i watched all the lights go dim when your eyes opened
I am forever thankful that, out of all the things in this world that could've been my solace, music took the forefront in my life.
But the one band that has always done it for me ... just flat out done it is Alkaline Trio. Each album gives me songs that get my heart racing, that make me smile regardless of how hopeless and full of despair their message can be. Their craftmanship of songs is nothing short of art. Every song sounds like Alkaline Trio without being redundant and each lyric explodes with emotion and meaning, suckerpunching you in the stomach when you least expect it. Sadly, they're a dying breed. So many things have changed about the music scene from when I was younger that it's hard not to get discouraged, thinking that things will never be the way they were and that with each passing year the possibility of you going out and experiencing something amazing slowly decreases.
I remember going to an Alkaline Trio show in San Francisco and, at the time, I was a bit disillusioned with their new album. I knew how this was going to go, it was how it always went: the band would play predominantly new stuff and I'd sit there somewhat melancholy and aching with nostalgia. I sat in line for three hours with kids who were there only to see My Chemical Romance and babbled on senselessly about how hot Gerard is or how, like, totally cool MCR's makeup is. It was disappointing because the crowds were getting younger and that sense of unity and comraderie that had been prevalent at every single show I'd gone to in my youth wasn't simply just waning, it was almost non-existent. It ceased to be about the music and this is something I found very tragic.
Yeah, that was the lovely mood I was sulking in (I'll admit it, I sulked!) when I entered the room. The Trio came on and it started out much like I knew it would ... new songs that I had no emotional connection with, a fancy smancy backdrop that heralded the age of production values over substance and this feeling that it was time to stick a fork in it, this band was done for me. But then, somewhere halfway through as the boys were soaked with sweat and giving everything with their performance (their passion for their music was never in question) I heard the opening chords of "Goodbye Forever", the quintessential Alkaline Trio song for fans that have been with them from the beginning. Those chords were played and in the most amazingly dramatic (almost emotional) way their pricey backdrop fell away to reveal a simple black curtain in the middle of which was emblazoned their distinctive skull-heart logo, the image we'd all burned into our retinas listening to "Goddamnit" and "Maybe I'll Catch Fire".
It gave me chills, that moment. As soon as the curtain dropped for the reveal, it was like the energy in the room changed from just the small group of Alkaline Trio fans that were there that day. The room swelled with our joy, the air crackled with our excitement and as I sat there holding back tears, my heart began to psychically ache at the relief: this band was mine, it was theirs, and it always would be no matter what stylistic changes the music may undergo. They still had the power to possess your emotions and this was their way, their so very special way, of telling us older fans that they haven't now, nor would they ever, forget us.
I highly doubt that any show will ever be able to touch the specialness of that moment but it was a moment of such perfection that I think I'm pretty lucky to have been able to experience it at all. Even luckier to love a band that so loves its fans.
let's walk home, let's be afraid
i wanna grab you by the arms and kiss you so hard
let's do it right, under a streetlight
i want it now, somehow i forgot how
But the one band that has always done it for me ... just flat out done it is Alkaline Trio. Each album gives me songs that get my heart racing, that make me smile regardless of how hopeless and full of despair their message can be. Their craftmanship of songs is nothing short of art. Every song sounds like Alkaline Trio without being redundant and each lyric explodes with emotion and meaning, suckerpunching you in the stomach when you least expect it. Sadly, they're a dying breed. So many things have changed about the music scene from when I was younger that it's hard not to get discouraged, thinking that things will never be the way they were and that with each passing year the possibility of you going out and experiencing something amazing slowly decreases.
I remember going to an Alkaline Trio show in San Francisco and, at the time, I was a bit disillusioned with their new album. I knew how this was going to go, it was how it always went: the band would play predominantly new stuff and I'd sit there somewhat melancholy and aching with nostalgia. I sat in line for three hours with kids who were there only to see My Chemical Romance and babbled on senselessly about how hot Gerard is or how, like, totally cool MCR's makeup is. It was disappointing because the crowds were getting younger and that sense of unity and comraderie that had been prevalent at every single show I'd gone to in my youth wasn't simply just waning, it was almost non-existent. It ceased to be about the music and this is something I found very tragic.
Yeah, that was the lovely mood I was sulking in (I'll admit it, I sulked!) when I entered the room. The Trio came on and it started out much like I knew it would ... new songs that I had no emotional connection with, a fancy smancy backdrop that heralded the age of production values over substance and this feeling that it was time to stick a fork in it, this band was done for me. But then, somewhere halfway through as the boys were soaked with sweat and giving everything with their performance (their passion for their music was never in question) I heard the opening chords of "Goodbye Forever", the quintessential Alkaline Trio song for fans that have been with them from the beginning. Those chords were played and in the most amazingly dramatic (almost emotional) way their pricey backdrop fell away to reveal a simple black curtain in the middle of which was emblazoned their distinctive skull-heart logo, the image we'd all burned into our retinas listening to "Goddamnit" and "Maybe I'll Catch Fire".
It gave me chills, that moment. As soon as the curtain dropped for the reveal, it was like the energy in the room changed from just the small group of Alkaline Trio fans that were there that day. The room swelled with our joy, the air crackled with our excitement and as I sat there holding back tears, my heart began to psychically ache at the relief: this band was mine, it was theirs, and it always would be no matter what stylistic changes the music may undergo. They still had the power to possess your emotions and this was their way, their so very special way, of telling us older fans that they haven't now, nor would they ever, forget us.
I highly doubt that any show will ever be able to touch the specialness of that moment but it was a moment of such perfection that I think I'm pretty lucky to have been able to experience it at all. Even luckier to love a band that so loves its fans.
let's walk home, let's be afraid
i wanna grab you by the arms and kiss you so hard
let's do it right, under a streetlight
i want it now, somehow i forgot how