Awesome Times Indeed

On Wednesday, I went to see Canasta play at the Beat Kitchen based on Trevor’s suggestion. I invited my friend Kelly who’s a big fan of the indie rock scene.*

* Her Cousin Mike is in a band, and she takes a week off work every year to attend the South by Southwest Festival in Austin.

So the show was awesome. I loved the rock-and-roll violin, and when the lead singer pulled out a trombone, I literally yelped, “Yeah! Trombone!” My favorite part was when they performed their cover of ‘Major Tom.’ Fantastic.

When the first song ended, Elizabeth Lindau, the violinist, leaned into the microphone and said, “I could use a little more violin here.”

I turned to Kelly.

“Was she just asking them to turn up her microphone?”

Kelly looked at me with an odd half-grin on her face, “Yeah. Why?”

“Um. Because for a second, I thought, she might be telling the crowd that she thinks the band should put more violin in their songs or something.”

“You don’t go to a lot of shows, do you?” Kelly asked.

When they’d completed their set, Kelly and I went to claim our free cd’s (coordinated through the email Trevor had sent me). As we stood there, Matt Priest, the lead vocals/trombone player, asked us if we wanted his autograph.

“Yes,” we responded in the same tone you’d use to answer a rhetorical question.

He scrawled his signature across the top corner of the cover and held the cd out for me to take. As I reached for it, he suddenly pulled it back.

“You know what. Hang on. I’ll get everybody else to sign it too.”

After that he disappeared for about fifteen minutes. When he came back, he had both my and Kelly’s cds with about six signatures scribbled across the front.

“Thank you so much,” we said before heading back towards the stage to watch Adam Green perform.

After about fifteen minutes, Matt suddenly reappeared next to Kelly.

“I think I forgot to sign your cd,” he said.

“Oh really,” she held it out for him to inspect.

“Yeah. I did.”

She handed it to him and he was gone again. A few minutes later he was back with the cd in hand. As he walked away, Kelly leaned in towards my ear.

“Okay. Now I have a huge crush on him.”

“Agreed,” I said.

Later when we left, I asked her if she thought the show was good, and she said it was one of the best she’s seen in awhile. Then she told me that she’d known they would be good based on the other bands they’d played with.

At work yesterday, I took a look at their website to see who they’ve played with and was excited when I recognized one band…DeVotchKa. I loved the film Little Miss Sunshine and am currently obsessed with the soundtrack from the movie, which prominently features songs from DeVotchKa.

So. In a round about way. I just wanted to say ‘thanks’ to Trevor for the terrific recommendation, because I would have never thought to go. I am a very passive music lover. Good or bad, it is my habit to let music find me…through a friend, movies, 93xrt and, sadly, the occasional Target commercial.

When it comes to books and films, I’m always out searching for something new. I live less than half a mile from the Century Center in Chicago, which is one of the largest indie film venues in the City. One of my favorite things to do on a lazy Sunday afternoon is walk down there and watch whatever movie’s about to start. I like going in without any idea of what it’s going to be about.

On one rainy Sunday I discovered the mad-cap comedy, Wet Hot American Summer, and on another was absolutely terrorized by A Tale of Two Sisters.

Here’s Kelly’s review of the Canasta show (via email):

awesome time last night! i went into work listening to canasta this morning and i LOVE it. can't wait to hit another show soon!

I think she managed to neatly sum up my rambling sentiments in three sentences. I envy her succinctness.

- an amatEur review of the concErt attended with Kelly