Jon Stewart - 9/16/06 - Merriweather Post Pavilion

Rob, Carolyn (Rob's cousin), and I saw Jon Stewart in concert on Saturday night at Merriweather Post Pavilion. Here's some thoughts about the experience.

It had rained on-and-off all day on Saturday and we were lucky it cleared up in the late afternoon. In fact, on the drive up I-95 to Columbia, MD, we saw a huge rainbow off to our right. A Good Omen, we remarked.

Before the show we tailgated in the parking area. Interestingly, we were the only group *really* tailgating. Others were standing around drinking near their vehicles, but we were sitting in camp chairs, drinking Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA and Hoegaarden White, grilling burgers and brats on a portable gas grill, and jamming to Beastie Boys' 1992 masterpiece Check Your Head. Good times.

Eventually we moseyed into the ampitheater area. We arrived as the opening comedian was finishing up. He was funny. I didn't catch his name...

Jon Stewart was relaxed, charismatic, and in a very impish mood. He started out the show talking about politics (not surprisingly, about Bush and Cheney -- who he characterized as "bizarrely evil" and impersonated with a quacking sound) and moved from there to race relations to religion to gay marriage to sex with pinatas. Seriously, sex with pinatas.

He also showed a private side of himself that you don't see on the Daily Show: dog owner, middle aged father of a 2-year-old and a 7-month-old, PC gamer, Mac owner but not necessarily Mac fan, cultural Jew but not observant, etc.

He was totally in control of the show, self-assured, confident. A man, and a comedian, aware of where he is and what his role in the national and popular conversation has become. To many in the audience, he's just a step or two below deity status. To me, he's just really cool, and really, really funny.