I first saw MARSHSTEPPER at a place called The Lab in San Francisco a few years ago. I don't remember why I wanted to go to the show, because I didn't really know anything about the band, but I had convinced myself that it was gonna be a thing...so I went. I didn't know anyone there, and it was a big weird open art gallery, so I sat in the corner and drank....and I waited. A long time. And nothing happened. I texted Karoline something to the effect of "I am an idiot. Why am I waiting for something to happen? There's no way that whatever is going to happen is going to be good enough to justify all this waiting once it actually happens, which might be quite a while from now." And still I waited. Alone. I mean, there was one dude that I kinda knew, and we said "hi" but that was it because he had actual friends there....and by "there" I mean The Lab in San Francisco, where exactly nothing was happening. Apparently there was a fellow from AVON LADIES in the band, because I saw him walk in with some equipment, but we had only met that one time in that really hot warehouse (I mean, most things in Phoenix are hot) so after we said "hello" I just kept waiting. I went to the store and bought two beers, drank one of them on the way back from the store and then went inside with the other one....and I waited. Seriously, either I was really early, or the show was really late, because I waited for a long ass time. No way a show could be good enough to justify the waiting, but I kept waiting because of a thing called FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). What if it was really good? What if it was worth the wait? So I waited....and then a band played. By "band" I really mean "dude with a laptop computer and he was called JOCK CLUB and it was pretty cool (actually very cool) so I kept waiting, encouraged by optimism and FOMO. And then it got dark. And there were candles. And there were robes. And there were naked men. And it was transcendent. Perfect. Awesome. Everything I hoped plus so many things that I never dreamed. It was the thing you wait for. It was the thing you are afraid of missing. It was the reason that FOMO exists - because you do not want to miss what I saw. I've tried to see MARSHSTEPPER several times since, and every time something has gotten in the way. I like to think that this is the universe telling me that I saw the perfect show, and that I do not need to see another. Maybe, for once, the universe is right.
2 comments:
heavier
Hey man,
I love that this is the "long awaited" follow-up post to the Jock Club post of 2013. I love this story. The story of the "dude who doesn't know anybody and doesn't necessarily fit the given scene." The mojo of the FOMO. Standing there smiling and nodding at no one. Personally, these days, I try to see how long I can go without looking at my phone. It's a personal endurance test. Looking around. Surveying the scene. Just taking it in. Other people maybe think I'm a NARC. I'd like to think I'm paying tribute to a time when the ever-present glowing screen wasn't the GOD and just standing there and being aware was the norm.... Thanks for the post.
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