(no subject)
Well, FFM came and went and here I am back at old Concordia. It was entirely too interesting and fun. I'm very sad it's open, but infinitely happy I went. Here's the rundown:
Abbey, Shawn, David and I left around 7:30 and got to Calvin around noon Michigan time. Met up with Nicole, Mim, Heather, and Allision and listened to Lauren Winner do the first keynote. It was ok. I went to see the Psalters in a workshop and that it was pretty good. On my way to workshop B, I noticed people lining up for the Sufjan show, so I promptly threw my belongings on the ground and camped out. I was soon joined by Abbey, Nicole, Miriam, Bryan, Eric, Dan, and Jake. We had a nice time and ended up getting some ideal seats. And nobody stood up till the encore, which I appreciate. The show itself was very good. The lack of strings was disappointing at first, but I thought the brass section was very full and satisfying, so I got over it. I witnessed Sufjan's longest show ever, and heard Seven Swans live for the first time. It was pretty cosmic, for lack of a better word. Maybe somebody could correct me if this isn't true, but I believe that after John Wayne Gacy, the crowd was so dead silent for about five seconds after the final chord saturated the auditorium that Sufjan almost actually had to start the applause himself. Or maybe that was the second show, or maybe a different song altogether. But I remember something like that happening and just being amazed. The crowd was a good one.
The crowd for the second show, however, was not so good. At least not by us. There were some obnoxious drunk college-aged hipsters by us in the second row (that's right) singing loudly, almost competing with Sufjan. There was also a really really really loud whistler in the back, who even insisted on allowing his piercing "talent" loose during the songs. If you've had a similar experience at a show, you'll know how annoying that is. It was nice being up front, though, watching a musical genius work.
Day two was just as nice, I'm happy to say. Sufjan spoke at eleven. He wrote out his entire lecture and read it straight off the paper. Any attempt to look at the crowd became a glance at the ceiling instead (it was a pretty nice ceiling). Regardless, it was one of the most thought-provoking, and almost convicting, lectures I've ever heard. Sure gave me a thing or two to think about. One of the things that stuck out most was his analysis of relevancy in the church today, and how attempts at cultural relevancy is completely self-defeating. Instead he suggested reading the Bible, praying for our pastors and priests, and going to church. Imagine that. I could talk about this lecture forever, but I'm going to stop there.
Afterwards I watched part of the interview with Neko Case and then headed out to hear Daniel Smith talk in the library. I really like him a lot. People were asking the most ridiculous questions in the world (a theme throughout the weekend) and he answered them the best he could. I liked it more when he would talk about whatever the heck he wanted to talk about. He had some good stories and some good philosophies regarding his community of music and the relationships contained therein.
After that I saw Emmy Lou Harris get interviewed and headed up to see Liz Janes speak. She was adorable. She talked about Asthmatic Kitty and answered questions about the label, with a little help from Daniel Smith's wife. We got out early so I went to go see Anathallo's workshop. What we should have done is gone to see Lenny Smith speak because Shawn and David said it was incredible. Hopefully it'll be up online soon.
Went out to dinner with the crew afterwards and had a nice time, then headed to see Neko Case and Emmy Lou Harris in a large gym. We sat on bleachers. It was uncomfortable. Neko Case was enjoyable. Emmy Lou Harris was good, but I wasn't in the mood and her percussionist was wearing a purple blazer and looked kind of manly.
That was the end of FFM and now I'm back here, desperate and groping for I don't even know what. Oh, these turbulent, dissatisfactory days of our youth. I don't want to go forward any longer. I want to go back, back, back...like Lenny Smith. There's no such thing as being an adult, apparently. Or if there is, it's no good. I wish I could have gone to Lenny Smith's workshop. They sang Jingle Bells while quacking like ducks and meowing like cats. For some reason I find that very profound.
Abbey, Shawn, David and I left around 7:30 and got to Calvin around noon Michigan time. Met up with Nicole, Mim, Heather, and Allision and listened to Lauren Winner do the first keynote. It was ok. I went to see the Psalters in a workshop and that it was pretty good. On my way to workshop B, I noticed people lining up for the Sufjan show, so I promptly threw my belongings on the ground and camped out. I was soon joined by Abbey, Nicole, Miriam, Bryan, Eric, Dan, and Jake. We had a nice time and ended up getting some ideal seats. And nobody stood up till the encore, which I appreciate. The show itself was very good. The lack of strings was disappointing at first, but I thought the brass section was very full and satisfying, so I got over it. I witnessed Sufjan's longest show ever, and heard Seven Swans live for the first time. It was pretty cosmic, for lack of a better word. Maybe somebody could correct me if this isn't true, but I believe that after John Wayne Gacy, the crowd was so dead silent for about five seconds after the final chord saturated the auditorium that Sufjan almost actually had to start the applause himself. Or maybe that was the second show, or maybe a different song altogether. But I remember something like that happening and just being amazed. The crowd was a good one.
The crowd for the second show, however, was not so good. At least not by us. There were some obnoxious drunk college-aged hipsters by us in the second row (that's right) singing loudly, almost competing with Sufjan. There was also a really really really loud whistler in the back, who even insisted on allowing his piercing "talent" loose during the songs. If you've had a similar experience at a show, you'll know how annoying that is. It was nice being up front, though, watching a musical genius work.
Day two was just as nice, I'm happy to say. Sufjan spoke at eleven. He wrote out his entire lecture and read it straight off the paper. Any attempt to look at the crowd became a glance at the ceiling instead (it was a pretty nice ceiling). Regardless, it was one of the most thought-provoking, and almost convicting, lectures I've ever heard. Sure gave me a thing or two to think about. One of the things that stuck out most was his analysis of relevancy in the church today, and how attempts at cultural relevancy is completely self-defeating. Instead he suggested reading the Bible, praying for our pastors and priests, and going to church. Imagine that. I could talk about this lecture forever, but I'm going to stop there.
Afterwards I watched part of the interview with Neko Case and then headed out to hear Daniel Smith talk in the library. I really like him a lot. People were asking the most ridiculous questions in the world (a theme throughout the weekend) and he answered them the best he could. I liked it more when he would talk about whatever the heck he wanted to talk about. He had some good stories and some good philosophies regarding his community of music and the relationships contained therein.
After that I saw Emmy Lou Harris get interviewed and headed up to see Liz Janes speak. She was adorable. She talked about Asthmatic Kitty and answered questions about the label, with a little help from Daniel Smith's wife. We got out early so I went to go see Anathallo's workshop. What we should have done is gone to see Lenny Smith speak because Shawn and David said it was incredible. Hopefully it'll be up online soon.
Went out to dinner with the crew afterwards and had a nice time, then headed to see Neko Case and Emmy Lou Harris in a large gym. We sat on bleachers. It was uncomfortable. Neko Case was enjoyable. Emmy Lou Harris was good, but I wasn't in the mood and her percussionist was wearing a purple blazer and looked kind of manly.
That was the end of FFM and now I'm back here, desperate and groping for I don't even know what. Oh, these turbulent, dissatisfactory days of our youth. I don't want to go forward any longer. I want to go back, back, back...like Lenny Smith. There's no such thing as being an adult, apparently. Or if there is, it's no good. I wish I could have gone to Lenny Smith's workshop. They sang Jingle Bells while quacking like ducks and meowing like cats. For some reason I find that very profound.