I don’t know how memory works for other people, but for me, memories are more like still shots in my head, as opposed to moving pictures.
One of my favorite memories is of me sitting in my dorm room in … get this … 2003. I was staring out the window at the parking lot between UNK Student Affairs and the Otto Olson building. Rain was pounding the pavement and I was just sitting at my desk, flipping through the pages of the CD booklet, listening to one of my favorite albums for the first time ever.
I don’t remember where I heard the preview track from the band, but I loved it enough to pre-order it from Hastings Books and Music. The second I got out of class that Tuesday (CD release day, you know), I had someone drive me to the store so I could pick up the CD, since I didn’t have a car my freshman year of college.
I thanked whoever it was who drove me, ran up the stairs, fumbled like an idiot with that damn plastic strip at the top, and practically shoved the CD into the CD player.
The screen shot in my head is the one of me watching the rain from my desk. I was in lovewith this band and this album.
That was ten years ago. Ten years ago, a band called Spitalfield released their albumRemember Right Now, and it has been on my Top 5 Favorite album list ever since. They broke up back in 2007 (I think), and this year they organized a ten year anniversary tour for the album. The closest place they were playing turned out to be where my sister lives, so we just made a vacation out of it.
And, oh, this concert. I can’t tell you how awesome it was to hang out with just my sister. We’re very different in a lot of ways, but one of our common grounds is pop-punk music, and we had a great time together. It was in a small concert bar, and almost all of the concert-goers looked about the same age.
(::Cough:: 30 ::Cough.::)
They played all of the songs in the order they were on the album, and these guys were clearly having a blast playing their old stuff . . . and I danced my ass off. I almost felt like a 20 year old. Almost.
I don’t care if it’s just a bunch of guys playing pop-punk music. I love it like crazy. Isn’t music amazing the way it lasts through the years for people? I always think of my Grandma Blessing listening to Big Band music on NPR. That was the music she loved, and she still listens to it today.
Well, I can tell you right now, I’m going to be a little old lady someday jamming out to Spitalfield in my rocking chair, and it’s still going to be awesome.
(Here’s some Spitalfield to listen to, as well as the lead singer’s website. He’s got a solo thing going, which is different, but equally as enjoyable to hear.)