The concert season is upon us. Well, if you are me, there
is no season. It always is, just a matter of how cold you are willing to get
while waiting in line. I am kind of built for sub-zero line-standing, so I
complain less than most.
Earlier this week I got to see the Fray, thanks to my friend Liz. I had seen them
before at Riverport and really enjoyed the show, so the thought of seeing them at
a smaller venue, the
Pageant, was pretty exciting. I will say they put on a fantastic performance;
however, I do not think they did a great job of acclimating to their
environment. They are used to big venues with big production, and at times I
felt they overwhelmed the Pageant, turned her up to eleven when she should have
stayed on four. Instead of giving us some really intimate moments, they gave us
a spectacle, and I had already seen that from them.
Tonight, I got to witness something totally different, an
icon, a legend, and a huge influence on me as a songwriter, performing in a
very small venue, comparatively speaking. Amy Ray,
member of the Indigo Girls,
came to St. Louis to play the Old Rock House,
a stage I have played many times, and I was there to witness it. I don’t think
I can do this experience justice in prose. I mean, in my opinion, Amy Ray probably
has the best female rock voice, ever. And I, subconsciously, jacked more shit
from the Indigo Girls than any other band. When I was first learning to play
guitar and transition from poet to songwriter, there were a few bands in
constant rotation: Edwin McCain, Duncan Sheik, and the Indigo Girls.
Rather than dribble on about the evening, I will speak the
way I know best…
When a Trinity
Exists
She moved me
Like a child
Moved by first experience
Her ten fingers
Overwhelmed six strings
And I
Felt her sincerity
Heard the urgency in her flat pick
And when she sang
I remembered why I sing
Why I crave the stage
Like most crave sex
Why I sacrifice lower order needs
To self-actualize
In rare moments
When a trinity exists
Between
Music
Me
And you
Before I end, I do have to mention Larkin Poe. They opened for Amy Ray. This
was my second time seeing them, and both times I have been totally impressed.
Also, at the Fray show I got to see Dia
Frampton open, and that was actually the cooler moment. She did a great job
of capturing it for me, well all of us in attendance. Liz and I are in the purple box.
