overcome the pain, and become the razor blade.
oh, wow. tonight was such an amazing night, and the fact that it followed such a horrible day just makes it all the more remarkable. i won't bore you with details, but by the time we actually got inside the place, i wasn't sure i really wanted to be at a show. images passed through my mind of me standing around trying to be interested in the music and just counting the seconds until it was time for me to go home and crawl into my nice warm comfy bed. but of course i put on a smile and greeted the people i knew with hugs, and all that. i finally was able to see Go On Red for the first time ever (most of their set, anyway), and they were great. vanessa seemed pretty tired, but they all had great energy and their songs sounded good. plus they played 99 Red Balloons, which i know thanks to Goldfinger, so it was fun to sing along and sort of bob my head to that. after them there were a couple of bands that i didn't know and thus didn't really watch or pay attention to, but we talked a bit to Desa and FNY and some other people i knew. brianna and i had baked a couple dozen chocolate chip and M&M cookies, plus a batch of chocolate chunk brownies and a batch of toffee fudge brownies, for Desa & FNY, and they were very heartily appreciated and enjoyed. so, that was very nice. it feels good to make people happy, especially when they really thank you for it. so, then it was time for Desa to go on. we got all up front, and they rocked out and were fabulous. they didn't play Burner Off, but i forgave them because they played a really cool set. they opened with Skywriting, except they stopped just before the breakdown and cut right into Alarm Clock Screams. it was strange, and i was thinking, 'i'm going to have to report this to rachel, and she's not going to be happy about it.' then they played Delilah, Ardent Anthem.. uh, i forget the order of the rest, but i know it included Sick to My Heart, Hands at 10 and 2, 5 Year Reunion, Homicide at the Fountain of Youth, West Grand in Flames, Voltaire's Fable.. and i think that's it. the last song on the set list looked like "W A K W A K" but i couldn't tell really with the distance. well it ended up being the end of Skywriting. they picked up right where they left off in the beginning (as far as i could tell), and finished the song. it was pretty rad, and i was rather impressed with the creativity. so, they were great.
Facing New York was headlining. i was actually a little more excited to see them than i was to see Desa, because i hadn't seen them in a while and really i've only seen them like 10 or so times, probably/maybe even less than that. we were almost in the front, and they started with the one that used to be Pony Soldier but i forget what the new title is. then they played a couple from the EP, i think it was No and then Tell Everyone. then they played Roman Son, which will be on their split that comes out in september, along with the Pony Soldier song. then eric said they had one song left, and i had asked him before the set if they were going to play A Tempest, A Dance, and he had said yes, so i assumed it would be that. it wasn't though.. it was You Might Not Feel It At All. but fortunately he was lying about it being the last song, because then they played Tempest and Claim/Subclaim. i can't quite put to words what was going on with me during their set, but it was pretty incredible. i had a nice conversation with eric afterward, wherein i tried to explain it a bit. it went something like this:
"i just wanted to say, thank you. it seems like every time i see you guys it changes something that's going on in my life. tonight i spent most of your set almost in tears and with my eyes closed. i was just really feeling your music, and it turned around some things that were going on in me. so, i just wanted to say thank you for making your music, because it means a lot."
he said thanks, was touched, had a big smile on his face. said he was going to pass it along to the rest of the band, and i said, "please do." he asked if there were any songs in particular that were contributing to the impact.
"well, tonight.. it's weird, Tell Everyone has never been one of my favorites (i mean, i love them all, but some more than others.. you know), but tonight, Tell Everyone hit a lot of.. things in me. i mean, i've had your cd since.. well i ordered it before it came out & have listened to it so much since i got it, but tonight i understood parts of that song that i had never connected with before. and always, A Tempest, A Dance. that one's my favorite. it's just such an amazing song, i always love when you guys play it."
he told me about the painting Birthday by Mark Chagall, and how Tempest is totally based on that. he said something about the song and the painting being a love story, and that most people don't know Tempest is a love song.
i mentioned that i was also really into "that long, jam-y song" and he said it was called Roman Son, "s-O-n." then we talked a little bit about Tell Everyone, and how it's about Locale A.M., and then Claim/Subclaim, which is about Facing New York. then he went into a "convoluted" [his word] explanation of the Madison reference in that song. he said that "facing new york" was taken from Howard Roark's character in Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead, and that Howard was based after Frank Lloyd Wright, one of eric's/the band's favorite architects. FLW has a lot of buildings in Madison, WI [here i confessed that i had thought the reference was actually to Madison Ave, in NYC], thus the line, "madison's where i will build my name, from the bottom up" [his emphasis]. he also said that the band was almost named something having to do with Madison, but that they [obviously] went with FNY instead.
i wanted to say something then about the last time i saw them, which was at the L3 matinee on june 12, but i couldn't make the sentences come together in my head. what i would've said is something along the lines of, "seeing you guys at that show was almost a cleansing experience. i was sort of regressing into some old habits and feelings around 'the scene' (which was pretty much my life for a few years), and then seeing you guys.. it was like a wake-up call. it hit me while i was watching your set, and i thought, 'hey, i don't need to feel like this any more. i'm way past all this stuff, so i can just set it all aside and move on'..." it's like every time i see them, it ends up being something that i really needed, even if i don't realize it until afterward. and i think the reason is very simple: music is and always has been an extremely important part of my life, and Facing New York is a truly magnificent band that exists for the pure purpose of making music that they love (and which i also happen to love). they're not pushing any gimmicks, they don't have any ulterior motives - they're in it for the music itself, and so when i see and/or listen to them, that pure purpose comes through loud and clear, and i react pretty strongly to it. in addition to that, and i think largely because of that, they are intensely talented musicians; they're very good at portraying their experiences, thoughts, feelings, etc., through their songs. so basically, there's a lot to love about these guys.
i think that was what i had really wanted eric to hear & be able to pass on to the rest of the guys - that last part, about their musical purpose and talent and how loudly it resonates in me. i've decided i'm sending him a link to this entry, so if he reads it, then he will know even though i couldn't say it tonight at the show. well, i think it's time for bed now. goodnight, friends.
Facing New York was headlining. i was actually a little more excited to see them than i was to see Desa, because i hadn't seen them in a while and really i've only seen them like 10 or so times, probably/maybe even less than that. we were almost in the front, and they started with the one that used to be Pony Soldier but i forget what the new title is. then they played a couple from the EP, i think it was No and then Tell Everyone. then they played Roman Son, which will be on their split that comes out in september, along with the Pony Soldier song. then eric said they had one song left, and i had asked him before the set if they were going to play A Tempest, A Dance, and he had said yes, so i assumed it would be that. it wasn't though.. it was You Might Not Feel It At All. but fortunately he was lying about it being the last song, because then they played Tempest and Claim/Subclaim. i can't quite put to words what was going on with me during their set, but it was pretty incredible. i had a nice conversation with eric afterward, wherein i tried to explain it a bit. it went something like this:
"i just wanted to say, thank you. it seems like every time i see you guys it changes something that's going on in my life. tonight i spent most of your set almost in tears and with my eyes closed. i was just really feeling your music, and it turned around some things that were going on in me. so, i just wanted to say thank you for making your music, because it means a lot."
he said thanks, was touched, had a big smile on his face. said he was going to pass it along to the rest of the band, and i said, "please do." he asked if there were any songs in particular that were contributing to the impact.
"well, tonight.. it's weird, Tell Everyone has never been one of my favorites (i mean, i love them all, but some more than others.. you know), but tonight, Tell Everyone hit a lot of.. things in me. i mean, i've had your cd since.. well i ordered it before it came out & have listened to it so much since i got it, but tonight i understood parts of that song that i had never connected with before. and always, A Tempest, A Dance. that one's my favorite. it's just such an amazing song, i always love when you guys play it."
he told me about the painting Birthday by Mark Chagall, and how Tempest is totally based on that. he said something about the song and the painting being a love story, and that most people don't know Tempest is a love song.
i mentioned that i was also really into "that long, jam-y song" and he said it was called Roman Son, "s-O-n." then we talked a little bit about Tell Everyone, and how it's about Locale A.M., and then Claim/Subclaim, which is about Facing New York. then he went into a "convoluted" [his word] explanation of the Madison reference in that song. he said that "facing new york" was taken from Howard Roark's character in Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead, and that Howard was based after Frank Lloyd Wright, one of eric's/the band's favorite architects. FLW has a lot of buildings in Madison, WI [here i confessed that i had thought the reference was actually to Madison Ave, in NYC], thus the line, "madison's where i will build my name, from the bottom up" [his emphasis]. he also said that the band was almost named something having to do with Madison, but that they [obviously] went with FNY instead.
i wanted to say something then about the last time i saw them, which was at the L3 matinee on june 12, but i couldn't make the sentences come together in my head. what i would've said is something along the lines of, "seeing you guys at that show was almost a cleansing experience. i was sort of regressing into some old habits and feelings around 'the scene' (which was pretty much my life for a few years), and then seeing you guys.. it was like a wake-up call. it hit me while i was watching your set, and i thought, 'hey, i don't need to feel like this any more. i'm way past all this stuff, so i can just set it all aside and move on'..." it's like every time i see them, it ends up being something that i really needed, even if i don't realize it until afterward. and i think the reason is very simple: music is and always has been an extremely important part of my life, and Facing New York is a truly magnificent band that exists for the pure purpose of making music that they love (and which i also happen to love). they're not pushing any gimmicks, they don't have any ulterior motives - they're in it for the music itself, and so when i see and/or listen to them, that pure purpose comes through loud and clear, and i react pretty strongly to it. in addition to that, and i think largely because of that, they are intensely talented musicians; they're very good at portraying their experiences, thoughts, feelings, etc., through their songs. so basically, there's a lot to love about these guys.
i think that was what i had really wanted eric to hear & be able to pass on to the rest of the guys - that last part, about their musical purpose and talent and how loudly it resonates in me. i've decided i'm sending him a link to this entry, so if he reads it, then he will know even though i couldn't say it tonight at the show. well, i think it's time for bed now. goodnight, friends.