Philosophia

I’ve come to realise that I started this blog on a very ambitious note. If you look to the right, you will see all the categories that I intended to write in, but haven’t actually. Amongst them, there is music, which is the category I will be tackling today.

I did actually see Explosions in the Sky last week at Manning Bar, and I’m pretty sure that constitutes as a solid post about “music”, but since I didn’t have an opportunity to write about it, I’ve practically forgotten every detail (as young minds do after one week) . However, thanks to Kaka, here is a photo from the night:

Okay, back to the real post.

I’ve always had a nudging feeling that not all was perfect in the land of the Red Riders. I make a habit of stalking bands that I like from various angles and degrees, and amongst them is Adrian Deutsch’s (lead guitar, singer) myspace, or in particular, this.

Adrian Deutsch, for those of you who have been lucky enough to escape my fangirl rants, is the “guy from the bookstore” who famously said once “why do drugs, when you can read books?” He is in one word, pretty-awesome.

The problem with the Red Riders are that there are two singers, or rather, the main problem is that people aren’t aware there are two singers. Without going into detail, I’ll just invite everyone to think of the Beatles, and what happened there.

Anyway, somehow I was still under the impression that all was alright in the land of the Red Riders, especially when they reassuringly stated that they had “not split up” on their official website.

Oh, the treachery of words.

I realised something was up when:

• I looked at the setlist, which was directly in front of me (I squeezed into the front row, right in front of where Adrian would be) and saw that there were no songs on it which are typically sung by him.
• A strange man came onto the stage with pedals, and a guitar
• The strange man continued to stay there, and gasp horror, started playing along.

Now, you might imagine that I was utterly disappointed and heart-broken the entire night… that would actually make this blog entry easier. I was, in fact, quite the opposite eventually.

They played a set list of 12, with 6 new songs. The new songs were amazing, but I guess the fact that we were the first live audience to listen to them made them sound even better. The great thing about 18+ gigs is that you don’t get the young boppy teenagers, who think being at the front make them cool and hardcore. No no, adults are much more cooler and “mature”, they stand back and sip their smirnoff, and nod their head along. The only people who dance are drunken groupies. This gave me the best view in the house the entire night, as you can probably see for yourself from the following photos:

In fact, if you allow me to delve into fangirlism for moment… “OMFG AL MADE EYE CONTACT WITH ME AND SMILED AT ME!!!!!!!!”. In fact, I only smiled in response, a technicality I will be sure to bring up in all future conversations.

In addition, I was able to pick up the guitarist’s pick, and narrowly missed out on the setlist (there was a girl more eager than me!)

Steve or Steven (the new guy) also started to grow on me. He had the whole Russel Lissack thing going on, what with the floppy haircut, the shortness and thinness, and the awkwardness of never looking at an audience. I figured that this would have been a nerve-wrecking night for him, and that made me go “awwwww”. (I’m such a sucker!)

So now I’m in a dilemma, I can’t equally like the new Red Riders without letting go of the old one!

Ah. Things would have been so much easier if I was never a fan girl to start with, and liked them for what I’m supposed to like them for- their music (which I have been told, is pretty good).

And yes, that was sarcastic/ironic. You might wonder why it is necessary that I say this, but I’ve had a lot of issues lately with people picking it up, or rather, not picking it up, so I might resolve the issue before it becomes an issue.

I leave you with my favourite picture of the night, apologies for those with dial up who have waited one hour for the photos to load. IT IS NOW TIME TO GET BROADBAND!

If I told you the truth behind the photo, it wouldn’t look as spectacular. So I’ll leave you to your imagination! Once again, I have plenty more photos on my Flickr account, which is feeling seriously neglected.