Well,
Tulsa, Okla. We’re staying with alex’s friend Nathan. They grew up a blok away from each other in Dallas. Nice guy. Married. They have a cute apartment, complete with the obvious dressings a wife brings. Wedding photos re-appear on nearly every wall. My favorite piece of décor is a silver sculpture that reads “all because two people fell in love.”
They brought us three boxes of brother’s pizza which was scrumptious, if scrumptious has ever been paired with pizza. And after we’d had our fill, we piled into our cars and headed blindly for The Monolith. I say blind because we didn’t know what we were getting into. Whatever picture any of us had imagined in our minds was most likely a long shot from reality.
The venue was in the middle of a strip center, maybe an old pharmacy. There were a group of three emo looking kids standing outside in a circle wearing hoodies.
The venue had no stage. No seating. No sound system. Just an empty white room, with plain white walls with a plain white floor. Thorugh a doorway, we piled our gear inside a back room.
My favorite adornment was a poster taped onto the door of a non-working men’s bathroom wthat said “out of order: use the other bathroom (or hold that shit).”
After 10 min the empty room never changed. A yellow fluorescent light reflected dimly off the ground, making one photo look like they it was taken through a tangerine light. There were no people there and no people arrived. The first band set up and played for a buldging audience of eight…us and the two guys who ran the place. Apparently the guy who boked the show decided a few weeks back quit recently, and the other guys went to Texas for a Horror movie convention.
Random.
So two guys who weren’t quite sure what was going on came to run the show. The first group, I can’t remember their name, ut they were great. Crazy drumming, but cool jazzy piano lines and vocals I can’t describe, but loved.
We decided to play for the present folks unplugged. We sat on couches and gathered round. They filled the semi-circle we’d created and sat on the floor. I don’t know why, but I love shows where the audience sits on the floor. It was fun. I remember Alex stomping on his guitar case rhythmically, pounding the precussion of “ship of death.”
It was perfect I thought. Felt so much better than last night’s set.
We also played an old Trapdoor song recorded in the Fall of 2004, called “Hurry Up Delilah.” It’s crazy to think about where I was then, in 2004. Still thinking I was going to be a music major, and trying to figure out my future. Even if journalism was a wrong choice, it got me here. I met my connection to the Trapdoor band from Osler's intro to reporting class. Looking back and then looking forward again always reminds me of how God’s in control. None of our steps are accidental.
Ok, just gotta get over my timid nature and get some audio. Its as though I think I'm supposed to live and touch the water without creating a ripple...Funny convos about mustaches, traveling and things I Dont remember happened tonight. Now we're scattered across the living room, reading and writing. I've got the couch tonight. I'm tired now. Oklahoma is cold.
Tulsa, Okla. We’re staying with alex’s friend Nathan. They grew up a blok away from each other in Dallas. Nice guy. Married. They have a cute apartment, complete with the obvious dressings a wife brings. Wedding photos re-appear on nearly every wall. My favorite piece of décor is a silver sculpture that reads “all because two people fell in love.”
They brought us three boxes of brother’s pizza which was scrumptious, if scrumptious has ever been paired with pizza. And after we’d had our fill, we piled into our cars and headed blindly for The Monolith. I say blind because we didn’t know what we were getting into. Whatever picture any of us had imagined in our minds was most likely a long shot from reality.
The venue was in the middle of a strip center, maybe an old pharmacy. There were a group of three emo looking kids standing outside in a circle wearing hoodies.
The venue had no stage. No seating. No sound system. Just an empty white room, with plain white walls with a plain white floor. Thorugh a doorway, we piled our gear inside a back room.
My favorite adornment was a poster taped onto the door of a non-working men’s bathroom wthat said “out of order: use the other bathroom (or hold that shit).”
After 10 min the empty room never changed. A yellow fluorescent light reflected dimly off the ground, making one photo look like they it was taken through a tangerine light. There were no people there and no people arrived. The first band set up and played for a buldging audience of eight…us and the two guys who ran the place. Apparently the guy who boked the show decided a few weeks back quit recently, and the other guys went to Texas for a Horror movie convention.
Random.
So two guys who weren’t quite sure what was going on came to run the show. The first group, I can’t remember their name, ut they were great. Crazy drumming, but cool jazzy piano lines and vocals I can’t describe, but loved.
We decided to play for the present folks unplugged. We sat on couches and gathered round. They filled the semi-circle we’d created and sat on the floor. I don’t know why, but I love shows where the audience sits on the floor. It was fun. I remember Alex stomping on his guitar case rhythmically, pounding the precussion of “ship of death.”
It was perfect I thought. Felt so much better than last night’s set.
We also played an old Trapdoor song recorded in the Fall of 2004, called “Hurry Up Delilah.” It’s crazy to think about where I was then, in 2004. Still thinking I was going to be a music major, and trying to figure out my future. Even if journalism was a wrong choice, it got me here. I met my connection to the Trapdoor band from Osler's intro to reporting class. Looking back and then looking forward again always reminds me of how God’s in control. None of our steps are accidental.
Ok, just gotta get over my timid nature and get some audio. Its as though I think I'm supposed to live and touch the water without creating a ripple...Funny convos about mustaches, traveling and things I Dont remember happened tonight. Now we're scattered across the living room, reading and writing. I've got the couch tonight. I'm tired now. Oklahoma is cold.
2 comments:
so happy you're writing this. would love to be out there on the road with you lovely people. please stop in topeka for mexican food on the way back. just a PS, it's february. ; )
say hey hey to the gang for me.
next time someone misses a show for a horror convention, DON'T play acoustic. run to the costume store and play the scariest show of your life, with fake blood and stuff.
word will get back to the guy and he'll feel terrible.
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