Formaggio 40th Anniversary and Portugal. The Man on Sunday
Sunday was a busy day for Dan and I, and I was happy that we were able to spend much of it outside, enjoying the perfect Fall weather. Our adventures took us from a neighborhood in Cambridge to the Seaport in Boston on a long but fun Sunday.
Penny joined Dan and I at the Formaggio 40th Anniversary Block Party in Cambridge. Formaggio shutdown a portion of Huron Avenue in front of the store and invited various food vendors, cheese producers, dessert-makers, cider and beer makers, and other artisans who make some of the products sold at Formaggio. With over 2,000 tickets sold, the event was overwhelmingly packed, and I’m so glad that we picked-up our wrist bands the day before and arrived at exactly 1:00pm when the gates opened. It was fun eating food from many of the restaurants we frequent who buy cheese from Formaggio, and I enjoyed catching up with Jesse from Shacksbury Cider. Things really got overcrowded around 2:30pm, and we then decided to head out as we had already sampled most of what we wanted to try.
Following our adventure at Formaggio, Penny went home while Dan and I rested for a few hours before heading downtown Boston to attend the Portugal. The Man concert at Blue Hills Bank Pavilion. However, prior to arriving at the concert venue, we stopped by City Tap House to pre-game a cider and have a few snacks. Their beer list was extensive, and I had a seasonal Downeast Pumpkin cider on tap, which was made even better when we were able to snag a spot on the outdoor patio in front of a fire pit, which was the perfect way to spend an hour on a cool Fall evening. We ordered the large Bavarian Pretzel, Pimento Cheese Dip, and Shishito Peppers. The pretzel was hot, airy, and the beer mustard dipping sauce was good. I thought the pimento dip was too runny, but Dan thought it was fine. The shishito peppers were perfectly blistered, and I liked the aioli dipping sauce . For pub food, the snacks were good, but is was nothing extraordinary. However, the outdoor fire pit was perfect for sitting outside while having a few small snacks, and we will go back.
We ended our evening at the Blue Hills Bank Pavilion to attend the Portugal. The Man concert, which happened to be the final US show on their Woodstock Tour. Founded in Wasilla, Alaska, and is currently based in Portland, Oregon. The band released their first album in 2004, but finally hit it big in 2017 with their release of Woodstock, featuring the songs “Feel it Still” (which won a Grammy this past year) and “Live in the Moment”. We had fourth row seats for the show, which offered us an excellent view of the stage. The concert was great, but unusual. The band didn’t talk much during the show and they didn’t have a spotlight on the singers, which made seeing them difficult even from our fourth row seats. (Add in all the smoke effects, and it was sometimes impossible to see anything.) But that didn’t really matter as I really enjoyed the show and was surprised that the band played “harder” music when performing live when compared to the music on their albums. They performed several covers, which included The Beatles, David Bowie, Metallica, and Pink Floyd, in addition to playing their top hits. My favorite song of the evening was “In the Moment,” and I thought “Purple, Yellow, Red, Blue” was also very good. (To see videos of some of the songs, check out my Instagram account — Julie Schultz.) If you are a fan of Portugal. The Man’s music, I would highly recommend seeing them if they ever come to your town.
Overall, we had a great Sunday. I was so happy to celebrate Formaggio’s 40th Anniversary and see many of the cheesemongers we’ve gotten to know over the years. We followed that with a good meal at a gastropub, and ended the evening at a fun concert.
(Sunday, September 23, 2018 / @julieschultz79 / #mycrazylifeblog)
