[Night Out] BOOTS @ Rough Trade (11/13/2015)
Since the day that Rocko slid "I Run Roulette" in front of me a back in February I had been practically drooling all over myself to experience BOOTS in the flesh. I was basically been counting down the days until the album release party at Rough Trade last Friday. The week that Aquaria dropped it was like going down the side of a mountain on a bike, especially when I got an advance of the album and got to taste what would be washing over me Friday night.
Then, for about a minute that day before we made it to Rough Trade, I briefly considered not going. It was about an hour before I got out of work when Twitter lit up with what was happening in Paris, specifically what transpired at The Bataclan. The hesitation mostly stemmed from trying to decide if it was disrespectful to rock out while there were people suffering on the other side of the ocean. It's hard to know how to proceed in situations like these without feeling like you've either moved on too quickly or conversely letting it take up so much of your head space that the people who did the awful things essentially accomplished what they set out to do. With that in mind, I focused my attention on dedicating my night of dancing to the ones who should have had the freedom to do the same in Paris.
And danced we did.
BOOTS brainchild Jordan Asher and I were clearly on the same page. Prior to performing, he had us collectively send love out to Paris with our fists raised in unison before instructing us to raise our middle fingers to the people in the world that thought they could take our community away from us.
Also, just so we're clear, all my preemptive drooling was not done in vain. Seconds after paying our respects, Asher and his accompanying band launched into a powerful set that immediately annihilated any potential jitters about being at a show in a major city that night and reinforced in all of us the power that we realize in ourselves and each other when we go to shows. The ability to exchange glances with a complete stranger and nod knowing that both of your minds are collectively being blown by what is happening a few feet in front of you. The chance to make friends with fellow showgoers before/after a set because you can infer that you've surrounded yourself with fairly like-minded individuals. These are things that I took for granted until that night when I had to stare fear in the face and quote White Stripes lyrics at it ("there's no home for you here") because it is when people gather together in the name of a single cause that change happens.
I sincerely hope none of you have hesitated for a second about stepping foot inside a venue since last Friday. If my schedule were more open right now I'd be defiantly going to 2 shows a night right now. Music is one of the most powerful forces on the planet because it has the power to bring people from a multitude of backgrounds together and get along, even if it's just for an hour.
On a lighter note, Sprout and I have bragging rights because we were able to snag these at the show:
Yep. I got 2/100 and Sprout got 22/100. It must be said that once you listen to this record on vinyl it will be incredibly hard for you to listen to stream/downloads of it the same way again. Wow. For those of you who weren't able to make it to either release shows (he also did one in LA) you will be able to pick up a vinyl copy on December 4th when the full vinyl run will be available. For now, familiarize yourself with the wonders of Aquaria:
