New Haven, CT is about a two hour drive south almost due south of us. The show is at 6 so we plan on being there by 5 so that there’s extra time for any set up and what-not.
But things are casual at the Never Ending Bookstore as they are not open on Sundays except for special events and that means that no one is here to open until just before 6.
I’m used to rock and roll time but Mom is clearly concerned that no one is going to show up. I tell her not to worry. I can tell that she does not 100% believe me that this is not unusual.
MJ shows up and she works here and is also performing tonight. Thomas has arrived and with me and Mom - that is all the performers and 4/5ths of all people here tonight.
Yes, it was performers performing for performers tonight.
And it would be easy to bitch and complain but we were all treated to an exceptionally intimate show that was fantastic.
Thomas performs under the name divingstation95 playing what he describes as “doom pop” and the dude creates all his backing tracks and then sings over them and he’s rehearsed it down, there’s breaks, start ups and stops and he’s nervous at first but slowly loosens up. He’s clearly a romantic as well as wearing a Smiths shirt. This style of music would be easy to pigeon hole into some sub-genre of post-punk, new wave - I mean, I hear his Bauhaus and Joy Division influences and even reminds me a little of Peter Murphy when he sings but there’s hope in his songs and that’s what pulls him through. It’s still rough and performing is still new to him but so many people like this never take this step and go out and bare their souls. I felt lucky to have heard him tonight.
Because I’m the traveling guy, I play in the middle and I don’t even plug in to the PA. I deliver a stripped down, quieter set and really enjoy it. No fancy effects, just guitar playing and singing. And I’m happy.
MJ Bones is a singer and ukulele playing GRRRL, folk punk performer. She prefaces her set with how she uses her music to work through a lot of her demons and how she’s been sober for a while and she does not hold back in her lyrics at all, I think one of her songs did not drop an F-bomb. It’s intense and she has a beautiful voice. She has relocated from Michigan to New Haven and is working at Never Ending Books and performing her tunes and again, I felt like I really heard something special and different tonight.
It was three completely different things tonight and we were all there for each other and that’s the magic right there.
The ride was long but I was exactly where I was meant to be tonight.