100 Monkeys Indiana Fans
 
How do I even start?

The Spencer Bell Legacy Concerts are different.  They aren’t just Monkeys shows.  They aren’t about individuals or band members or your favorite songs or getting pictures.

That is because Spencer Bell was different.  He wasn’t just a band member.  He wasn’t just a songwriter or composer or musician or friend.  He was more to those who knew him, and now – for the initiated – Spencer Bell is a legend.

When you have only just started to hear the stories and learn the words and meet the people, what do you say about a legend?

How do I even start?

 I left school on Thursday afternoon having been the most distracted I had been in class in months.  I hadn’t been this nervous (is that the right word?) about a concert since my first 100 Monkeys show and my first SBL in August.  I knew that part of it was from the peripheral issues (a gift for a band member, travel plans, other elements of life); however, part of it was simply a reflection of how very different and hard-to-anticipate an SBL show can be.  There are few guarantees going into an SBL show.  You will hear a LOT of magnificent music.  You will meet some great new people.  You will have the time of your life.  And – most likely – you will cry.

Immediately upon entering the ticketing area at Indianapolis International, I realized that I had already given up my hold on the real world.  I wondered as I walked in why the airport was so quiet on this Friday.  Problem:  It was Thursday.  I smirked and mentally deserted the real world in favor of the Monkeyverse.  There, 6-hours in line with friends is a half hour.  There, one meal a day is all you ever need.  There, bands care about you almost as much as they care about the music.  I love the Monkeyverse.

<sarcasm>My air travel took me the logical route from Indianapolis to KCI to Dallas.</sarcasm>  I arrived at Dallas on time, which was 10:30 pm, and claimed my bags – one of which was, of course, the last piece off the line.  My friends picked me up in the rental and we were on our merry way to the hotel that would be our 3 night’s home.  There may or may not have been some whiskey and there certainly was a lot of laughter.  We caught up and looked ahead and settled in for what was to come.

For two of us, a pattern has established at 100 Monkeys shows:  we go to the venue several hours early and then select a nearby-ish place to dine and (for me) get coffee.  We staked out the yet-unlined Poor David’s Pub around noon, but soon discovered we weren’t really in a restaurant area.  Checking my maps application on my phone. we decided to head toward Dealey Plaza to see the historic sights and (odd transition) find some food.

Dealey Plaza IS odd.  There are 2 Xs in the middle of the street where the bullets hit President Kennedy.  Little painted white Xs.  And people stop traffic to go stand on them, some taking pictures.  There are aggressive tour guides who follow you toward the grassy knoll (which feels ODD to give directions by.... “Turn right just past the grassy knoll.”) offering their services.  Maybe the other historic sights I have visited have all been government property or the projects of some guild or another.  Maybe that is why they have felt a little less...odd.

We decided that being in Texas required that we eat some tasty cow.  Hoffbrau Steakhouse won our business because it was on the same side of the street as we were, and we were not disappointed.  Pickle chips, steaks and potatoes, and a banana pudding (yeah...I know) that was more of a mousse yielded a trio that walked slower going out than they had coming in, but it was worth it.  We wandered down to the corner bakery where I attained my daily 4 espresso shots, and we returned to PDP.

Yep. About 20 back.  That is where we ended up.  Line fate landed me right behind someone I had been communicating with online for over a year and whom I was meeting for the first time that day.  Line fate also put our new friend from Florida right behind us.  YAY, line fate.  It was a beautiful sunny day in Dallas.  Warm.  Blue skies.  And lots of excited people hanging in front of a pub and a record store.  Somewhere along the line, one of my twitter followers came up to introduce herself (*waves*  JUST went to your site to see pics!  AMAZING!)  In general, it was pretty low key and enjoyable.

A couple waiting-to-get-in highlights were getting some Gus time again and observing the recent changes to the Monkey positions (one pun intended, Mr. Rathbone) on the van.  Oh.  My.  Congratulations to whomever pulled off THAT prank!  Oh, yeah, AND the gift that was two months in the making was handed off and greeted with shock, joy, and appreciation.  This was a pretty great pre-show experience, all around!

Now, the PDP show was not an SBL show, but it had many of the characteristics of one, including 5 of the 6 bands that would be performing Saturday.  It also had introductions by Spencer’s dad, Bill Bell.  I wish I could say enough of how much the Bell family and their (not willingness to but) passion to share Spencer with the masses influence me.  It is pretty awesome.

And then there was the music...

In addition to the bands, we were lucky enough to hear a song written and performed by Ben Johnson and a few tunes from Shawn Fernando.  I don’t know the title of the piece written by Ben, but it was stellar.  And I need to memorize “Sad Song” by the surprisingly-shorn Shawn immediately.

Drew and the Medicinal Pen:  The ONLY thing I don’t love about this band is typing their name.  They are distinct and energetic and just play darn good music.  As I told Missy on Saturday, seeing her play ALMOST makes me want to pick up a violin again.

Tin Tin Can:  Hallelujah!  I have missed them since St. Louis.  They are the group during whose set I find myself saying, “Oooh!  I LOVE this song!” as they start every number.  “You guys want to hear ‘Animal Bones’?”  OF COURSE!

Stevedores:  Are you kidding me?  AMAZING!  Ben Johnson is at home with these guys and it is phenomenal!  Yes, we missed Adam Webb-Orenstein, but Dusty from TTC filled in well on bass.  Jake Miller is a stinking guitar god.  Shawn Fernando’s musicianship and vocals are great.  I would have gone to Dallas JUST to see these guys.

The Kissing Club:  Jake returned to the stage.  This time The Kissing Club had more members, rotating other band members on stage from song to song and featuring Molly on “Linden Tree.”  I guess Jake’s sound is kinda hardened folk rock.  All I know for sure is that I like his lyrics a lot.

100 Monkeys:  I maybe love these guys even more on SBL weekends.  Surrounded by “friends and strangers and family,” 100 Monkeys were at home and passionate and just in their element.  We were a Monkey down on Friday, with Uncle out for an illness, but various members of the other assembled bands floated on and off stage to fill in.  The improv number for the night was “Paper Airplanes”...and, yes, somehow it was sexy.  I have no idea how that happens.  Thanks to the generosity of the same friend who gifted the Gainesville set list to another in our group, I have the set list from PDP.  Show number 11.

The night closed out, after a bit of a break, with a preview of the “Thunderdome” jam that would happen the next night.  This is one of those moments that, after you experience it in person, you will realize that – regardless of how much video you have watched – you just couldn’t ever have known.  It is love in quarter notes and slides and bass drums.  It is an experience, and getting a taste on Friday was an unexpected gift.

We hung out for just a few minutes after the PDP show.  This was not a weekend for meet-and-greets, so our intention was just to talk with a few friends, new and old.  We knew that beds needed to be inhabited soon.  Saturday would be a long and packed day.  At that time, even I didn’t know how much energy I would spend on Saturday.

But Friday night was a pretty good way to start.
 


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