I was overly cautious and arrived at the club a little before 7:30. Things were shakin, people were drinking and standing around. I scoped out the scene while I waited for Becca and Pepper to arrive. When they did, we had close to two hours to kill before the show. Ah, this is what happens when you get to a place early for a show. I had almost forgotten. But it wasn't bad at all.. I enjoyed a nice Yuengling and we secured our standing area near the stage entrance. (The stage is actually like a one foot tall 10' x 10' platform.) We were getting antsy as show time approached, but as soon as Colin took the stage I was pumped. I was actually just happy to be inside the venue, so when I actually remembered we were there to see an awesome show, it was doubly exciting.
Anyway, he played close to 20 tunes or so for over an hour and a half. Some stuff of Her Majesty, some off Castaways and Cutouts, a couple Morrissey covers, and some brand new stuff off the upcoming Picaresque release. It was an incredible show. For a solo act--average-looking dude with guitar and mic-- Colin was quite engaging and definitely held the stage well. The audience was all into him (including one hilarious Kiefer Sutherland look-alike in the front row who was gazing at Colin with adoring eyes the whole time, while mouthing every word to every song...), and Colin was playful and congenial, making jokes and conversation and telling stories.
You can't help but come to a show like this and see this type of musician and just be in awe. He's totally "normal," incredibly kind and giving with his fans, and you get the sense he's just an all-around genuine guy. Not only that, but he's achieved what I view as the perfect level of musicianship. He's released some amazing music to relatively popular acclaim, but he can still walk down the streets unnoticed (when he first walked into the club I think only a handful of people turned and whispered to their friends) and live a comfortable life.
After the show, we realized the convenience of our chosen spot, as it was right in the path of the stage steps. Colin descended and found himself kind of trapped in this corner of the club, with no real way out. We kind of sat around on the stage for awhile trying not to act groupie-like, but I finally went in for the kill after giving Colin a moment to breathe. I stole some girl's pen (well, she let me borrow it but then she left and said I could keep it and pass it around) to have Colin sign his Morrissey covers EP, which I had purchased. Then I said some lame and typical fan things ("Thanks, that was a really great show"), tried to make more small talk, shook his hand and told him good luck traveling up north through the snow tomorrow. He was really nice, though. I mean, I can't begin to imagine the number of fans he interacts with after shows, and how they all mostly say the same thing and want to take a picture with him or have him sign something, but with each person he seemed really genuine. Look at me suddenly going off like he's my new best friend. Well, I just gotta say I really respect a good musician who is that down-to-earth and kind and friendly and defies that distant-cold-rockstar-ego stereotype.
It was an excellent evening and a great way to kick off this snowbound weekend!
Here are some pics that I managed to sneak... apologies for poor quality-- I had to do what I could without flash.
The now infamous (no, not really) Iota window chalkboard:
Colin Meloy of the Decemberists:
His very cute suitcase and two guitars (both Martin, one a beautiful 12-string):
One last one of Colin, just for art's sake:
With that, I close. My hands are numb now anyway. The temp. seems to be dropping by the second. Perhaps when I wake up it will be snowing! Off to bed... look for snow updates soon.
Current Music: Paper Moon, by Whiskeytown
Current Mood: great
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