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A little night's Musiq
Posted by JSYL
on
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
in
music
I'm hoping my previous post will act as a disclaimer for what I'm about to describe.
If you know me, you'll know that I'm a pretty excite-able person. Its all or nothing with me, I'm not one to hold back on my right to self expression.
After about two and a half hours of waiting for Musiq to strut on stage, I was getting pretty damn worked up. Jumping up and down, fidgeting, restless, the whole deal. But when he sang the first or second favourite of the night, "previouscats", I went ballistic. "Who knows the words to this next song?" Nuts, I tell you. He smiled at the cheering crowd, and must have wondered why he could still see this bobbing movement out of the corner of his eye- me, that is. Still going nuts even after the crowd had settled down. He tried to be polite, smiling and about to start singing, but couldn't help but chuckle out loud while pointing at me. There's always gotta be one psycho fan, right?
Later on, I can't at this moment remember what song he was singing, but he leaned down and for a moment it was like we were singing to each other. I was hooked. I knew then I'd been forever branded in his mind as the psycho fan of the night. My new name was only cemented when he walked along the stage shaking hands, including mine,and came back the same way to see my hand, outstretched, yet again. He paused, leaned down, took my hand in both of his and rubbed them as if to say: "Happy now? It's cute but enough already!"
After the concert, I planned to try to meet Musiq. Jazz Cafe is really small, and I've heard that its easy enough to meet and mingle with the singers after a gig there. My friends and I spoke briefly with the guitarist on stage first, thanking him for the show. He told us that while Musiq's a "great guy" he was particularly tired that night, hence his no-show-encore, and so he wasn't sure if he'd head straight home or still be around after the gig to meet with fans. I decided to take my chances.
Outside I spotted one of the two backup singers- there had been a girl and a guy, both awesomely talented. The girl was outside and we chatted for a bit about random things- how cute my bag was, how great the show was etc. She too wasn't sure if Musiq was still around but advised me to come to the show the next night and catch him on his way into the venue, at which point he'd still be alert and ready to sign autographs and whatnot.
As we said our goodbyes, someone who looked exactly like the male backup singer walked out of JazzCafe arm-in-arm with a girl. My friend said what I'd been thinking which, in my mind, confirmed that he was definitely one in the same backup singer. As he approached we beamed at him, willing him to come say hi. He made eye contact, but made no signs of slowing. That was cool, but since we'd already thanked two from the backup band, I figured it only fair to blurt out: "Itwasagreatshow!"
He replied, "Yeah, it was" with a puzzled expression, and didn't even break his stride. Rude.
Five minutes later, the actual backup singer came out. This time it was definitely him. How embarassing. He saw me smiling and came over to ask what I thought of the show, and after a little chitchat he returned to the girls he was almost cetainly trying to hook up with that night. I felt really stupid doing it, but I walked up to him and interrupted to ask whether he knew if Musiq had left yet. He asked me if I wanted to meet him, and I said "yes and possibly get an autograph?", to which he promptly took me to the stairs leading backstage.
Holy. Crap. No. Way.
The beefy security guard wouldn't let us in though, not even after two attempted pleas by Showtime (seriously, he told me that was his name later on). He shrugged and said "I tried, sorry!" I told him my name and said I'd come back the next night, and he said he'd remember me, and that if I came he'd definitely set it up. At the time, there was no question I'd travel the 40 mins from campus in the freezing cold to do this. Maybe Showtime wouldn't remember me. Maybe Musiq would be a diva and not pause to take a photo. Maybe he wouldn't go through the front door, and I'd miss his entrance completely. But whatever the case, I needed to let Musiq know I wasn't just a diehard groupie, but someone who'd honestly been moved by his work.
That didn't happen. I wonder how it might've turned out if I'd gone. I was writing an article way past deadline, and had planned to meet friends later that night. It just didn't seem worth it, really. But the gig definitely made my week. I fell asleep with a smile on my face and "Just friends" buzzing in my head.
I cannot think of a better way to end the day.
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If you know me, you'll know that I'm a pretty excite-able person. Its all or nothing with me, I'm not one to hold back on my right to self expression.
After about two and a half hours of waiting for Musiq to strut on stage, I was getting pretty damn worked up. Jumping up and down, fidgeting, restless, the whole deal. But when he sang the first or second favourite of the night, "previouscats", I went ballistic. "Who knows the words to this next song?" Nuts, I tell you. He smiled at the cheering crowd, and must have wondered why he could still see this bobbing movement out of the corner of his eye- me, that is. Still going nuts even after the crowd had settled down. He tried to be polite, smiling and about to start singing, but couldn't help but chuckle out loud while pointing at me. There's always gotta be one psycho fan, right?
Later on, I can't at this moment remember what song he was singing, but he leaned down and for a moment it was like we were singing to each other. I was hooked. I knew then I'd been forever branded in his mind as the psycho fan of the night. My new name was only cemented when he walked along the stage shaking hands, including mine,and came back the same way to see my hand, outstretched, yet again. He paused, leaned down, took my hand in both of his and rubbed them as if to say: "Happy now? It's cute but enough already!"
After the concert, I planned to try to meet Musiq. Jazz Cafe is really small, and I've heard that its easy enough to meet and mingle with the singers after a gig there. My friends and I spoke briefly with the guitarist on stage first, thanking him for the show. He told us that while Musiq's a "great guy" he was particularly tired that night, hence his no-show-encore, and so he wasn't sure if he'd head straight home or still be around after the gig to meet with fans. I decided to take my chances.
Outside I spotted one of the two backup singers- there had been a girl and a guy, both awesomely talented. The girl was outside and we chatted for a bit about random things- how cute my bag was, how great the show was etc. She too wasn't sure if Musiq was still around but advised me to come to the show the next night and catch him on his way into the venue, at which point he'd still be alert and ready to sign autographs and whatnot.
As we said our goodbyes, someone who looked exactly like the male backup singer walked out of JazzCafe arm-in-arm with a girl. My friend said what I'd been thinking which, in my mind, confirmed that he was definitely one in the same backup singer. As he approached we beamed at him, willing him to come say hi. He made eye contact, but made no signs of slowing. That was cool, but since we'd already thanked two from the backup band, I figured it only fair to blurt out: "Itwasagreatshow!"
He replied, "Yeah, it was" with a puzzled expression, and didn't even break his stride. Rude.
Five minutes later, the actual backup singer came out. This time it was definitely him. How embarassing. He saw me smiling and came over to ask what I thought of the show, and after a little chitchat he returned to the girls he was almost cetainly trying to hook up with that night. I felt really stupid doing it, but I walked up to him and interrupted to ask whether he knew if Musiq had left yet. He asked me if I wanted to meet him, and I said "yes and possibly get an autograph?", to which he promptly took me to the stairs leading backstage.
Holy. Crap. No. Way.
The beefy security guard wouldn't let us in though, not even after two attempted pleas by Showtime (seriously, he told me that was his name later on). He shrugged and said "I tried, sorry!" I told him my name and said I'd come back the next night, and he said he'd remember me, and that if I came he'd definitely set it up. At the time, there was no question I'd travel the 40 mins from campus in the freezing cold to do this. Maybe Showtime wouldn't remember me. Maybe Musiq would be a diva and not pause to take a photo. Maybe he wouldn't go through the front door, and I'd miss his entrance completely. But whatever the case, I needed to let Musiq know I wasn't just a diehard groupie, but someone who'd honestly been moved by his work.
That didn't happen. I wonder how it might've turned out if I'd gone. I was writing an article way past deadline, and had planned to meet friends later that night. It just didn't seem worth it, really. But the gig definitely made my week. I fell asleep with a smile on my face and "Just friends" buzzing in my head.
I cannot think of a better way to end the day.
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