You may remember a few months ago I bought tickets to see KT Tunstall, a Scottish folk/rock singer/songwriter whose music I’ve loved for ages. She wasn’t coming to my city, but Des Moines was close enough – less than three hours away. My local concert buddy had plans already but the husband said he’d join me even though he’s not really a fan. Then a couple of weeks before the concert, he wasn’t able to take the time off work anymore. No worries, I have three friends in Iowa, surely one of them could be my date! Well, one had plans and the other two weren’t interested. I briefly considered not going because who wants to go to a concert by themselves? But I quickly decided I’d regret it too much if I didn’t go – and thank goodness for that because I had a blast.

It helps that I’m an introvert who enjoys being alone … a LOT. I need regular alone time to be happy. So two days mostly on my own ended up being a treat! I drove down Tuesday morning and spent a couple of hours puttering around Valley Junction, an adorable downtown neighborhood. I visited the yarn shop, the pen shop, the bookstore, and several little antique/gift shops. I had a burger and a cider at a tavern. Then I drove out to another independent bookstore and hit a nearby record store too. I checked into my hotel, rested for a little while, then got ready to meet two of my Iowa friends for dinner. We had a great time and I made it to the venue with plenty of time to visit the merch table – gotta get the concert tee! – and get a glass of wine. It was held at Hoyt Sherman Place, a historic building that used to be a family home. It was gorgeous – beautifully restored and maintained – and I wish I could have toured the whole place.

But the show, the show was the whole reason for this trip, and it was so so good. I was in the fifth row of the center section so the seats were perfect. I got goosebumps when she came out and started singing just from the thrill of hearing the song in person. She was funny and chatty and her voice sounded fantastic. Plus it was just her on stage, no band or anything! She had two guitars, one acoustic and one electric, plus an amp and a looping machine. (I don’t know what it’s actually called, sorry!) She’d record a couple of seconds of beating her guitar with her hand for percussion, or singing a background vocal, and it would just repeat during the song. It was impressive. My only complaint was that the show was too short! It was a co-headlining show with Martin Sexton (I hadn’t heard of him before but he put on a good show) and he and KT each did about an hour of music.

So was it weird or awkward to be there alone? Honestly, not really. I had a couple of moments where I felt self-conscious, but once I got seated, it was no big deal. Would I still rather go with someone else? Yeah, it’s nice to have company, someone to chat with before the show starts, someone to rehash the show with after it ends. But I think I enjoyed the show itself just as much as I would have with a date.

The next day I visited another yarn shop before dropping in for a quick chat with Sarah. She wasn’t feeling well and I was both tired and ever-so-slightly hungover (oops) so I didn’t stay long, and I was on the road home by lunchtime. Sadly, I didn’t think to take a photo of my stash enhancements before putting them away, but you can probably imagine – there was plenty of purple along with a bit of teal and pink. Three skeins have already been wound so I can cast them on soon, so you’ll see them soon enough.

Hopefully I’ll remember this experience the next time I feel weird about doing something alone – and I do it anyway!