It was a weird feeling. The house concert was over and everyone was in bed and I was wide awake. I was surfing the web, and thought I would check in on the Wrens site. I was already looking forward to the two sold-out shows they were playing at Maxwell’s next month and I was surprised to see a third show had been added that was also sold out. I was even more surprised to see a Washington DC show at the Black Cat two weeks before that. I immediately checked plane fares and was about to buy a plane ticket when I caught myself, I was a little drunk and besides, going to that show would be Nick-crazy. I shut off my computer and went to sleep.
The next morning I congratulated myself on being rational. Two days later I bought a plane ticket.
I’ve theorized before that the first show of any their two night stands is always a little less than mind-blowing as they shake off the rust of their very intermittent tour schedule (as in, they don’t tour), and I wondered how this one-off show would be. I’m not sure why I ever question whether or not it is worth it, because it always is, and tonight’s show was absolutely amazing. It may have something to do with those three Maxwell’s shows, one of which was to be an all-request evening and another The Meadowlands in its entirety. They had been practicing and this was a trial run of some of those songs.
Instead of being the “same old stuff that you’ve seen million times” as Greg had told me tonight would be, there was a healthy dose of very promising new material and seldom played songs from older releases. Admittedly, I can’t tell the difference since Meadowlands is pretty much exclusively all I listen to. And why not? It just gets better with every listen. Subtleties that I had missed on previous listens come to the forefront and my second favorite song changes on a regular basis, with the amazing “She Sends Kisses” always my first favorite of course. I’ve been waiting years to hear “Ex-Girl Collection,” so I was disappointed to see that it was on the “songs we know” list, but hadn’t been played. Oh well, they have to do it in Hoboken.
But that was my only disappointment. Someone I can guarantee wasn’t disappointed at all was my new friend 12 year old Darren and his dad, who had driven four hours from the middle of Pennsylvania for the show. I was expecting that it was dad who was the fan, but instead it was Darren who had found them on the Internet and gotten his father into their music. He had been waiting a long time for an all ages show and was in the very front row tonight. He watched the entire set with wide-eyed wonder but it wasn’t until the encore that it was guaranteed that every other show for the rest of life wouldn’t compare. Kevin returned for the traditional encore song “This Is Not What You Had Planned,” came over to our side on the stage, pulled Darren up, and sat him next to him at the keyboard. Maybe he showed him which key to plink, maybe not, but in that one song Darren stole the show. He returned to his spot after the song followed by a chant of “Dar-ren! Dar-ren!” from the audience.
And that is why I buy plane tickets. It is worth it every single time.
As usual the opener was a study in tediousness. This time it was Poor But Sexy, a DC based band with a penchant for Jason Mraz-type white boy hip-hop. The best thing about them was their name. As I stood in the front row, trying hard not to let my annoyance show, I couldn’t escape the feeling that the guitar player and guest musician looked very familiar. It made sense when I found out later that they were both in the Dismemberment Plan. And then it made me sad because that band was awesome, and this one was not. Luckily the Wrens are always good enough to make up for whatever opener I have to sit through.
Poor but Sexy
The Wrens
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