My favorite thing about experiencing live music is the nature of unpredictability. Anything can happen at a show, for both spectators and participators. Mistakes are made, toes are stepped on, the setlist is revised. You can discover something totally new about a song or about yourself. Your favorite band might ruin themselves in front of you. Everything is within the realm of possibility.
Quite often, you get surprised. Which is exactly what happened to me last night at Johnny Brenda's.
I went into this show for the Lone Bellow. Because their self-titled debut has been on constant loop in my life for the past few months and is already a serious contender for album of the year for me. Because I know that this band is going to be enormous and I'll never have another chance to see them play such an intimate venue. And because I have a very serious toner for hipster alt-country acts with really tight harmonies.
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| The Lone Bellow @ JB's. |
The Lone Bellow did not disappoint me. They were every bit as magnificent as I knew they would be. Every single song was a show stopper. As I stood at the foot of the stage and sang my heart out to "You Never Need Nobody" the girls next to me were doing the same. We threw our arms around one another, strangers no more, and shared the joyful experience of loving music together.
So, the Lone Bellow is going to be in my life for a long time. That was not a surprise.
Also not surprising, Ivan & Alyosha were thoroughly enjoyable. They've been a mix tape staple of mine for a while and the song "Glorify" gets me going every single time. I'm not sure that they had the right set up for the venue (two electric guitars and the electric bass kind of drowned out the vocals in that small room) but no matter. It was still a solid set. That wasn't surprising either.
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| Ivan & Alyosha @ JB's. |
What I wasn't prepared for was Twin Forks. In fact, I had no idea who they were or that they were playing until five minutes before I left for the show. My brother barged into my room and said, "Did you know there is another opener tonight?"
This is how the conversation went-
S: They're called Twin Forks.
LB: That sounds like the setting for a high school TV melodrama.
S: It's from the guy from Dashboard Confessional with people from Bad Books and the Narrative.
LB: Chris Carrabba? What is he, like, producing it?
S: I think he's the singer.
LB: No way.
S: I think so.
LB: No way that the singer from Dashboard is opening at a bar for two unknown bands.
S: I really think he is, though.
My disbelief changed into total shock when I checked the band's Twitter account and Soundcloud and they both confirmed what S had told me. Chris Carrabba is in a new folk group with members of Bad Books and the Narrative and they are called Twin Forks and we were about to see them play their first show at Johnny Brenda's.
Fucking surprise, dude!
Also, surprise! They are really, really good.
I have to preface this by saying that I am by no means a die hard Dashboard or Further Seems Forever fan. Of course, those bands represent something quintessential about my coming of age experience that is rivaled only by the Garden State soundtrack and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. For the millennial generation, Dashboard is everything about high school. There is no better Song to Fall in Love To than "Hands Down" and no Balm for a Broken Heart quite like "Screaming Infidelities." Of course I listened to them back in the day and sometimes revisit them now.
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| Twin Forks @ Johnny Brenda's. |
But while I will always have a soft spot in my heart for all of these things, my 25 year old self wouldn't go out of the way to see a Dashboard show, as great as those old songs are.
Then Chris Carrabba walked out onstage at Johnny Brenda's and he is still the same tiny, tattooed man that I remembered from MTV Unplugged with a voice big enough to express every emotion.
And he was singing honest-to-god folk songs. Think the Lumineers with less Ho-ing and Hey-ing and more introspective lyrics.
Surprise! It was everything I never knew that I wanted. I fell in love with this group about thirty seconds into their first song, which is when I started trying to sing along even though I'd never heard it before. Maybe because the band was clearly having a great time playing together, maybe because they were just some great tunes, maybe because Chris' voice took me right back to some safe, warm place that I didn't know I'd been missing- but I smiled through their entire set.
Obviously, this is a project that these guys are really excited and passionate about. That translates very well onstage. I also really respect that Chris isn't letting his notoriety from Dashboard sell this new band. I think that, ultimately, the songs will speak for themselves and that is the most beautiful thing of all.
Not surprisingly, I am now a fan. The next time they come around to Philly, I'll be there with the same huge smile on my face.
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| Twin Forks @ Johnny Brenda's, 4/16/13 |
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