Monday Music Madness

While I THINK about this blog about once a week, I think I'm utterly failing on posting every week. I should really get into that whole "scheduling" thing where I write more than one post a week and then set it to look like I'm actually posting once a week but then I'd have to actually sit down and gather my thoughts more than once a week! And there's so much crafting and musicking and what not to be done! EESH! 

Okay. So, I'm not really that busy. I mean, I kind of am, in that I have been gone a week and just got back a couple days ago and am trying to get my house back in order but my brain, oh my brain is way too busy for its own good. And then I have the insatiable cuteness of my daughter to contend with, who is quickly becoming one amazingly determined and vocal child. I counted the other day and she can say close to 30 words. I'm not saying that because I'm bragging, I'm saying that because the things 14 months olds want to say have a lot to do with the fact that they are hungry, they want to dance, and they really, REALLY want to play with your phone. 

"PONE?" nope.

"PONE?" no, honey, go find something else to do.

"PONE? PONE? PONE? PONE? PONE?" okay fine we'll call alita again.

It being Monday I have a certain amount of guilt surrounding the fact that I wanted to spend Mondays talking about music. I've been thinking a lot about the live music I've consumed over the years, starting when I was quite young and my uncle was a guitar tech for JIMMY...

wait for it

...BUFFET!

So there I was, with my dad and about 10,352 middle age folks in flowy gowns and bermuda shorts (shirtless, if we were so lucky), singing about hamburgers and screws and all kinds of other stuff. Backstage did have a certain allure...all instruments and roadies and people who were really busy getting something done before the big show started.

Fast forward to high school, where I turned 15 and was only let into a SCABS show because we told the door guy I was 16, oh and by the way my cousin was in the band. All I knew is I was on 6th street and it was WAY past my curfew. "breakfast" at 2am at the Magnolia Cafe sold me on the live music life. I was addicted. Since then, I have taken in an absurd amount of live music. I'm not one of those people who has to know every song and every life detail of the band I'm seeing...I don't necessarily have to even really be clear on the genre. I just want to be in the crowd, yell back to the singer(s) on stage when they say "GIMME A _________!!!" and be in the energy of the music. 

Part of the reason I love music and music therapy so much is because music is never the same. You can listen to the same recording of the same pianist and orchestra playing a piece twice in a row, and the second time it is different just for the very fact that time has passed and you now have heard the song once already and your brain hears the music differently. Similarly, live music and recorded music have absolutely nothing on each other. There are albums that I have worshipped for their craftmanship and ingenuity in the studio, and then there are performances that I have left a better person. 

While bathing my daughter today I had a hankering for The Weepies, so we listened to them as we splashed. They have a special place in my heart because they had never played Dallas before and DAYS after my due date of November 14th, they were playing at my favorite venue. I had to go. I HAD to go. It got to the week before and I reasoned that if I got tickets and went into labor, I could get rid of them easily. If I went into labor AT the show, I would have a baby and an awesome story later that night, so that would be a double win. I also knew that if I didn't get those tickets and didn't in fact have a baby anywhere near that time, I would kick myself.

Well, turns out I was WAY off on that due date, and I am SO VERY GLAD I got those tickets.
Dallas has historically infuriated me because I have been to shows where either 1) the audience should be dancing! It's GRUPO FANTASMA FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! DANCE! and guess what? no dancing. 2) the audience is talking ever so casually in a low hum under the amazing (for example) banjo stylings of Bela Fleck. I don't expect utter silence at a show, but I do expect some sort of involvement, whether that be a respectful interest or busting a salsa move or three. It's a sign of respect, I think. 

The Weepies, though...everyone was completely silent through just about the whole show. I read recently that it's supposedly some "hipster" thing, which wouldn't really surprise me, and there was a point in the show where a heckler got the stink eye and shushed angrily by pretty much the entire audience. But oh, how The Weepies deserved the silence. From what I gathered at the show, their lyrical genius is driven by the female half of the duo, Deb Talan. She has a remarkable way with words, and their music more often than not brings me to tears of joy and/or sadness, depending on the time of day and the song. What I love about them is that their music isn't boring. It doesn't all sound the same, they have a fun way of saying some pretty deep stuff, and their music is relatable to all those awkward moments where you think you'll never be able to describe _______ in words and then there she is, breaking your heart with the words "and the world spins madly on." The music is equally great, simple, and straightforward. 

The other thing that made this live show so ridiculously incredible was that they were absolutely hilarious, in a moderately tasteful, sometimes off-color, unabashedly honest way. There is nothing I don't love about this duo and if you have the chance to go see them, you absolutely will not regret it.