11.03.2005
oh my beautiful liar
Eleven and a half years down the line since that missed show in Boston, I can now say that I've actually seen Trent in concert. This time around was in a hockey arena, and we were way the heck up on the slant, but what can you do. I likely appreciated it more, with the larger body of work, and the me being less rooted in the drama of being 19. More distance = more entertainment, less angst, a winning combination for a Wednesday night. And, our fears that it was going to be like that godawful painfully bad Janes Addiction show four years ago were completely unfounded. Apparently being an active musician and/or not a drug addict for the intervening decades does something positive for one's ability to perform one's own music (yes, I'm talking about you, Perry).
Several things stick. 1: Trent can play instruments; who knew [likely everyone between the ages of 30 and 40 besides me]. 2: Trent, godfather of crescendo rock [the performance of which comes full circle as a subtextual tribute to Johnny Cash]. 3: some fans are cuck-a-loo, not in those myriad good ways (you know who you are, Mr. I-give-CBGB-a-bad-name Fabio Impersonator [she clearly does not want to make out with you, we can all see that!]).
And finally, even though he didn't play 'The Downward Spiral,' I found myself thinking about Jay during the concert, at the end of a train of connections that started with a general curiosity about how many of the kids at the show recognized 'Burn,' even with the degree to which young people hooked on Trent might also be violence junkies [although in nosing around in the discography, I see that 'Burn' is on the deluxe edition of Downward Spiral, so likely more than I initially figured]. I remember Jay's obsession with the Faces of Death videos, and that whole summer I was home from college and didn't call him, didn't even think to wonder if he was in town. So, Jay, I'm sorry. I still wish more than anything it hadn't come to that.
Several things stick. 1: Trent can play instruments; who knew [likely everyone between the ages of 30 and 40 besides me]. 2: Trent, godfather of crescendo rock [the performance of which comes full circle as a subtextual tribute to Johnny Cash]. 3: some fans are cuck-a-loo, not in those myriad good ways (you know who you are, Mr. I-give-CBGB-a-bad-name Fabio Impersonator [she clearly does not want to make out with you, we can all see that!]).
And finally, even though he didn't play 'The Downward Spiral,' I found myself thinking about Jay during the concert, at the end of a train of connections that started with a general curiosity about how many of the kids at the show recognized 'Burn,' even with the degree to which young people hooked on Trent might also be violence junkies [although in nosing around in the discography, I see that 'Burn' is on the deluxe edition of Downward Spiral, so likely more than I initially figured]. I remember Jay's obsession with the Faces of Death videos, and that whole summer I was home from college and didn't call him, didn't even think to wonder if he was in town. So, Jay, I'm sorry. I still wish more than anything it hadn't come to that.
