Situation No Win / Rush for a Change in Atmosphere
Things have slowly been progressing in my life down here in Nashvegas. I think part of why I have come to believe that I actually live here is that I am not entirely tied to my department in terms of people knowing...Which was also the case the last two semesters - I had the Reunion office crew, albeit we never hang out or anything, even though I am comparably aged to some of them. Most of the development officers I work for are a ripe old 26, so it's no big gap. And of course my Blair school of music crossover let me get to know a bunch of undergrads, some very cool ones (selected mind you) through Evan and Josh. But starting my job at BORDERS, I've gotten to know a bunch of different people who have different interests, aren't all philosophy dorks like myself, and some are *gasp* also musicians. It's nice to just talk to people and go out and do things again.
Collective Soul
So I went downtown on Thursday night for what Nashville calls "Dancin' in the District" - a concert series that happens every Thursday night right on the waterfront. Ok, scratch that. It used to be right on the Cumberland River, but due to zoning thingies and money thingies...blah blah blah it is across the river in front of the stadium. Still outside, but not as fun and accessible. Either way... It's just 3 dollars, and that ain't bad (it used to be free, but now they are getting semi-bigger names, etc)> So this week's installment was Collective Soul. Will Hoge opened, a Nashville native, whose swagger was way too big to fit his talent or relative lack thereof. Don't get me wrong, some of his stuff was decent in a very rockabilly meets 80s hairband sorta way with a little bit of not as good as Mr. Big ballad action goin on, with keyboard intro solo...but he flailed around on the stage so much, and did 25 too many airplane kicks for my liking. Just in bad taste. He also tried to insult the audience into liking him / clapping for him, which was a major turn off music wise.
Then there was Collective Soul. Firstoff, a very strange name for a band, not that bandnames ever really make sense when you stop to think about them (Pearl Jam? Wouldn't the pearl bits get stuck in your teeth if you had a sandwich with peanut butter and pearl jam on it?). But towards the end of the set, the lead singer was talking about how his father is a Baptist minister, and they sang a gospel song, etc, and considering the fact that his brother is in the band as well, as one of the guitarists, the name's meaning came into sharper focus for me. Anyway...I've always thought that Collective Soul was a decent band, and so when the opportunity presented itself, and Carolyn and Mike suggested we go, I was all about it. Doing something different on a Thursday night? Yes please! So, we went. The thing about Collective Soul is that they have a bunch of pretty good songs, but I've never stopped to buy an album or anything like that. They bring me back to an early 90s place in my heart that is both good and strange all at the same time. Good old 1994. The lead singer (and I apologize, I have no idea what this man's name is) is amazing! He has so much energy, it's like watching him do aerobics to a Jane Fonda video onstage while swinging the mic stand around (I swear he was a baton twirler in high school). He was super chill, and even when people jumped on stage with him, he was just into having them dance around for a bit, and he even shook the individual's hand, while the security guards scowled in the background, ready to pounce and / or push the person offstage if need be, and disappointed that the singer gave the sign to take no action against the people in question. They played "Long Way to Run," which was awesome, as well as "The World I Know" - and the song with the killer riff at the beginning of it. The other highlights were their cover of "Personal Jesus" by Depeche Mode that left the majority of the crowd dumbstruck; most of the kids there had no idea what the song was, nor who Depeche Mode are, let alone that ithe band name means 'Fast Fashion' in French. It was a rockin speeded up version of the tune, and the singer was all into it and white boy dancin' and jumpin' around to it. It was awesome. While most of the crowd didn't know what to do with that, the encore cover was more their speed: "Highway to Hell" by AC DC. That got the crowd jumping up and down and singing along. Of course, in TN, AC DC is more popular than Depeche Mode...The awesome part of this song was that the singer from Tonic came on and did a verse, and sounded just like the singer from AC DC, I forget if it was the 1st or 2nd singer of this band (Bon Scott or Brian Johnson) who recorded this one...Apparently from my little googly search, Bon Scott was the man who sang up until 1980, which means that "Highway to Hell" was one of his songs...Back in Black onward was Brian Johnson...Anyway, the Tonic guy sounded just like a singer (pick one) from AC DC. It was awesome! And the final tune was "Shine" which was just a happy little singalong for the whole audience.
The evening was capped off with dancin' at a club (I wanted jo jo to be there so badly!) and then drinks at the Boundry, and then some Taco Bell / grapes / popcorn at Carolyn's because there is no such thing as pizza at 2am in Nashville. I really wished SLICES was down here so I could stumble across the street and get some pizza!
Other artists who will be here for Dancin' in the District: George Clinton / Parliament Funkadelic, the Violent Femmes!!!!, Blues Traveler, Better Than Ezra, etc and so on...If anyone wants to come to Nashvegas to see a fun show with me, c'mon down...
Sunday Afternoon
So I just got caught in the rain (no, there were no pina coladas involved). Got outta work, now at library, ready to write after I finish my FAFSA...sounds thrilling, I know.
Props to Marty for calling me back last night. We need to talk more often.
Kierkegaard calls, but I thought I would drop in real quick to say hi!
