Friday night was quite accidentally spent in Poughkeepsie, NY.
I took the 2+ hour train ride up from NYC to see Jeff Mangum (of Neutral Milk Hotel) perform at the Bardavon Opera House. This was my first time going to the Bardavon, and transportation drawbacks aside (we'll get to that...), I'd highly recommend seeing a show there if you can. According to the website, it was built in 1869 and is the oldest continuously operating theater in NY state as well as one of the oldest in the country. But I digress. The show started at 8PM, Jeff was preceded by 2 openers so he didn't go on until nearly 10:30PM, and the last train home was at 11PM...whomp whomp as the kids say. It's worth another tangent to tell you that the 2nd of the 2 openers, Music Tapes, are pretty epic in their own right. The lead vocalist/saw player/storyteller, Julian Koster, also played with Jeff in Neutral Milk Hotel, and brings an other-worldly presence to the stage. He plays a saw as if it should never be used as anything but an instrument, and at first I thought his endearing child-like demeanor was annoying but then acquiesced that it lent a sweet sincerity to his stories. Music Tapes are doing a Traveling Imaginary Tour that hasn't posted any dates beyond early February at this point, but I'm going to keep an eye on it because it sounds pretty unique. The tour description says they pitch a circus tent and the performance includes music, games, magic, and other entertainment. I like all of those things! Ok, so around the end of the Music Tapes' performance I started to freak out, and realized I was at an impasse - I could take the last train and miss most of Jeff's set, or stay and be stranded until Metro-North started running again the next morning. I surprised myself by deciding to stay even before knowing what that meant.
While the stage was re-set I used my iPhone to frantically search for an alternate route or nearby place to stay so that I didn't have to go hobo style and hang out at the train station all night or call someone to pick me up. If only Neutral Milk Hotel was an actual place! (zing.) Technology revealed that Amtrak had stopped running too, but that the Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel was just a few blocks away and had rooms available. I weighed my options and made the executive decision to relax and enjoy the rest of the show knowing I had a viable Plan B. I say executive because there's definitley a committee in my mind that I had to consult. There's Scared Me, Rational Me, Brave Me, Hopeful Me, Crazy Me, Calm Me, Bitter Me, Compassionate Me...the Mes that we all have inside, and I've been trying to listen to mine more carefully lately so I can understand why each one cries out (or doesn't). The Me that overwhelmed the rest was the one that knew the thing that would make me feel the most good, guilt about spending the money I shouldn't be spending on a hotel aside, would be to stay. It was Loving Me.
So I stayed, and he kicked ass. After the first couple of songs, Jeff openly encouraged the crowd to sing along with him and that was a pretty special experience. All these voices...not singing perfectly, but feeling united in joy with every word and howl we sent towards the stage. Good stuff.
After the encore where Julian joined Jeff on stage with his trusty saw, it was well past midnight and I walked towards the hotel with a glowing happiness I can only achieve from seeing live music. It had started to snow/sleet aka Wintery Mix The Most Hateful of All Precipitation, but I was too warm to care.
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