Imagine if you will...
Paul McCartney is playing at a small club, with Plastic Ono Band opening. You think something special might happen, but there's just no way. But, while Paul's in the middle of "A Hard Day's Night", John Lennon walks on stage and straps on a guitar.
Or maybe, in some parallel universe, R.E.M. split up back up when Bill Berry had an aneurysm. Ten years later, Michael Stipe is playing a solo show (with Mike Mills filling in on bass), and the Peter Buck Band is scheduled to come on afterwards. But Peter shows up a few songs early to throw down some arpeggios while Stipe sings So. Central Rain.
That is exactly how I felt Monday night.
I almost missed the whole thing...
I almost missed the whole thing to do my laundry. After coming home from work, I got ready to go to the gym, then procrastinated by reading my usual >websites. I was thisclose to closing Firefox and heading off before I ran across gothamist's "Pencil This In" rundown of the day's best events. To my delight/surprise, The Old 97's and The Hold Steady were playing a show in two hours at The Hole (a.k.a. 7 World Trade Center). After a minute of deliberating (clean clothes and an early bed vs. one of my favorite rock and roll combos), I decided to text my friend Billy to tell him to met me there....
Walking to The Hole after meeting in Manhattan, Billy tells me that he was surprised I wanted to see The Old 97's when Craig Wedren was playing a show that night. crap. I had totally forgotten that the show I had been looking forward to for a month was happening in just a couple hours. After watching the 97's play [awesome, although we missed the beginning], we met Julie, had dinner, and I decided to see Craig even though they were heading home. I walked from downtown to the LES, trying to suppress my expectations and simply look forward to one of my favorite musicians ever.
Here's the thing: Papercranes (ft. Rain Phoenix) are in the midst of a month-long residency at Mercury Lounge, and Rain invited all of her friends to play with them. It just so happens that Craig and A Camp RSVPeed for the same night. A Camp is Nina Persson's new band (she was The Chick From The Cardigans).
Oh -- Nina's husband/guitarist is Nathan Larson. He used to be in one of my favorite bands in the world, Shudder to Think. Craig Wedren was STT's lead singer. They broke up, not so amicably, in 1998.
To make a long story short (too late!), Craig plays some of his beeeeeeeautiful new songs. Then he starts playing STT's "hit", X-French T-Shirt*. Midway through, Nathan comes on stage. Puts on a guitar. Makes dreams come true.
Holy crap. I wish I could properly convey what those next few songs meant to me. A band I never thought I'd see; songs that I was thrilled out of words to hear just *one* of them play; they kind of thing that someone of any age can relate to -- being born too late to be around for something special. Like being around to see the Beatles on Sullivan. Or getting Jeff Buckley back. Or watching Jimi Hendrix light his guitar on fire.
Maybe Shudder to Think shouldn't belong in the same paragraph with them. But I was standing right in front of the stage for it, and I would trade you fifteen Dock Streets for it. I should also add this: the entire crowd was dead silent for every song, for every pause. I turned around a few times and could not believe it.
Plus, Nina Persson's dimples have just about convinced me to move to Sweden. It's a shame I couldn't capture them adequately in pictures, but I still got some good ones. [I'll add titles/captions/correct orientation soon.]
*Did you notice that the last two-thirds of the song consist of one line and one chord? I must have heard the song ten times before I realized that. Because it is so gosh-darned amazing.
Or maybe, in some parallel universe, R.E.M. split up back up when Bill Berry had an aneurysm. Ten years later, Michael Stipe is playing a solo show (with Mike Mills filling in on bass), and the Peter Buck Band is scheduled to come on afterwards. But Peter shows up a few songs early to throw down some arpeggios while Stipe sings So. Central Rain.
That is exactly how I felt Monday night.
I almost missed the whole thing...
I almost missed the whole thing to do my laundry. After coming home from work, I got ready to go to the gym, then procrastinated by reading my usual >websites. I was thisclose to closing Firefox and heading off before I ran across gothamist's "Pencil This In" rundown of the day's best events. To my delight/surprise, The Old 97's and The Hold Steady were playing a show in two hours at The Hole (a.k.a. 7 World Trade Center). After a minute of deliberating (clean clothes and an early bed vs. one of my favorite rock and roll combos), I decided to text my friend Billy to tell him to met me there....
Walking to The Hole after meeting in Manhattan, Billy tells me that he was surprised I wanted to see The Old 97's when Craig Wedren was playing a show that night. crap. I had totally forgotten that the show I had been looking forward to for a month was happening in just a couple hours. After watching the 97's play [awesome, although we missed the beginning], we met Julie, had dinner, and I decided to see Craig even though they were heading home. I walked from downtown to the LES, trying to suppress my expectations and simply look forward to one of my favorite musicians ever.
Here's the thing: Papercranes (ft. Rain Phoenix) are in the midst of a month-long residency at Mercury Lounge, and Rain invited all of her friends to play with them. It just so happens that Craig and A Camp RSVPeed for the same night. A Camp is Nina Persson's new band (she was The Chick From The Cardigans).
Oh -- Nina's husband/guitarist is Nathan Larson. He used to be in one of my favorite bands in the world, Shudder to Think. Craig Wedren was STT's lead singer. They broke up, not so amicably, in 1998.
To make a long story short (too late!), Craig plays some of his beeeeeeeautiful new songs. Then he starts playing STT's "hit", X-French T-Shirt*. Midway through, Nathan comes on stage. Puts on a guitar. Makes dreams come true.
Holy crap. I wish I could properly convey what those next few songs meant to me. A band I never thought I'd see; songs that I was thrilled out of words to hear just *one* of them play; they kind of thing that someone of any age can relate to -- being born too late to be around for something special. Like being around to see the Beatles on Sullivan. Or getting Jeff Buckley back. Or watching Jimi Hendrix light his guitar on fire.
Maybe Shudder to Think shouldn't belong in the same paragraph with them. But I was standing right in front of the stage for it, and I would trade you fifteen Dock Streets for it. I should also add this: the entire crowd was dead silent for every song, for every pause. I turned around a few times and could not believe it.
Plus, Nina Persson's dimples have just about convinced me to move to Sweden. It's a shame I couldn't capture them adequately in pictures, but I still got some good ones. [I'll add titles/captions/correct orientation soon.]
*Did you notice that the last two-thirds of the song consist of one line and one chord? I must have heard the song ten times before I realized that. Because it is so gosh-darned amazing.