Good Record 002
Hello Friends,
As I write this, I am traveling to Houston, TX to begin the second week of our tour opening for Zach Bryan. What an interesting experience it’s been so far! As I alluded last week, we haven’t spent very much time in arenas. We opened a few shows in them a few years ago for the Avett Brothers, so this hasn’t exactly been our first voyage, but settling into roughly a month of working in these strange, imposing, round, cinder block edifices has felt like somewhat of a lifestyle switch. The places are all set out in about the same way: There’s a giant parking lot full of busses and semi-trucks, a thousand crew members and union hands busy-beeing around at all times, a fluorescent-lit circular corridor that holds all the various offices and dressing rooms of an arena-selling band, and our inevitable locker room green room space with its TBT sign outside welcoming us home.
Zach and his crew have been great. They’ve been classy and helpful, and I know that’s not always how a headliner treats the opening band. All that technical stuff aside, what has stuck out to me most of all in this last week has been the…I’m trying to think of the right adjective…absolutely bonkers reaction of the crowd to Zach’s show. I’ve honestly never seen anything like it. It’s like Elvis is on stage. The crowd (all 15,000 or so at each long-ago sold-out show) sing every word of every song. It’s not as if Zach has a hit or two and people mill about in between. It’s every song. As a songwriter, this is an incredibly beautiful sight. The connection of those songs to all those people, the connection of all those people to those songs. It’s the holy grail! There’s excitement, tears, ecstasy. I’ve seen the look on many faces that says, “I can’t believe I’m in the same room as this guy singing these songs that I love so much!” At the end of the day, it makes me also feel so lucky to be there. These shows are overwhelmingly positive experiences.
The crowds have been friendly to us as well. Listen, opening for people can be a rough business. I’m sure some of you have done it and the rest of you can imagine. Taking the stage before an act about which people feel so strongly can be intimidating to say the least. If it doesn’t work, you’re up there playing your songs to thousands of people that really wish you would just shut up and get out of the way. I’ve had worse jobs than playing music to disinterested people, but that experience does lead to some serious questions about one’s path in life. Thankfully, this tour has been great in that respect. People have been coming into the venues early and we’ve felt warm and fuzzy about the reactions we’ve been getting. I know it’s a lot cooler to act like that stuff doesn’t matter to us and we’re gonna make our art no matter what and all that, but any performer who says they don’t care about the crowd is lying to you. In my opinion, it could be argued that the energetic relationship between performer and audience has much more bearing on how a show feels than the technical performance of the music itself. It’s all so intertwined, but I’ve played worse and had a better time because of the crowd that’s for damn sure. I’ve also played a technically good musical performance and considered it a crap show because there was no chemistry with the crowd. We’re all in this together.
All of Zach Bryan’s shows are sold out. I wanted to tell you to come and see one, but if you’re not already holding a ticket, it’s a moot point. If you are one of the lucky people who are already on your way to a show, I hope the whole night fills you with the kind of excitement I’ve been feeling in these weirdo arenas. My advice is try and soak it all up. I say this not as a performer but as a music fan: There’s a magic in a concert and it’s only experienced by the people in the room. It’s also only created by the people in the room so that’s a pretty cool responsibility/gift. I’ve been witness to a helluva lot of concerts by now and this magic is why it’s sill so exciting and fulfilling, and why we’re still out there searching for it every night. We don’t always find it, but when we do it fills the tanks just like it always has.
As always, thank you for being here. Thanks for subscribing to this list and giving me an excuse to droll on about my feelings and whatnot. I appreciate your time and space. See ya down the road a ways.
Dave Simonett
P.S. I’ve been writing some new songs lately and making some demos. Here’s one to check out if you’ve got the time: "I Wanna Love You"
