Top Concerts Part 1

Top Concerts Part 1, no specific order until the end.

According to my ticket book, I've been to forty two concerts since 2010 (realistically it's more given the tickets I may have lost and summerfest concerts that don't really count).

10. Morning Benders with opening act Twin Sister- Turner Hall

This is my first indie concert (or Stornoway was. I have a terrible memory sometimes) and I remember thinking to myself, "this is like a movie, this is so cool." It was probably spelled kool because high school, but it was a really great experience. I walked into Turner Hall and looked around at how rundown and shitty it looked, and was like I want to be here all the time. Back in high school everyone is looking for someplace to fit into and Turner hall was filled with a bunch of hipster kids maybe thinking the same things I was. At the time, I was just dipping my toes into indie music by listening to bands like Pavement, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Bright Eyes. Its Hardly Been by Stephen Malkmus actually got me really into different music, which is weird because I don't even really listen to him all that much even though the album Face the Truth is bonkers good.

Back to the concert, Josh and I squirreled our way to the front of the stage because thats what kids do at Turner Hall shows. Once you hit a certain age, you kinda just want to sit until the main band comes out unless the main person is really worth standing for four hours (thanks Sharon van Etten for my blisters). Maybe we even sat on the floor in between sets because in your teens you don't mind if people stare at you differently.

There may have been a third band that was unannounced called shore something but as many openers do they aren't really a factor in memory. The second band (maybe first) was Twin Sister. At some point they had some hype behind them because of their ep Color Your Life I wasn't too into what they were dishing out although I feel like today it would've been a solid opening set. At one point the woman singer rolled her eyes at our lack of interest and thats what I remember the most about their set. Man, what a jerk.

Morning Benders came up next and you best believe (#berniemac) that I was excited to see what all this concert business was about, especially since I only came on Josh's insistence. They were great! The lights were gold and it made it feel like I was already mid-remembering it on the car ride home. Like it was a memory already. My initial reaction was "wow they're Asian!". They played Waiting for a War (which is still on my car ride playlists) and told us to dance. I didn't dance because I was so awkward in high school that my hips remained rigid in order to keep myself from embarrassing myself worse than I had to. It was a evolutionary development. Conditioning out of mercy. I regret not buying a shirt because a few years after this show, the Morning Benders turned into Pop.Etc because benders is a homophobic slur. Pop.etc became a slur for music.

I was going to fit five entries on to this post but I rant way too much. Here are my future topics I'm thinking of writing about: The draw of records and what records are better on vinyl, drinking, summerfest justifications, acting like a man, religion, the idea of regrets, hipster thoughts on music, my compulsions, creative writing thoughts, probably more music related topics and maybe movie recommendations if I want to put more thought into these posts than I want to. I don't really fix anything or try for any flow on these posts (there's a to instead of a too in my second post and I can't stop thinking about it).

Songs I Can't Not Sing in the Car Playlist

Anything We Want- Fiona Apple
Walcott- Vampire Weekend
Thirteen- Ben Kweller
No Buses- Arctic Monkeys
Over and Over Again- Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
My Attempts To Grow A Beard- The Daredevil Christopher Wright
Passenger Seat- Death Cab For Cutie
Blues Run the Game- Laura Marling
Stubborn Love- Lumineers
Middle Distance Runner- SeaWolf
A Pillar of Salt- The Thermals
Horny Hippies- Dodo Bird