....flashback....

... I went to a show last night.... and ended up in a time machine to my years in university.

You see. I went to see Birds of Wales. They were a band an ex-boyfriend turned me on to waaaaay way back in the day, that had fallen off my radar til I recently rediscovered them on twitter (which, by the way, has become somewhat of an obsession, but that's fodder for another post). I had seen some rocking shows of theirs in the past and was totally pumped to see them at Tattoo. Especially since the whole thing was in support of a great organization supporting and educating on Darfur.

So I was a little disappointed when I showed up an hour after the doors open to find 30 college kids sitting around the periphery of the bar. It was a full on college flashback, and my friend had not even showed up yet.... what was a girl to do... I needed a night out... i needed a drink, and I had already arrived... So I bought myself a corona and settled in to watch girls who had seen eachother just hours previously shriek and hug like soldiers returning home, and eavesdrop on the conversation at the next table about the "mondo paper that was actually due yesterday, but that I will hand in tomorrow because I told my prof I got crabs and was too traumatized to write it over the weekend"

Actually, after beers number 2,3,4 and 5... it was kind of a warm fuzzy feeling of being cocooned in the best and most carefree years in my life... Everything I did back then was SOOOOO important, and i was ready to take on the world.

This feeling was only extended when the opening act, We Are The Take, took the stage. In my years I have seen a LOT of shows. Huge stadiums, open amphitheatres, packed bars and, like this, empty rooms where the band can't help but acknowledge you... personally... since you are the only ne there. I remember in college, going to Le Swimming (oh how i miss you, and how future generations are going to suffer your absence) and seeing bands like Bedouin Soundclash and Plain White T's play in front of a crowd of no more than ten people. It is a totally different way to experience music. And it can be crappy if the band has ego complexes and are just disappointed that no one came to see them... But it can also be awesome. If you are one of those people that really loves the live music experience for the energy that flows back and forth between a band and their audience... its almost like a drug.

And We ARe The Take started with a double dose of it... Their high-octane guitar jams, heavy drumming and revved lyrics made me want to dance all over the floor.... I was the only one though. I made Chris dance with me... and it helped that we were the only people over 20 in the bar that wasn't related to the band... because we didn't give a shit... Slowly the girlies started to join us and sway in what I can only imagine were intended as seductive dances to allure the band (I can't really blame them... all four members of WATT are duh-REE-mee....)

The bands only flaw was the construction of the set list... starting and finishing with awesome rock dance tunes... and filling the middle with emo-to-the-max ballads. It lost the crowd (at least this crowd of one) and had everyone migrating to the bar and away from the energy of the dance floor. Not to say there wasn't talent there. They did an acoustic harmonized number with a trumpet (I loves me some good horn) that was awesome.... but it the set list should have remained at a higher energy level to the end, then they could have brought out the ballads for the panty-moistening moments for the ladies (which are vital... obviously, no denying it here, its my only excuse for loving Jimmy Eat World so much when I was 19)

There was something about WATT's slower jams that made me think of them as the really cheesy dudes that would look at you earnestly in the middle of sex and ask you if you are ok... those guys always make me want to laugh... (to be honest, if my answer is yes - in the middle of sex - you are doing it wrong)

But for a band where they are all under 25, and only been together two years I give them props.

Birds of Wales were as great as I can remember.... alt-folk rock with cute lyrics and a good energy... I have less to say because i was less critical... having more fun on the dance floor... and of course, already processing beers 6, 7, and 8.

All in all it was a fun night.... I was chatting with the friend I went with on the way home about our mutual time warp back to third year... and we decided we would both LOVE to be as committed to anything in our lives as we were to our extracurriculars in University....

... how can I get back there?....