Thursday night I was reminded why I love NYC. It started out simply enough with a solo dinner, real Cajun eats at (Great) Jones Cafe. Two Abitas and a Lamb Sausage PoBoy later and I was strolling down the Bowery to what now stands out in my mind as one of the best nights in the City for me. First up, my dear friends in Spanking Charlene, my sanity savers for the last 9 years. They served up an hour of deliciously hard driving punk that had me banging my beer against my thigh for every number. They never let up, seamlessly folding in new talent (Mario you were SMOKIN on the power assist) along with old friends (Eric and Nate you two NEVER disappoint) to form a progression as tight as any show I’ve ever seen. They brought everything they had to the stage with a fiercely powerful, throw-your-pussy-in-the-ring attitude that brooked no shrinking from the moment. God love em, they left everything upon the boards.
When their set came to a close I had just enough time to grab another Amstel before I was introduced to, and swept away by, a new (old) band that will now be added to my tally of must haves. The Del-Lords have been in and out (mostly in) of the music scene since the early eighties but last night they came storming back to NYC with a fusion of old rock and new blues that combined to take all who heard it far from the mundane drudgery of daily life. They took me “high above this town and made me a silhouette against the night.”
But it wasn’t only the music that made the night. New Yorkers showed me their best side as well. Absolute strangers were slapping me on the back as they passed by in the packed performance space. Acquaintances happily waved and smiled from across the room. Bartenders were pleasant and, yes if you can believe it, attentive (thanks for taking such good care of me Mickey!)
I know its cliche to speak of “life changing” moments but last night moved me out of a nasty funk I’d been in, brought about by our house fire and recent domestic displacement.
Add it all up and you have a recipe for believing in magic, or the Easter Bunny, or Santa Claus. Or maybe the return to a sense of community that is all too often forgotten in this mad race to finish ahead of the other guy. So I’d just like to say thank you…thank you Charlene and Mo, Jocelyn and Jeremy, Eric and Mary Lee, Linda and Seftel, Larry and Meryl, Amy and Quat, Leatherwood and Mickey. I can soldier on now and my step will be ever so much lighter because of the song you all put in my heart.