All day I couldn't shake the feeling that I needed to go back up to Asbury Park and set things right. I felt like I left on bad terms last night, and that if I went back, things would be better. I went about my business during the day, but as I was leaving my brother and sister-in-law's house around 5:30 I just couldn't shake the feeling that I just needed to make this happen.
I texted my friend Manda and asked if she was up for an adventure. I didn't tell her right away what we were doing, just that she needed to dress warm and that we would be gone for a while. She wasn't doing much of anything, so the request to accompany me on my adventure was met with an enthusiastic yes. I changed out of the Gaslight shirt I had been wearing (because, you know, I couldn't be "that guy") and headed over to pick up Manda.
We got up to Asbury just as The Felice Brothers were finishing their set. We heard a little bit of one of their songs as we were driving through to find a parking spot, but I have never heard them and honestly didn't really care to start listening to them tonight. I just wanted to find a parking spot for my car so that I could find a parking spot for my booty.
Eventually all of that was settled, and we located a bench with a perfect view of...the ocean. But no worries...sitting backwards wasn't the worst thing we could have done. We were joined on the boardwalk by several other people who were interested in listening to the band, which was nice. What amazed me, though, was how quiet everyone was. Maybe it was just because the sound carried so well, I don't really know, but I couldn't hear anything but the band, which was amazing.
The sound was probably better on the boardwalk than it was inside the venue the night before. Brian's voice was clearer and the instruments blended together nicely. The only downfall was that we were really far away, so it looked like ants were playing on stage, but considering last night I couldn't see anything from inside, I figured it wasn't such a bad thing.
The setlist was slightly different from last night, which I figured would be the case, and I got what I was itching for, so I left much happier tonight.
High Lonesome
Handwritten
'59 Sound
The Diamond Church Street Choir
Biloxi Parish
We Came To Dance
Howl
Here Comes My Man
Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts
45
Film Noir
Blue Dahlia
Meet Me By The River's Edge
The Queen Of Lower Chelsea
Wooderson
Great Expectations
Keepsake
*************
She Loves You
Mulholland Drive
The Patient Ferris Wheel
Mae
The Backseat
I left with a smile on my face tonight. I am chalking that up to A) not being wet from the rain, and B) getting to hear Blue Jeans. Now that I have heard that song (and everyone everywhere screaming when
Brian sings, "I'm gonna buy you that house on Cookman") in Asbury Park, all is again right with the world.
One thing that was consistent over the course of the two shows was the awesome moon. We watched it rise over the ocean tonight and it was beautiful. Also, while looking at Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury all lined up, we saw a shooting star, and then another on the drive home. Even the sky was happy that Gaslight played Blue Jeans.
The Gaslight Anthem on the Asbury Park beach. This had the potential to be perfect.
What it was, however, not.
I was so excited for this show, which lately hasn't really happened. I couldn't wait to get up there and hang out with my old friend and see two of my favorite bands, together, in one of my favorite places, which also happens to be basically TGA's "hometown." (I know they aren't from there, but if you listen to their stuff you understand where I am coming from.)
I met up with a friend from my WC days, her husband, and two of her friends, and we had dinner at a place in the Berkley Hotel. It was nice, and I really rather like this whole eating a nice meal before a show thing I seem to be doing lately. It definitely beats starving through a set.
While we were inside, the rain came down like crazy, but it was tapering off as we started down to the venue. At this point, though, the sun was down and it was getting really cold. We all ended up bundling up a little more and then headed down...as we were walking, Ben came back and said, "we are missing the hold steady." We thought their set started at eight, but they were finishing their last song at 8:17 so obviously that wasn't right. I did get to see a few songs, and we heard a few while waiting in the STILL RIDICULOUS line to get inside.
By this point we were all bundled up, a little bit wet from the rain that had just passed through, and anxious for Gaslight to take the stage. I find myself wondering if all of that anxiousness was for nought. I find that shows that I drag my feet about attending are generally kick-ass, and the shows that I build up as SUPERAWESOMEHAPPYFUNTIMES in my head tend to leave me wanting more.
First, the crowd sucked. A crowd makes or breaks a show for me, and this one definitely broke it. I guess ill just never understand why anyone would pay concert ticket money, not to mention ticketmaster fees, just to stand around and talk over the band. I maybe get it with an opener, because its less likely that anyone is there to see them specifically (though I realize that people do sometimes go for the opener) but the headlining act? It would be much cheaper to invite your friends over, buy a few bottles of wine and play the records in the comfort of your own home. At least then you aren't
wasting money or distracting anyone who actually wants to hear the band.
Not only could I not hear, but I could not see anything. When I held my camera up to snap pictures, I could see through the lcd screen, but mostly I was just looking at the backs of the heads of the Jolly Green Giant impersonators that were standing up ahead of us. So, at this point, I cant see the band or hear the band, and that was when the guy behind me decided he was going to start grabbing my butt. After elbowing him a few times, punching him once or twice, and moving away from him, I just couldn't take any of it anymore and told the people that I was with that I was going to the back of the venue.
I ended up buying a tee shirt and dancing around by myself in the back until the show was over.
I was also really disappointed that they didn't play "Blue Jeans and White Tee Shirts." It is literally a song about sleeping on the Asbury Park beach and buying a house in AP, and I havent heard it live yet because I got into Gaslight too late, I guess. I am almost betting that they will play it tonight, though, along with the other few songs that I was really hoping to hear.
The setlist wasn't bad, though.
Handwritten
Old White Lincoln
American Slang
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
Casanova, Baby!
The Diamond Church Street Choir
Biloxi Parish
Angry Johnny and the Radio
45
The Patient Ferris Wheel
Blue Dahlia
Too Much Blood
Miles Davis and The Cool
Meet Me By The River's Edge
Mullholland Drive
Great Expectations
Keepsake
****************
She Loves You
The '59 Sound
Here's Looking at You, Kid
The Backseat
I guess the setlist is pretty kick-ass, I just wish I would have been able to enjoy it better.
(I just made the mistake of looking at the setlist from THS last night. I am really disappointed that I didn't get to see their set.)
I can feel it in my bones that Gaslight will play "blue jeans" tonight. I almost want to ride up there and sit on the beach to listen, but that kind of seems silly, I guess.
Day two was the first of two long days at the Camden Waterfront. We arrived at Wiggins park around noon and, after making our way through the entrance and bag check and getting our wrist bands for the day, found a nice spot on the lawn in front of the River Stage to set our blanket and hang out for the day. There was so much to do, though, that we didn't actually spend much time at the blanket at all.
First up was Good Old War. I avoided listening to this band at first because I don't like being told what to do, but finally, after sooo many tweets about them from the artists I like and admire, I figured I would give them a chance, and I am glad that I did. I really like this band a lot, and I feel like you are doing yourself a grave disservice if you are not giving them a chance. Their set was too short, as is generally the case when one is watching a band that she adores, but the good news is that they are playing Philly again next month. They are a Philly-based band, so I suspect I should be able to see them again.
Immediately after their set, we rushed over to the "members only" tent to A)get refreshing beverages, and B)so that I could stand in line awkwardly and get a chance to meet the guys in the band. Meet and Greets are generally the most awkward things in the universe, and I know that I feel this way, yet every time the opportunity arises I find myself taking it. I was able to buy "Come Back As Rain" on vinyl while waiting in line so I got my record signed, which made me happy. (On a side note, when I came home last night I tried to put my record in the crate, and it wouldn't fit. Looks like its time for a third.)
After this I met back up with Mandy and we wandered around a little bit to see what kind of stuff there was in the tents that were all over the grounds, and while we were doing this, we were listening to Mike Doughty of Soul Coughing. I liked his set enough, but every song kind of sounded the same to me, and all of them sounded like "circles" which is the only Soul Coughing song I know. Even still, it wasn't a bad show.
We had a lot of time to kill between Mike Doughty and the next act that we had any interest in seeing, which wasn't until the Susquehanna Bank Center opened up and the main event for the night got underway, so we spent more time wandering around. We used this opportunity to go drop off some of our recently-acquired crap at the car (Thank God for re-entry!) and we also decided to take full advantage of what our wrist-bands granted us access, and spent some time in the Camden Children's Garden. There wasn't a ton of stuff to look at in there, but it was nice to get out of the sun and away from the crowds for a bit. Also, the lure of a toilet that flushed and running water was enough to make me want to check it out.
After this, we decided to hit up the food vendors (yay crab cakes!) and then head back inside the show. We walked around a bit more, and ended up sitting in the "members only" area again, taking full advantage of both the shade and the free drinks. We also spent some time parusing the craft vendors. I really wanted a Henna tattoo but she wanted 20 dollars for it and I didn't have that much cash left. I am considering getting it today. We will see. I figure it will be good practice for the tattoo I really want.
Eventually it was time to go gather our things and wait in line to get into the Susquehanna Bank Center so that we could see Dr. Dog, The Avett Brothers and Wilco. This was new this year, the incorporation of SBC, but it was an experiment gone so right, if my judgement means anything. We lined up by the Marina Stage, got to enter through the back gates, and when we got into the arena (before the regular ticket holders) there was an entire section, front and center, of the lawn sectioned off just for XPN members.
Dr. Dog came on first. I wasn't impressed. I thought I would like them more considering how much love everyone gives them, but really they just weren't my thing. I may have actually fallen asleep.
The Avetts took the stage after that and I was basically as excited as a kid on Christmas morning. Their set was perfect. They sounded perfect. Even from the lawn they looked perfect. It was a good day. I was up dancing for a while, but by the time they got to January Wedding I just couldn't handle the standing anymore, so I laid down on the blanket and danced. I was up and down from that point on, but that was fine. Toward the end of the set, I leaned in to tell Mandy that I was going to be very disappointed if they didn't play Kick Drum Heart, because I really love that song. (Its my ringtone.) It was getting late and they were playing I And Love And You and introducing the band, and thanking everyone for coming to see them, and I could feel the disappointment creeping in. That song is their big one, and they were thanking everyone, I thought for sure that I wasn't going to hear my song...and then the drum beat changed.
I don't think I have ever gotten up off the ground so quickly in my life! I danced around and screamed along to Kick Drum Heart and was happier at that point than a pig in poop.
Dave Hause (from The Loved Ones) was playing on the side stage, so we ran over to check him out. I wouldn't have gone except that I knew that Brian Fallon from The Gaslight Anthem (if you have been reading at all lately you know who they are) was playing guitar for him, and I wanted to see him if nothing else. I was thoroughly impressed. I find that a lot of times when attending something like this, you find your new favorite band, or at least your new "it" band. I figured Dawes was going to be my discovery of the weekend, but that's not the case, as I really liked the energy and sound of Hause's set. I will definitely be giving this guy some more attention.
Finally, we went back to the blanket on the grass to listen to Wilco. I had my ideas about what this band was going to sound like, but that wasn't what i heard at all. The first two songs were very Jack White-y in both sound and composure. I even remarked that the lead singer had a very Jack White look about him. I guess I can't fault the guy or the band-Jack White is pretty much a musical genius, so why wouldn't they want to be him? It just wasn't what I thought I knew about Wilco. The third song was a lot slower and a lot less experimental, which made it a lot more like what I was expecting from the band.
We only stayed for about five songs because by that point we were starving, tired, and ready to go. I didn't hate Wilco, though, and will probably listen to them a bit now, just to see if there is a groove I can get into.
After a shower and some rest, I am heading back over for day 3, the final day. I am so excited to see Counting Crows tonight, and I am definitely interested to see what else I discover this weekend.
Generally, I *try* to be a happy person, but more often than not, I am frustrated or upset by something that I probably shouldn't be, and end up pretty miserable because of stuff that is usually out of my control or that doesn't really matter much anyway, in the long run.
Friends let me down. Boys are pretty much non-existent in my life. I work all of the time yet somehow NEVER have any cash. I am generally unsatisfied with the way my life is currently progressing.
But then there is music.
Yesterday alone, I found out something that was already widely speculated, but one of the bands that I adored in college, The Starting Line, is heading out on a 10 year anniversary tour in support of their debut album Say It Like You Mean It. This show, for me, is happening on December 30 and I have already made plans to attend. I wont have work, so its a done deal for me.
Also, The Gaslight Anthem has a new album hitting the stores next Tuesday, and NPR started streaming it yesterday. I already wrote about this in more detail yesterday so I wont go there again.
Then there is the fact that sometimes I do "grown-up" things, like supporting a listener-supported radio station. And sometimes, when someone does something like this, they are rewarded. My reward just happened to be a pair of passes to the XPonential Festival this coming weekend. I am going to have the opportunity to see some bands that I love, including Counting Crows, The Hold Steady, The Avett Brothers, Good Old War, and a new favorite Dawes. I have been listening to a playlist of all of those bands, plus some others from the festival, for a few days now, in between spins of Handwritten, and I am getting pretty excited.
Music is the thing that drives me. The bands that I love are my passion. When I am fruitless in my search to find a friend to spend some time with me, I know that my record collection will not let me down. Long rides with a good disk and the windows down are where dreams are born and nurtured. You know that cliche'd deserted island question? my answer is always my music collection and the ability to listen to it.
Today after work, when the car started, "Einstein on the Beach" by the Counting Crows was on the radio. I know I had a big cheesy grin on my face, because that song just does that to me, so when I drove passed the Medical Intern also walking to his car, he looked at me kind of funny and smiled back. He must have thought I was smiling at him, but really, I was just happy about the Eggman. That's all, dude. Just smiling about some silly song that the artist never wanted anyone to hear, but that I adore, and that makes me happier than any person ever could.
When I meet the man that can put that same shit-eating grin on my face, he had better be prepared to put a ring on my finger immediately.
I have not anticipated a new album in a very long time. I cannot even remember the last time I found myself anxiously awaiting a new record, but this one, this one is different.
I have talked a little bit about how I first came to start listening to this band in the post I did last year about another Gaslight Anthem album, The '59 Sound. I really, really love that album, but I never really connected with American Slang in quite the same way. When I first caught wind of this new effort, I really didn't know how I would take to it, but I figured the least I could do was give it a shot.
I actually ignored the first single, "45" because I was still not sure if i was going to be interested in a new album. But then the band had a preview of another track of their album, "Here Comes My Man" and the similarity to a certain Tom Petty tune title piqued my interest. I IMMEDIATELY fell in love with this new single, and just kept listening to the four tracks they had up on their website. I could not get enough. I went back again and "Here Comes My Man" was no longer up for streaming, but I found myself drawn to "45" enough that I would keep going back to listen.
The moment I knew I had fallen in love happened a week or two later. I was driving and listening to one of my favorite radio stations, and I heard the opening riff from "45" and I found myself bouncing up and down in the driver's seat and clapping my hands like a seal. Yes. I show my excitement by bouncing and clapping. Yes. I am mostly just an over-grown toddler with a kick-ass taste in music, but that is mostly besides the point right now.
Since then, I have been all over any little tid-bits the label has let loose. There were 30-second song clips on some foreign iTunes website that I once again found myself listening to repetitively. Last week was the StumbleUpon clips and contest (which resulted in me tweeting a lot about the band and the album, but its cool) and finally, today, I got to stream the album courtesy of NPR. I have listened through two times now, and have paused it on the third listen in order to listen to a YouTube video of the song that I paused. I must say, overall, this album is not exactly what I was expecting, and considering all of the previewing I was able to do, that seems odd to me, but that doesn't mean that I am not pleased.
As far as I am concerned, the fact that only a few of the songs have totally hooked me is a good thing for the album. That means that there will be time for other songs to grow on me as the first few loves fade, thus ensuring a long life together with my stereo/iPhone/computer/car stereo/whatever else I use to listen to music.
Right now there are three songs that I just can't get enough of. Those songs are "45" "Here Comes My Man" and "Mulholland Drive." There are a few more that are on the brink, and a few that sit a little further back, but those three are the ones that will be calling me back to this disk again and again.
Handwritten comes out next Tuesday, July 24, and you can bet that Ill be out at the local record store picking up a copy or two.
back in February, i talked about how much i love this band, and how angry with myself i was that i waited so long to get into them. oddly enough, the same things could be said about this album.
i don't know what i was thinking, but i was terrified to pick this one up. i kept passing it on the "artists on the verge" rack at target and would pick it up and then put it right back down. i was so scared of the commitment even after i already knew how much i loved them.
i don't know why I'm so scared to get into anything that this band does, because i really like what i have heard. i go though spells where i only want to listen to their first album. I'm not quite that way with the second one, but the song boxer is high on my list right now.
i think i need to stop being so scared of this band and to embrace them for all that they are worth. i really think that it could be a beautiful relationship between myself and the band, if id just let myself let them in.
OH MY GOODNESS. take 3 minutes and 53 seconds out of your mundane life and go listen to this track. if that doesn't make you feel all tingly inside, you may need to check to see if you have a soul. seriously. (i am partial to it, however, because it is from bonnaroo.) i read a comment on songmeanings.net that "the opening riff of this song is sheer porn" and I'm inclined to agree with that sentiment. the first time i heard this song i was blown away. i kept repeating it because i couldn't even deal with how much i loved it. i still do that, actually, when listening to the CD.
the gaslight anthem is a decidedly "jersey" band. Brian Fallon's voice has a Springsteen-esque rasp to it that made me take notice to begin with, and the band came out of new brunswick, which is where anything that means anything in the jersey music scene happens, at least in the last 10 years or so. its no Austin, TX, but hell, ill take it.
gaslight was another one of those bands that were bouncing around on the peripheral for a long time, but that i didn't pay attention to right away. I'm really stubborn like that. at any rate, there was an article in AP magazine a year or two ago about the 100 emo songs you need to know or something like that, and a girl that i was friends with had most of those songs on her itunes, so she made me a CD with the like 20 tunes that i didn't have, "the high lonesome" being one of them. i heard it, but it didn't really do a whole lot for me right away. then i was listening to wxpn one day and i heard it again, and the line "maria came from Nashville with a suitcase in her hand. i always kind of sort of wish'd i looked like Elvis" JUMPED out of the speakers at me. i am a huge counting crows fan (this is an obvious reference to 'round here' by the counting crows) and i needed to know what i was listening to. i whipped out my cell phone, went to the "song ID" app and found out that it was the gaslight anthem. then i remembered that that was the song on the CD Melissa burned me. i searched out anything else i could find by gaslight and i haven't looked back since.
i didn't listen to anything else but this CD for a few weeks straight. in the car, on the ipod, at the computer, in my room. i didn't want to waste my time with anything else. as a matter of fact, if I'm having fun now by jenny and johnny hadn't come out when it did, i probably would STILL be listening to nothing but the '59 sound.
i am really angry because i got into this band RIGHT after i got home from bonnaroo, so i missed them there and i missed them the next week at the pier. i think i need to make it a point to see them this summer. i was hoping they'd show up on the 'roo line-up for this summer, but so far no dice. there are a few more rounds of announcements to come, but i think that at this point they are a big enough band to be announced in the first batch, so I'm not holding my breath.
at any rate, if you have not heard this band yet, what are you waiting for. i already gave you a link. just go listen. explore. fall in love. i triple dog dare you not to like them.
