The post directly below mine was about the show at Holland last night. It was a good show. If you missed Ferocious Eagle, then you missed out, bud. They are playing at The Zephyr tonight, but you probably won’t read this until after the show.
The reason I bring up Ferocious Eagle is because they are a fine example of what I see as the best product of being a touring musician. I met the members of Ferocious Eagle while on tour with my band Think In French. What might have been a seemingly random encounter–bands meet many other bands while on tour–has turned into an enduring friendship. Since parting ways, we have kept in contact with each other, and I now consider all three members to be good friends of mine. This has also happened with a handful other bands and groups of people that I never would have met had I not been a touring musician.
If anyone were to ask me why I think it is important for bands to tour, I would only be able to respond with the beauty of the human connection a group of musicians feel when a bunch of strangers in an unknown place welcome them as one of their own. Likewise, the people at shows and in local bands that welcome these touring outsiders feel that connection too. A lot of people jaw on about how touring (and I use the term in the DIY sense that most Reno musicians are familiar with) is not about money or fame or anything, and while those diatribes sound cliche, they are the honest truth. To me, and to many people that I have met through my travels, the act of touring is a catalyst for some of the most fulfilling friendships you will ever have.
I encourage everyone who goes to shows at Holland, or anywhere for that matter, to talk to the bands. Who knows where a conversation about pancakes or a mutual respect for Archers of Loaf will take you?
PS. Did everybody see that Slint is playing Spiderland in its entirety at the Pitchfork Festival this year? I’m practically frothing at the mouth, I’m so excited.
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