a ticket. Seems strange to say that until I think about how much I have spent on tickets for a show, which can run into the thousands. I also hear that voice of Grace Slick leaning over the stage as I stood on top of a front row seat I had confiscated for Jefferson Airplane, mocking the audience: You paid $8 to get in? You were ripped off, man.

For Your Love is one of the old hit songs played by The Yardbirds at The Crest Theatre. It gives a young girl a false impression of the world. Makes her believe that a guy will do anything for her, when there is actually a limit to what a guy will do. Most men are not that overly ambitious. Many would rather take a nap than knock themselves out for your love. And when The Yardbirds sing the Bo Diddly tune I’m a Man, M-A-N, I think how sad it is that men have only 3 letters to define themselves. It seems so lonely.

Oh, and before I forget, I should mention that with The Empress Tavern open below the Crest (although it’s not open every night), there is a place to have dinner before the show without wandering the streets in downtown Sacramento in 105-degree heat, searching for food. That’s what happened due to a delayed soundcheck when The Zombies played The Crest. I’ve been to The Empress Tavern with my husband but this time we were seated at a booth, which I didn’t even realize existed in that space. The booth size was enormous, I mean, you could fit half a football team in that booth.

Barbara Dow picks at her enormous French Dip at The Empress Tavern.

The word best to describe The Empress is MEAT. Barbara is not a big seafood fan, so I figured it was a perfect place for her. She ordered the French Dip, prime rib shaved from the rotisserie. It was as big as her head. I grabbed her olive / pickle combination off her plate and popped the whole thing in my mouth before I realized there was an anchovy sandwiched in the middle. Well, somebody had to do it.

Elizabeth Weintraub shovels Seared Scallops into her mouth at The Empress Tavern.

I went with the Seared Scallops, accompanied by corn and yummy chanterelles, and a few bits of tator tots that I was not expecting, yet it worked well. Finished with a half scoop of cardamon ice cream. As we were finishing dinner, we realized our cellphones had dropped to no service. Our waiter came to the rescue and brought us the WiFi password so we could finish up our Sacramento real estate business for the day. This meant Barbara could upload a counter offer to DocuSign and I could respond to my seller’s newly received full-price offer. It doesn’t get any better than that.