2012 Review Part One - The Top Three

This year I listened to more music, discovered more new music and went to more concerts than I think I ever had before in a single year. Here are the top three bands I'll always remember were with me through the highs and lows.

Airborne Toxic Event

 

Airborne's reign at the top of my playlist started in late 2011 when I discovered their music and got dumped in roughly the same month. "Changing" and "Numb" spoke loud and clear to me and when I heard "Happiness Is Overrated", I knew I'd found some place I could hide out and lick my wounds for awhile.

I drove all the way to Indianapolis to see them perform before I even had absorbed their whole catalog and I remember standing there near the bar at the Vogue, the band came out on the stage and opened with "All at Once". Mikel, standing at the mic, looked up into the distance and smiled. It felt like a private smile shared with all of us in the room and I was a goner.

I had the chance to see them again in July in Detroit. They put on a great show, of course, but some of the magic was gone. Stolen, I think, by a raucous drunken crowd that couldn't have known and wouldn't have cared just how meaningful the music and being at that show was to me. I can't lay any blame on Airborne, though. They rocked out hard and sounded great and once again covered "I Fought the Law" which is one of my favorites. I'd see them again anytime and I eagerly await their next album.

A Silent Film

When I arrived at the first day of Common Ground 2012, I was having a bad day. I didn't know who was playing or when so I was just wandering around being grouchy. By the time I made my way to the stage A Silent Film was on, they were mid-song. I didn't know who they were but I couldn't look away. I can't recall everything they played. I can, however, remember that it was magical. That set definitely turned my mood around and changed my outlook on the whole week. I felt like if I could happen upon a band like A Silent Film, what else was out there waiting to be discovered?

I got choked up listening to "Harbour Lights" because I felt like it perfectly suited the weird combination of guilt and euphoria I felt in my post-breakup life. I've basked in the energy of "Driven By Their Beating Hearts". I could go on and on.

I wrote about them a little more extensively back in August after I saw them for the third time but it's worth mentioning that as time has passed, I've only grown more fond of their music. It's the kind of music that surrounds you and hits you in all the right places. The lyrics are beautiful, the music is rich and dynamic -- that's a powerful combination. Add that to their awesome on-stage energy and I'm pretty sure they're unstoppable.

Frank Turner

 

On May 23, 2012, I heard my first Frank Turner song. I bought my first Frank Turner album, and I bought a ticket to my first Frank Turner concert.

I was making breakfast, listening to some artist radio station on Spotify when I heard "Reasons Not to Be an Idiot" for the first time. It caught my attention right away but I think it was about the time of the first chorus that I put down my knife and thought "holy shit, is he talking to me?" It is a strange and perfect moment when you hear a song that speaks to you directly where you're at in life in that moment.

It was a long wait until his concert in September but in those months I listened to Frank's music constantly, annoying everyone in my life with my insistence that they "listen, no, really listen to this song. It's brilliant! Brilliant!" Frank's music reflects a number of things that resonate with me. One, is the desire to not be tied down or stay in one place. This is something that I've always felt but have never acted upon so I find a kind of vicarious pleasure in his tales of the road. Another is the necessity of being an active particpant in life because we're not guaranteed any amount of time here. It's urgent and imperative that we appreciate what we have and take advantage of our time on the planet. That was a lesson I was learning on my own at the time and Frank's music really helped me solidify that within myself.

I met Frank a couple of times (in Detroit and again at Riot Fest in Chicago) and I wanted to tell him all of that, how his music really made my life a better place and inspired me every day but I'm pretty sure what I said was "Uh... duh..." and looked at him like a deer caught in headlights. But maybe somehow he understood anyway. I hope so, anyway, because I don't know if I can work up the guts to try again when he comes back my way.





What game-changers did you encounter this year?

Frank Turner, Larry & His Flask, Jenny Owen Youngs

This is going to get long so I'll do my "tl;dr" up front:

Nonstop energy from the first set through the last, this trio of bands was a brilliant combination that had the crowd dancing and singing all night. A must-see.

The bands:

Jenny Owen Youngs

Larry & His Flask

Frank Turner & the Sleeping Souls

The venue:

Saint Andrews Hall (Detroit MI)

Date: 

September 11, 2012

A little background: On May 23, 2012, I heard my first Frank Turner song ("Reasons Not To Be An Idiot"), I bought my first Frank Turner album (Love Ire & Song) and I bought tickets to this concert. That day was kind of a game changer for me, so to say I was looking forward to this concert is an enormous understatement. I had very high expectations. I was not disappointed.

I rushed over to the Detroit after work, nervous about going to another new venue alone but damn determined to get there and to be cool because I'd been waiting for this for months. It turns out that Saint Andrews is really easy to find and parking is even easier. I rolled in with ten minutes or so to spare before Jenny Owen Youngs took the stage.

I got reasonably close to the stage but ended up standing behind some tall dudes who were drinking and laughing and I know that's what you do at a show, I couldn't fault them for that, but I've had some bad experiences with people being really douchey during opening acts (see forthcoming Airborne Toxic Event post) so I felt wary.

I need not have worried. They boys were so enthused to see Jenny, it was actually pretty adorable. They toasted her when she came out on stage and in fact were so obviously and loudly into her that I thought she'd spit beer out her nose laughing. She seemed genuinely flattered and surprised and it ended up being really fun. She's great on stage, too. She's got a great voice and songs that draw you in and she's gorgeous, which is irrelevant but still true. I didn't know any of her stuff before the show but she got us new kids singing along to a nice cover of "Ring of Fire" and overall, I really enjoyed her set and I've put a few of her tracks into my main playlist.

Next up was Larry and His Flask (LAHF from here on).

If you're not moving when LAHF starts playing, I assume one of the following scenarios applies:
1. You have died/are in a coma.
2. You suffer from full-body paralysis.
3. You are standing in a state of shock at the sheer awesomeness in front of you.

There is no other legitimate excuse. I'd only listened to a few of their songs before the show but was sucked right in to it from the moment they began playing. Then when they started playing "Beggars Will Ride", I thought I'd lose my mind. Dancing and clapping and stomping my feet with a bunch of other crazy people doing the same thing was beyond my wildest expectations. Finally getting to dance the crap out of that song was a relief as I had previously been listening to it at work where busting a move is frowned upon by management.


I'm not sure what to say about LAHF. They're the real deal. The (upright) bass player will blow your mind. Straight up. The mandolin and banjos solos give you the sense that all is right in the world. There's harmonica and drums and sometimes even trumpet and trombone. There's so much going on that it's almost impossible to keep track of, especially when they don't keep still for even a second. They lay out soulful, solid harmonies over this well-constructed wonderful punk rock jamboree. I had this thought that I was just happy to be a human being who could experience their show and appreciate it.

Too soon, it was over. But the best was yet to come. Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls took the stage and the show pretty much blew me away. You have to understand that LAHF was a wild ride but I'd been living in Frank Turner's music for months. It's attached itself to my heart now, which made seeing him live kind of a Big Deal. The combination of the music being such a big part of my life, of being caught up in the crowd singing and dancing and Frank and the band sounding great and playing their hearts out on every song... it was one of those moments that stick with you. Amazing.

It's obvious that Frank Turner loves what he's doing. He's solidly connected to what he plays and he invites the crowd to connect as well. He calls for a sing-a-long but makes sure everyone knows what to do because he's "not all about the in crowd" or only long-time fans. His call to dance during "Four Simple Words" pushed the crowd to a new level of awesome from which it never descended through the rest of the show.

The Sleeping Souls really rocked. They were a lot of fun to watch. Had my bass-player gauge not just been thoroughly destroyed by LAHF, Tarrant from the Sleeping Souls would have made the top of my list of fun-to-watch bass players. I guess he can still top the list of bass guitar players because he was really beautiful to watch. I got a chance to say hi to some of the guys after the show and even got a copy of the set list (thanks Matt!).

I'd heard that Frank is known to hang around after a show and I was thrilled to find that was, indeed the case. Now, I'd been practicing for this moment all summer by meeting other musicians that I really admire after shows and I thought that since now I'm so cool, meeting Frank would be no big deal. Wrong. I totally pulled a deer in headlights act! Thankfully, he's a pro and he signed the things I proffered and even took care to spell my name correctly without once giving the impression that he thought I was a total tool. He did call my 30 Things To Do While I'm 30 list a "bucket list", which I hate, but he didn't know any better and since I was incapable of giving any real explanation, I choose forgiveness.

I was bummed that I didn't get to meet Jenny Owen Youngs or the guys from Larry and His Flask but hopefully I'll be able to catch them on their next trip through the Mitten.

All in all, bump this one to the top of my favorite concerts list. The energy, the awesome performances, the enthusiastic crowd that was there to sing and dance and rock out, it really came together, start to finish.