There are things in life that you wish for so fervently, there is no way that they can do anything but disappoint you. And then, there are those very, very rare events that manage to be even better than you imagined they could be.
I, like a lot of people my age, fell in love with a band called The Postal Service when I was in high school. For the past ten years, I've kept Give Up close to my heart, revisiting it over and over again and always finding something new to love about it. It is simply one of my very favorite records to ever exist in any time and any place.
Yet, there was always a great sense of loss that accompanied the record, as well. The Postal Service is the band that got away. After that one perfect record, Jimmy Tamborello and Ben Gibbard went on with their respective lives and continued making great music-- just not together. And for those of us who were so in love with the collaboration, the idea of a Postal Service reunion became one of those musical Moby Dicks that were long chased after and often rumored, but never materialized.
Until this year, that is.
When the Postal Service announced that they were reforming (along with Jenny freaking love of my life Lewis) for a tour to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Give Up, I felt like all of the Christmases for the next five years had come early. And I knew that there was no way that I was going to miss it.
Ten years ago, if you had told me that I would be standing ten feet from the stage in an arena owned by Jay-Z, watching the Postal Service play their one album to a sold out crowd- I probably would have laughed at you. And yet, that is exactly what happened last night. Given my intense expectations, and the fact that I had waited so damn long to see these folks perform together, I was aware that there was a very good chance that I might wind up feeling slightly disappointed.
Thankfully, that couldn't have been further from the truth. When Ben, Jimmy, and Jenny walked out on stage, that familiar droning synth from "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight" started playing and the entire arena lost their collective shit. What followed for the next two hours was nothing short of magical. It was the biggest, most fun, dance party/singalong that I have ever attended. There were several moments where I lifted my arms in the air and looked up at the teeming masses above me and felt such unbelievable amounts of love, there is no other way to describe the experience but "religious."
The audience weren't the only people who could feel the magic. Onstage, the band was energetic and smiling and playful. I've seen Jenny Lewis play a few different shows under different circumstances, but I have never seen her have as much fun as she was having last night. Ditto for Ben Gibbard, who danced and strutted around the stage like he was channeling Bono. Overall, it was abundantly clear that the members of the Postal Service understand why we love the band so much- because they love it just as much.
The show ended with the joyful, deafening, crowd-led repetition of that final line from "Brand New Colony." Everything will change. Everything will change. Everything will change.
As I walked outside into the steamy New York air and watched the hipsters dispersing, an overwhelming gratitude settled over me. I felt so thankful for Give Up; for the fact that it came into my life when it did and opened my eyes to a completely different musical landscape. But mostly, I was thankful to the Postal Service for giving us the gift of these reunion shows, for recognizing and rewarding our devotion, and for making a decade-old dream come true.
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| Jenny channeling her spirit animal, Dave Mustaine. |
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