Girl at the Rock Shows

This weekend felt a bit more wild than other weekends. It was nonstop due to the Surly Darkness Day festivities all day on Saturday, and by the time Sunday came around, I was absolutely spent. The sun and heat on Saturday had done me in, and every time I sat on the couch throughout the day on Sunday, I passed the heck out. All signs were pointing to me taking Sunday night off to recover and get ready for the week, but who was I to miss a night of wonderful nostalgia? Sure, sleep would have been nice, but my heart needed to be at The Fine Line on Sunday night to see Mae and The Spill Canvas both celebrate twenty years of albums that changed my life.

Before I talk about the co-headlining bands and the fantastic opener, let me just say, this show went way too late. Come on, Mae and The Spill Canvas! You know you’re demographic. We’re old now. The majority of the audience in attendance on Sunday night have mortgages, and some even have kids. Having a 10:50 PM start time for the headliner on Sunday night was beyond brutal, and that’s coming from someone who does this almost every night. I found it a bit absurd and, if I’m being honest, I was pretty dang annoyed at just how late this show was going to go, but at the same time, they had me. There was no way I was going to miss this tour, but it definitely felt a bit cruel. Now that I’ve aired my grievances, let’s talk about this truly amazing show.

Getting the night started was local band Cheap Bouquet. Although I have seen this group a couple of times before, I had never seen them in the light I did on Sunday night. Instead of a raucous set of pop-punk perfection, Cheap Bouquet came in the form of a duo for their opening set. I was intrigued. Was a band that I knew as rowdy and garage-punk feeling really going to be able to pull off a soft and sensitive set? Well, of course, because Cheap Bouquet is made up of seriously talented musicians. I was instantly enamored by the intimate nature of their sound. I knew they had it in them, but there was just something almost confusing about seeing these familiar faces giving me an unfamiliar vibe. It was beautiful, gorgeous, and perfect. The two members on stage seemed to have replaced their signature grit and angst with something so much more tender and soft. Although I’ll always take a full-band Cheap Bouquet performance over an acoustic duo one (that’s more a matter of personal preference), seeing the versatility of this group unfold in front of me was a perfect way to kick things off on Sunday night.

mae was never truly my band. There was a time when their 2005 album ‘The Everglow’ took over my life, but that was a short and fleeting moment. Honestly, I think I liked the idea behind that album more than the actual music. ‘The Everglow’ was designed as a storybook. I remember the CD vividly as it came with illustrations for each song within the liner notes. There was something about this that felt uniquely fresh at the time. Sonically, it was a bit more chill than I was really into at the time, but that being said, I feel like it resonated with me at a time when music meant everything to me (which, although it’s still true, hits just a bit differently these days). Because of this, being able to see this storied band play that album in its entirety on Sunday night was as much of a trip down nostalgia lane as it was a night of amazing music that was so simple to get lost in.

Listening to the band play through ‘The Everglow’ in its entirety took me back to my childhood bedroom. Instead of wandering around The Fine Line with a camera slung around my neck, I was lying on my bed, obsessing over the artistry that came with all of these songs. Although I would consider the album a bit sleepy (and not in a bad way, just compared to what I typically listen to), I loved the way the mixture of passion from the stage and love from the audience combined to create an epic feeling of fire throughout the room. Honestly, was there even a point to vocalist Dave Elkins being on stage with a microphone? I kid, of course, but, truly, every word from every song was being sung by the audience, creating this whole feeling of euphoria that, even if mae was never “your band,” it was impossible to escape.

It felt like a lot of people were there for mae, which is understandable, but personally, I was there to hear The Spill Canvas play through their 2005 album, ‘One Fell Swoop.’ Much like ‘The Everglow’, ‘One Fell Swoop’ hit me at a time when I was into some really heavy music, but what sets this album apart is that it hooked me. There was something so raw and vulnerable about vocalist Nick Thomas’ voice, and the lyrics were ones that truly spoke to my soul. Although I quickly became absolutely obsessed with The Spill Canvas after hearing this album for the first time, it was something that I hid in a way. They were a bit too “emo”, a bit too soft, and I had the reputation of knowing what was loud and chaotic. People knew me as a bit hard, a bit rough. I feared what they would think if they knew that, when at home, it was ‘One Fell Swoop’ on repeat. I was an idiot back then. Good music is good music, and The Spill Canvas is damn good music.

I was lost in the music throughout The Spill Canvas’s time on stage on Sunday night. Other than one audible, the band played through the album, front to back, before closing out their lengthy set with a few “bonus songs”. There were moments throughout the album playthrough where it took every ounce of power for me not to cry. There were other moments when I really wished I could have ditched my camera somewhere and just gotten lost in the audience. Then, there were some moments, for the first time in what felt like years, when I felt a sense of contentment that my restless soul needed more than I even knew. I feel like I lived a million lives during the time The Spill Canvas was on stage, and although it was a lengthy set, it wasn’t long enough.

I don’t know what I was looking for when I walked into The Fine Line on Sunday night. Was I just wanting a taste of nostalgia? Was I just wanting a night out with some friends? Was I just wanting another show for my show count, and this just happened to be one I was a bit more excited for than others? Was I just there to get some cool photos (which didn’t end up happening, but that’s because I was more into the show than work)? I don’t know, but I know that what I ended up with was far more than I bargained for. This world is nasty, and it seems to be getting nastier by the second. It feels like living is becoming more of a task, and the risk you take when just leaving your house is more and more regardless of who you are, but it’s more treacherous for some. Long story short, life is dark for everyone right now, and the world is a really scary place. I felt like I got to escape all of that if only for a few hours on Sunday night. For a few hours, it was just me, some music that speaks to my heart, and like-minded people who were also just looking for a sense of solace in a world that is outright nutty right now. Long story short, regardless of how tired and crabby I get due to being up far past my bedtime, I needed Sunday night. I needed those album playthroughs, and I needed that sense of love that I felt throughout the night. Sunday night was perfect.

Line Up:

Cheap Bouquet

mae

The Spill Canvas

Venue: Fine Line

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing Notable

Average Age of the Crowd: 35

Crowd Surfers- 0

Stage Divers- 0

Mosh-ability- 0 out of 10

Amount of Beer Spilled On Me While Walking Around- $0

Broken Bones- None Noticed

Spotted Flying Through The Air-Nothing

Fights- None

Pukers- 0

Passed Out People- 0

Idiots Taken Out By Security – 0

How Many Times I’ve Seen These Bands Before (or at least how many times I can remember)-

Cheap Bouquet – 2

mae – 1 recorded but at least 4-5 other times when I was super young

The Spill Canvas – 4 recorded but at least an additional 5-7 times when I was younger

Celebrity Sightings – None

Overall Score –8.2 out of 10

Show on Deck —Marti Moreno / J Mo On the Beat & the J-Lighters / Rada K and the Cicadas

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