"Music is not material. Music is Spiritual."
There's so much I want to write about, but I'm having a strangely hard time starting in on it all. The past week has been full of some pretty sweet triumphs and a few developments that could've easy been disasters, but I seem to have managed to prevent that. The end result is that I feel pretty damn good about myself, and since I've finally gotten used to not having anyone to celebrate triumph with, I actually get to enjoy all of it. Everyone who was a part of it, staff, audience, and artists, had a killer time and left feeling both rocked and appreciated. I love it when that happens
On my end, I felt almost no stress throughout the whole process, which is completely mind boggling. Not getting funding from the Campus Activities Board was a blow and pretty stressful for a few days, but aside from that, even when one of our headliners dropped out, I didn't have any significant or lingering stress that I can think of. Everyone had smooth traveling, sound checks, and we're very pleased that we fed them good food and actually read the riders. Several people told me that. I was surprised to hear it, but then again I am Miss Hospitality. I love taking care of people. Everyone who's had to deal with not being taken care of knows what a difference an extra step or two can make to folks, so it just comes naturally. Even the people from the venue said everything was smooth and that I'd done a good job. I was quietly proud of that bit. They've got no reason to jerk me around.
One of the most surprising and enjoyable things about the weekend was that I had more physical contact in two days than I'd had in months. Solid, professional handshakes, lots of hugs, hands, elbows, shoulders, and all kinds of other body parts casually brushing in the course of loud venue close quarter talking, some of which actually was flirting, which was quite a treat. Turns out I'm good at it after all. Nothing came of it, of course, but that wasn't the intent anyway. My stores have been replenished and I'm ready to go another few months. The loneliness is still a problem, but again, I just need that one person, which isn't the worst position to be in.
My favorite part of the night was French Horn Rebellion. They were the act that I was most looking forward to and not only were they all incredibly nice, fun guys to hang out with, they blew the doors off the place. I mean, wow, no one knew what they were in for. The fact that they use one of my favorite songs as an opener - The Brothers Johnson's Stomp! was one of those rare confluences that...I don't know how to describe it...not quite jouissance, but certainly something that let me let go, made me feel all safe and happy and ready to party. One of those, "Whoa, I'm not the only one" moments I suppose. In any case, it was quite a party. I danced like a maniac, sang at the top of my lungs, and got to be in front of folks who really gave it their all, something far too few people do these days. I got the impression that they would've played just as intensely for five people as they would've for five hundred. Not all electronic artists can say that. Heck, a lot of guitar and drum artists can't say that. I'm just so grateful that I got this. Most of the time I'm just dancing around my room, office, or bathroom, so to be a part of something larger with music I love is still kind of a trip. I forget what it's like to have people around for stuff that matters.
The only thing that's been genuinely problematic is my workout schedule. Barking Tuna threw that into serious disarray last week, which I could normally deal with just fine, but I just switched over to the stair machine for cardio and it's kicking my ass like I'm a Chuck Palahniuk character, so having the right pacing for acclimation is important. I may spend an extra week on it just to get things evened out. Plus my butt looks and feels great, and if that's after a paltry week, well then who knows what's in the cards after three.
No, wait, I forgot. We did have a real problem. Our Program Director stepped down and even though she said she'd still be at BTF, she bailed and wouldn't respond to any of our calls, texts, or e-mails, so once I knew she wasn't dead I was pissed for about 30 seconds. I don't get mad all that much any more, at least not for longer than a minute or two. It's a pain, but not one I can't handle, so why waste energy one someone who isn't worth it, you know? I'll be taking over her job for a couple of weeks, doing interviews, getting the schedule filled, training new DJs, and getting the staff mobilized to help, something which I know they'll all want to do. When I finally leave this job, I genuinely believe that I will have had some impressive accomplishments, but I can never tell until I see them all down on paper.
I also got some sweet new vinyl thanks to the fellas at The Corner Record Shop: Miles Davis' Porgy & Bess, Lydia Lunch's Oral Fixation, and, thanks to a surprising stash of still-in-the-wrapper original pressings that just got brought in, Black Flag's The First Four Years, which is one of those albums that was in the mysterious box of awesome given to me by my thoroughly rad babysitter just before I went into 5th grade, the one that I've been trying to recreate, as the albums themselves went missing after the divorce. It was a haul that brought me a great deal of joy. When I have a spare few hours this week, I'm going to get a blanket and lay in front of the hi-fi with my headphones and listen to all of them without interruption. Evenings spent like that are far from wasted.
On my end, I felt almost no stress throughout the whole process, which is completely mind boggling. Not getting funding from the Campus Activities Board was a blow and pretty stressful for a few days, but aside from that, even when one of our headliners dropped out, I didn't have any significant or lingering stress that I can think of. Everyone had smooth traveling, sound checks, and we're very pleased that we fed them good food and actually read the riders. Several people told me that. I was surprised to hear it, but then again I am Miss Hospitality. I love taking care of people. Everyone who's had to deal with not being taken care of knows what a difference an extra step or two can make to folks, so it just comes naturally. Even the people from the venue said everything was smooth and that I'd done a good job. I was quietly proud of that bit. They've got no reason to jerk me around.
One of the most surprising and enjoyable things about the weekend was that I had more physical contact in two days than I'd had in months. Solid, professional handshakes, lots of hugs, hands, elbows, shoulders, and all kinds of other body parts casually brushing in the course of loud venue close quarter talking, some of which actually was flirting, which was quite a treat. Turns out I'm good at it after all. Nothing came of it, of course, but that wasn't the intent anyway. My stores have been replenished and I'm ready to go another few months. The loneliness is still a problem, but again, I just need that one person, which isn't the worst position to be in.
My favorite part of the night was French Horn Rebellion. They were the act that I was most looking forward to and not only were they all incredibly nice, fun guys to hang out with, they blew the doors off the place. I mean, wow, no one knew what they were in for. The fact that they use one of my favorite songs as an opener - The Brothers Johnson's Stomp! was one of those rare confluences that...I don't know how to describe it...not quite jouissance, but certainly something that let me let go, made me feel all safe and happy and ready to party. One of those, "Whoa, I'm not the only one" moments I suppose. In any case, it was quite a party. I danced like a maniac, sang at the top of my lungs, and got to be in front of folks who really gave it their all, something far too few people do these days. I got the impression that they would've played just as intensely for five people as they would've for five hundred. Not all electronic artists can say that. Heck, a lot of guitar and drum artists can't say that. I'm just so grateful that I got this. Most of the time I'm just dancing around my room, office, or bathroom, so to be a part of something larger with music I love is still kind of a trip. I forget what it's like to have people around for stuff that matters.
The only thing that's been genuinely problematic is my workout schedule. Barking Tuna threw that into serious disarray last week, which I could normally deal with just fine, but I just switched over to the stair machine for cardio and it's kicking my ass like I'm a Chuck Palahniuk character, so having the right pacing for acclimation is important. I may spend an extra week on it just to get things evened out. Plus my butt looks and feels great, and if that's after a paltry week, well then who knows what's in the cards after three.
No, wait, I forgot. We did have a real problem. Our Program Director stepped down and even though she said she'd still be at BTF, she bailed and wouldn't respond to any of our calls, texts, or e-mails, so once I knew she wasn't dead I was pissed for about 30 seconds. I don't get mad all that much any more, at least not for longer than a minute or two. It's a pain, but not one I can't handle, so why waste energy one someone who isn't worth it, you know? I'll be taking over her job for a couple of weeks, doing interviews, getting the schedule filled, training new DJs, and getting the staff mobilized to help, something which I know they'll all want to do. When I finally leave this job, I genuinely believe that I will have had some impressive accomplishments, but I can never tell until I see them all down on paper.
I also got some sweet new vinyl thanks to the fellas at The Corner Record Shop: Miles Davis' Porgy & Bess, Lydia Lunch's Oral Fixation, and, thanks to a surprising stash of still-in-the-wrapper original pressings that just got brought in, Black Flag's The First Four Years, which is one of those albums that was in the mysterious box of awesome given to me by my thoroughly rad babysitter just before I went into 5th grade, the one that I've been trying to recreate, as the albums themselves went missing after the divorce. It was a haul that brought me a great deal of joy. When I have a spare few hours this week, I'm going to get a blanket and lay in front of the hi-fi with my headphones and listen to all of them without interruption. Evenings spent like that are far from wasted.