Monday, March 29, 2010

My source for some definitive

So this past week I went to go see some old friends. Truth be told, we hadn’t visited face-to-face in about eight years. But there was a time, ages ago, when we spent almost every day together. I’d listen intently, absorbing each word and meditating on its meaning. And the car trips, oh heavens, they were fun. Still, somehow we drifted apart. Sure, we’d run into each other from time to time – often on accident. Yet each meeting was like slipping on a favorite sweater for the first time of the season: warm, comfortable, soothingly familiar.

[Crap quality, I know. iPhone cameras suck at concerts.]

Gosh, it was nice seeing the Indigo Girls again. At times they might seem like a cliché, the lesbian band we all at least flirted with at some point in our lives. Knowing all the words to “Closer to Fine” is pretty much a requisite to earning your toaster oven. But there is a reason they’ve endured. Their voices, those harmonies, that music. Granted, over the years my tastes have changed. But as they played I could still sing along to almost every song. The whole crowd could. Some songs brought me back immediately to a certain time and place: alone in my bedroom, together in my dorm room. Some music, you never outgrow. You might not listen that much anymore, but it will always be part of your soundtrack. So when you hear it again, even years later, you have to listen.

“Closer to Fine,” circa 1989

ZOMG, basically everything – hair, jeans, Dave, VINYL RECORDS!

“Power of Two,” 20 years later

Considerably less hairspray, thankfully.

Two other interesting tidbits about my show: 1) I was surprised by the number of husbands (no, not really butch lesbians, I double checked) that came with their wives. Guess even L.U.G.s like to get nostalgic. And 2) I realized during the show that while my younger self preferred Emily’s sweet soprano, the older me now gravitates towards Amy’s darker alto. Who knows, maybe in another 20 years I’ll flip flop again.

7 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:07 AM

    haha, good morning,ds
    they look good,
    I just thought it's good to have
    someone who always want to play together,
    and do well, I mean the indigo girls.

    I do like both movies but prefer earlier one cus of
    sound condition, they have unusual voices,
    but feel good like smoke brown. kind of warm,
    and comfortable.

    and very laugh! like hahahaha hihihi,
    when I saw the iphone pic,
    I like the arrows, haha.

    what else?
    right, the alice, well, I don't think it is,
    but two thinks caught my mind,
    one is her boyfriend actor has woman hair style...
    which makes me questioning...boyfriend?

    and I'm very lucky cus I came here after high school
    so I don't need to be..
    I mean on movie, and show, lots of mean things
    happen in high school,

    mean people are everywhere but when they young
    they're more worst.

    thank you for the post,
    I was fun in the morning~~~
    and I do love to stop by,
    cus I like you~~~ :)

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  2. Anonymous1:04 PM

    wow, amy was hot back in the day! did you see that ass? 0_0

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  3. Hannah1:51 PM

    ZOMG everything is right! Those jeans are killing me! Also, I have that record on vinyl. It's the only Indigo Girls vinyl I have, incidentally.

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  4. I saw them last year at a very small outdoor venue (which I can't spell) in northern Colorado. Yep, crap pics on my cell phone AND my digital camera (which I've replaced) and a lot of husbands and kids. Go figure! The lesbians jammed the dance area (cement slab) in front of the stage which backs onto a roaring river...

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  5. Anonymous4:46 PM

    It's funny, I am exactly the same age as Emily and it seems that with each new album (are they still called that even though they are just etheral soundwaves now?) that comes out we, meaning myself and TIG seem to be evolving in the same general direction. Their words always speak the thoughts running through my brain. They are fabulously introspective and intelligent writers which is why the music comfortably endures.

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  6. Anonymous12:03 AM

    totally agree with you. i don't think i ever owned an album but had them burned into my consciousness and can sing all the words to the biggest hits and thought it was just part of my lesbian consciousness but then I saw them a few years ago play and I had one of those emotional moments when i realized how much we, as a crowd were connected and how such beautiful words helped me in coming out and how amazing and powerful their art had been in my life and I went out and bought a whole bunch of cds. love them. and love amy! thanks for the you tube-- so very amusing!

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  7. Wait - there are lesbians at IG concerts? Your illustration of the theater was incredibly helpful in my understanding of this (and made me literally guffaw).

    I was an IG addict in former years - I've seen them over 60 times since 1989...yikes! This was an awesome post and brought back a lot of memories for me. I think I have that Letterman performance on one of the many VHS tapes of IG TV performances from back in the day. LOL

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