Well How the Times Have Changed/ Looking Back it Seems So Clear Now

Who: Better Than Ezra   

When: June 18, 2009
Where: Thursday at the Square/ Buffalo, NY

With: Zak
Of Note: Snarky rock stars, such a good night

I have loved Better Than Ezra for a long time; dating back to the Ben era.  I’m not sure why, but we all decided that we were obsessed with BTE.  Mike & Ben both worked BTE covers into their open mic sets frequently.  The boys all loved ‘Porcelain’ best, but the softest spot in my heart was for ‘Circle of Friends’ (perhaps because it references a ‘checklist on the wall’?  I do love a good checklist). 

Thursday at the Square (TATS) is a Buffalo institution; every Thursday of summer, there’s a free concert downtown, in Lafayette Square.  They bring a good mix of acts – those who are just about to explode and a fair number with a strong nostalgia factor.  Every spring, I wait for the TATS schedule to be released and mark up my calendar accordingly.  When I saw that BTE was coming, I was super pumped. 

I think that Becky was supposed to go with me, but she bailed at the last minute.  We’ve established that I don’t mind going to things on my own, but for some reason, I really didn’t want to go by myself.  I called Zak and whined and he acquiesced to join me. 

It was a drizzly night, so it wasn’t nearly as crowded as usual, which was nice.  Their set was incredible.  It was such a good mix of old favorites and tracks from their upcoming ‘Paper Empires’ – I saw the concert as equal parts “sing along” and “watch with rapt attention so as not to miss anything new”.  I remember 'A Lifetime', 'Good', and 'Desperately Wanting'...but I can't remember if they played 'Circle of Friends' for me.  The internet has proven unhelpful in trying to sort this out.  I do remember feeling like the music was so, so good - and that they were better live than I could have hoped, even despite the drizzle.  

Maybe even better than the music, though, was the fact that the band was hilarious.  They told stories and jokes and were self-deprecating and gracious and everything you would want a band to be on stage.  I loved them even more for this than I had before.  Before new song 'Black Light', lead singer gave a truly awesome rock star wail, then teased a few lines of 'Misunderstood'.  I just kept telling Zak that I loved rock stars even more with a side of snark.   

(My one very sad cell phone picture.)