The opening band, For Stars set the mood perfectly, and it was easy to understand why the Cranes had brought them along. I hadn't heard them before, and I will definitely try to track down some of their albums. They sadly played a fairly short set. I would have liked to hear more.
The Cranes then took the stage in short order, and they were everything I had hoped for and more. The soundman obviously knew his job well and the mix was superb. Their set list spanned every single album, and it was inspired throughout. Alison was as competent live as on any studio recording, and the band as a whole was very cohesive. They played an occasional jam where I wasn't expecting one, which only made the performance seem more intimate and vital.
I also heard a bit more edge in a few songs that weren't recorded that way, and it brought even more intensity to what I knew the songs to be about. Hearing her growl sent shivers through me. I had never heard some of the emotions that she displayed live. If you know their music, you know her vocals sound amazingly innocent. To hear this angel display honest pain and grief wrenched my heart when I thought of what had caused such anguish in such a beautiful soul. Their many ballads were as gentle as the jams were fierce. Her voice was seraphic and I wanted to cry at times when I heard and saw that she had achieved such beauty in her life, if even only momentarily. The maturity in their live performance was astounding, and their recorded material belied what I was witnessing.
They've been recording for perhaps 15 years or so, and being that they played songs from their entire catalog, we were treated to a rather lengthy show. We were also graced with two encores, the first of which contained one of my favorite songs of theirs, Jewel. This song in particular has helped me through some rough times, and I was overjoyed to hear it played. It's a song twinged with sadness and remorse over an exquisite moment long past, but still the memory of what had once been inspirational and life affirming shined in her voice, almost banishing whatever had caused the rift in her heart. They played it delicately and with such compassion that it affected me deeply. I know this wasn't played for me in particular, but it felt as if it were.
After the applause from any given song, Alison would sweetly utter a thank you, and all I could think was that perhaps I was the one who should be thanking her. Even the audience seemed to feel this as well, for I've only seen one other performance in such a setting where everyone was as respectful as they were. I was pleased to feel that I was not alone in my gratitude.
My compatriots, according to all accounts, had a splendid time at the show, which was yet another pleasant surprise. I had given Denni some Cranes to listen to not too long ago, and I knew she enjoyed them. Tiffany, of course, being even in my close proximity at any point will be exposed to their music eventually merely by default. Shawn was my only friend I had recommended the show to who had not heard their music before. I was very happy to learn (and I had actually suspected as much) that he liked them immensely. I don't know Shawn as well as I would like to, but I had a good idea that he would enjoy it, and thankfully I was right.
We finished our evening at a Steak and Shake of all places, and we had (in my opinion) a very nice time even in spite of the horrific mess some prior patrons had left for us to discover. Somehow it seemed fitting, but I don't know exactly how to explain why. Nor shall I likely ever give it that much thought, so I'll just leave it at that. As always when I'm with Denni and Shawn, our conversations usually take on an interesting flavor, and of course dining in a trashed out restaurant only fueled our fire to bring meaning to what at times seems a pointless existence. In other words, we had a good time.
It came time to part our separate ways, and I made sure we had photos taken of us in all of our glory, and hopefully you will see them posted soon. I hope so.
I will be eternally grateful to Denni and Tiffany for making this possible, and I am so glad Shawn was there to share in this experience as well. I indeed have already ranked this high on my list of occasions that will always be fondly remembered.
Starblood
The Cranes then took the stage in short order, and they were everything I had hoped for and more. The soundman obviously knew his job well and the mix was superb. Their set list spanned every single album, and it was inspired throughout. Alison was as competent live as on any studio recording, and the band as a whole was very cohesive. They played an occasional jam where I wasn't expecting one, which only made the performance seem more intimate and vital.
I also heard a bit more edge in a few songs that weren't recorded that way, and it brought even more intensity to what I knew the songs to be about. Hearing her growl sent shivers through me. I had never heard some of the emotions that she displayed live. If you know their music, you know her vocals sound amazingly innocent. To hear this angel display honest pain and grief wrenched my heart when I thought of what had caused such anguish in such a beautiful soul. Their many ballads were as gentle as the jams were fierce. Her voice was seraphic and I wanted to cry at times when I heard and saw that she had achieved such beauty in her life, if even only momentarily. The maturity in their live performance was astounding, and their recorded material belied what I was witnessing.
They've been recording for perhaps 15 years or so, and being that they played songs from their entire catalog, we were treated to a rather lengthy show. We were also graced with two encores, the first of which contained one of my favorite songs of theirs, Jewel. This song in particular has helped me through some rough times, and I was overjoyed to hear it played. It's a song twinged with sadness and remorse over an exquisite moment long past, but still the memory of what had once been inspirational and life affirming shined in her voice, almost banishing whatever had caused the rift in her heart. They played it delicately and with such compassion that it affected me deeply. I know this wasn't played for me in particular, but it felt as if it were.
After the applause from any given song, Alison would sweetly utter a thank you, and all I could think was that perhaps I was the one who should be thanking her. Even the audience seemed to feel this as well, for I've only seen one other performance in such a setting where everyone was as respectful as they were. I was pleased to feel that I was not alone in my gratitude.
My compatriots, according to all accounts, had a splendid time at the show, which was yet another pleasant surprise. I had given Denni some Cranes to listen to not too long ago, and I knew she enjoyed them. Tiffany, of course, being even in my close proximity at any point will be exposed to their music eventually merely by default. Shawn was my only friend I had recommended the show to who had not heard their music before. I was very happy to learn (and I had actually suspected as much) that he liked them immensely. I don't know Shawn as well as I would like to, but I had a good idea that he would enjoy it, and thankfully I was right.
We finished our evening at a Steak and Shake of all places, and we had (in my opinion) a very nice time even in spite of the horrific mess some prior patrons had left for us to discover. Somehow it seemed fitting, but I don't know exactly how to explain why. Nor shall I likely ever give it that much thought, so I'll just leave it at that. As always when I'm with Denni and Shawn, our conversations usually take on an interesting flavor, and of course dining in a trashed out restaurant only fueled our fire to bring meaning to what at times seems a pointless existence. In other words, we had a good time.
It came time to part our separate ways, and I made sure we had photos taken of us in all of our glory, and hopefully you will see them posted soon. I hope so.
I will be eternally grateful to Denni and Tiffany for making this possible, and I am so glad Shawn was there to share in this experience as well. I indeed have already ranked this high on my list of occasions that will always be fondly remembered.
Moving on: as soon as I heard that the Cranes were playing soon and reasonably close by, I immediately entertained the idea of seeing them. I had a brief moment where I actually dismissed the effort it would take to see them play. First of all, I've been through what felt like physical hell until very recently, I'm a bit low on cash this week, and I have no car. This moment of trepidation obviously didn't last long. The reason being is that I've been listening to them for over 10 years now, and I typically site them as one of my three favorite bands. I've quoted Alison numerous times as I consider her to be a poet as much as a singer, and this is the only band that I've admired this deeply that I've not had a chance to see live. I was then possessed of the conviction that as long as I was physically able, I would make this happen. A bus ticket to St. Louis (as I have discovered recently) is under $30. Tickets for the show were only $12. This was easily workable. The biggest concern of mine was how my body would hold up, but last week I started feeling much better, so I had hopes that I would be in a condition to attend the show without major difficulty. I mentioned to Tiffany, a friend of mine, that this was something I wanted to do. As it turns out, she was interested in going with me, so that solved several problems immediately.
Not very long after making the initial plans, I informed Shawn (Lostraven) and Denni (Summersnowflake) of my intention to appear in their vicinity for this occasion. I had hoped to see them regardless of whether they went to the concert or not. I've only spent a handful of days with Shawn, but he feels like a soulmate. Our conversations are natural and far deeper than what most people are capable of. Denni is someone I cherish deeply for many reasons, and my analysis of this would require a much more thorough explanation than I wish to provide at present. As it would turn out, they were both interested in going, so we made plans to meet and hang out and enjoy the evening. The concern at this point, for myself anyway, was procuring tickets ahead of time. My friend was dragging her feet on acquiring access to the show, so Denni came through and went ahead and purchased the tickets.
Alison
Alta Lee
We finally gained admittance after a highly amusing rally performed by the resident doorman, and we indeed grabbed a very nice vantage point from a table very close to the stage. As far as I was concerned, it was the optimal place for me, as I still have some ambulatory issues and wasn't quite prepared to stand during the entire performance. Very shortly thereafter, Shawn made his grandiose entry (you'll understand this when you see the pics we took), Just a warning: he looks better in a dress than most women I've dated. We exchanged our pleasantries, and I was amazingly contented just to be there with my friends.
A very wonderful thing then occured. A very dear friend of mine from KC, who I thought I had lost contact with altogether as I had not been able to track her down for about two years, was in attendance! I have thought of her on many occasions in recent memory, and it pleased me greatly to find her again. Not many understand my idea of unconditionality, but she does, which makes her very valuable to me. It was also very nice to see her taking photos of the bands with a good 35mm SLR. I, as you probably know by now, am a fan of photography and I'm glad that she's pursuing an artform I admire.
Photo montage created by Wouter De Vos,
hacked apart by Summersnowflake and ,/'\«^·.·^»/'\,
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