"there's no police between two beating hearts"

incredible.

this video was taken during the most docile point in the show and with my ever-increasingly annoying blackberry. the quality is bad but you get a feel for what i was seeing.

the show was great. the songs rocked and the energy was infectious. but what really made the night was what happened after the music stopped. my buddy and i went to the bar for another drink, waited for the tweeners to clear out and then re-approached the stage. for the next 30 minutes we would introduce ourselves to 3 of the band members, including dallas green and have short but memorable conversations.

my biggest takeaway:
music being made for music's sake still exists.

in europe and in canada, alexisonfire are gods. they play sold out arenas and the number of fans that show up are counted in the tens of thousands, not the tens... in america, they havent caught on. i asked the bassist why, in his mind, alexisonfire was not as big in the us. he responded with "im not sure. the country is so big and so diverse from state to state. you could affect one and make almost no impact. there are also just so many bands to trying to do the same thing and make it. and we dont do fashion or publicity stunts, we play music." they do their own sound checks. they do their own setup and their own load out. i asked another member if one of their roadies had a marker. he responded "we dont really have roadies." they are international rock stars and are still just as pumped to play an 80 minute show for 75 kids in a rundown bar in richmond, virginia.

no gimmicks. no cheap sound effects. no marketing ploys. just pure punk rock for the love of punk rock.

top ten things about last night's concert:
10. my buddy walking up to dallas green prior to the show while we were waiting in line, shaking his hand and declaring him a god.

9. getting devastated by the spicy bbq sauce at buffalo wild wings at our pre-concert dinner.

8. dancing around in "the pit."

7. when they play "boiled frogs" and the whole place went up!

6. giving up my cell phone as collateral to use a merch guy's sharpie.

5. a nice young lady apparently stealing my phone from the merch guy and texting people.

4. conversation with dallas green. you know, the greatest musician of our time?! yeah, we talked to him.

3. watching alexisonfire do their own load out. offering to help and the guitarist says "its ok guys, tonight is your night off!"

2. after-party at the happy budha (japanese themed club) which included cheap drinks, bass-thumnping music, free food bar and kung fu movies on giant flat screens.

1. ending the show with an 8 minute rendition of "happiness by the kilowatt" which was incredible. one of the greatest live song performances i have ever seen.

below is the acoustic version of "happiness by the kilowatt" performed by dallas green. this version is different than seeing the full band do it but in some ways, better.


great evening with these canadian musical geniuses.