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Cafe Du Nord is really one of my favorite bars ever. it has this rococo feel to it without being pretentious or bourgeois; an odd layout, but very comfortable. the walls are crimson, the pool table is crimson, the carpeting (in the bar and dining areas) is ornate, and there are gold touches all over everything. hello, lioness! you enter from the street and immediately go downstairs. like disappearing into a little vintage womb for some beautiful music and tasty, elegant drinks.
took the streetcar downtown in jeans and tank and sweater that I’d thrown on after work. no line; the doormen were very cool. I always try to be fashionably late for shows because rock and roll is not known for running on the same schedule as the rest of the world, but somehow I’m always part of the early crowd.
being around the indie-rock crowd is always entertaining. lots of horn rimmed glasses. and thankfully, very few cell phones! go GenX! it was a little odd to see men in their 30s still doing the t-shirt-over-sleeves thing, but nostalgically endearing too. I’m not sure if the look just doesn’t age well or if my tastes have just matured
, but everyone was really laid-back and pleasant and warm vibes abounded.for some reason I was in the mood for beer, which is odd because beer doesn’t usually sit too well with my delicate insides. I ordered a Hefeweizen and sat in the stage room next to some unfortunate blond man who was on crutches. an employee of the bar came over to him at one point and said “word to the wise, man, you’ll have much better luck up there,� and gestured toward stage right. I thought right, except there are no chairs there. the blond guy looked at me, shrugged, then hobbled up to the stage and tried to get comfortable.
at another point, a skinny white dude with an afro and butterfly-collared shirt walked past me, and in my head I thought, bass player. the opening band (sorry, I don’t remember their name) took the stage, and sure enough, white dude was rocking the bass. the singer had a beard which he’d shorn with one clean line down the center of his chin, giving the effect of totally nuclear sideburns. the band was tight and skilled, but I can’t really get into that 70s revival stuff; the harmony and the happy guitar and the doo-da-doos. but there were a few moments of shreddage and the crowd seemed to dig them, so all’s well, et cetera.
ordered a second Hefe and found a seat (there are a handful of chairs and tiny tables along the other wall of the stage room), nice and close. they closed the velvet curtains and turned on one purple light and the crowd in the room suddenly tripled to capacity. OSX appeared out of nowhere and introduced his lovely Missus.
I had made a decision that night. it was special– it was to be my tenth time seeing J live– and I decided that instead of my usual front-and-center euphoria position at the show, I was going to try as hard as I could to take it for granted that I could see J any time I wanted to, kick back, drink a beer, and listen to some genius music that has become such a huge part of my life. I don’t know if I’m explaining it well. being a small town country girl I never would have imagined that I would ever be fortunate enough to see him perform so many times, and I think I wanted to see what it would be like to be a regular concert-goer without being all “holy shit I am front and center for J Mascisâ€?. just relax and enjoy him and his music without that urgency that I must must must be up front because who knows when this will ever happen again.
and…I actually got more emotional than I’d ever been at one of his performances. I was so relaxed and just entranced and so, so happy. J wears his age and spirituality well. he has gone from being introverted to being peaceful and it only enhances and embellishes his music. his guitar work was impeccable; he was upbeat and engaged and seemed to truly be enjoying his time.
the crowd was fantastic, the best crowd I’ve ever experienced at a Mascis outing. they were uproariously loud and supportive; people were singing along and cheering happily and no one was being obnoxious. every once in a while one person would freak out if he started a certain song and the glee was contagious; squeals would pop up from different pockets of the room.
I’m sorry I can’t remember the set list in entirety but he played a sampling from almost every album, Dino, solo, Fog. Ammaring was particularly shred-tastic, as was Alone (despite some struggling with the lyrics). a lot of people were excited to hear Same Day, and of course Freak Scene and The Lung were big crowdpleasers. I remember Quest and Keeblin sounding particularly tender, and…does anyone else notice how the ending of Not You Again is more comical and abbreviated every time?
every song sounded fresh and energetic; a great balance of distortion and straight out pretty, melodic strumming and fingerwork. two encores. everyone was totally pleased, including J, who thanked us several times. elated Rosa wiped a few tears, sent a few prayers up to the heavens, and felt very satisfied. I thought of sitting in my room as a kid, with my first crappy guitar, rewinding and playing songs off Green Mind over and over so I could learn the chords.
at the first sign of house music, I bolted for the ladies’ room, because as my dad used to say, you don’t drink beerâ€â€
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