11.14.03
crazy life
last night i journeyed into manhattan to see glen phillips at this tiny lounge called fez. for those of you not familiar with glen, he was the front-man for toad the wet sprocket. the venue was incredible. located in the village, fez is the epitome of what you would expect from a small, warm bar/cafe in new york city. it’s practically right out of the movies. when you walk in, there is a specious cafe/dining area with a fashionably decorated bar. in fact, the whole place is amazingly fashionable. after they let us into the back area of the cafe to wait in line, we were ushered into the most beautiful bar and seating area i have ever seen. the walls were adorned with images of beautiful women with arabic writing, and the whole place was dimly lit with a red glow and candles. along the walls were big red and purple couches that looked like they may have been velour or chenille. the place was absolutely gorgeous. after giving our tickets and getting our hands stamped with the word “special”, we were allowed to go downstairs to the lounge area, which was lined with booths and long rectangular tables positioned diagonally across the center of the floor with the stage directly in front. we ran into glen multiple times thoughout the pre-concert waiting time, and my friend jen who had an empty seat next to her asked him if he wanted to sit with us, which was very amusing. he said he was just looking for someone. that would explain why he had been by so many times.
our table was located pretty close to the stage and we had a great view the whole time for the most part. right after my malibu bay breeze came, glen came out to introduce the opening act, a guy named teitur who he absolutely raved about. when teitur came out i was really impressed by his voice — it was sort of a mix between john mayer and paul simon. he had a strange accent, and as it turns out, it’s because he’s from the faroe islands which i had never heard of before. he was very gracious and happy to be in new york and made several comments about the subway trains rumbling below the lounge at certain times.
when glen finally came out and began his set, i was really amazed. i had seen him on tour with toad the wet sprocket earlier this year during their short-lived reunion tour, and that’s really when i started to fall in love with a lot of their music. as a singer/songwriter he is an incredible performer, and after every song he does this thing where he smiles and bows his head almost ashamedly and thanks the audience. he performed several toad songs, the most popular being “walk on the ocean” and “all i want” but they weren’t quite the same without the backing band, although the songs definitely still work acoustically. during the periods between songs he got a little political and i found his comments to be very refreshing. he was talking (without any hostility or loudness) about the strikes in california and how the right-wing media has suggested a “CEO week off” so that we can see how well we do without them. he suggested instead that we have a “minimum wage week off” where everyone making “shit pay” just takes the week off to see how well we do without them. it’s rare that we actually get a sense of how glen feel politically through speaking, although his cover of randy newman’s “political science” (PLEASE read the lyrics by clicking the link) gives a bit of insight into how he feels.
anyway, as i was sitting through the show i started to think to myself, self, this is what life is all about. i was sitting in a small lounge listening to a songwriter pour his heart out with an oil lamp flickering on the table in front of me, and as silly as it sounds, i realized that going to intimate concerts and seeing artists up close is an experience that adds a lot to life. why don’t i do this more often? i live only a few minutes from new york city, where live music happens every night. i think it’s because i’m always in a hurry to get things DONE. gotta do this! gotta do that! while right across the river there is a world of theatre, music, and art that i’m not seeing. i don’t think going to one concert will change that, but it’s a step i guess. if i don’t DO anything, i can see how a whole year could easily go by and 2 years later i might not even be able to remember it. wanna know why my livejournal isn’t updated often? because nothing interesting ever happens to me!
anyway, i have a dilemma. i have the opportunity to go see nickel creek in the city this sunday. i’ve developed a real fondness for them lately (especially their work with glen phillips) and i’m considering going. the problem is that i don’t want to go to a concert on a work night (which i did last night anyway). should i go? i’m open to any advice that anyone might have to offer.
also, i want to take the opportunity to introduce you guys to one of the most progressive, amazing sites that i have ever seen. the site is called the internet archive, and it features a whole collection of artists who allow their live shows to be taped and posted online for free trade. notable artists with a lot of shows are glen phillips, toad the wet sprocket, guster, bella fleck and the flecktones, rusted root, string cheese incident, and a TON of bands that i have never heard of but that probably knows. (by the way, just because i list an artist here doesn’t mean i have ever listened to their music. i just picked artists to list that i had heard of before.) anyway, this shit is cool (pardon my vulgarity) because if you happen to go to a show by a frequently-taped artist, chances are it will show up here and you’ll get to own a copy of it.
anyway, that’s my story. i know that only 2 people read my journal now ( and ) but PLEASE reply. i usually don’t give this much. 
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