June 30 2007: James Taylor - Tanglewood Shed, Lenox MA

So for a $19 GA lawn price I went with Adam and Sairi and Mariah and Drew and Lisa to see Prairie Home Companion. And James Taylor was playing! How about that?

Our lawn area didn't give us any view of the stage, but we had blankets and food and wine and when we wanted to we could walk over to where we could see the stage. It was a perfect day and a beautiful drive and a good time with good friends. And James Taylor played the sorts of tunes you'd expect him to play, like "Fire and Rain" and "Something in the Way She Moves," and he sang Elvis' "Can't Help Falling In Love" with Garrison Keillor on harmony, and a really nice rendition of "Amazing Grace." Sure can't beat that for nineteen bucks.

June 29 2007: The Mitchells, Fancy Trash - Paper City Brewery, Holyoke MA

I'd heard a rumor that for a nominal charge a person could drink all the beer a person could drink AND walk out with four bottles to go if a person were to find him- or herself at the Paper City Brewery on a friday night. And when Ben said that Fancy Trash was playing the deal was done. I drove down, parked in an alley paralleling a couple railroad tracks on one side and a canal on the other, walked through a mostly-unmarked warehouse door and ascended five mostly-unmarked flights of stairs until paradise was mine. The cover was six dollars. There were seven or eight Paper City brews on draft. Beer was free. People were enjoying themselves. There was a sign above the bar that read: NO CHUGGIN! THAT MEANS YOU!. Fancy Trash played a pretty great set. I had Ben's girlfriend Lauren all to myself for an hour.

Unfortunately times were so great that I had to force myself to leave at eight because I was all too well aware that were I to stick around I would find myself far to drunk to drive myself home. But I've presently ambitions to return every friday night for the rest of my life. Wow. Paper City. I have a newfound love for the city of Holyoke.

June 26 2007: Bob Dylan - Pines Theatre, Florence MA

The music started at 7pm, with one opener, in Florence. I was stuck in class in Amherst until eight. At which point the hazy sunset made the whole sky red and orange and as I drove over the bridge to Northampton it made for a beautiful reflection on the water I'm sure, but I wasn't paying attention cause I was hauling ass to the show. I could hear "It's Alright Ma" as I walked from the JFK parking lot to Look Park.

Seeing as how the show had already started, I felt my $10 offer to the only scalper left was more than reasonable. He wanted $40. I explained to him that the music we could hear meant the show had already started. He explained to me that he was stubborn and petty and wouldn't take anything less than $40. I countered with $20. He with $30. I with $20 again. He wouldn't budge. I bid him good day and proceeded to talk my way into the show at no cost to myself.

I'm not sure how much I missed, but I can't imagine it was better than the part of the show I caught. Songs I hadn't seen him play before included "Shelter from the Storm" and "Desolation Fucking Row." Songs I was more than happy to hear him play again included "Tangled Up in Blue" and "All Along the Watchtower" and "Highway Fucking Sixty One Revisited."

And a tip o' the hat to the nice security man working the gate!

June 24 2007: Wilco, Low - Pines Theatre, Florence MA

Wasn't a great show, but it was certainly pretty good. Especially considering that I got a free ticket from a dude with an extra. Lots of new stuff played that I don't know much of, but "Handshake Drugs" and "Jesus Etc" seemed especially nice, and it's always nice to hear a tune like "I'm the Man Who Loves You," and the last encore was closed with "Outtasite (Outta Mind)" and "I'm a Wheel," and it was a pleasant evening, and I took off my shoes, and you won't hear me complaining.

And Low opened! I've been meaning to see them play since I can remember, but it's just never worked out between us. But they did "Amazing Grace" and that was pretty special. No "Transmission" though. But I guess I couldn't reasonably expect them to play that.

June 23 2007: Haunt - The Basement, Northampton MA

So it didn't really cramp our style all that much to have the cops show up at Marie and Mariah's because we were all moments away from heading to the Basement anyway, where we found Matt Hebert and His Band playing some pretty nice rock and roll tunes. Stayed for one set before deciding it was bed time.

June 23 2007: Drew Hickum Band - 39 Grant St (Porch of), Northampton MA

So there I was, trying to be a good student by hitting the books on a beautiful saturday afternoon, when I heard a knock at the door. It was Marie and Mariah. They said they had beer in their backpacks and that I should join them on their porch and assist in the consuming of said beer post haste. And in situations such as this I am an easily persuadable man.

So we drank beer and called other people and other people came by and brought more beer with them and Drew and Lisa were amongst those who came by but instead of beer they brought guitars and played us some tunes. And life was good. Nothing quite like a nice vocal harmony with good friends and cold beer in a tall glass. But all things must pass, and the next thing anyone knows the cops are there on a noise complaint. At 1030 pm on a saturday night. Because there are exactly eight responsible, degree-holding adults standing around and engaging in such police-presence-necessitating behaviors as (a) listening to country/folk music and (b) enjoying ourselves at a reasonable decibel level. And while we were certainly not maintaining church-mouse-type decibel levels, we were just as certainly unable to compete with levels such as those being caused down the street at the monster truck rally at the fairgrounds.

But it just ain't a nursing party until somebody calls the cops.

June 17 2007: The Mountain Goats - Farm Sanctuary People Barn, Watkins Glen NY

Woke up after maybe four hours of sleep to a new and equally as beautiful if slightly warmer day. Got some breakfast in Watkins Glen and took a quick swim in the lake before realizing that the lake is freezing and pretty dirty too. So most of the afternoon was spent cultivating sunburn while reading and looking at the animals and the people. Cause apparently even the most jaded hipsters want to join the older hippie faction to play volleyball and throw frisbees and break out the devil sticks and participate in javelin throwing competitions when you get them camping on a farm. Imagine dudes in tight black tshirts and tighter jeans and blacker aviator sunglasses doing all of the above. Now imagine them doing it in the 90-degree sun. Nobody was too cool, despite how they were dressed. It made for damn good people watching.

And before the sun went down, John played another set. This one had him seated barefoot on a bale of hay, playing songs that folks had requested in exchange for donations to the farm. It didn’t have the continuity or energy of the previous night, but it was probably the most laid-back Mountain Goats show I’ve ever seen, owing I think to the fact that everyone was just more comfortable with seeing John doing things like eating a snack or drinking a beer or shooting the shit with his friends. Example: before the show on the first night I was talking with Peter at a picnic table when John walked by and sat down to say hello. Suddenly four or five people make a beeline to the table and start asking John all sorts of Mountain Goats-related questions and kind of make asses of themselves. But by the second day, people seemed to get over that sort of stuff. John was now just that guy who you nodded hello to on your way to the bathroom. So in a way, he never seemed like more of a folk singer to me than he did on the second night, just because everyone was sitting around and treating the show the way that folk music people treat folk musicians: with respect, but without any delusions about the musician being anything more than just a dude. And I imagine that people treating John as just a dude allowed him to treat the people as just dudes too, as opposed to fans that he needs to please in order to put food on the table.

So the show was laid back, and John talked a lot in between the songs, and it was great. He opened with Jenny, and he didn’t change the lyrics to “two things in the galaxy” like he usually does, which made my night right there. And he did “Minnesota” in maybe the purest and cleanest voice I’ve ever heard come out of him and he did “Cobscook Bay” and he did “Going to Scotland” and he did “The Alphonse Mambo” and “Chanson du Bon Chose” and “Cao Dai Blowout” and “Weekend in Western Illinois” and “Insurance Fraud” and “Leaving Home.” And in my opinion the highlight of the set proper was my own request, “Distant Stations.” Wow do I love that song, and wow was it maybe the best $10 I ever donated to a good cause to hear it played.

And as the people demanded a second encore, John gave his guitar to Peter and they did “California Song,” which has always been one of my favorites, and is a song I’ve seen them play countless times, but one that I hadn’t seen in almost two years and the mood was perfect. Everyone stood up and Peter played on the floor while John stood on his hay bale and sang. “I got joy joy joy in my soul tonight I got joy joy joy in my arms alright.” That line summed shit up pretty well for me and I think it did the same for the rest of the people there. It was beautiful. It was the perfect way to end things.

And of course the show had to end but I shot the shit with new friends at the bonfire and was able to give Perry a good ribbing for having keyboards in his band and the stars were as bright as I’ve seen them since coming to New England and the fireflies were out and I put on the UMass sweatshirt to represent and life was good.

June 16 2007: The Mountain Goats, Peter Hughes, Perry Wright - Farm Sanctuary People Barn, Watkins Glen NY

A couple years ago I spent the day hiking roughly twenty miles through the Sisters Wilderness in central Oregon, but I wasn’t able to fully appreciate the magnitude of nature surrounding me because all I wanted to do was sing “We Shall All Be Healed” songs (“Mole” especially – the “out in the desert” verse rings so true when you’ve been hiking for three weeks solid) to myself and fantasize about getting to the library in Bend the next day and hopefully finding news of an upcoming Mountain Goats tour on the internet. And in the same way, I miss the natural world when I spend a week or weeks of my time solely in smoky rock clubs in cities. So this melding of the Mountain Goats and a beautiful farm in the middle of New York State was pretty much where it’s at as far as I’m concerned.

Left Northampton at 10am with a couple of folks whom I’d not met before and, like our fathers and our fathers’ fathers before them, we headed west. It was a beautiful drive, I-88 from Albany to Binghamton remaining perhaps my favorite stretch of interstate highway. Arrived around four and before we even had the car unpacked Peter Hughes saunters over, gin and tonic solidly in hand, and before I know it I’m getting a great big bear hug. Of note: I’m pretty sure that over the next 36 hours the only time I saw Peter without that glass in his hand was when he was playing the guitar. And even then it was never further than an arm’s reach away. It was that kind of weekend.

And, as expected, after a few hours of drinking beers, visiting the farm animals (Huge! Pigs the size of midsize automobiles! Cows the size of midsize elephants!), drinking more beers, shooting the shit with folks at neighboring campsites and just sitting around and enjoying myself, Perry got things started by playing a set that was almost as pretty as the unbearably idyllic physical surroundings. He opened with “Ontothanatological” and “Rotation of Crops,” neither of which were ever my favorite Prayers and Tears songs and neither of which I’d ever heard sound so good. And somehow I can say this despite Perry’s use of a looping pedal. I’m not much for looping pedals and 99 times out of 100 am pretty positive that whoever’s using one would be playing a much better set without it. But Perry beat the odds. I tip my hat. The rest of his set was mostly old tunes like “Lessons Learned,” “Occasion of a Departure” “I am Morris Townsend” and ““Lisa.” Great to hear “Lisa,” as always, and he did a new tune that I recognized from Brooklyn last December that I really enjoyed too.

And then Peter! Peter Hughes! He played some songs! Songs like “Chiefs,” “The One Hundred Songs,” “The War on Sadness,” “Raiders” and “This Ain’t Going Away!” And I forget which song, but during one of them Melissa (one of the people I drove with, who seems to share my sense of humor and who is little and cute and full of energy and self-described as “utterly devoid of any grasp of the concepts of distance or time” – in all maybe the ideal stranger to spend a couple of days with) and I saw that Matt (the other person we drove with, who is 20 years of age and neither little nor cute and a self-described “Best Buy employee at the mall”) was, while pretty intoxicated on the beer we later found he had stolen from us and thus leaving us with nothing but Old Granddad to finish the night with, lying supine with eyes closed and playing some pretty serious air drums. While Peter's playing a quiet and introspective song on a Martin. Try to imagine this. Now realize that he was as front and center as it gets – that is, if he’d tried to reach for the air high-hat he might have hit Peter instead.

And then, as those of use with firm if sometimes blurry-eyed and stumbling grasps on time were anticipating, Peter wrapped things up and John came out to open with the Chiffons’ “One Fine Day.” He then played a bunch of songs. I’ve got a lot to say about most of them. So instead of my usual syntactically dubious narrative, I’m switching to bullets:

• “Song for an Old Friend” – Been waiting to hear this since I (a) learned of its existence, and especially since (b) I realized that I’d seen it played in Seattle at a time when I was ignorant to its existance. Oh do I love this song.
• “Big Yellow Coat” by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins – never heard it before but wow was it rocking. John Darnielle does the blues. Wow.
• “The Mess Inside” – Only the second time I’ve seen what has historically been my favorite Mountain Goats tune. It was beautiful.
• “Keeping House” – I was so so so so very happy he played this one. I’d never seen it and have been listening to it on repeat for the past few weeks.
• “Get Lonely” – I never appreciated this tune like it should be appreciated until after the “Get Lonely” tour was over. And he played it as perfectly and as quietly as you could have hoped for. It was almost inaudible. It was perfect. It was one of those performances that I’ll be thinking about long after the crazy rock and roll tunes recede from my memory.
• “Shadow Song” – Hands down the best performance of this I’ve ever seen. Halfway through John just gave up on the microphone. Things were just as quiet as they were during “Get Lonely” and five times as touching. The atmosphere went from rock concert to communal silent prayer in an instant. It was amazing.
• “Pigs that Ran Straightaway into the Water, Triumph of” – One of my all-time favorite Mountain Goats tunes, and one that I’d never heard played before. Peter came up to sing the “I come from Chino”s and a part of my life is now complete.
• “Terror Song” by Furniture Huschle – Oh this song. I’ve been waiting to hear it again since seeing it in Baton Rouge a couple years ago and simultaneously realizing that going to Mountain Goats shows, even if just for the chance of hearing them play it, is perhaps a reasonable cause to devote one’s life. I cannot describe what it was like to hear this. People who were there or who have seen it played know what I’m talking about. People who weren’t there and who don’t know the song can try to convince themselves that ignorance is bliss. And while I really truly believe that ignorance IS in fact bliss, it’s not in this case. Bliss is watching Peter shoot his hands up for a split second in time with the “Cancer in your hands” line, and without missing a beat be back riding on whatever chord that gets ridden there for the “TERROR SONG!!!! TERRRROR SONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”s. Jesus Fucking Christ.
  

And then the show ended and Melissa and I discovered our beer missing but that was ok because the Granddad is 100 proof and we hung out at the huge bonfire and at one point I had the Granddad in my left hand and someone passed me a bottle of Old Crow for my right and good times ensued.

June 8 2007: The Amity Front - Bishop's Lounge, Northampton MA

Friday night after the first week of the summer semester, and a pretty full pretty busy week at that, and so what are nursing students and their friends to do? Drink to excess. That's what nursing students and their friends are to do.

Walked to Bishop's with Mariah, Mirror Pond in hand. Marie and Amy were already there. Sweeney and Drew and Alicia and Susanne and Lisa arrived later. I had a few hefeweisens. The Amity Front played a set. I danced. We spent a good amount of time on the patio as it was perfect summer patio weather. The Amity Front played a second set. Times were good. The band went into "Highway 61 Revisited." YES I THINK IT CAN BE EASILY DONE JUST TAKE THAT SHIT ON DOWN TO HIGHWAY SIXTY-ONE WAAAA WAAAAAAAAAAAA. I don't think anyone in the room wouldn't have fucked Eric right there on the spot. Such is the allure of a man in a hat.

And then everybody went home but Susanne can always be counted on to keep the party going so we went to 7-11 and bought a dozen eggs and went to my house and made breakfast and shot the shit with John and Housemate Mariah and I didn't get to bed until four. Rock and/or roll.

June 1 2007: Fancy Trash, National Carpet - Elevens, Northampton MA

Fancy Trash! At the Elevens! PBR! Like old times!

So Adam and Eidan and Gabby and I went to the show, and John showed up later, and we enjoyed ourselves pretty much. The first band was great, I thought, and the Trash played pretty well, and the beer was cheep and going down like cheap beer should. And it really is nice to see the Trash play. Dave's voice used to really grate on me, but now I guess I get what he's trying to do. If only the drummer was a little easier on the eyes, though.

And then after the show cigarettes were smoked outside and the party taken home and good times had.