of Montreal at the Blind Tiger

Choosing a gift for each of my two twenty one year old daughters this past Christmas was easy, but finding something appropriate for my nineteen year old son was a challenge. His interests are in constant flux. What he has been sure of for years, though, is that he loves to play and listen to music. He has an ear for authenticity and gutsy content that few of his peers share. Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton. The Doors, Pink Floyd. Talking Heads. He likes some contemporary artists, but he's pretty selective, and of course with digital music downloads, he can easily enough get what suits his tastes with no assistance from his dad. The new guitar he’d like is out of reasonable price range, and that’s something he ought to save and buy on his own anyhow. I was stumped.

For now, Gabe still lives at home, having just graduated from high school last spring and not sure that college is a good idea for him right now. We get along remarkably well most of the time, but I often fret that I don’t connect with him enough.  So I decided in a flash of inspiration that I’d get two tickets to see a group I knew he didn’t know much about but thought he’d like. I went online and searched the touring schedule for of Montreal, a brilliant band from Athens, Georgia that my musically savvy friend Matt Dwyer had turned us on to. The good news was that I was able to find tickets for a show close enough to the holiday to make it relevant as a Christmas gift. The bad news, or so I thought, was that the venue was a seven hour drive south to Greensboro, North Carolina. But having committed myself to the idea, I sighed, ordered the tickets, made a hotel reservation, and chopped a couple of days out of my work schedule. Then, after Christmas, Gabe got a full time job at an up and coming pub and live music hall in Lancaster, and could only get the night of the concert off from work. So it would be a day long drive down to see a show that would end very late, then up before dawn to drive all the way back home in time for him to make his shift. Oh boy. 

Fortunately, we didn’t have to travel through a winter storm, and the traffic wasn’t so bad. Gabe talked excitedly about trying to connect with of Montreal’s manager about bringing the band to Lancaster. We got there way early, found the funky little place near UNC Greensboro, the Blind Tiger, where the show was to be held. Killed time looking at guitars in a nearby music shop, grabbed a bite at a decent local barbeque joint, checked into our hotel, then parked, got our hands stamped, and went inside, two hours before the opening act.

Gabe test driving a Taylor acoustic guitar at a music shop in Greensboro, NC

When I was a very socially awkward kid in my early teens, I used to take a sketchbook to school dances with me. I was too embarrassed to try to dance, so I scribbled sketches of the bands and of other kids dancing. My sketchbook legitimized my presence, and acted as a shield of sorts. I’ve long since outgrown my fear of looking like a dork on the dance floor, but I figured I’d be the oldest person in the place, and I wasn’t looking for a dance partner young enough to be my daughter, (not that I couldn’t have danced by myself, but …) so the sketchbook came inside with me. I started sketching the early arriving fans as they staked out the front of the stage.

earlybirds gather in front of the stage at the Blind Tiger

I won’t go into all the details of the evening, but the show blew us both away. Nedelle Torrisi, a singer-songwriter from LA, was the opener, and she was good enough that I’d have been happy if she’d been the main act. We didn’t get to hear nearly enough of her before she thanked the audience and bowed out.

Nedelle Torrisi at the keyboards, opening for of Montreal at the Blind Tiger

The lights came up. Folks went to the bar, stepped outside to smoke. More people came in while the crew rearranged the stage, then the lights went down again and of Montreal burst onstage.

Kevin Barnes starts playing in front of a winged apparition, at the Blind Tiger

Every superlative that Matt had used to describe the group and its leader, Kevin Barnes, proved inadequate. Gabe worked his way to the stage while I sat on a stool against the wall, trying to translate some of the band’s extraordinary energy and passion into frenzied sketches. Trying to freeze frame moments of a fantastic performance. I failed, but I had fun doing it. If any fans or band members should happen to see these, I apologize that I couldn't make you look nearly as good as you look in person.

the sinister announcer, of Montreal onstage at the Blind Tigerof Montreal's Kevin Barnes at the Blind Tigerof Montreal performing at the Blind Tiger

I've seen bands whose onstage antics or lightshows seemed to mask a lack of musical or lyrical content, or distract attention from uninspired delivery. of Montreal's stage show was fabulously imaginative, dense with bizarre and witty imagery. But even without all the wonderful visuals, the music, lyrics, and absolutely all out performance were breathtaking.

 After the last psychedelic encore, Gabe reappeared and told me he’d been invited to hang out with some people he’d met on the dance floor. A cute girl approached me cautiously, leaned in and said, “Who are you to him?” I smiled and answered, “I’m his dad. Be careful, ok?” She smiled back and told me they’d keep him safe, and then they were gone. I stayed awhile and watched Kevin Barnes wander around the room, generously greeting his lingering fans and hugging and posing patiently with them for dozens of photos, then eased off my stool and headed back to the hotel.

Surprisingly, Gabe got in not long after I did, but it was late. And three hours later, we were blearily waking up in the dark, stumbling out to the car, and pointing our nose north. We talked a little about the show that had only ended a few hours ago. We concurred that it was the best concert we'd ever been to, and we both have a new favorite band and a new favorite female vocalist. Before he fell asleep in the passenger seat beside me, Gabe said it was the best Christmas present I could have given him.

And you know, I had a pretty darn good time myself.