Surfing around "I Will Be There When You Die" (http://www.gerpotze.com/mymorningjacket/archive/live9900.htm (http://www.gerpotze.com/mymorningjacket/archive/live9900.htm)) got me to thinking about...What if you knew about MMJ before you knew about MMJ?
I first heard about MMJ around the release of Z. My brother bought the CD and played it in the car. I distinctly remember Dondante. We saw our first show in Dallas on November 18th, 2005.
But what if we had bought TTF back in 1999? What could have been our first show? Well, Pearl Jam's 2000 tour took us to a Houston in October. A relatively short drive for two shows on October 14th and 15th, then back on the road home to Dallas on October 16th for the show in Dallas the next day the 17th. For you Texans out there, Austin is in between Houston and Dallas. And guess who was playing their first Texas shows around that time...MMJ. Our day off could have been spent at Room 710 in Austin, TX.
So close yet so far.
I totally think about that all the time!!! Because I was in so many places that they were touring, especially Chicago, and I sometimes wonder like how close I was to going to see them on some other occasion. Like, I remember my first time in Kentucky was after a Phish show in Cincinnati in 2003, and we went the wrong direction and wound up really far into Kentucky, and I like wonder if they had a show that night (they didn't).
But I think that it's especially true with the 2008 tour, where they had to cancel the Chicago show after Jim fell. That was when I was really starting to get into the whole catalog and was really interested in going to see them play. Like, I wonder if he hadn't fallen if I would have had some friend call me up that had an extra ticket. And again in 2009 with MOF. I didn't go because I was afraid I might go into labor during the show...
I love thinking about that whole "if I had turned left instead of right" type stuff...like visualizing a mental map of all those collisions of fate interacting. But ultimately, I am so glad that everything happened exactly the way it did. For some reason all those misses and falls happened exactly as they should have...y'know? Any sooner would have forced the hand, and I would never have appreciated every last thing that has happened with this band. I think some times you have to knowingly miss out, in order to know what you're missing...if that makes any sense.
The most important thing is to remember to keep an eye out for the next MMJ. Always around the corner.
Being from louisville, I missed out on about 50 shows through out their beginnings. Also, its very possible that I'd seem them when I was a lad in middle school and just dont remember from when I would go to shows just to go to shows.
I think about that a lot. I left Athens a couple years before they started playing at the 40 Watt. I was into the music scene there, so would very likely have been in attendance. Instead, I didn't see my first shows until this year.
This happened to me with Wilco! I liked Uncle Tupelo when they were doing their thing, though I wasn't living in the St. Louis area and didn't get a chance to see them. And then when they broke up and Tweedy formed Wilco, I dug the HELL out of A.M. Then I finished grad school, I got a job, I got married, and didn't listen to any new music for a long time. I remember when Being There was released, and thought it was weird (but I used to love weird stuff!), and even got YHF, but just didn't get into it. It wasn't until 2005 that I finally really heard it, and it clicked, and WOW.
I had no such experience with MMJ, that was love at first note, which happened to be O Is the One That Is Real in terms of recorded media, and then How Could I Know at a show not much later, and that was that.
I was at Bonnaroo in 2004 and was probably sitting in my RV partying it up during their set. Had no idea who they were. :embarrassed:
What if I had gone to Okonokos at the Fillmore, Fillmore NYE 2006 or High Sierra 2006? Shoulda coulda woulda...
Quote from: walterfredo on Jan 11, 2013, 12:36 PM
I was at Bonnaroo in 2004 and was probably sitting in my RV partying it up during their set. Had no idea who they were. :embarrassed:
Yeesh. That sucks.
Was having a "bad time" due to what I ingested on Friday night of Bonnaroo 08 and missed EVERY MINUTE of their epic set because I was scared of the rain and too afraid to leave the sheltered and climate-controlled comforts of the funk tent.
Damn, that tent sho was funky though! George Porter jamming with Henry Butler, Anders Osborne, Wolfman Washington -- it was funk heaven! I overheard Oh Sweet Nuthin when I poked my head outside for some fresh air, so it wasn't a complete loss.
My what if, could only take me back so far...
1st show:
6/17/2000 - World Fest - Louisville, KY
Ewind, judging by your age, I bet you watched some form of the band somewhere in Louisville at some point in your early years...It's kind of weird...darkglow(Tyler) saw his first mmj show at Lebowski Fest in 2004...Just by chance I saw them exactly one day later at a festival in Birmingham, AL that no longer exists, City Stages...I remembered for the longest time I really liked the lead singers voice and that he was barefoot...pretty sure I remember thinking I wanted his shirt too...the infamous "Somebody in Birmingham Loves Me" shirt
I didn't start getting into MMJ until 2008, before Evil Urges came out. Granted I've been to 21 shows since, but I always wonder what I missed in the years prior.
My closest "what if" was when I saw Pearl Jam in Jersey in 2006. MMJ was the opener, who I had no idea of at the time. I spent the entire pre-show looking for scalpers with my girlfriend to get in the show. I missed all of MMJ and the first PJ song.
WHAT IF I saw MMJ that night and I had 2 more years of shows and listening to do. SHIT!