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2.22.2011

my christmas gift to my brother (and to myself...just a little bit).

just two days before this last christmas my family collected in new york where we spent our first night at the new leaf cafe (arguably, my favorite place in all of the city). there we talked and drank and ate and somewhere in the conversation i mentioned this indie band from seattle i had taken a liking to and my brother said something along the lines of oh yeah, i've heard them. i really like them. 


that night when i got home inspiration struck. i looked up tour dates, found a concert in boston (where my brother now lives, and where i had yet to visit him) and booked us two tickets.

(there are times when procrastination pays).

on christmas morning i passed him the gift, which he unraveled to the tune of: who are these people?


me: but we just talked about them two days ago. you said you liked them.


him: oh. did i?


such is life. the good news is that the thought was not lost and in two months time i'd take a trip up north for a little quality time.

on this saturday night we hopped in cab to the paradise rock club and stood in line where we were met by the smell of herbal such-and-suchs and a group of people far grungier than ourselves.

i could have cared less. the whole thing was bliss. and my brother having boned up on his the head and the heart knowledge since december was well prepared.

there's nothing like live music is there? the communion between artist and audience. the feel of the drums in the body. the dimensions and layering that few recordings can really illuminate.

they were so good.

they were so, so good.

in this age of over-processed music where artists can rarely match what we hear on their cds--they were brilliant.

when they finished their set my brother turned to me and said: yeah, that was a good christmas gift. 


(my brother wouldn't let me take a full video of the band, but in this age of instant media, i pulled one off of youtube from the very night we were there. and since it's connor's favorite song...)



ps: when we were leaving i totally recognized two members of the band just outside the door and in a moment of rare (really rare) social prowess i turned to them and told them just how brilliant we thought they were. and since we were a little star-struck (and crushing on just about every member of the band) just getting to talk to them for a moment was surreal. it was only later that we kicked ourselves for missing out on the photo opportunity. oh well, next time.

if you can get yourselves to a head and the heart concert do it. by all means. run to one.

and my favorite song? rivers and roads. heaven. absolute heaven.

14 comments:

Dee Paulino said...

sounds like you'd a great time. I am glad you did :)

Erin said...

I saw them in DC and they were amazing. And afterwards my friends and I talked to Charity for awhile, and she's even nicer than you hope she'd be.

kate said...

meg! i like these guys. like a lot. thanks for sharing.

i love grungy rock clubs. i love going to the shows that people are really there for the music, and not because it's popular on the radio.

music is huge love of my life. i could go on and on about this topic for days, but i won't.

Brittan said...

Oh sweet, I just RSVP'd last night for a free show at SXSW that they are opening!

How does your week look? Can we get coffee? I find myself up in Washington Heights fairly often lately. Or you can come to our Oscars party on Sunday! Would you believe that I'll miss your next book club by one day? I get back in town on March 21st! So sad.

Anonymous said...

100% with you on the live music thing....& its so good now that smoking is banned from indoor venues.

(oh my lordy, 'boned up' has such a different meaning over here)

Kaylia Payne said...

Sounds like a wonderful time! and what a thoughtful gift, even if he didn't remember them :p Live music is the best!!!

Monica said...

Funny you posted this today...they had the song of the day on NPR. Love them! Here's a link to the article...http://www.npr.org/2011/02/22/133961672/the-head-and-the-heart-one-more-for-winter&sc=nl&cc=sod-20110222

Dia said...

They sound great! They remind me a lot of Gregory Alan Isakov.

Jenni Austria Germany said...

herbal such-and-suchs...haha. and i agree with you about the live music thing. i always say there are 2 things i am willing to pay loads of money for: concerts and traveling. i never regret either (except for feist....love her music but she was a biiiiiiatch to the crowd the entire time. shocking.)

Alex said...

Ah, they are so good.

Marisa said...

So good...

"there's nothing like live music is there? the communion between artist and audience. the feel of the drums in the body. the dimensions and layering that few recordings can really illuminate."

So perfectly said!

...like a rolling stone. said...

ack! i haven't heard of this talented crew.
and concerts are just about the raddest christmas presents. so fun! xo.

Roxy Te said...

you are as always an amazing writer. I felt like I was there! Off to check out the band now!

Kirsten Dahlhauser said...

everything you said sang to my heart...i <3 THATH.

and i'm jealous you saw them. b/c i can't get tix for the life of me. cheers to u sister.


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