Who: moe.
When: July 4, 2002
Where: Tower City Amphitheater/ Cleveland, OH
With: Ben, Ryan, Mike
Of Note: 'Merrrica!!
The last summer I spent at "home" was the one after my sophomore year of college. During my sophomore year, my folks moved from the house I grew up in to my step-dad's hunting cabin, presumably to prevent anyone from moving in with them ever again. The cabin is out in the forest, on a dirt road and approximately nine thousand miles away from anywhere I needed to get - work, friends, actual civilization. The cabin is so far out that there's not cable or internet. Within about three days of arriving, I knew I would never live with my mother again after that summer and, in fact, spent a lot of that summer couch-surfing withe friends closer to civilization. As such, it was a crazy couple of months - one last hurrah in the town I grew up in.
Anyway, the boys & I saw moe. as often as possible and a Fourth of July road-trip sounded like a great idea. Looking back at it, it's kind of incredible how much more easy-going I was about travel & general comfort at 20 than I am now. Apparently old age has turned me into a princess because there's no way I could do six hours in a car to Cleveland fueled by Mountain Dew and Combos, concert, then three hours to Buffalo to crash at Ben's super smelly, vacant for summer, gross boy, college apartment, then two and a half hours back to Corning just in time to shower and get to work. Why did we not just get a hotel in Cleveland? Why were we hell-bent on making a round-trip in 36 hours? Oh, right. Because we were young, broke, and couldn't take time off work. Disposable income really is one of the benefits of old age, huh?
Anyway, the "Tower City Amphitheater" was really just a big tent in a parking lot near the water. It was hot - hot and sticky and exactly like summer in the northeast. Ryan was wearing a Donna the Buffalo shirt that looked like a kid had drawn both the band name and a picture of a buffalo that, paired with his in need of a trim shaggy haircut, made him look about 12. Everyone made fun of my American Eagle American flag shirt. I thought it was festive. (Remember American Eagle logo shirts? Most of them had funny or marginally inappropriate sayings on them? There was a new batch out every season and it was fun to wait for them to go on sale and collect them all? Man, remember when a fun t-shirt could be considered "an outfit"?) I'm pretty sure all of us wore Birkenstocks because, well, stereotypes exist for a reason.
From what I remember, this was a pretty typical moe. show, like so many of the others we went to in the early 'aughts, but not without its own exceptional moments. First, they started with 'Captain America' which, in addition to being one of my favorites, was very festively appropriate. It exists in the same place that 'Nebraska' and 'Big Country' and 'Stranger than Fiction' exist in - that perfectly infectious intersection of jam and pop, catchy to the point it could be on a top 40 radio station but with enough musicality that you don't feel guilty for loving it. Next, they closed with Ramones cover, 'I Wanna Be Sedated', that caused the crowd to go absolutely fricking insane. I mean, never underestimate the power of a well-placed cover, right? Third, it's strange to look at the setlist now and see so many tracks off of 'Wormwood', an album that wouldn't be released until the next year. Like, I can't really remember a world where 'Kids' or 'Kyle's Song' don't exist.
The set list also includes another one of my favorites - 'Happy Hour Hero' - which I love for a completely different reason. I'm not sure if it would have been as resonant in '02 as it is now but I'm going to talk about it. Townie bars have a special place in my heart; they always feel like home to me. One of my earliest family memories is going to the bar with my mom & grandma when I was really little. I would get a Shirley Temple and quarters for the jukebox; I always chose 'Pink Cadillac'. Right after I turned 21, I went home to visit for a couple of days and my brother Jeff took me out for my birthday. Of course, "going out" with Jeff meant being at the bar by 10am and barfing up lasagna in his driveway by 8pm but... Jeff was always my favorite brother; he and I are a lot closer than Joey & I, mostly because Jeff never treated me like a kid. I've always known I was going to have a different life than my brothers - more education, less trainwreck life choices. This differentiation in paths drove a wedge between Joey & I (he thinks I'm a snob), but never impacted my relationship with Jeff. Anyway, one of the reasons I ended up barfing in Jeff's driveway was because Jeff spent all day telling all his friends that they had to buy me drinks because I was his little sister and he was so very proud of me.
Senior year of college, we found a truly terrible townie bar in Buffalo that we went to all the time - Anacone's. When I asked the owner if I could have my birthday party there (We brought balloons & pizza! And then everyone's tires but mine got slashed because my car was a familiar presence in the parking lot...), I told him that it "felt like home". Whenever anyone asks me why I love townie bars so much I always flippantly remark, "How's the saying go? You can't take the Levanduski out of the girl?" But, there's something to that - small town bars with old guys yelling at baseball on the TV, guys in work boots having one before they go home, people drinking PBR unironically, an all-classic rock jukebox selection - that makes me feel connected to where I come from. Anyway, 'Happy Hour Hero' tells that story - the story of my family, the story of a small-town bar, the story of a smokey rooms and questionable life choices. It's almost like the song makes me nostalgic for something that doesn't really exist.
In any event, July 4, 2002 was just another moe. show, like any one of the dozens we went to - a day with great friends & great music that, looking back on it, makes me just a bit nostalgic for my young, broke, college days.
When: July 4, 2002
Where: Tower City Amphitheater/ Cleveland, OH
With: Ben, Ryan, Mike
Of Note: 'Merrrica!!
The last summer I spent at "home" was the one after my sophomore year of college. During my sophomore year, my folks moved from the house I grew up in to my step-dad's hunting cabin, presumably to prevent anyone from moving in with them ever again. The cabin is out in the forest, on a dirt road and approximately nine thousand miles away from anywhere I needed to get - work, friends, actual civilization. The cabin is so far out that there's not cable or internet. Within about three days of arriving, I knew I would never live with my mother again after that summer and, in fact, spent a lot of that summer couch-surfing withe friends closer to civilization. As such, it was a crazy couple of months - one last hurrah in the town I grew up in.
Anyway, the boys & I saw moe. as often as possible and a Fourth of July road-trip sounded like a great idea. Looking back at it, it's kind of incredible how much more easy-going I was about travel & general comfort at 20 than I am now. Apparently old age has turned me into a princess because there's no way I could do six hours in a car to Cleveland fueled by Mountain Dew and Combos, concert, then three hours to Buffalo to crash at Ben's super smelly, vacant for summer, gross boy, college apartment, then two and a half hours back to Corning just in time to shower and get to work. Why did we not just get a hotel in Cleveland? Why were we hell-bent on making a round-trip in 36 hours? Oh, right. Because we were young, broke, and couldn't take time off work. Disposable income really is one of the benefits of old age, huh?
Anyway, the "Tower City Amphitheater" was really just a big tent in a parking lot near the water. It was hot - hot and sticky and exactly like summer in the northeast. Ryan was wearing a Donna the Buffalo shirt that looked like a kid had drawn both the band name and a picture of a buffalo that, paired with his in need of a trim shaggy haircut, made him look about 12. Everyone made fun of my American Eagle American flag shirt. I thought it was festive. (Remember American Eagle logo shirts? Most of them had funny or marginally inappropriate sayings on them? There was a new batch out every season and it was fun to wait for them to go on sale and collect them all? Man, remember when a fun t-shirt could be considered "an outfit"?) I'm pretty sure all of us wore Birkenstocks because, well, stereotypes exist for a reason.
From what I remember, this was a pretty typical moe. show, like so many of the others we went to in the early 'aughts, but not without its own exceptional moments. First, they started with 'Captain America' which, in addition to being one of my favorites, was very festively appropriate. It exists in the same place that 'Nebraska' and 'Big Country' and 'Stranger than Fiction' exist in - that perfectly infectious intersection of jam and pop, catchy to the point it could be on a top 40 radio station but with enough musicality that you don't feel guilty for loving it. Next, they closed with Ramones cover, 'I Wanna Be Sedated', that caused the crowd to go absolutely fricking insane. I mean, never underestimate the power of a well-placed cover, right? Third, it's strange to look at the setlist now and see so many tracks off of 'Wormwood', an album that wouldn't be released until the next year. Like, I can't really remember a world where 'Kids' or 'Kyle's Song' don't exist.
The set list also includes another one of my favorites - 'Happy Hour Hero' - which I love for a completely different reason. I'm not sure if it would have been as resonant in '02 as it is now but I'm going to talk about it. Townie bars have a special place in my heart; they always feel like home to me. One of my earliest family memories is going to the bar with my mom & grandma when I was really little. I would get a Shirley Temple and quarters for the jukebox; I always chose 'Pink Cadillac'. Right after I turned 21, I went home to visit for a couple of days and my brother Jeff took me out for my birthday. Of course, "going out" with Jeff meant being at the bar by 10am and barfing up lasagna in his driveway by 8pm but... Jeff was always my favorite brother; he and I are a lot closer than Joey & I, mostly because Jeff never treated me like a kid. I've always known I was going to have a different life than my brothers - more education, less trainwreck life choices. This differentiation in paths drove a wedge between Joey & I (he thinks I'm a snob), but never impacted my relationship with Jeff. Anyway, one of the reasons I ended up barfing in Jeff's driveway was because Jeff spent all day telling all his friends that they had to buy me drinks because I was his little sister and he was so very proud of me.
Senior year of college, we found a truly terrible townie bar in Buffalo that we went to all the time - Anacone's. When I asked the owner if I could have my birthday party there (We brought balloons & pizza! And then everyone's tires but mine got slashed because my car was a familiar presence in the parking lot...), I told him that it "felt like home". Whenever anyone asks me why I love townie bars so much I always flippantly remark, "How's the saying go? You can't take the Levanduski out of the girl?" But, there's something to that - small town bars with old guys yelling at baseball on the TV, guys in work boots having one before they go home, people drinking PBR unironically, an all-classic rock jukebox selection - that makes me feel connected to where I come from. Anyway, 'Happy Hour Hero' tells that story - the story of my family, the story of a small-town bar, the story of a smokey rooms and questionable life choices. It's almost like the song makes me nostalgic for something that doesn't really exist.
In any event, July 4, 2002 was just another moe. show, like any one of the dozens we went to - a day with great friends & great music that, looking back on it, makes me just a bit nostalgic for my young, broke, college days.
Did you notate all of this down post-concert or during concert or something? I remember the show but not nearly as vividly as you and for that, I am jealous. I do remember the songs you mentioned and that Les Claypool's Flying Frog Brigade opened up for them (with some weird dude playing saxophone through an amp with pedals and effects making it sound like a guitar...didn't appreciate it, I guess). I also remember it being the best set I ever saw moe. do. Oh the joys of being 18 and having 0 responsibility... thank you for posting this!
ReplyDeleteI have a weird memory for very specific details - ie. your shirt, Ben talking about the Jamestown sign every time we passed it, what you guys took into the show & how you got it in, Captain America... It sometimes takes me some effort in my day to day life not to be creepy because I remember stuff about people I've only met once or twice. I do jog my memory by looking up the set lists/ listening to the shows sometimes though.
ReplyDelete