Serendipity, a happy accident, an unexpected twist of fate. You don't realize what's happening until you're in it.
Wednesday my day was rubbish, I started on point but my day took a downward spiral quickly and for the rest of the day I felt completely off balance. At some point in the middle of my day I see a new email from my boss and take a preemptive effort to start a new project. I unfortunately clicked on the wrong email and ended up looking at my weekly update from Joe's Pub.
As I scroll down the email, looking for the message from my boss, I faintly see a picture of Fran Healy and Andy Dunlap, of Travis. Being taken aback, I scroll back up to look at the notice and think to myself "Cuss, I was supposed to get tickets for this show ages ago..." Quickly I look for as many details as possible, hoping beyond hope that I haven't missed the show.
I find they are playing all week, two shows to go, I sigh a huge sigh of release and with out hesitation I click on the link to buy tickets.
Sold out?! If that night wouldn't work, I could at least try the next night. Also sold out. CUSS! I click back to the first date to miraculously find tickets available. With out hesitation I attempt to buy a ticket. I'm too slow. CUSS! I don't give up that easily though, I refresh the link until a ticket becomes available to me and then I buy it.
Once my ticket is secure, I turn to my boss and say, "If its not too much trouble, I need to leave precisely at 8pm tonight." No contesting, I leave precisely at 8. There is no way in hell that I am going to miss this.
Literally, I get home, drop my stuff off, grab a bag in which I put my wallet, my book and an umbrella, and head out the door. The entire way there I am thinking that its too good to be true. In almost a trance, I hop in the line forming outside the venue, still listening to them on my IPod. I guess I never took it off when I got home because I don't remember putting it on.
I pick up my ticket and go inside, the deal is sealed! I am in!
The venue itself was quaint, tables for parties that had dinner reservations and standing room by the bar. There wasn't one place in the bar that didn't allow a decent view of the stage. Cozy and perfect to share the night with fellow fans.
Fran Healy walks out on to the stage promptly at 9pm. I have a perfect view and wish I'd though to grab my camera, but, when you're racing time to get to something you're still not quite convinced is going to happen, cameras are your last thought.
The show starts and I relax, I'm there, watching Travis, finally, in a cozy intimate setting where you feel like you're getting on on one attention with the band. To me its not just about the music, its about how it makes you feel, its about how it speaks to you. My favorite part about the show was more than the music, it was the stories shared by Fran and Andy about how the music came to be. Equipped with guitars, and a slide show, they took us on a musical journey through their trials and success. It was as if time stopped and I, for a moment, was in heaven.
There were too many good stories to recount, too much shared for me to even explain... well that and maybe I you would think I'm crazy. Before the stories my favorite song was "Driftwood." After the stories, it remains "Driftwood." A song Fran started humming to himself while thinking about "Cheers" and avoiding doing actual work. He went upstairs, recorded what little he had to revisit a little later. He came back later only to find he hit record at the end of his little session instead of at the beginning. Technology is a cuss. He sits down and listens to the entire tape to see what was recorded, hoping beyond hope that it was there. He heard some walking around, papers shuffling, walking down stairs, walking upstairs, He and Andy listening to REM Daysleeper a couple of times, and finally at the very end he hears himself walk down the stairs and hum the song while he is barely in range of the recorder. Immediately, to not lose it again, he gets to work.
The concert goes on, the hours fly by and were I to try and describe how enamored i was, I could never begin to convey it in words. Its all about how the music makes you feel and for me listening to Travis is pure ecstasy.
As they are wrapping up they explain they didn't want to bring more people on this tour than necessary (in order to promote new work), so they would be selling all the merchandise after the show. That way they could also have a chance to meet the fans. For them they actually wanted to see who in their right minds invested themselves in their music.
I'm dreaming right? This isn't happening, right? No it was and, cuss, I spent the only cash I had on alcohol because I didn't want to pay the minimum bar tab. I have my ticket stub and my phone, that is good enough for me.
I wait in line for an hour, what's an hour when you feel like you're life was changed because of their art. After thinking of what I was going to say to them, I get there and my mind goes blank. I walk up, shake their hands, and wing it. I wish I could be their best friends, I am there with them and I truly feel I could die happy. Fran actually takes picture of us with my phone... its amazing. I love them. I leave feeling complete bliss. I leave knowing that I was supposed to be there and experience Travis in that way.
What better way to further your musical and emotional understanding of the world than by listening to musicians tell stories of their inspirations to create: from grandparents, to love lost, to love found, to innocence, to children, to altered states of being, to experience, to pop culture, its all life, its all passion and its all art.
