mstakenidentity | Entries tagged with wah

So, the Lucksmiths are breaking up.

I didn’t write anything about it here yesterday because I was surprised at just how upset I was. I actually came home from work and cried. Now I’m pretty sure much of that had to do with feeling overworked and stressed and hormonal, but nevertheless, tears were shed.

I have never before had a favourite band that I could actually go see. My favourite bands as a teenager were Led Zepplin, Deep Purple, Jimmy Eat World and the Beatles. So the bands I liked had already broken up (in some cases had dead members) or were never going to tour here (and by the time Jimmy Eat World came here I was over them and I was in Greece anyway).

I like seeing the Lucksmiths live. They are a great live band. Their music is rockier live and the banter is often very funny. I wish I could afford to see them this Sunday, but they’re supporting someone else so the tickets are $40, which is more than I can afford right now.

Their songs have the ability to provoke nostalgia in me, even for things that happened before I’d listened to the song. Hiccup in your Happiness makes me think of mid 2004 when I was getting over a breakdown and trying to piece my life back together. Smokers in Love reminds me of my brief and ill-advised relationship with Dave (Gentle readers, here is a tip; do not fuck your drinking buddy, it is hardly ever a good idea in the long run) (except when it is). And one particular line in Requiem for the Punters Club, “as the sunlight caught the cigarette smoke curling through the room” gets me every time and reminds me of summer nights with MUCAAS at the pub. And of course After the After Party reminds me of every show I’ve ever done.

And then there are the other associations that come from listening to the music at the time; The Music from Next Door reminds me of moving in to Birch Lane. Under the Rotunda reminds me of gardening at Kent St and of the first few heady weeks with Seamus. Putting it Off reminds me of desperately trying to finish uni work. Frisbee is ringing Centrelink every week to report my earnings. Untidy Towns is last St Patrick’s Day, lying on the grass outside the new Law building at uni and feeling vaguely itchy as the grass rubbed on my stomach. T-shirt Weather reminds me of being 18 and dancing around my bedroom in Werribee to this song on the radio that I didn’t know but really liked, and every year of that day in september/October when you wake up and for the first time in months you are not cold, the weather is warm and people are cheerful just because they can ditch their jackets.

Lucksmiths to me mean hanging out with Michael and Kate. They mean life post-Eliza. They mean either working on my depression constructively or simply not being depressed. They mean taking pleasure in watching the creative output of others while being held in my love’s arms and being flanked by good friends, all also having a good time. They mean having a song in my head almost all the time, and lyrics for every occasion. They mean financial independence and financial dependence and youthfulness and coffee and trams and parties and gigs and restaurants and laughter and fun. They mean being in love with Seamus and being loved back the perfect amount. They mean being stable.

I think the crying was a massive over-reaction, brought on by stress etc, and of course there is still the Guild League and apparently Mark Monnone is doing stuff on his own. It just won’t be quite the same as hearing Camera-Shy live.

Their last gig is going to be awesome. I hope they play Off with his Cardigan!, Sunlight in a Jar, Run Spot Run, Cat in Sunshine, Danielle Steele, Camera-shy, Under the Rotunda and William and Mary. I’m sure they’ll play T-shirt Weather.

And if I miss out on tickets I'll probably cry again.