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The blogging has been light lately, hasn't it? Life kind of takes over sometimes. I'll be doing something like traveling, or planting flowers, or holding someone's baby or hanging out with friends and think, I really should write a blog about this, it's wonderful, I should share. And then I turn on another episode of The Killing, or I get obsessed with a new hobby like knitting, or I finish reading a book and writing my third book review or I just open the windows and let the spring breeze in and all of my motivation to write disappears, or work keeps me running all day and when I finally get home at night I don't want to think so hard, hard enough to remember how to use punctuation or frankly how to spell the word punctuation. But I'm back on it this week. I have a slew of fabulous trips and concerts and friend gatherings with an additional stack of delightful photos to share. And something for everyone, instead of just my book nerd following. So let's get started!
Ah, Arcade Fire. And The National. Two indie powerhouses brought together to rock my April.
Back at the end of April, now exactly a month ago, Joe and I attended The National and Arcade Fire show at Starlight Theatre. Starlight is my favorite venue. It is perfection. Anchored by a beautiful outdoor stage with two large turrets on each side, making it look like a big faux medieval castle, then a sweeping slope of green seats with excellent unobstructed views of the sky and the stage, it's not too big, not too small. It's the best venue in Kansas City. Joe went straight to Starlight right after work and got in line, since seating is first come, first serve, and somehow, even though I wasn't there yet and they weren't doing it for anyone else, he was able to secure two wristbands for the orchestra seating area that you had to be present to receive. I suspect he flirted with the ticket agent, and I'm fine with that since it earned us fourth row center seats. Nicely done, dear, flirt away.
Concert night was brisk, but one of those clear comfortable spring evenings that make me long for April to stick around longer than it ever does. Yes, it's already more than half way through May, so you might be thinking, more than a month ago, "How are you going to remember anything interesting about the show?" But that's the beauty of being a nerd. After the concert and a little bit during, I jotted down some memorable moments and people, the set list, and generally amusing tidbits that I wanted to remember. Plus Joe took some excellent photos and that always helps jog the memory. So let me cobble together the general mayhem, merriment and musical joy of that evening.
The National opened the show. And as Win Butler, the lead singer of Arcade Fire would remind us later, we were damn lucky to have this caliber of opening act. The National are one of my favorite bands. A heady mix of powerful poetic lyrics paired with strong guitar, bass and drums, the signature sound that drew me in from the beginning was the deep, mournful baritone of lead singer Matt Berninger. His voice is mesmerizing. Sad and sexy, sometimes swinging from furious self righteous anger to regretful longing, it fits the lyrics that he writes and melds perfectly with the music provided by the two pairs of brothers who make up the rest of the band.
He's easy on the eyes too, I might add. All lanky strawberry blond scruff in head to toe rumpled black, with a fitted blazer and eyes closed in thought, he is the indie front man personified. And the sixteen year old teenager sitting in front of me, wearing a leopard print fleece and enormous sunglasses (she's in the first photo and arms raised in the last,) agreed with me. She was shrieking and panting and falling all over herself like it was the
