Garnet's Concert Adventure

“Watch your step!”

The security guard’s warning came a split second too late, reaching my ears as I desperately sought to recover my balance after having unexpectedly stumbled to a lower level in my haste to make it to the rail...

The rail was next to the stage. The stage was in The House of Blues. The House of Blues was in Boston...

Country girl goes to the city. Yeah, I get out of Fryeburg every once in a while...

TV On The Radio, my fav alt rock band, was playing. Or would, anyway. When they got on that stage....

When was it that I impulsively purchased that ticket? I tried to remember as I triumphantly clung to my hard-won share of the railing directly in front of the stage, a little left of center. Eons ago. A sold-out show. Impulsiveness pays off. Sometimes.

The ticket. It was the only impulsive thing about the Adventure, I thought as I stashed the paper sheet with the spent bar-code into the pocket of my jeans. The time off from work, the train from Maine, the subway route, how to get from the subway stop to the Oasis Guest House on Edgerly Rd... all impeccably and meticulously planned. Way ahead of time. I like to be sure of things.

I had been sure of, but not correct in, thinking the show started at 7:00pm. The doors opened at 7:00. So, having arrived before 6:30pm, I was plenty early enough to line up at that closed door. And had plenty of time to observe my fellow concert-goers...

They were all really young. Younger than I thought they’d be. I hadn’t pegged TV On The Radio as appealing to the teen/early twenties set, but evidently they do. For some reason I thought that the seriously innovative music and the introspective/social commentary quality of the lyrics would appeal to a more mature crowd.

Yet another thing that I had been sure of, but not correct in...

The warm-up band was young, too. I saw their name in on the House of Blues web-site, and other then the fact that it sounded un-appealing (‘Poison Disaster,’ or something like that) I don’t remember what it was. Six young folk, three ladies and three young men, entertained us for about 40 minutes. They were OK. Rather unremarkable, but listenable. The applause was sincere.

It was about 9:00pm when TVOTR appeared. I had never seen a picture of them. There are five members of the band, 4 black gents, and one white guy. Except for the lead singer, they all looked a little shy. And a little nerdy. Cool.

Although their music definitely lends itself more to studio than to concert halls, several of their tunes (‘Wolf Like Me“, and “Halfway Home,” for instance) really rocked. Most enjoyable.

They played till about 10:30pm, I think. Maybe 10:45. To judge from the number of beer cans that I stepped around on my way out of the hall, there had been quite a bit of drinking going on. In spite of that, security seemed to have an easy time of it- a few warnings on their part to wayward patrons is the worst I witnessed that night.

The nightlife was in full swing on Landsdowne Street as I exited the venue and stepped out into the warm air. After a few tries I caught an empty cab, and weariness caught up with me as I sunk into the back seat. “Adventures are exhausting!” I said to myself with a smile. I wonder what my next one will be...
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