We've Got No Money, But We've Got Heart

Every now and then, I'll grab a random band t-shirt from my closet, put on a nice pair of jeans, dust of my Sambas, and catch a train into New York City.  Sometimes I go without any reason.  I go in, I explore, I find a cool bar, I make a new friend, I go home.  Most times I venture into "the City," though, there is a mission at hand that I am looking to accomplish.  This usually means that I have bought tickets to some kind of event and have been planning something for a few months.  (A few times, I've gotten tickets to shows the day that the band was playing.  I love those moments when I decide to go to a show on a whim.)

I had been hearing great things about this band called Walk the Moon for a few weeks and decided to check them out.  At first listen, I didn't think there was anything special about them.  But with some albums, you need to give them more than one listen.  It took me about three or four before I started catching onto the rhythms and interesting instrumentation.  After that fourth listen, I was hooked.  Naturally, I was compelled to look up when they were coming around my area next on a tour.  I waited another few weeks for them to announce a tour of the Northeastern United States.  Finally, they announced the tour and I took note of the date and time the tickets went on sale.  Unfortunately, when I went to buy tickets, the show was sold out in 2 minutes.  Fortunately, they added an extra date in New York.  The tickets were bought.

Sometimes, I'm an optimist.  This was one of those cases.  I bought two tickets in the hopes that I'd have been dating someone by the time the show rolled around.  I bought the tickets in early October and the concert was in late January, giving me about 3 and a half months to find someone with whom to go to the show.

My friend, Greg, invited me to a Halloween party at his apartment in Springfield, Massachusetts.  (I swear this relates.)  As I stood there among a couple of people I knew and a whole hell of a lot that I didn't, dressed in a stupid costume and sipping on a crappy Bud Light, I was tapped on the shoulder by an old friend that I hadn't seen in a while.  It was nice to see Jenna and catch up.  I ended up spending the night on a very comfortable convertible sofa-bed, and the next morning, while all of my friends were sitting on the porch and talking about days past, she mentioned a band I'd never heard of before and told me that I should check them out.  Well, I did.  And they were good.  (The band was I Fight Dragons, if you're interested.)  After listening to the band for a week, I sent her a message on Facebook to tell her they would be playing in the area.  Long story short, she, a couple of her friends, and I went to see them play at the end of November.

It was getting closer and closer to the day of the concert and I still didn't have anyone I wanted to take.  ...until I thought of her.  She'd never really listened to Walk the Moon, but after a few tracks, she was hooked on the band as well and decided to accept the invitation to see the show with me.

What a damn good show!  We arrived at the Bowery Ballroom after desert at Serendipity 3 just a few minutes before the doors opened and waited in the bar downstairs.  Jenna stepped into the bathroom and they announced that another door (closer to the stage) would open in addition to the main door, so I jumped in that line.  Luckily for her, my position in line was right next to the ladies' room, so she found me with ease.  Our position in front of the stage was prime, although it was behind a couple of tall girls (Jenna and I are a little on the short side).  Jenna saved my spot in the crowd while I went down to the restroom and painted my face like some kind of white urban Native American ready to wage war on the crowd.  Just a streak of light blue over a streak of white on my face.  Not much.  I didn't want it to be overkill.

After a quick set by Pacific Air, who was actually a pretty good band from Southern California, Walk the Moon took to the stage and played with some of the most energy I have ever seen radiate from a band.  While it was great to hear all of their songs played in a live setting, the thing that I enjoyed most about the band wasn't the music (Well, it was partially the music), or their wardrobe, or even their connection with the fans (which was also nice).  It was the fact that with every song they played, they looked as if they were having an insanely good time on stage.  Almost as if there was some kind of inside joke amongst all four of them that never got old.  In fact, it was like the joke gained more momentum as the show went on.

Also, there was a keytar...

I was notified via her twitter feed that the sold out Walk the Moon concert was enough to leave a great impression on Jenna.  It definitely left one on me.  I wish I could play music like that night after night and still have that kind of energy and fun on stage.  It definitely makes life a little more fun and bearable when things aren't going the way you planned.  I needed that night for myself.