The Beat of Our Noisy Hearts

Okay, so remember last month when meeting Matt Nathanson (http://www.mattnathanson.com/) he said he might play a solo show in Provo? Well, this time he knew what he was talking about. On Friday September 21st, 2007, Matt Nathanson played a little club/venue called Velour (which I don’t understand in the slightest, shouldn’t it have velour wall paper or something?)
On the party list with me was of course the faithful Patrizia and her friend Brenda and my friends Erika and Magen. Erika had been listening to Matt for a just over a day and Magen had gotten to hear 4 songs before the show, so I was a bit nervous, but I knew that Matt could win over anyone.
Trish graciously offered to drive us in your SUV and so after we all discovered where she lived we headed to the Maverick for drinks and then it was on to Provo. As we drove we told stories of how people refer to Provo as “God’s Country” so we started calling it the GC for fun and giggles. After a long drive through P-town we got to the venue, there was already a small line outside. We hopped into line but not before I snuck a glace inside and there was Matt on stage in a black t-shirt! We waited outside and the weather was nice, but Magen and Erika were going to have a potty emergency, so we went into the nearby record shop that also happened to have a photo booth! So much fun came from that.

After some lameness that only the 7 people who had previously bough tickets could get in first and we waited patiently to purchase tickets we got in. Mostly people were lining the walls on the risers and the couches and sitting at the tables, but we weren’t there to relax, we were there to rock! So we snagged some places right up front by the stage.
The open act took the stage and that’s when sacrament meeting started or so we thought, since from all corners we were met with “shhhhh!” as if the prayer were starting! I know we weren’t the only ones talking, but the people around us seemed really irritated that we dared(!) to comment on the singer and other things like how if he was playing the spoons, it would have been much more entertaining. The guy was good, I think his name was Jeff Stone or something. He was okay, a bit mono-rhythm for me. Then someone else came on with his acoustic guitar and I liked him a bit better, although his cover of GooGoo Dolls ‘Name’ was best left uncovered. He had more range in rhythms and sound, so I liked him more but Magen and Erika were talking about how this wasn’t their “thing” and these guys weren’t very original. I think his name was John Allred, which is pretty unoriginal, but that’s his parent’s fault. But seeing him after the show, he seemed like he was kind of a prick anyway. But now I was getting nervous, Magen and Erika weren’t into the opening acts, so what would happen if they didn’t like Matt? Would they stone me? Would they continue to be my friend after I made them spend $10 and come down to the GC? Only time would tell.

Then Matt came out and the crowd went wild. Obviously they were here to see Matt and that was awesome.
Then Matt interacted with the crowd, he was obviously blown away by the people’s response. He started with ‘Car Crash’ and before each song he would tell stories or talk to the crowd and interact. It was so much fun. During the first song, Erika pulled me right up front and center. I got to look up Matt’s nose and see that he doesn’t have any fillings, because I was really close. I wanted to grab his foot a few times. He played an amazing set, no real surprises, but then I’m sure he was trying to play songs that even the casual listener would know and get really into. He did a lot of sing-a-long songs like Prince’s ‘Starfish and Coffee’ and ‘Suspended’ and the crowd pleaser ‘Answering Machine.’ Up front with me were a bunch of guys who obviously considered themselves uber fans, since they tried to out sing Matt at every song. I totally get the whole “I want to sing along” thing and I think it’s fine. I usually only mouth the words or sing really softly if there’s not a sing-a-long part, I want people to be able to appreciate the artist that we all paid money to see, but these guys had no such courtesy. I’m sure they wanted Matt to know that people in Utah know who he is and love him, but I don’t think they needed to remind him of all the lyrics to all the songs he’s ever written. They were really annoying after awhile. But that not withstanding, it was great! The only weirdness was when someone made his way up to stage and at the end asked for a song that Matt had already played and Matt explained that to him and them after that, several people in the back yelled out for the same song! It was weird, like they wanted the Cure to play “that drip, drip, drip song” again. Matt dealt with the people not playing attention and those that didn’t sing along really well. He called attention to them and probably made them feel like jerks, but it was funny for the rest of us to watch!

Afterwards while we were waiting for Matt to come out to do his little Meet’n’greet with fans, as he always does, a guy who had picked up Matt’s guitar pick and the setlist came up to me and offered me the setlist since he had gotten 2 things and he said he could tell I was a huge fan of Matt. That was when everyone told me that the whole concert I have big, puppy-dog eyes the whole time I’m looking at him. I knew I’m a total fan girl when it comes to him, but I didn’t know it was quite so obvious! Also, Erika noticed that while cleaning up the stage, they had left Matt’s sweat rag laying there. She asked me if I wanted it. Which, I hate to admit it, but when I saw him using it, I really wanted it. But then I thought “What would I do with a sweaty towel?” and common sense took over, luckily Erika can get me to do anything, so she grabbed the towel for me and I was so excited!
So Matt came out and we got to talk with him and take pictures, they turned out awesome! We chatted with him and I had him sign a hundred things. Trish had been the brave girl she always is and took 2 posters off the door of the venue as we came in, so I had him sign the poster (which reads: Willow is Queen!) and then I had him sign the setlist (Willow is the best ever!) and the towel (Sweat Rules!) and then there was a miscellanous guitar pick on the stage while we were stealing sweat rags and I picked it up and asked Matt if it was his, he said he didn’t think so but signed it anyway (This isn’t my pick-MN.) I got so many hugs and I had to apologize for my question from the EndZone performance about Howie Day and told him that my other question was “How could someone so bubbly and happy and full of energy write such sad songs?” and he told me it was his bi-polar-ness getting out. I thanked him for playing “Come on Get Higher” which was a very sensual song solo and the album doesn’t convey that at all. I’m sure I said lots of things that were stupid and all fan girl of me, but I don’t remember them all, at least this time I didn’t tell him that my sister hated him.

Brenda, Magen, Patrizia (getting cozy!) The Man!, Me and Erika

Of course I needed one of just him and I to make up for the blurry picture from the EndZone and I think this one turned out pretty cute. I was tempted to lick his face or something, but then I don’t want him to get a restraining order too soon. I just hope that he does get to play a show in Salt Lake this tour, once a year seeing him is not enough.





Go to iTunes http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id and you can download ‘Car Crash for FREE!! Since he’s the artist of the week or something! Get it free and join the Matt Love Revolution!

See ya soon Matt

A Year of Wonder-12 months

Wow. It’s amazing that it’s been one whole year of learning and growing. This is the big one kid. You never get another first birthday. The party was excellent. I made a monkey cake and your Grandparents made homemade strawberry ice cream. You didn’t really tear into your cake, you tasted the icing and then you were okay with this weird thing in front of you. You mostly ate the icing and grabbed the cake and just squished it in your fingers, but you also ate plenty of the sugary goodness. Almost everyone you’ve ever met was there! Plenty of good toys and cute clothes to last you for a bit, I think.
This month you’ve made the transition from learning to walk to being a real walker! Walking is getting to be old hat for you, soon it’ll be running! You’re tastes are also developing at an alarming rate. In the morning you don’t like peaches, but later that night you’ll love them like we starve you! One meal all you want is oatmeal and the next I can’t force it into your mouth to save my life! But I think that just means you’re entering toddler-dom and leaving behind the sweet attitude free infancy. But that’s not to say that you aren’t sweet. As a matter of fact this month I’ve seen your interest in others and your gentleness become a big part of you. You want to share (even though you haven’t quite figured that out yet) and you want to know other kids. You also no longer just ignore your stuffed animals or use them to lay on, now you’ll hug them and cuddle them and carry them with you.

You’ve gotten more independent, which I’m sure is part of being at so many different houses in your week. You’re content to wander away from us or for us to move away from you without you getting upset. You’re excellent at playing by yourself but you still love to watch the older kids play. You want to be in thick of things. You are so inquisitive. You want to play with everything and you want to mimic what daddy and I do. Which is great, as long as you don’t get you hands on the remote. Or the phones. You now have 3 cell phones of your own and have 2 flip phones. Of course Grandpa Larry got you your newest flip phone and hopes that now you’ll leave his alone. Of course baby cell phones have nothing on real ones.

You’re 12 month check up went great. You’re now 21.5 pounds and about 29 inches tall! Which makes you of average weight but gets you almost 70% for being tall! So I’m glad you’re able to get over the short genes your dad and I gave you, at least for the moment. I don’t know that it’ll help much down the road.

We had your 1 year pictures taken this weekend and boy you are a cute baby but so serious and your refusal to sit still meant we couldn’t get many posed photos, just action shots! You warmed up to the woman taking your pictures really quickly when you realized that she had a camera! You wanted that thing and it was pretty mean of her not to give it to you, doesn’t she know who you are?

You’re getting more teeth which is a pain for you but also one for us since you don’t’ sleep well and I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I likes me some sleep. So we’ve had some sleepless nights lately which makes me very cranky, but you’re good as gold the next morning when you end up not even sleeping in past your normal time. It’s pretty rude. But once you’ve gotten that 4th tooth all the way in, I hope to get more than 6 hours a night.
It’s been a whole year and we haven’t sold you to gypsies yet! I’m so impressed! I guess this means that we’ll keep you. Probably. I mean, the terrible twos might be a little touch and go. We’ll let you know.

The one where I start off talking about Fall to confuse you

It’s that time of year again. The leaves are starting their color changing and the air is becoming more crisp and fresh. Driving up the canyon this weekend showed the seasons early progression at those heights. The beautiful reds and golds mixed with the still vibrant greens was very beautiful. Fall has always been my favorite time of year, but I miss so much the whole back-to-school thing. I didn’t think I would yearn to be back in high school since those weren’t always happy times, and it has been 10 years since I graduated, but I miss the smell of the mornings on your first day back to school, wearing your best new outfit and the anxiety of wondering what classes will be where and if the teachers will like me. This job keeps me indoors for most of the day and soon I will miss the sunlight all together unless I go outside on a break, and it seems like the seasons pass outside my little window and I see a little something of them from behind my glass case, but I’m not a part of it. I’m separate from the seasons except what I experience when I walk from my car to my destination. There were no parks this summer. One camping trip and a few dips in the family pool, but even on those days off, I spent them indoors. It always seemed like there would be more time later and something pressing that needed to be done, and then before I knew it, the summer was over. While I love the fall and I’m glad it’s here, it seems like everything is happening so fast. I just get used to writing which month it is and then it’s on to the next. I don’t know how long I’m going to be working here, but it seems like it will be forever. 10 year down the road, I’ll be looking out the window on a windy September afternoon wondering how Hayley is enjoying her 5th grade class, with her recess and reading time. I’ve been in the mindset that I’m quitting this job since I got pregnant, which was almost 2 years ago now. There’s always something, some reason why I can’t, so it seems like this cycle will likely just continue. I’m almost resigned to it, but then I start making plans for what I’ll do with my time when I’m at home all day. I’m going to join a gym! I’m going to do projects with Hayley! I’m going to get the housework done that currently just goes without! There is a lot I want to do, and most of it involves exclamation points, but really it’s a pipe dream that I keep giving deadlines and watching them pass and then setting new deadlines and thinking that this time will be different. Maybe this time will be different, or maybe next year I’ll still be trying to figure out how to balance my life. The mom with the employee with the wife and seeing that everyone gets the time they deserve.

This was going to be a post about autumn and how I love it, but I think today has turned me a bit melancholy, and also, I’d redirect, but it’s past my time to go home and while I love my desk, I’d rather not stay here if I don’t have to.