Thank you so much to everyone that took my survey. I'll summarize my findings soon...
Last Saturday i went to see one of my favorite punk bands from college. I stumbled across a mention of their show and talked a friend that's up for musical exploration into going. For those of you with a music background, we saw Avail. Man did i have a great time. I forgot how much i love going to small live shows where people are absorbed by the music, willing to move, and heating the air to indoor pool levels. I forgot all my rules for dressing (light layers are important, leave the jacket in the car, and bring something to tie your hair back), but made it through just fine.
One thing that was markedly different was that i couldn't just be there, dancing, singing along, and pumping my fist in the air. I found myself thinking constantly about how old the band members are. When i was 18 or 20 i wasn't exactly relating to the band members. They were clearly older than I was and although music gave me freedom, i didn't have any personal musical or artistic aspirations, always easily imagining myself in a professional career.
It was interesting thinking about what these late 30-year old guys are like, what they do for day jobs, and if these simple punk songs that don't sound like they've evolved much over the last 10 years are enough to keep them going. I had forgotten that one band member "BeauBeau" is a cheerleader. That's his official band title. It's like having someone out to warm the crowd up, but he stays for the music and plays air guitar, sings along, dances, and reacts to the crowd.
The stranger thing is that now, 10 years from the last time i saw them, i wondered these things at the show and as i'm writing this i can toodle on over to google and find out all kinds of stuff about each of the band members, what they do for day jobs, and their individual musical side projects. Somehow takes the ooph out of mindless conjecture...
2 comments:
It is awesome that you want to see Avail!
I've found that I have a bad case of low-energy at shows, I just can't get psyched. Not that 32 is old, but I feel like an old lady complaining "the music is too loud between bands, why do they have to come on so late?, it's too crowded, I wish there was a place to sit down."
Remember when we all went down to Richmond to see Avail/Rancid/Men's Recovery Project? That was awesome! Aidan and Sinead and I rocked out to some Avail today after reading your post, and the kids did a nice chorus of "lies! lies! lies!" and slam danced around the living room. This will all come back to haunt us soon, I'm sure, now that Aidan is about to head off to pre-school. Anyway, thanks for the memories. PS... did Henry get our b-day gifts? PPS... Hi, Tammy!
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