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Quiet is not what I want to be right now. After so much time spent in loud, I sit back with just the noise of falling water and my hands across the plastic. Each key creating a note which on a scale may speak the same letter but sounding differently. A crescendo of spoken word. Growing moment by moment as if it was accompanied by the full orchestra plus crowd. Faces repeating the gospel bestowed upon them have learned the truth.
Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the story of the insurgents!
This is a story that begins like most in my life. I was up late one night surfing through channels when I came across an episode of Last Call with Carson Daily. Now normally I will not admit to supporting the man who killed MTV but there are some decent acts on there from time to time. He was a DJ apparently. So anyway Carson introduces this band he heard at South by Southwest and I file the catchy tune in the back of my head. Same place I kept a number of things from time to time in the music world. A few months later the catchy tune ended up on my radio just like most pop music does.
Now for those unfamiliar with my take on pop music, it’s really simple. People want to hear what they enjoy. We enjoy what we have been told to enjoy by someone else. What makes a song popular is that a large number of humans like it. Most can in some way relate to it even. The song becomes a moment in multiple lives. Maybe it was that night crowd surfing to Welcome to Paradise with complete trust in strangers. Or maybe it was the afternoon drive down the strip beachside with K5’s Passion blaring. Crossing four lanes of traffic in rush hour because you finally know who wrote Unwritten. It can even include sharing Musicology and Reflections with a young teen on an hour drive to visit her grandmother. I mean tell me when you first heard your favorite song? It seems that mine for the weekend was Handlebars…
Moments turned into investigation which leads me to a set of lyrics that I repeated daily. That led me to download which pushed me towards purchase. Since real fans buy vinyl I had to own a 7in and a CD to go with my new fan club membership. This being a band that doesn’t have regular fans I found myself signing up for a street team all in preparation for a July 29th concert. Something about this show says to bring a friend. A young reporter with a secret love for still photography fit the bill perfectly!
So to skip ahead of a few moments to not bore anyone, David &Derrick are off to see the show. Now this is the first time I have traveled to the State Theatre in St Pete. I must say that this is a lovely venue which makes what would look like a small crowd for most of the concerts I have been to in the past few years seem large. Or maybe it is a large crowd seems small. Either way the venue was not big at all but managed to fit every human necessary into the space provided. I would have to question if the energy maybe allowed me to lose count of the number of bodies. Sweat seemed to not only pour from my brow but thy neighbor even as DJ Lazy opened up with his blend of melodic hip hop beats. A guy who reminds me of the local version of Kid Rock, he made several pleas to the crowd to catch is late night radio show.
Opening up was Busdriver. This was a one-man-band if I can ever use the phrase. Seemed kind of funny that Dave would mention this act to me as something I should check out. Honestly I was impressed by the fact that not only was each beat/song created for him by him, but that he was creative enough to think where he would want to mix in and out of his own track. The weird contraption of a mixer and a sound box that resembled a cd player gave Busdriver a look like no other. Almost as if he was above the normal remixer or rap artist. It was like looking years into the future and almost being unable to ingest what you found.
I made my way out halfway through to find fresh air. Seems the State Theatre only allows smoking outdoors though no one seemed to tell the patrons. Once away from the mass of bodies up front I was able to find Dave, a beer, two lesbians on a bike, the bathroom, and the tour manager for the band. I inquired about a shirt that I saw on the display rack. She promised me some of the underground tracks she had on the bus and introduced me to an excited Rok. A few moments later we were ready to start the main attraction.
For those unfamiliar with the Flobots, they are a six piece band out of Denver, CO. The music is very politically charged with two MCs flowing over guitar, bass, and drums. A viola player/soprano voice holds the group together. I was surprised talking with them later just how serious they take the message, practicing what they preach in urging young people to not only vote but to become involved in the local community. The set list started with a vengeance, moving back and forth between Jonny 5 and Brer Rabbit with tracks like Stand Up and Same Thing. Once McKinsey took over for Anne Braden and Never Had It, the crowd seemed to truly open up. There were only two covers; one of the “So Happy Together” jam that made a certain band of the 60’s famous, and the other a sexually charged version of “Heartbreaker” after the set was officially over. I would have said that they played everything commanded from the major label release. Crowd interaction at this show was a must! Then somewhere between the first and second ending of the show… the moment came!
Popular music has a way of reaching people. Some jump up and down. Some laugh. Some cry. Some scream. I personally waved my vinyl like a kid winning the first place trophy for the little league team. Over the past month I have maybe heard this song about 100 times. It’s weird though looking back and seeing what you might consider to be the new “It” band. To hear the next big thing live is something I can remember doing several times even in my short life. Standing in a small room five feet away from someone who goes on to become a superstar has became normal in my younger days. My walls are littered with scribbles and photos of the soon to be famous. Needless to say…I added to my collection!
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