My Mumbling Thoughts

It seemed like an ordinary sunny day. I got to sleep in and get some rest since the Monday before was a brutal day at work. It turns out that I’m not so helpful all the time on the help desk and have decided that I would probably be better suited staying put and only helping whenever they needed extra back up.

I took my time getting out of bed. We didn’t have to be at Mendy’s house until 5:00pm so there wasn’t much of a rush to get ready. Mel and I went ahead and started playing Franz Ferdinand and danced around the house being our usual dorky selves.

It is a concert rule of ours that whenever we go to a concert we only listen to the bands that are going to be playing. That’s it. It’s so we can get hyped up, remind ourselves the lyrics of each song and try to wrap our brains around the fact that, yes, holy motherfucking shit, we’re going to go see these artists perform live in front of our faces.

I eventually did get ready, and after three outfit changes I decided on something that was comfortable and concert appropriate. The weather was gorgeous (we always seem to luck out with the weather whenever we go to concerts), Mel and I were finished with everything around the house and decided to hit the road a little early. We’d grab some lunch and then drive around for a bit in Alexandria while we waited for Mendy.

As we almost shut the door behind us though, I remembered that I didn’t even grab the tickets out of my room!

How badly would that have sucked? Get all the way to the front door of the DAR Constitutional Hall and not have those tickets in hand. I would have cried for days.

So as we stepped foot out the door for a second time, my cell phone began to ring. It was Mendy and she was asking when we would be heading over to her place. It was a beautiful day and she didn’t feel like going to her last class for the day. That was good news for Mel because she had kept emphasizing to me throughout the morning that parking in DC was a bitch and that if we wanted to get some place decent we had to leave at least four hours early.

We both hit Panera for lunch before we drove into Alexandria and then it was straight on over to Mendy’s place.

We arrived about an hour early and figured we could either sit in the car and wait for her or we could go find Brian and see what he was up to. Brian is Mendy’s fabulous gay husband who we have known and loved ever since wee moved up to Virginia. He was going to the concert with us and would be sitting with Mel (we could only get our tickets in different rows unfortunately).

When we gave him a ring we found out that he wasn’t doing anything either and we kind of decided for him that we would come over and hang out while we all waited for Mendy. So for the next hour it was just us three watching “The Simple Life” and we broke our “concert rule” for a couple of Spice Girl songs so we could do our dances that we hadn’t practiced since 1998.

Around four o’clock we all walked down to Cosi’s for a snack before the concert and then finished walking down to Mendy’s house.

Finally, at five o’clock all four of us were together and we quickly jumped into my car so that we could brave DC and their horrible parking spaces with millions of signs that had useless information on them. It took us a couple of times of circling around until we finally snagged a parking space where we were absolutely sure that we wouldn’t be towed.

After we made it inside the building, we stopped at these tables that were set up and bought some t-shirts, signed up for a raffle to win some tickets to see The Fray and then found our seats next to the stage.

I looked around and noticed that the DAR Constitutional Hall had possibly the best seating ever. Other than the orchestra seats, each row is elevated slightly more than the rows below them that way there really isn’t ever an issue that the shorter people in the back aren’t able to see above some tall body’s head. I became a little worried after this really tall guy with red hair sat in front of me and thought that we might have another “tree issue” but was happily surprised to see that even when we were both standing I could see clearly above him. I guess the only real issue I had with him was the fact that him and his girlfriend were all over each other and I thought that I might be a witness to their child’s conception.

So everyone knows that music is my chosen religion. I just feel the need to share right now that at this particular concert I saw my "musical god." Twice.

The lights dimmed for the first time and the people who had already gathered inside began to clap and cheer for The Cribs who took to the stage. They rocked the house and did their thing even though I couldn’t really understand them that much. They definitely brought some awesome energy to the stage and completely fulfilled their duty as an opening act. Brian was excited too because he knew two of their singles since they played them over the GAP Radio where he works.

It didn’t take Franz Ferdinand’s road crew long to set up their stage. It was a nice set up and they made really good use of the space that they had with Paul on a small white platform in the back and then Alex, Nick and Bob standing up front with two keyboards off to either side.

The familiar rush of excitement began to flow through me as I was slowly beginning to realize that they were getting ready to come out on the stage. I was going to see them and more importantly hear them.

Again the lights dimmed for a second time, and I shot up onto my feet screaming and cheering like a crazy maniac who had escaped from the local loony bin.

It's weird because I don't remember any of the Franz Ferdinand performance, but if I think about just one tiny detail then it all comes flooding back to me. I just couldn't believe that they were in the same building as me. We were listening and seeing Franz Ferdinand live! Every single song I sang at the top of my lungs and kept on trying not to fall over the tall guy in front of me. I put so much of my entire body into their performance you would have thought that I was supposed to be up on the stage.

I loved it. I loved every. single. moment. They played most of my favorite songs (Michael, Eleanor Put Your Boots On, and The Fallen), but Mendy and I were over the moon, insanely happy when we heard Take Me Out begin to play.

That was the first time I saw my musical god.

It didn't seem like they were out for that long but it turned out that they had actually sang, danced and rocked the fucking house for well over an hour. When they finished it seemed like they had magically disappeared into thin air.

I was still recooperating from Franz when the lights dimmed for one final time. I didn't even notice that the stage had changed right before my eyes.

I stood once again and cheered while two members of Death Cab for Cutie took their positions and began to play Passenger Seat and then went straight into Different Names For the Same Thing as the rest of the members came out. It was an awesome way to kick things off.

They rarely stopped playing to talk, but they did dedicate Crooked Teeth to Franz and The Sound of Settling to The Cribs, which I thought was nice.

They were definitely more mellow than Franz and a lot of people decided to sit for most of the show, but I stood for the majority and danced to the beat while they played We looked like giants and Company Calls.

It was FABULOUS!

The most surprising bit though was when they stepped back out for their encore. They just had to close the show with two of their saddest songs (I will follow you into the dark and Transatlanticism).

Of course it was amazing and I saw my musical god for a second time, but I did feel a little weird when I started crying completely out of the blue during Transatlanticism. Not even thirty seconds into that song and I was already a blubbering fool.

For me, those songs are two big emotional bullets that shoot straight through me. Up until that night I hadn't listen to either one of them for months. I would intentionally skip over them because I knew what would happen, what I would think and feel.

But in that moment as I watched Death Cab perform live in front of me, there was no escape. I couldn't help but listen and with thousands of people surrounding me, I lived, felt these seriously intense emotions and cried like a big 'ole baby.

It was so cleansing.

After everything was over, we all walked into the chilly night feeling awake and energized. It was one of the greatest concerts I've ever been to.

EVER.

And just think, we go to see The motherfucking Strokes in less than a week.