la la love him

portland
Originally uploaded by kristalynn.

i got back from a short trip out west for a bit of work and, more importantly, to see my niece and sister (and brother-in-law). it was really great spending some time with them - i don't get to see them enough. unfortunately, i brought my niece’s cold back with me.

this cold traveled from my tonsils to my sinuses and ultimately set up shop in my eyes. that's right. conjunctivitis. pink eye, to all you south park fans.

i've never had conjunctivitis before but i figured that if it was in one eye, my immune system would have set up some kind of white blood cell force shield to protect the other. not so much. the second eye was far worse than the first - likening me to a sea elephant. i'm hideous. i'm oozy, sniffly, greasy, and full of grime. i'm repugnant. look away.

so missing a week of work was sad and all, but nothing was going to keep me away from seeing frank black on wednesday night.

frank who?, you ask.

see, i'm aware that there are two types of people in this world: those who love the pixies, and those who don't know who they are. frank black - black francis - was the lead singer of the pixies. and after tuesday night, i'm convinced he was the soul reason they had the success they did.

i attended the concert with one of my oldest friends. let's call him little steve, because that’s what I call him. little steve is quite possibly even more of a pixie's fan than i am. possibly. when we get together, we often talk about pixie hooks, pixies chord changes (that grab you by the gut), and frank's atypical time signatures. anyone not knowing the pixies would be bored to tears.

when the pixies announced in 2003 that they were getting back together for a reunion tour – 11 years after they broke up - i almost passed out.

"you're coming!" i screamed at my boyfriend.

"i don't know their stuff..." he said.

i traipsed off and compiled a "pixies conversion" cd for him.

"now, don't become alarmed", i primed. "it may seem angry or noisy.” i airquoted. "and i do believe it is... but it's a beautiful, palatable noise - i'll understand if you don't like it."

i secretly wanted him to not like it. i wanted the pixies to be all mine. all mine and little steve's.

but he loved it. and he came to the reunion concert, which was filled with mostly fans and some "just came alongers". the guy in front of me looked at the floor the whole time, with his hands in his pockets, and danced as though he was at a happy mondays, concert. it took all my strength not to yell at him to get out.

i stood on top of the hockey boards, so i could see everyone. at the end of the concert, they came upstage to bow. both of my hands shot up in the air - the distance between me and frank (and kim...) shrank. i fought back tears. when the lights came up, i looked around and saw several guys with tears streaming down their faces. little steve spotted me and he ran up to me, with tears streaming down his face.


little steve and i attended frank black's much smaller concert this week. he opened with an acoustic set of 6 or 7 pixie's songs. our jaws hit the ground.

finally his band came out. frank still has his pipes. there were times when he'd scream at the top of his lungs. without taking our eyes off of him, little steve and i would reach out and grab each other’s arms.

frank black is inexplicable. either you get him or you don't. he's one of those people who are born and die (at some point), and in between those dates, they do some incredible, unforgettable, and inexplicable work. i can't even look into the how it happens.

at the end of the fb concert, i stood leaning against a post while little steve raved. he raved and then ran around looking for a set list. and then he raved some more. i didn't say a word. was it my cold? the tonsillitis? a fever? i started to get a little paranoid, thinking that maybe little steve thought i was little underwhelmed with the evening. i had to disclaim myself.

"steve?”

“yes?”

“it may look like i'm not impressed or something," i motioned to my general lackluster demeanor, "but the thing is that i don't even know how to react to this..." i frowngrimacedshrugged.

"oh, i know", he said, squirrelling about. "it's gonna take me a while too."

i leaned back against my pillar and didn't say a word. this was one regret i was not going to have.