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This week has been a grueling battle over sleep. On one side, two exhausted parents. On the other, two young boys to whom going to bed is tantamount to defeat. More than once during the hostilities, both Dr. O’C and I have daydreamed about the halcyon days before we had kids. The quiet, the leisurely Sunday mornings, the nights out. The quiet.
All of these are things of the past. I can probably count on all my extremities the number of times Dr. O’C and I have been out on our own in the evening since we moved to Australia. Hell, we haven’t been out to see a band since we emigrated. I love live music, love the thundering noise and the sweat of the crowd. I love the anticipation as the roadies tune up and the exhilaration as the band takes the stage. I love the charade of demanding a predetermined encore; sweaty, ears ringing. I don’t know how many live shows I’ve been to in my time, but even when it’s been a bad show*, I’ve had a good time.
These days, I just don’t get out to hear much music. A lot of it is the kids and the mental, emotional and physical exhaustion that comes with them. But more than that, we don’t get a lot of great bands coming through – Australia is kind of off the beaten track – and when we do, tickets are often ridiculously expensive. For example, The Pixies are coming through in the New Year. Now, I love The Pixies. They’re seminal. But they want $100 a piece for tickets. $100 buys a lot of Pixies albums. Or ice creams.
However, 18 months without seeing a decent band is a long time. So, when a friend e-mailed a couple of weeks ago asking if I wanted to go see Gomez at The Gov this Friday, I pounced. Price be damned. Haven’t cut a great album in a decade? Who cares. Kids? Well, let them fend for themselves for a night. Builds character.**
Gomez. Dr. O’C turned me on to Gomez during the long distance wooing phase of our relationship. She used to send me packages full of music and chocolate – is it any wonder that I was smitten? Some of you might remember the British indie rockers from their first two albums in the late 90’s – “Bring It On” and “Liquid Skin”. The former, in particular, was a fantastic record, especially when considered in context. The late 90’s British rock scene was dominated by bands like Oasis that made brash, bombastic, derivative pop. With their debut, Gomez offered up a warm and genuine sound – Anglicized Americana with a playful jazzy rhythm section and lots of tempo changes. But it was their cheeky, carefree lyrics that really made me into a fan.
Their sound has progressively changed over the years, gone softer, more ‘Dad rock’, more predictable. The critics who lauded them as the next great British rock band in 1998 have largely spurned Gomez as a flash in the pan. But I like a band that ages along with me; that doesn’t try to do the same thing album after album until it just becomes a farce. You can only be ‘groundbreaking’ for so long before it all sort of falls apart underneath you.
And the latest offering from Gomez is certainly not a groundbreaking album, but it’s a hell of an enjoyable listen. You can hear a band that is comfortable in its own skin, that knows each other well and plays off of each others’ strengths. They’re ripe. Mature. “A New Tide” doesn’t grab you and shake you to the core, it creeps up on you sounding stronger with every listen.
I can’t wait for tomorrow night. I’ve never seen the band live, but I know what to expect. I know what I’m going to feel – the liberation of being drowned in sound, the carefree feeling of a night on the town without two kids and all the trappings that goes along with them. A few precious hours of a time that’s gone by. A night in 1998.
Fantasy, sure. But until our coach turns back into a pumpkin on Saturday morning with the cries of an eight week old baby, it will definitely do.
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“A New Tide”, the latest from Gomez, as well as their excellent back catalog, is available from 
.
Image credits:
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*Worst show ever? Morrissey, 1994, Seattle. Someone through a beer at him and he spat the dummy. Flounced off the stage never to return. Still had a good time.
**I shouldn’t need to say this, but of course we’re not leaving them alone. The dog will be home as well.
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The exact same thing happened to Yankee and me after having the kids. We went from seeing a show at least once a month to nothing. When the kids were little, money and time were tight, but the real thing that kept us from going was the fact that kids? They suck the life out of you. Now that both of them are teenagers, I’ve seen more shows in the past year than I did in the 15 years prior.
Funny that you say not much comes to Australia because it figures prominently into the tour of Hippie’s favorite band, Pearl Jam. Ticketmaster must not be big there because they avoid it all cost. Hippie tried to talk us into taking her down there to see them. Because an 18 hour flight to see a band? That would be so easy.
Cat´s last blog ..I Threw a Party, but Nobody Came
hehehe. I’m single, live in NYC, and see a show at least once a month. I saw the Avett Brothers last week and it’ll be Neko Case next. Plus I could have sworn I saw Ryan Adams peering through a window of a gallery as I walked to the subway last night. But hey, at least it’s warmer where you are, right?
My Name’s Not Barbara´s last blog ..Are you there God, it’s me…Maggot.
But then again, it’s all downhill from here, I suppose. :p
My Name’s Not Barbara´s last blog ..Are you there God, it’s me…Maggot.
This is good news, you two are going on a date!! Out together with big people. No babies at the concert. What the heck, you are already tired, you might as well have a good time at a concert, lose a little more sleep, and get back into the parents of itty bitty little ones groove.
Technobabe´s last blog ..Marc Playle, An Inspriation
The Pixies? Is that the concert that commemerates the 20th anniversary of one of their albums (can’t remember which one, Bossanova. Doolittle, whatever)?
If so, perhaps this’ll reassure you. My colleague went to the concert in Paris. He was hyped. He was excited. He came to work the next day all pissed off.
Apparently, they played only the songs on that one album. Nothing else. No encore. They played 1h15 and then wrapped up.
You can thank me for saving you AT LEAST 100 Aussie dollars. I accept cookies too.
JChevais´s last blog ..Baby Tripping
I love the ‘dad rock’. Isn’t it scary to think that what we listen to know is what our kdis will be going – Eh that’s so my parents kind of music – with scorn and distatse. I mean hello, Dave Matthews, Coldplay? That’s not going out of style and I’ll cling to them in order to keep my sanity. I’m not sure I know this group you’re talking about but I’m going to look into it.
Best concert (and oddly also worst experience)? Jimmy Buffett at the E-Center in Camden, NJ (Across from Philly). Pouring rain, thunder and lightening and lawn seats. Still best concert ever. Even over DMB which I’ve seen three times.
Blogging Mama Andrea´s last blog ..I live inside my head
for most of my 20s, i was too broke to pay to go to many concerts. one of the fabulous things about where i am at the moment is actually having some disposable cash, and the amazing number of bands that come through london.
i still don’t see a lot of shows – given the extortionate price of a night out to see even mediocre bands, i’m kinda choosy. The Pixies last month at the Brixton Academy were a no brainer – i grew up in 80s Boston, and LOVE them. they have no stage presence whatsoever, but taking me back to that place and time in such a visceral way, with such growling shredding music – it was cathartic.
(don’t hate me for saying this, but the show was fantastic. i’d seen them when they first reunited in 2005, and they have improved a thousand fold.)
earlier this year i paid a ridiculous amount of money for tix for Dave Matthews Band as a bday gift for my husband. i’ve never been a big fan, but my husband loves them. so i went not expecting much, but he got so into it that i found myself getting caught up and having a wonderful time.
all of this is by way of saying that sometimes the experience is worth more than the actual music. so enjoy Gomez – rock out like the most rockingest dad ever!
jen´s last blog ..caught on camera
What? There’s no decent music scene of Australian locals? Most of the shows I’ve always gone to are less than $20 a ticket. I paid $30 something for front row seats at the Decemberists a few weeks back and that was a splurge for me concert wise.
We’re lucky though. We have my parents just down the road from us and my wife’s parents in Atlanta who are all happy to keep him for us when we want to go out. The babysitting’s free and we don’t over-use the service, so everyone’s happy.
That being said, I think I’ve been to a total of three concerts since my son was born about two and a half years ago. Part of that is because I moved to a town over a hundred miles away from even a third-level concert market like Savannah. I’m not sure how much it would change if we still lived an hour’s drive down the interstate from the largest city in the South.
Jacob´s last blog ..I Long for Sweet, Sweet Death
If it makes you feel any better, divide the Pixies ticket prices by 18 and the tickets are actually rather cheap.
I hope the concert tomorrow night is all you need it to be.
Not Afraid To Use It´s last blog ..The One Where I’m An Ugly American
Houston is off the beaten path too. I don’t know why.
I hope you have a great time and that the dog gets them to bed early enough.
Have fun and it’s so good that it’s a live band. Our first night out, hubs took me to a movie and I slept through the whole thing.
chris´s last blog ..Read Between the Lines
Ooh! Have a fabulous night out!
Allie´s last blog ..J says it’s pronounced "meem"
What ever you do, DON’T talk about the babies. Go and have fun.
I wish I had a concert to go see now…
Beth´s last blog ..Love, Grandparent-Style
Good for you! I promise that going to concerts gets easier. Kids get bigger and without inebriated post concert action, you are home at a reasonable time.
Just make it a priority. It is something that you really love and they don’t happen that often. I am lucky as I am close to good venues.
Also, there is no shame in going alone if need be. I am looking forward to New Years with Spoon!
heather´s last blog ..The Good Day
Before Kids I was a music business PRO-fessional; after kids, we saw Guided By Light’s last (?) show in Boston but had to leave a bit early — for the babysitter — in our minivan.
In a trillion ways, I hope this lets you know me more, and in some way? Maybe gives you faith?
Rock. On.
ms picket to you´s last blog ..A Short Poem About Old Love (plus the Pixies)
Now I know why we’re not going to dinner tonight! Hope you have a great time. As for roadies tuning up…..I took the BA to see 3oh!3 two weeks ago. There were no roadies. Just a guy with an apple notebook and a microphone. When the ‘band’ came on they had two more microphones. Times have changed. Still, I enjoyed being the hip mother up the back bopping along to the mother f*****’ lyrics. The things my baby exposes me to. Wonder what your 8 week old will expose you to in 14 years time?
arizaphale´s last blog ..In Which I Deliberately Thwart My Husband
Ticket prices down here are scandalous aren’t they? Bloody outrageous. I paid $83 to see Sigur Ros last year. Worth every damn penny of course, but still.
Agnes´s last blog ..All work and no coverage…
Shows are like nothing else, but the ones in Chicago suck.
Seriously.
Because everyone who goes to the damn things is there to be seen, and they don’t get into it. They just stand there. Staring. Arms crossed, unsmiling.;.drives me fucking nuts. I would rather head out to the suburbs, or Wisconsin, or Iowa. The scenesters ruin it for me.
But tonight I’m going to see Catfish Haven and a whole slop of other bands at a Halloween party, because fuck it. Music.
rassles´s last blog ..I Would Throw A Good Search Party
$100 a ticket? I saw the Pixies during their reunion tour, and it was a great show, but not $100-a-ticket great. Hope you had a great time out!
courtney´s last blog ..Choose Your Own Blogventure: Round 3