Friday night I went to the Matt Nathanson concert. It was phenomenal.
I drove in and met John at his apartment. We would have left right away, but he was playing some dumbass playstation game and looking up cheats for it online. He insisted I help out by reading the game walkthrough until he got back to full life or something. It was pretty dumb.
Then, we walked to the Paradise, where we were carded. It was an eighteen plus show, but if you were drinking (or legally old enough to) you got a wristband (white and orange) and if you were underage you’d get an X drawn on your hand.
So we get in there, and it’s John’s first time in the club, so we scope out a good place to stand, and find one, upstairs, near the bar. It was a nice spot, because while we waited for the show to start we could make fun of the tool sitting right below us. Wearing “fashionably” ripped jeans, at least one leather wristband (with star cut outs) and a black blazer with an upturned collar and lapels, he was “you know, studying for his LSATs” and it was his “first night not studying in months,” so he was “going to get ‘wasted’.” And he knew someone at Harvard so he wouldn’t have any trouble getting in, but he was studying just in case. I was tempted to throw my beer at him – but I didn’t.
Then, the opening act took the stage. Kate Earl, and she was amazing. She played a few songs on the piano with some drums and bass, then took a few solo on the piano, even dedicating one song to an audience member, and finished with Officer on the acoustic guitar. She had a great voice and was very happy to be playing, and she totally looked at me like three times. Right at me.
The next guy was a tool. He basically mimicked popular bands instead of playing original music. John and I spent the set at the bar naming which band the current song was ripping off like The Spin Doctors, R.E.M., John Mayer, and Nickelback, among others. Finally, after what seemed like six albums worth of other groups’ songs pawned off as his own he played a legitimate cover of the Jackson Five (ABC), which was fun, upbeat, and probably should have been his opening number. The whole audience got into it (and how could you not, it’s the Jackson Five), instead of just the underage girls who would scream at any twenty-something guy with shaggy hair and a close-fitting shirt that got onstage with a guitar (and had been his whole set). After that I stopped listening.
Then, the headliner, Matt Nathanson got on stage and, like every other Matt Nathanson show, it rocked. I forget what he started with, but among the first few songs he played were Princess, Car Crash, and Jesse’s Girl (Rick Springfield cover). The show was amazing. John and I were standing to the right of the stage, on the second floor. We were close to the bar, had a good view, and the bouncers that were patrolling the room weren’t giving us any trouble at all.
That is, until John started fiddling with his “I’m 21 and can drink if I want to” bracelet. Moron.
John decided, because the glue on the wristband was pulling at his skin, he would take it off. So he did. He fiddled and pulled a little, and tore, and peeled, and eventually got the band off, and dropped it to the ground. About two minutes later the bouncer (who I have previously mentioned walking past us three or four times and not hassling us) started to hassle John. “Where’s your wristband?” he said. “Oh, it, um, it… fell off….but it’s right here! Under this table!” said John. At which point he ducked under the table to retrieve it.
Unfortunately, club policy (apparently) is that no one is allowed on the premises without a wristband (or an big X on their hand). So, John was “escorted” out of the club. This was almost the half way point of the set, and the guys on stage had just started a cover of The Who’s Baba O’Reilly so when John called my phone from outside in front of the club I told him I’d wait until the song was over and then join him outside. Moron.
So, when they finished the song I made my way out through the throng and instead of joining John out front I stopped at the merchandise table because Kate Earl was sitting right there! She was talking to some hippie but he didn’t stay long. So I introduced myself and asked if I could buy a cd. We talked about her set (how good it was) and about where she’s from (Alaska), and how long she’s been playing the guitar. She showed me some pictures of the tour she’d put up on myspace and it was great. Then I mentioned that the kid I came with was a dope and got kicked out of the show, so I had to go meet him outside, and as I was getting up to leave she asked if she could sign the cd I bought! So, of course I said yes, and she wrote “To Tom, [heart] Kate” and then on the inside of the jacket she wrote “Thanks for chatting! [heart]”
John (and Donny, and maybe someone else) thought I should have asked for her number. Because that would have been the perfect opportunity, and they’re right. But I missed it.
Anyway, so I missed the second half of the show, and the three encores, but John and I ate some pizza nearby and then decided to go back and, why not, ask Kate Earl for her number.
So we walk back to the club and I head in, with John behind me and the guy at the door stops us. “You can’t come back in,” he said. He was looking right at John. “You’ve been escorted out of the club, you can’t come back in.” So I looked at the guy and I said “I can go back in, right?” and he was like, “Yep, no problem.” So I got back in there but there were a bunch of people surrounding the table and Kate was talking to like six guys including the tool that performed second, and it didn’t look like I was going to get an opportunity. So I left. But I waited around inside a little bit just to make John have to stand in the cold longer.
It was a great concert. I bet the end was good too. But, since I’m a nicer guy than I thought I might be, I left with John instead of staying for the whole thing. What a good friend, right?
Anyway, last night I got the whole concert in mp3 format, so it’s almost like I didn’t miss it. Which is pretty sweet.
-t
recommended download
The Jackson Five, ABC
3 comments:
ERRATA:
1) It was not halfway through the set, it was three songs to the end. Matt had already been on the stage over an hour.
2) Kate Earl looked at you once, dear boy, and at me twice, including a prolonged look with a smile.
3) You didn't include the part where you were drunk.
4) Or the part where I had to read what Kate wrote you on the cd because you were drunk and trying to read it upside down.
5) And who's the one that thought about asking for her number? Me. Who's the moron now, Moron?
Speaking of Kate Earl's number, that paragraph totally led me to believe that she was going to just give it to you when she asked to sign your cd! I thought she was going to write it right on the liner notes. You disappointed me, Tom. Next time just lie!
Damn. That would have been cool. Good thinking Jackster.
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