Blessing in Disguise 2026

2026-07-12.

We’re just going to launch right into it! I got spare keys for my dog sitter as he arrived, and I left the apartment around 9:30 on Friday.

I took a 10:25 FlixBus from Seattle, and my trip started with the woman at the front desk spending a few minutes out of sight as she checked what bus I was on. A line formed behind me. Definitely not stressful! CNN on the bus station TV was reporting on Iran’s Trump assassination plot and the Houston ICE shooting.

I marveled at the Seattle skyline, bridges, and landscapes as we drove to Spokane. The AC didn’t quite work and it felt like 90 degrees the entirety of the 5.5 hour bus ride, but a stop at Ellensburg Starbucks for an Impossible breakfast sandwich, a butter croissant, and a glass of ice water made all the difference. We arrived in Spokane around 15:45 and I was happy with how clean it looked, and a bit bigger than I imagined. The 1 Line had hybrid buses like King County’s, but there was also an all-electric bus! The bus station was clean, and I got a quick Lyft (modern Toyota Corolla!) to my Airbnb in Browne’s Addition. I went to World Feast Kitchen for authentic non-profit Filipino, and had delicious food that tasted like nothing I’d ever had before! Back at the Airbnb, Katherine suggested I watch Surprisingly Bright Creatures, which I loved, and then I decided to torture myself by watching Pixels. It lived up to the insults it received. I got halfway through, turned it off, and fell asleep.

Saturday was the big day. First, breakfast at Frank’s Diner. Wonderful atmosphere, open stove behind the bar where I sat, and delicious toast to go with a wonderful veggie scramble with hash and onions. I started talking to the couple next to me, a man and woman who had ordered mimosas. She was fawning all over him, and he was closer to me, and we talked about our shared history at Microsoft, life in tech, and video games. He was happy and hesitant to mention Spokane’s recent growth, and she confidently shared that people from California were stealing their homes. They were a local couple, he had been here for 35 years. I gathered that he was 35 years old. When I finished my meal, the server asked if I wanted dessert. I had seen the sundae on the menu. I could afford to gain a bit of weight at the cost of a carefree morning sundae, and I ordered the first one of the day. Worth every penny. No shame, either, we all laughed about what a silly decision it was. The couple ordered a milkshake and was still sipping when I left, wishing them a good day.

But I learned the concert didn’t start until 13:30! And then I learned AJR wouldn’t be on stage until 19:00! So I read The Dispatch, commented more about JK Rowling’s anti-trans positions, and took a nap. Then I texted Katherine while reflecting on mortality and sexuality and the realization that the FBI’s UCR definition of rape excludes what happened to me, so I did a lot of research there.

Then I finally put on some sunscreen and got outside, walking in the 86 degree heat past Coeur d’Alene Park to the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture around 14:30. PBS had a special event outside, and I learned about the YWCA, Sons of the Revolution, Washington Public Radio, and an archive society with authentic Civil War diaries! I flipped pages in a book that’s over 160 years old!

The museum was free that day, and I talked to the woman at the front desk about EnChroma glasses for colorblind people. She said they’d gotten mixed to positive reviews, nothing mind-blowing nor nauseating from anyone that used them. Sounded like a net benefit to me! I looked at some paintings from the 1600s that included one with a boy peeing, one with a dog pooping, and one with naked baby Jesus defeating death and the Devil. In the modern history section, there were Spokane baseball caps made as part of the first known collaboration between a baseball team and an American Indian tribe. They also had a 1984 Apple computer, and I found it neat that the Control and Shift buttons were flipped from today’s layout.

The main event, of course, was the knights in shining armor. Thanks to the efforts of a rich Italian dude and many preservationists, there was nothing between me and authentic suits of armor except for air and self-control. No glass obscured my view of these amazing and varied medieval metal suits. I fricking loved it. And there were swords! And crossbows! And a 2-handed long sword, it was like 5.5 feet tall! Loved it, loved it, loved it. I knew I had to buy something to support this place, so I went to the gift shop. They were selling squishy dragons filled with sand, and they were the size of my hand. Naturally, I picked up three and quickly tried to juggle them. I succeeded. I paid about $40 and now own three juggling dragons. Worth it.

I tried to go to Sorella for dinner, but their summer hours showed they were actually closed on weekends. So I had pizza and a tort at The Outsider. Delicious! A brick oven and another open kitchen really inspires confidence in and appreciation of the food. What a lovely concept.

I arrived at Blessing in Disguise around 18:30. I waited in a 10-minute line for a $6 water because I didn’t have any empty bottle to bring with me into the venue. The woman behind me was parenting her young daughter, so it was an easy wait. Kids are awesome, and this energetic little one was about 3 or 4, not exactly happy to stand in line, but not causing too much of a fuss. After I ordered, I accidentally brushed her hair as she ran from her mom to her dad just out of my field of view. Her mom apologized, I smiled and waved it off, and headed out to the main stage.

I found a great spot just in front of the merch stand right near the center, so I only blocked like 4 people’s view. Macklemore later reported attendance of 12,000, and there were definitely several thousand in attendance for both AJR and Macklemore. The heat had died a bit and the sun was covered by clouds, so I wasn’t sweating much as a recording of Bohemian Rhapsody played. We all sang along and soon enough AJR was on stage.

What a tremendous performance. Lights, cameras, and action were put to full use as Jack did “the screen thing,” as my neighbors put it. There was some fan interaction in the swordplay contest for Jack’s hat after Jack called out another woman for yawning twice. They played 16 songs in their 90-minute set, each more enthralling than the last, concluding on their breakout hit Weak.

I cleaned up about a dozen empty cans, refilled my water, listened to a few minutes of Everclear, and headed back to the main stage for Macklemore at 21:30. I spent the time chatting with a family and a recent college grad, all locals. Macklemore was introduced by an American Indian who wordlessly vocalized for a minute or so before a Macklemore song came on.

The bass at this concert rattled my chest. Having been dragged to concerts before and never voluntarily attending an intense one of my own, the power here was familiar but, for the first time, not terrifying. I didn’t feel like my weak heart was vulnerable to the loud noises, and I didn’t feel like I might collapse at any moment. I felt entranced. I was a part of the music, a part of the performance, with my whole chest, entirely by my own choice, finally. It was freeing, even though I knew only Macklemore’s most popular songs, and hadn’t listened to any of them in years. In that crowd, I was just as much a fan as anyone else singing along.

Macklemore referred to Spokane as his second home. The music video for Downtown was recorded in the city. He told how his team shut down the city for five days, and “if that fucked your week up, I apologize!” (I’m relaying that quote from memory.) During Downtown, the fourth song of his set, Macklemore wore a vest with two patches: what I saw as an Irish flag with a shamrock in the middle, and a Palestine flag on the right. I wondered whether the vest reflected a genuine belief or just pandering. I did not know Macklemore. I enjoyed the music regardless. He had picked a fan, a kid named Ben from Spokane, to sing the hook. I don’t think they turned Ben’s mic on, but he certainly had a blast!

After the sixth song, Macklemore spoke on stage. He said he saw a sign in the crowd and, after finding it again, spoke slowly and clearly: “Palestine. Free Palestine. Free Palestine.” He continued into a speech, orating against what he called a genocide in Gaza. He imagined that Palestinian children were his own. He has two children, they looked between 6-10 years old when they came on stage later to give out Capri Suns. “The system has tricked us into believing that their suffering, their oppression, is different from our own, and I am here to tell you that that is bullshit!” he told a cheering crowd. He mentioned Sudan and a few other countries before referring to what he called “the terrorist organization ICE,” which garnered some of the loudest cheers of the night. Song 7 was Hind’s Hall.

The rest of the concert was relatively nonpolitical. After song 11, there was a dance battle in which a young woman, maybe a teenager, from Seattle competed against an 11-year-old boy named Maddox from Spokane. The woman, whose name I forgot, performed extraordinarily and got great cheers in the 20 seconds she was allocated. The boy’s time came and he jumped a lot. He was having a blast, and that’s what mattered most! Macklemore spent a few minutes recounting each competitor’s performance in impressive detail, relating well to the confusion that was likely going through the young boy’s mind as he began dancing in front of twelve thousand people.

After the 13th and penultimate song, Macklemore spent several minutes introducing and thanking his band. I loved the well-deserved appreciation he gave each of those incredible performers.

After the final song, he took to the stage for a few final words. The ones that stick out most were Macklemore’s final ones: “Free Palestine ‘til it’s backwards, goodnight!” The lights cut out, Macklemore threw his jersey into the crowd, and the concert was over.

Until, of course, a minute or so later, when he ran down the aisle about 20 feet from me as the crowd was clearing out. He gave high fives to exuberant fans, grinning, and went backstage for the last time.

I came for AJR. I stayed for Macklemore.

Breakfast this morning was at People’s Waffle. It was so good that I asked for a menu to order some more, settling on just a side of veggie sausage patties. I was prepping for another 5.5 hour bus ride, after all!

As I write this, I’m sitting in an air-conditioned bus driving out of a cloudy Spokane. I’ll be home in a few hours to refine this draft and ideally publish it tonight, to avoid any disclaimers about contemporaneousness.

Also, Lindsey Graham died suddenly overnight. The sitting pro-Trump Senator has been sharply criticized for changing his views on Trump and supporting him even after saying “I’m done” on January 6th. His death is yet another reminder of our limited time here, and it compels me to ensure I spend the time I’m given doing good and enjoying life.

Happy Sunday, and peace be with you.

Setlists

I was taking notes at the start of each song so I could share high-quality setlists!

AJR

Spotify playlist: AJR Blessing in Disguise 2026

Macklemore

Spotify playlist: Macklemore Blessing in Disguise 2026

I plan to add images and videos to this post soon! 🤓

• 2026-07-15:
  • Change to 24-hour time consistently
  • Fix Macklemore’s start time
  • Added

See also Blog - markwiemer.com