Filamental
I keep writing this and deleting it, again and again. And finally I’ve had a moment of clarity to understand why and subsequently I think it will give me the ability to actually write this. Music is a very spiritual experience with me. I connect with music on a highly emotional level [and talking about emotions is like dancing about architecture] . And last night I had what I can only describe as a spiritual experience [and I don't intend for that so come off as dramatic as I'm sure it does]. Anyway, last night I saw The Album Leaf in concert.
The first band went on around 9:15-ish. A local band, Sea Surrounds Me. They were… tolerable. Their higher tempo moments were much better, but most of the time they dragged and I was more interested in the my beer and an uncomfortable bar stool. Anyhow, after a five or six song set, they departed and a Lymbyc Systym took stage. I was INSTANTLY captivated by the music these two guys from Arizona made. I’d be hard pressed to compare them to any other band. It’s vaguely shoegazer, if only for the presence of a goodly amount of saw-tooth synthesizer; but they didn’t have the sterility and distance that often occupancies most of that genre. This music had a pulse.
After about 7 songs or so, they cleared the stage, and the Album Leaf’s entourage began reassembling the stage. Some delay occurred getting the AV equipment functioning correctly, but once they had, the lights went out and The Album Leaf took stage. Bathed in the light from the projection equipment showing movie clips and graphics, they began to play and I lost all touch with everything around me. The violin was ethereal, and Jimmy LaValle singing and on several sets of analog synthesizers just totally took me to a place in my mind that I rarely visit. It’s not exactly upbeat music, but still somehow it reminded me of the happy moments I’ve had, and the happy moments coming in the future. During on of the songs light bulbs were projected behind them pulsating in intensity along with the beat of the music. This seemed somehow appropriate, as the music, had massive intensity but still the delicate warmth of a filament; fragile. They placed for what I guess was about and hour and half, and then left the stage only to come back a few minutes later for a few more songs. Regardless, I didn’t want the evening to be over, but I suppose like everything else, it’s all about living in a moment, and experience.
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