I just had the biggest blast from the past. Ever wonder what happens to all of those bands that you see play for five bucks at American Legion halls and local college campuses? Some of them make it. As most of you know, I'm a MySpace fiend, I check messages, comments and bulletins on the site constantly. Much to my surprise, the featured band on the site this morning was The Receiving End of Sirens or TREOS, to the real fans... and it all came back in a flash. Before discovering indie rock, before Courtney moved to Texas, before I moved to Vermont, before I started eating hot dogs again...
I was a straight edge, emo kid with a facial piercing. This tattoo that I have?
It's from a band that most my new friends and readers have never heard of. They're called Thursday, and their second full length record came out two days before my birthday in 2001. I don't mean to sound cliche, or trite, but seeing them live was an experience, an overwhelming rush. In all honesty, I think it changed my life. Imagine being in a hot, dark room, packed in so tight it feels like you're whole body is in contact with someone else. The band takes the stage, and the music starts- a wall of sound that resonates through your entire body. Whether you like it or not, you start moving. Your feet leave the ground and you stumble in unison with everyone around you- swelling and retracting like waves of the ocean. To your left, to your right, and as far as you can see everyone is screaming the words to the songs at the top of their lungs... but you can't hear them, you can't even hear yourself... and it feels unbelievable. People weren't crowd-surfing, and only a few jerky hardcore/metal kids were "pit dancing" or "moshing." That's when Courtney, Laura and formed a lifelong friendship (with matching tattoos to prove it) before I left for college. The freedom of the open road, the adventure, the rest stops, the shows, the bands, the boys... the first time I ever spent the night in a car was with them somewhere between Rhode Island and Connecticut. Here's a map of the places that we drove, up to five hours in the car to the furthest points in CT. We saw Thursday 13 times, if I remember correctly, and more bands than I can even think about. Looking back, sometimes I can't even tell some of those other bands I saw apart. The Receiving End of Sirens, mentioned earlier, is a band that a friend of mine used to manage, therefore I saw them a lot. Since then, they faded from my memory, and sort of blew up, I guess, so when I saw them on MySpace this morning, I was flooded with the memory of those summer nights.
It's from a band that most my new friends and readers have never heard of. They're called Thursday, and their second full length record came out two days before my birthday in 2001. I don't mean to sound cliche, or trite, but seeing them live was an experience, an overwhelming rush. In all honesty, I think it changed my life. Imagine being in a hot, dark room, packed in so tight it feels like you're whole body is in contact with someone else. The band takes the stage, and the music starts- a wall of sound that resonates through your entire body. Whether you like it or not, you start moving. Your feet leave the ground and you stumble in unison with everyone around you- swelling and retracting like waves of the ocean. To your left, to your right, and as far as you can see everyone is screaming the words to the songs at the top of their lungs... but you can't hear them, you can't even hear yourself... and it feels unbelievable. People weren't crowd-surfing, and only a few jerky hardcore/metal kids were "pit dancing" or "moshing." That's when Courtney, Laura and formed a lifelong friendship (with matching tattoos to prove it) before I left for college. The freedom of the open road, the adventure, the rest stops, the shows, the bands, the boys... the first time I ever spent the night in a car was with them somewhere between Rhode Island and Connecticut. Here's a map of the places that we drove, up to five hours in the car to the furthest points in CT. We saw Thursday 13 times, if I remember correctly, and more bands than I can even think about. Looking back, sometimes I can't even tell some of those other bands I saw apart. The Receiving End of Sirens, mentioned earlier, is a band that a friend of mine used to manage, therefore I saw them a lot. Since then, they faded from my memory, and sort of blew up, I guess, so when I saw them on MySpace this morning, I was flooded with the memory of those summer nights.
Coincidentally, I don't think there is a single person that I've gone out with since then who doesn't own a guitar.
