You're so pretty in the city of industry...

So this past Friday a good friend's band came through town, (Oranger), and I was treated to a small glimpse of what I know as the rock and roll lifestyle of a small touring band. It lacked all the glamour that one might expect, but was full of insights and sparked all of my own romanticized desires to be a rock star on tour. There was nothing dramatic about it. They are hardly known in this town and thus had a staggering racous crowd of 34 people who were probably there to see the headliners (Posies). Nonetheless, they RAWKED in the best sense of the word. A close friend and I recently discussed how we both seem to be less involved and absorbed by bands that we see in concert and we blamed that on age. We talked about how we no longer excitedly sang along to every lyric as a band played on stage, nor how we were remotely carried away by the adrenaline and excitement of being a full blown "fan". The Oranger show simply reminded me that it's one involvement and attachment to a band that dictates how the experience will play out. I love this band. They are close friends that I've known forever and whose songs are part of my fabric like say a nephew or neice. I am tied to the experience of the songs, and despite not having heard or seen these guys in years at this point, I was bowled over and carried away by the whole process and show. I'm sure I looked like the teenage girl in front howling some of the lyrics at the top of my lungs and not noticing how loud I was because of the ear plugs I was wearing. It was simply grand. As for the rock and roll lifestyle. Driving around the country in a van with 4 other stinky guys must present it's challenges. They were certainly travel worn, but seemed to be buoyed by playing and the experience of having to meet the crowd afterwards to sign autographs or talk to new fans. A favorite moment was eating steaks before the show at a sports bar called Lumpy's and understanding the importance of occasionally having a good meal of protein given all the crap they will ingest for the bulk of the tour, or the bar waitresses who seemed giddy at the prospect of coming over to the show after their shifts to hang out with "the band". It's funny how things like that actually seem to happen. Anyhow. I'm going to attach a few Oranger songs in the playlist to peruse plus a Posies song that I loved from back in the day. Cheers!