When I first started this project, I expected the list itself would be the most ominous part. At this point however I'm finding myself checking a several things off of my list-- but I don't have time to write about them! Maybe it's because I am spending the majority of my time (outside of work) DOING them. Or maybe I'm just lazy. Probably a combination of both.
Anyway, this was another of my "unplanned" things that just happened to fall into my lap. Well... kind of. I'd been scoping out concerts for a little while.. actually well before the bucket list. This is something that I'd been wanting to do for a while, which was why it was perfect to include on my bucket list. I just wasn't expecting to find one so soon.
I'll explain myself a little bit, because it might not seem like "going to a concert" would be an out of the ordinary thing for me. Especially if you know me well.. my whole life I have practically lived and breathed music in as many ways as possible. I mean, I learned to read music when I was learning my ABC's, have played piano since I was five, sang ALL the time as soon as I was able to talk. I was in some kind of music group since I was four until about a year ago-- whether it was choir, musicals, jazz band, vocal ensembles, bell choir, worship team-- I majored in music, and have played piano or sang at more weddings than I have fingers. I probably could keep going if I kept thinking about it. But the point is, it's a big part of who I am.
But the truth is, I really never enjoyed going to concerts. It doesn't really align well with the average "music person", so I spent time deeply analyzing myself and I came to this conclusion: I LOVE music. But I also HATE bad music equally as much. And the truth is, there is a lot of musicians in the world who aren't that spectacular. On top of that, when you spend so much time and dedication learning something, you are painfully aware of the little mistakes-- like singing flat-- that the average person may not notice. My friends and I have discussed this and decided it's the curse of pursuing an art-- I know it's the same for those who have studied film or visual art or dance. You understand it well, but when I listen to someone bad, it can almost be like nails on a chalkboard. Live music runs a much greater risk of all of this. At least if you record something it's possible to alter it a little and make it sound good. But live music is raw and exposed and it's hard to know if even a professional is actually good these days or if they are just really attractive and happened to be in the right place at the right time.
Then I met Brian. He plays in a local Minneapolis band "My Lady Four." (I would shamelessly plug a link, but I can't figure out how... visit their facebook page if you're curious. I actually really like their music.) I no longer had the option of avoiding concerts. Whether they were his or people in the music scene he supported, I easily multiplied the number of concerts I have gone to in my life by about 10. And I realized that as bad as some musicians are live, finding one that is really good is like finding gold. And there are a few of those locally. So I have progressively become more obsessed with finding "gold." Which made me really want to see at least one musician live that I have previously idolized. For a few months I was plugging different bands that I "liked" on facebook in to google to see if any of them were touring in Minneapolis. And one of them was! Death Cab for Cutie.
It was also perfect, because this was a band Brian got me in to, and he was planning to go. So it wasn't like I was dragging my boyfriend to a Kelly Clarkson concert (which was a real possibility...) My siblings are also obsessed with them, so I brought my sister with.
My conclusion: I think that Death Cab is awesome live. He was a little awkward at times, jumping around stage, but his music was extremely captivating. His voice was as good "raw" as it is in his recordings. But what really draws me to him is his ability to write incredible music-- and he definitely selected many of his best songs and played them well. They even ended with two of my favorites: "Stay Young Go Dancing" and "Transatlantacism." It was definitely worthy of being my bucket list concert. I would go again.
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