You + me = something

I worked for Pure Pop after many years of distracting its employees from doing that very thing…so it’s only fair.

Pure Pop was one of the last of my iconic Burlington jobs…and although I was fairly certain I was unqualified for all those previous positions, I was least qualified of all for Pure Pop. I mean, sure…I was cynical, sarcastic, and opinionated and with a soupcon (Ed. – You mean soup can, right?) of misanthropy…but what Vermonter isn’t? Of all those employable assets, last on the list was musical knowledge. I couldn’t tell my Pete Zorn from John Cage (Ed – Never even heard of John Zorn…) …I just liked drawing pick cards, eating chips and salsa and putting on my fair share of Zeppelin and Jethro Tull. After work I would join those fabulous co-workers at Metronome or Higher Ground to just shut the fuck up and listen…and that was rapture.

My whole lifetime in Burlington feels like one gigantic rock show…my memories from the years 2000-2006 smell like cigarettes and beer…but they have a great soundtrack. I wasn’t a fan of music before I moved out east, but a few accidental friendships turned into a backstage pass to the thrill of a live show.

I miss those shows. Now that I’m back here in Cincinnati (Doing great! Working here! Doing this!)

I wish I’d taken better notes and taken more pictures…So my list for this article are some of the top shows I saw in those days and with those people.

Beginning with Casey nearly dragging me to the Frank Black in-store at Pure Pop – I had no idea who Frank Black OR the Pixies were…and most of what I remember from that show was that I was standing in the midst of about 40 people that were all just staring at Black Francis…I felt the appreciation in the tiny cavern of Pure Pop…and seeing those people who were becoming my friends openly thankful of the opportunity to be in such a tiny audience lit the flame of being a fan in me.

When I was unemployed, I traded a bootleg copy of Photoshop for a space on the list of The Beta Band show at the Winooski Higher Ground. For that show, I went by myself, ran into a crush who was making out with another girl…and then the band came on the night exploded. I had seen them before in Olympic Park, but being in a club on a freezing February night felt so much more intimate…

The Coral – first in Montreal and second in Boston – Although I would never be so presumptuous to say that I discovered The Coral, I felt like I got in on the ground floor with these guys. The first time, Mia and I drove to Montreal with only the Skeleton Key EP to listen to. The Coral was the opening act that night…and we knew all the words even then…six months later, Mia and I drove to Boston to see them headline, with Jet as the opener. I skipped Jet (unfortunately) but was back in time to make my way to the front and watch this 6 piece band from Liverpool command the room.

Did you know that Sue Norton can defy gravity? That’s what happened during the Interpol show…again at HG in Winooski. It was during NYC that Mia and I looked over and Nortie was full on floating. If you know Sue, you know that’s a true story.

I first saw the band Tarantula at 242 (I think….this is where the better notes come in) and I can’t remember who turned me on to them, but I remember seeing them at least 2 more times in rapid succession…at Metronome and in the new Higher Ground’s second stage. I loved them from the first moment because the crowd they drew was fabulous…they pulled members of ever musical fandom…although the audiences were sort of small, it still felt like everyone was there.

I can’t leave out the local bands…but I can’t narrow down even my top ten shows…I will however say that if it wasn’t for Carrigan, The Cancer Conspiracy, Brett Hughes, Neil Cleary, Missy Bly, Charles (Dead or Alive, Swale, Led Loco, The Interior, The Magic is Gone, The Jazz Guys, Barbacoa, The Smittens and a million others, my life would have been so boring.