Everything that will not be saved is lost

It’s been a while but this is my first post of 2019. It should’ve happened a month ago, but the concert that I planned on seeing, Massive Attack and their Mezzanine XXI tour was postponed until the end of September. I won’t be at Radio City Music Hall as the date conflicts with my trip happening at that same time.

The title of this post is also the name of the English band Foals double album, Part 1 of which came out last month. And on this rainy spring night in Brooklyn, the band I just finished seeing perform in concert. What a night it has been. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

This isn’t the first time that I’ve seen them live. I was in the room at the United Palace Theater on November 4th, 2016 when the North American leg of the What Went Down tour arrived in NYC. I returned home from Spain five days earlier and was in need of cheering up. As frontman Yannis came through the crowd during the title track, all the sadness I had turned to sheer joy. It was the energy that permeated every note of the album come to life. The joy of hearing “Mountain At My Gates” amplified by a room full of people belting out the song’s chorus. My purchase of the album upon returning home from Spain the first time in 2015 to get free shipping paid off handsomely and I knew that this band was the real deal.

Tonight was a night not initially on the cards. I found out that their North American tour for Everything…was stopping in at Brooklyn Steel the weekend of April 13th. But, I hesitated on getting tickets and both shows for the weekend quickly sold out. I thought that I’d be out of luck, that was until I found out a third show was added due to overwhelming demand. I wasn’t going to let the third time pass me by and within minutes of the February presale, I got my ticket to the show. It also came with a free copy of their new album.

The two months between the ticket purchase and the show went by in a blink of an eye. The month of March started with me helping out with one of our stores Best of Spring events and an office wide advocacy. The month went of March out with a roar celebrating the birthday of the indomitable Jennifer Verducci, followed by the birthday celebration of my sister’s amazing friend, Teresa the following weekend.

The stage was set for the night to come. It came at the end of a rough week at the desk, with a mix of cancellations of donations and being short staffed at the busiest time of the year sapping the life out of me. I knew that tonight would be my saving grace.

I made my way up from the L train stop at Graham Avenue as the rain started to fall. Whenever I end up in Brooklyn, I always get lost trying to get to my destination. Tonight was no exception to the rule as I wasn’t sure in which direction to walk in. But a quick look at my map set me in the right direction. A little after 7, I saw the address of Brooklyn Steel at 319 Frost Street painted on the walls outside. The show started at 8pm and had two opening acts, the jangling pop of Atlanta band, Omni and the noise laden rock of the band, Perceptions. The main event of the evening was still to come.

Just after 9:45pm, the lights went down and red lights and smoke enveloped the stage. The band appeared on stage to a rapturous reception as they launched into the lead single from Everything, “Exits” before a rousing rendition of my favorite song of theirs/rallying cry, “Mountain At My Gates”. The first two songs of the night were a taste of the energy that the entire 18 song, nearly two hour set would bring. By the time the encore of “What Went Down” and “Two Steps, Twice” occurred, the energy of the set spilled over as Yannis went over the rail, grabbed the mic and went into the crowd to sing the chorus of “What Went Down”. It was a long night that left me exhausted from alternating standing and sitting and exhilarated from the music heard. All the madness of this week faded away as I went back out into the rain to catch the L train into Manhattan and begin my trek home to Queens as Friday night became Saturday morning. Coincidentally, I caught the train at the same place I did two weeks earlier, at the Grand Street station.

It’s been an eventful two weeks. But I’ll be at low ebb for the meantime before life ramps up again in the summer. Between, the USWNT vs Mexico on Memorial Day weekend, and two more concerts to come Blondie & Elvis Costello in July, followed by The Smashing Pumpkins, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and AFI in August, there’s a lot to look forward to and all that will be in the next three months.

All the roads will lead back to the other side of the Atlantic Ocean at summer’s end. Tonight’s only the beginning.