smooth take-offs and crash landings
missed rilo kiley the other night. the horrible ending to a perfect week. have been looking forward to this gig forEver. they were playing as special guests with bright eyes. i like bright eyes, but i would never pay 20euro to see conor + co live. but for rilo kiley, i didn't waste a second thought on the ticket price. especially after having seen three of their gigs in sf (and the last one of which having been over a year ago). the ticket said 21:00. so i figured that's when doors opened, and rk wouldn't go on till about 10pm (maybe even later). seeing as i was still quite knackered from gems' visit (more on that later) i took a nap. at first i was gonna leave at about 9pm, but then i got to comfortable on my couch and didn't feel like sitting around the venue for an hour waiting for the band to start (as has been the case before at many a berlin gig), so i kept pressing the snooze button. inbetween, i considered getting up to go ahead and put the ticket in my purse (it was still pinned on my bulletin board and i didn't want to forget it) or trying to ring esther again (who i had tried to call earlier but was taking a nap herself at the time) or trying to call lars to see if was in berlin yet. but i didn't. finally at about 20 to 10pm i got ready to leave. got the ticket and took a closer look. for the first time i noticed (in the smallest print ever on a concert ticket, mind you) that 21:00 was actually for the time for the gig and that doors already opened at 20:00!!!!!!! f*in AAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! was trying not to freak out but had this horrible, empty feeling i was missing rk. had "with arms outstretched" running through my head all the way to the venue, praying that there was a local opening band ahead of rk or that rk still wasn't going to start till 10pm anyway. i mean, c'mon, it's berlin. since when do gigs start on time or that f*in early to begin with.
had all these false senses of hope walking into the venue. like the coatcheck guy who hadn't heard any live music playing yet, the calm, empty foyer and bar area, and someone i ran into who hadn't heard the opening band either. but that was all shattered when i ran into bettina who told me rk had just played. wanted to die. my heart was so crushed. not even one song to ease my pain. just one song would have been worth the 20euros. but the past few times they've ended their shows with "arms out stretched" so maybe that was just foreboding my shit luck. if my life were a film (and at that point it did feel like a bad movie), parallel editing would have shown me singing the song right along with jenny. how fucking tragically romantic.
so i bought a t-shirt (which i hadn't had enough money for at the last sf gig) and a beer (to try and get fucked up, drown my sorrows, and make it through bright eyes whining for an hour with his indie teenie groupies swooning in front of the stage). so i basically paid 35euro for a rk tee. what an expensive band t-shirt! but i can't remember the last time i bought a concert tee (must have been at least 10 years ago). so the way i calculate it, if i had 35euro to spend on concert tees, i could either end up getting like 3 shit band tees i would never wear or an rk t-shirt with a rad design and soft as hell. so good choice, money well spent, i think.
the bright eyes gig didn't move me at all. stood there the whole time completely motionless and disenchanted. after another beer and a bathroom break i ran into esther and her friend. mood started to lift. after the gig was over, i also ran into some others i knew as well as lars (about f*ing time!!!).
lars pointed the drummer out to me and i went over to talk to him. was pouring my heart out at how upset i was to have missed their gig. how bright eyes was cool but for me still didn't make up for missing them. asked if they'd be playing stateside in march and if they'd be back to berlin anytime soon. he said they wouldn't be in texas until april or so. started getting kind of distracted and curt with me. the berlin question remained unanswered. and before he disappeared backstage, said something to the effect of "well at least you got to see bright eyes, that was worth the 30euro." bitch. didn't listen to a word i said.
the rest of the night, all i could do was fault-search. my list of scapegoats...
1. friends of mine who are too lame to go to gigs and one in particular who's been too flakey to call me about meeting up before the gig (won't mention the name, but you know who you are). if i'd have had someone to meet up with before the gig, i would have been more motivated to turn up on time and wait around. but at least now i saw enough people at the gig to know who to call next time around.
2. the dumb-ass who made the time the doors open on the concert ticket about ten point sizes too small and needs to retake a course on information design.
3. postbahnhof for starting a gig so early and hiring the dumb-ass designer.
4. and me. yeah, i admit it. i too am guilty. for being such a poor, spoiled "pretty princess" who needed to extend her power nap and didn't feel like going to another gig and waiting around alone again for the band to start. and for not calling lars earlier (and reaching him before he went into the venue, leaving his cell phone in his car). and for not calling esther back (because if i had, i would have found out she was going to the gig as well and we could have met up earlier). and for not closely scouring every damn mm of my concert ticket for every little bit of information regarding showtimes.
when i finally got home, i slipped into a pathetic state of masochism. fell asleep listening to rk on my ipod. then i listened to rilo kiley all the next morning, sulking. spent half the morning and my lunch break trying to find a cheap flight or train ticket to zurich (they're playing there this saturday). of course, with no luck whatsoever (cheapest flight is like 160euros). i even started checking out bus schedules but none of the pinche bus lines drive to zurich (how wack is that?). have almost fully come to grips with it (well, like 85%). i guess i was just meant to suffer. and maybe that's a good thing. kinda like the time i lost my ticket to see pretty girls make graves in sf, turned my room upside down trying to find it, and missed the gig. i was so much more appreciative when i finally did see them again in london. and then when i ended up telling andrea my sob story after their gig in hamburg, she said she'd put me on the guestlist next time they come to germany. so there's still a chance for all the good to come out. keeping my fingers crossed.
had all these false senses of hope walking into the venue. like the coatcheck guy who hadn't heard any live music playing yet, the calm, empty foyer and bar area, and someone i ran into who hadn't heard the opening band either. but that was all shattered when i ran into bettina who told me rk had just played. wanted to die. my heart was so crushed. not even one song to ease my pain. just one song would have been worth the 20euros. but the past few times they've ended their shows with "arms out stretched" so maybe that was just foreboding my shit luck. if my life were a film (and at that point it did feel like a bad movie), parallel editing would have shown me singing the song right along with jenny. how fucking tragically romantic.
so i bought a t-shirt (which i hadn't had enough money for at the last sf gig) and a beer (to try and get fucked up, drown my sorrows, and make it through bright eyes whining for an hour with his indie teenie groupies swooning in front of the stage). so i basically paid 35euro for a rk tee. what an expensive band t-shirt! but i can't remember the last time i bought a concert tee (must have been at least 10 years ago). so the way i calculate it, if i had 35euro to spend on concert tees, i could either end up getting like 3 shit band tees i would never wear or an rk t-shirt with a rad design and soft as hell. so good choice, money well spent, i think.
the bright eyes gig didn't move me at all. stood there the whole time completely motionless and disenchanted. after another beer and a bathroom break i ran into esther and her friend. mood started to lift. after the gig was over, i also ran into some others i knew as well as lars (about f*ing time!!!).
lars pointed the drummer out to me and i went over to talk to him. was pouring my heart out at how upset i was to have missed their gig. how bright eyes was cool but for me still didn't make up for missing them. asked if they'd be playing stateside in march and if they'd be back to berlin anytime soon. he said they wouldn't be in texas until april or so. started getting kind of distracted and curt with me. the berlin question remained unanswered. and before he disappeared backstage, said something to the effect of "well at least you got to see bright eyes, that was worth the 30euro." bitch. didn't listen to a word i said.
the rest of the night, all i could do was fault-search. my list of scapegoats...
1. friends of mine who are too lame to go to gigs and one in particular who's been too flakey to call me about meeting up before the gig (won't mention the name, but you know who you are). if i'd have had someone to meet up with before the gig, i would have been more motivated to turn up on time and wait around. but at least now i saw enough people at the gig to know who to call next time around.
2. the dumb-ass who made the time the doors open on the concert ticket about ten point sizes too small and needs to retake a course on information design.
3. postbahnhof for starting a gig so early and hiring the dumb-ass designer.
4. and me. yeah, i admit it. i too am guilty. for being such a poor, spoiled "pretty princess" who needed to extend her power nap and didn't feel like going to another gig and waiting around alone again for the band to start. and for not calling lars earlier (and reaching him before he went into the venue, leaving his cell phone in his car). and for not calling esther back (because if i had, i would have found out she was going to the gig as well and we could have met up earlier). and for not closely scouring every damn mm of my concert ticket for every little bit of information regarding showtimes.
when i finally got home, i slipped into a pathetic state of masochism. fell asleep listening to rk on my ipod. then i listened to rilo kiley all the next morning, sulking. spent half the morning and my lunch break trying to find a cheap flight or train ticket to zurich (they're playing there this saturday). of course, with no luck whatsoever (cheapest flight is like 160euros). i even started checking out bus schedules but none of the pinche bus lines drive to zurich (how wack is that?). have almost fully come to grips with it (well, like 85%). i guess i was just meant to suffer. and maybe that's a good thing. kinda like the time i lost my ticket to see pretty girls make graves in sf, turned my room upside down trying to find it, and missed the gig. i was so much more appreciative when i finally did see them again in london. and then when i ended up telling andrea my sob story after their gig in hamburg, she said she'd put me on the guestlist next time they come to germany. so there's still a chance for all the good to come out. keeping my fingers crossed.