As Sigur Ros played melodically on the stage, a Chinese paper lantern gently rose, lifted higher, and disappeared on the horizon, creating a moment of pure magic.
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Tag Archives: concert
The Girl With Melancholy Eyes
There was once this girl with really sad eyes at a concert and I fell in love with her in an instant. It was at a Belle and Sebastian show (of course, why wouldn’t it be?) and I noticed her when my friend needed a smoke. We headed out to the small corral they created for the tobacco-addicted and I felt like a cow herded into a small enclosure surrounded by metal fences.
The crowd literally shifted and opened and my memory tells me a streetlight shone down on her as if she were on stage under a spotlight. Her short blonde hair, perfect for her face, was brushed out of her eyes by her pale, petite hand and in an instant I could sense, feel, and see how sad she was. She smiled, took a drag on her cigarette, laughed at what someone said to her, yet the melancholy poured from her eyes and into my heart, infecting it.
A moment later she looked over at me and the smile disappeared; she knew I could see into her soul, could sense through her façade that she felt pain. She nodded to me and I smiled, which caused the corners of her mouth to crack a little before returning to her conversation.
Posted in flash fiction
Tagged beauty, belle and sebastian, concert, concerts, couples, dating, fiction, flash fiction, friends, friendship, life, live music, love, missed connection, music, people, photo, photograph, photography, photos, pictures, relationships, romance, smoking, writing
We’ll Lead You Astray…
Photo taken by me in Kung Fu Necktie, Philadelphia.
“We’ll lead you astray,” she said.
He picked up his beer and turned to face her. “Oh really?”
She laughed a bit.
“Hi, I’m Rob.” He reached out his hand.
“Sally,” she said with a smile.
“So, go ahead. Lead and I’ll follow.”
She turned to her friend next to her and whispered something, and she whispered back. He started to lose his confidence. But she was the one who spoke first. She removed her cardigan and started rolling the plaid sleeves of her shirt. He noticed the tip of some cleavage peeking out of the tank she wore underneath. The band started playing which should have ended the conversation, but he persisted.
“So what do you do?”
“I’m a teacher!”
“Teacher by day, hipster by night?”
“I’m not a hipster,” she frowned.
He laughed. “I was kidding.”
He paused, making it awkward.
“Are you here to see Those Darlins, or one of the openers?”
“Darlins!” she yelled. She turned to her friend again.
“I love them, aren’t they great!”
“Yeah!” she yelled back. “Love them…saw them in Jersey a few weeks ago.”
“Nice!” he said with a smile.
The band was especially loud as she yelled something to him and he could not hear.
“Huh?”
She yelled it again and he still couldn’t hear her.
“Reading what?” he yelled to her.
She pointed at something over his shoulder, and he turned to see a lit up sign that said “We’ll Lead You Astray”.
Posted in flash fiction
Tagged band, bar, comedy, concert, couples, dating, embarrassment, entertainment, fiction, flash fiction, friends, friendship, hipster, hipsters, hitting on a girl, humor, Kung Fu Necktie, life, live music, love, marriage, music, photo, photograph, photography, photos, pictures, relationships, romance, Those Darlins, writing
Tales From Ringo
“Did you notice nobody on stage ever said the word Beatle?”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I found it odd and was paying attention. We’re seeing Ringo Starr, live, and the word Beatle has not even been uttered.”
She thought about it, and as she did he spoke into the microphone.
“This is a little song I sang that a couple of my old friends wrote for me.”
“See?” I said to her. She nodded as he started singing Photograph.
~
“Now we’re going to hand the show over to a good friend of mine, Edgar Winter.”
I paid how much to see Ringo? And he’s handing the show over to someone? What the hell?
“Are you ready to ROCK?” Winter yelled as I was a bit confused, even dumbfounded. Sure, there’s something to be said of hearing Edgar Winter sing Free Ride live, I’ll admit. But I can’t decide, is this a good thing or a bad thing?
“This song makes me think of Dazed and Confused,” she said to me.
“Yes!” I responded, still confused about my feelings on this issue. I mean, what if we hear this, but Ringo doesn’t sing No No Song? Or Octopus’s Garden?
This went on for four songs. Will Palmer of The Romantics singing What I Like About You. Rick Derringer singing Hang On, Sloopy. Richard Page singing Broken Wings.
So the big question is, will he play the two songs I want to hear more than anything?
~
“So for those of you who don’t know, which is most of you, I had a new album come out in January, Y Not.”
Two people cheer.
“Thanks. Both of you.”
~
He did not play them. No Octopus’s Garden, no No No Song. So am I pissed? I still don’t know. It was fun, to be sure. He closed singing With a Little Help From My Friends, which was breathtaking. Exciting. Awesome. Yellow Submarine, sang by Ringo? Excellent.
“What was your favorite song?” she asked me. “The finale. With a Little Help. For sure.”
“Me too,” she responded, taking my hand.
Posted in Flash Nonfiction
Tagged All Star Band, Atlantic City, Beatles, concert, Edgar Winter, Edgar Winter Group, humor, legend, life, love, Mr Mister, music, music legend, No No Song, photograph, Richard Parks, Rick Derringer, Ringo Starr, Romantics, The McCoys, The Romantics
A Flash of Inspiration 