Andrew Bird & His Shoes
Here is Andrew Bird:
Here are his shoes:
More tomorrow. It’s way past my bedtime! Thanks, Rachel, for getting me out. I probably would have flaked. That would have been extremely lame of me!
Who’s Going to Andrew Bird?
Who’s going to Andrew Bird at the High Tone on Thursday? I’m planning to go, but Aaron isn’t in town, and although I’m a total grownup and can go by myself, I wouldn’t mind running into a friendly face or two. I only know other interns, and I know none of them go out much either! We all work too much!
Guess I’ll Go Out | Andrew Bird
In this, a very odd in-between year of my life, I have lived in a place where I know I’m not staying. It’s meant that I haven’t put down roots the way I usually do. I’ve been overworked and more focused on my work than at any other time in my life. It’s a weird existence. Although I love nothing more than a good gig, I’ve been to almost none this year. I haven’t put in the time to get to know all the (clearly excellent) local and regional bands that Rachel and E.J. and the rest of the Scenestars are always talking about.
BUT… when it comes to bands I already have extreme fondness for… I just have to go. And today, while walking in to Otherlands, I spotted a poster for Andrew Bird. He’s playing here next Thursday, and I pretty much have to go. He played a stellar show about a year and a half ago with Kristin Hersh in Bloomington, Indiana (my home of the previous 7 years).
I realize that I basically have no idea of the local situation here. It’s at the High Tone. Should I pop down there today to get tickets? Will they already be long gone? Has anyone here ever heard of him? Will it be empty? I have no idea, but I will be there. He’s a really quirky character. Chatty, oozing with talent. He doesn’t seem to think like other people. Weird stuff comes out of his mouth: stories, charming whistles, and lyrics like you’ve never heard. Almost words as paint… And he’s a whiz with a fiddle. Hope I see some of you there.
These are my favorite lyrics from his first album:
I’m all for moderation, but sometimes it seems moderation itself can be kind of extreme. So I join the congregation, join the softball team, I went in for my conformation where incense looks like steam. I start conjugating proverbs where there once were nouns. This whole damn rhyme scheme’s starting to get me down…
Oh, I’m in a lull. I’m in a lull.
I’m rambling on rather self consciously while I’m stirring these condements into my tea, and I’m so lame. I bet I think this song is about me. Don’t I? Don’t I? Don’t I?
So no one knows about the multiple head-guy in Midtown? Really? I rely on your hipsters for this kind of thing! Don’t let me down!
Back From the Delta
Terribly frustrating web problems, then Aaron and I went out of town for a few days. Something about DNS servers and Roadrunner being very slow updating its cache. That’s Aaron stuff, and he couldn’t fix it because we were just waiting on them to update their stuff. Lame!
The defense is now in 3 days and 15 hours, and I haven’t been thinking about it at all! Instead, we spent the weekend in Clarksdale, Mississippi, and it was so much fun. I can’t say I was exactly the most relaxed person on earth, but I really did get my mind off all the diss stuff for a few days, and I had a lovely time in the process. I’m uploading lots of pictures on Flickr, but here’s a teaser, so you’ll want to look more:
Big George at Ground Zero Blues Club
LOTS more pictures and stories very soon. I swear we met the whole town. It was such an adventure. For you in the Mid-South, I highly recommend a pilgrimage.
The Great Ticket Stub Project
You’d never know it from my time in Memphis, but I grew up at gigs. I’ve been holding on to my ticket stubs since the beginning. When my parents sold the house they’d been in for 25 years last summer, I had the task of going through everything of mine that was there. In the process, another slew of ticket stubs emerged, ones I’d forgotten about. I added those to the ones I already had gathered together, and I decided I was going to do something meaningful with them.
When I first moved to Memphis, I went to Michael’s craft store and about had a meltdown trying to find a "normal" scrap book. Seems scrapbooking has now become a verb, which I find most unfortunate. It was nearly impossible to find a plain book with black pages amidst all the themed stickers and glitter glue, but I did it. I got about 10 pages filled, and then internship really began, and the project was suspended.
Today, I was reading some of the new questions on Ask Metafilter, and this one popped up, which got me thinking again about my ticket stub project. That link lead to this one, and before I knew it, I was in the kitchen, moving around the directional lamp trying to get lighting right to begin photographing my collection. I didn’t get far, but it’s a start.
Here are a few of my favorite ticket stubs from way, WAY back when. (For a little context, know that I was 13 for most of 1983.):
I camped out overnight at the Fox Theatre Box Office for this ticket. At the concert, I swooned! I really think I passed out from sheer excitement! As a result, I went home right afterwards, while my friends actually met him!
There is another post that will occur in which I will explain how the song "Wolves, Lower" changed my life. This was the beginning of a love affair I had with this band. All ages at the Agora. My dreams had been answered!
Got a change to talk to Fred for a long while at the backstage door afterwards. He was very sweet to my friend Heather and I.
I got to meet all of the B-52s in person, and I got everyone’s autographs on the back of my ticket stub… even Ricky’s.
Will the ticket stug project ever come to fruition? Will it ever be complete? I think it will be, but it won’t be any time soon. In the meantime, at least I can share a little of it with you. It’s silly, but the collection brings me immense joy. So many memories crammed into such a small space.
