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Are you tired of where you've gone?
And you think you might belong
In a moment when you step out of the rain?
And you've ended up in someone else's frame?
And they're memory now is never quite the same
And they never even thought to ask your name

Take another picture with your click, click, click, click camera

A few weeks ago on the internet there was a post going around to name your top ten live music experiences. I posted mine and almost immediately thought of changes I would have liked to have made. Friends commented on concerts we had seen together and I couldn't believe they didn't make my top ten.  It made me really think about music and how music is sometimes the narration of our memories and sometimes serves as the sound track. Sometimes one live show can change your life or at least your mood for a little while. Music is a wonderful addition to our stories and I know I’m not the only one who has heard a song a completely created a music video montage in their head. When I hear music I feel it. I hold the sadness and celebrate they joy that these musicians have chosen to share with me more deeply than many people I know, I think I get that from my pops. Somewhere along the way I feel out of love with music. I stopped listening to new bands and rarely went to a live show. Listening to music became too hard. Wanting to burst into tears on the bus is not the way that I like to experience music. One of my best friends challenged me to fall back in love with music. She couldn't believe me when I said I rarely listened to music and basically told me to get my shit together and start listening to music again immediately. After getting to Seattle I started looking to music to help me fall in love with music again. Bishop Allen recently put out a new album and came to Seattle for a show and there was no way I was going to miss it.
I was nervous about the hipster douche bag quotient that might be there but was psyched to see the band anyway. It was a great venue and despite some sound issues that were out of the band’s control they rocked through it. I was there dancing alone, sure a few people were rocking back and forth but I was surely the only one really giving it my all. I was full of energy and in those moments when the dark purples and bright oranges were leaping from the stage and into my veins I could not have felt happier or more in love with music. No I was not on drugs when I hear music I see it in color. My friend that went with me said I dance just like Claire, Molly Ringwald’s character in the Breakfast Club without knowing that it was one of the best compliments that I ever could have received.

After the show the folks in the deliberately clashing outfits, big hats and ironic lives scattered and my friend and I went to sit at the bar and finish our drinks. I talked with the bar owner about Snake Whiskey and our various adventures in South East Asia. 

 Slowly the members of the band trickled out. We talked about living in The North Country in New York, immigration and long distance relationships, fracking and what bullshit it is. We drank Rainer and said cheers to shots of Jamieson and I got tell them that they made me fall in love with music again. What an amazing experience I was able to have. Sitting at a bar, in a city I love, shooting the shit with one of my favorite bands. I first heard of Bishop Allen when I saw Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist and fell in love with the soundtrack. Bishop Allen was on my first international flight with me. They were the soundtrack to many trips into Seoul including the first one which was when I met the woman who will soon be my wife. They played while I walked for miles and miles clearing my head and I had the opportunity to tell them all of that. I said, “Thank you for helping me fall in love with music again” and one of them said “That is an amazing compliment thank you for listening.” A truly awesome night that I know I will never ever forget to put on my top ten list of best live music experiences.