the vigilantes

so this happened a few nights ago but i need to tell the story. after our show in grand rapids, we went with jessa and gabe (see below) to a house party, where gabe's band (menage) was opening for local boys the Vigilantes. menage was great; they are an instrumental band, kind of appleseed cast and explsions in the sky and mogwai. then we hung out for a bit, and the vigilantes started playing. i was on a phone call for about half their set, but when i came inside, i was unprepared for what i found there.


the last song, "let's dance all night", was a crowd favorite, full of crowd participation. the singer, joey, split the corwd straight down the middle into two groups. the stage left group was so sing, "let's dance all night," followed by stage right with, "doo-bee doo-wop". the song had no verses -- it was "unfinished", but i think i liked it that way -- and slowly the guitars dropped out and it was just the crowd and the drummer, then just the snare drum, then just the crowd, with friends and fans hijacking the microphones, one or two people crowd-surfing, and a whole lot of smiling on my face.


it was seriously a magical musical moment, one that made me feel like a sell-out, even though i don't really think i am. but this whole thing was just so organic and fun and there was such a strong sense of community in that house, that i wanted so desperately to be a part of it. thankfully, i think i will be moving to grand rapis for a month pretty soon to write, as well as to join that group of amazing people, if only for a little while.

love danimal