Random Concerting, and Why It's a Sort of Okay Thing

Although I keep track of my favorite artists through livekick (a wonderful tool; I downloaded iTunes on my windows partition on the pc just to export the xml library into livekick, and I hate Apple!), some of my happiest moments have been concerts somebody has said to be "Hey, shit, wanna come to this concert?"

Best memory like that was Tuesday last November. I was talking with a senior I sort of knew, hanging out in the Chem Lab doing problems and generally chewing the fat. He mentions how he's going to the Of Montreal concert tonight, front row seats. I say I'm happy for him, I know them vaguely. Later in the day, I'm walking down the hall expecting for another frustratingly long night of homework, and passes me by and says "Hey...my friend who bought the tickets isn't here...uh, you wanna go?" I jump on the opportunity...and suddenly we drive into Boston to see Gang Gang Dance open for Of Montreal. Blew my fucking mind, Kevin's a great showman. His wife painted my face and stroked my face with a whip. The senior kid had some vegan cake they were passing about, and got sick. We talked about music, and he clearly identified himself as the kid who jumped on one indie craze and moved to another after a few weeks (modern Flaming Lips, Neutral Milk Hotel, Of Montreal...that's sorta unfair, he had some Lou Reed). But yeah, I randomly got to go to a concert of a group I didn't know. Gang Gang Dance is now one of my favorite artists, and Of Montreal is up there.

I've had a lot of good experiences seeing concerts of groups I didn't know. The OM concert I jumped in was totally out of the blue, and that was pretty fun I guess. The Anti-Flag show was really really great, even though I didn't know much punk at that point. I saw Sigur Ros just when Meo Sud debuted, and it was an amazing show and I was able to connect with it, even if I only knew Svefn-en-Genglar (err) and some of (). The symphony shows I sometimes go to don't really count, I suppose; but there's been a lot of fun to be had from just saying SURE YES I'LL GRAB THESE TICKETS or I'D LOVE TO GO IN PLACE OF YOUR FRIEND! And I make sure to pay it forward by rarely letting people pay for tickets I buy.

But...damn, there's always something lost. The Black Moth Super Rainbow concerts I've been to have been really wonderful, but I'm just not that well-versed in their entire discography. I'll here a cut here, a cut there, and I'm left to admire these wonderful soundscapes that I...really don't have any emotional connection to. I saw Radiohead and that was fucking AMAZING...but I hadn't checked out In Rainbows before going. It's not like I didn't enjoy everything and wasn't transported by it; but I couldn't understand how much of a religious event it is to see 15 Step live. And some shows just fall flat. I try to give music a chance, but it gets hot in clubs, and I get thirsty and it's too distorted to hear. I spent the majority of the Down concert sorta...hanging out in the back, half asleep. There's so much loss in just going in blind; I'm trying to make sure to listen to the headliner, and the last opener, before going, just for context (kinda failed for Jemina Pearl, though. Eh.)

I bring this up because there's the annual Mighty Mighty Bosstones show that my sister and I might like to go to. I guess it's more about if I want to be in proximity to my sister.