if you hang out by the tour bus long enough

Have I mentioned before that I have a long-standing love for everything Steven Page?  Perhaps once or twice, right?  Honestly, this man cannot create something musically that doesn't touch me in some way.  I tried explaining to my husband the other night, and I know that I sounded like a lunatic, but I sincerely meant every word.  For the last 16 years, basically my entire adult life, BNL's songs have been the soundtrack to my life, and without fail, the songs that Steven sang lead on were the most affecting.  His voice slays me.  With his solo career begun, I'm hopeful that I'll have many, many more years of his beautiful voice gracing my days. 

Thursday night's Steven Page show at the 9:30 Club in DC has been the thing I've been looking forward to for a while now-- the big, bold letters on my calendar regularly reminding me.  With a dear friend agreeing to go with me, even though she wasn't terribly familiar with any of his work, I was prepared for a lovely evening.  I had no idea it would turn out to be so freaking fabulous.

(I brought my camera, not knowing if I'd be able to photograph anything or not, but it turned out that it was okay to take pics, but no flash and no video allowed.  I'm generally a rule follower, so I didn't try to get around the flash one, and my only attempt to take video was quashed after 50 seconds by a club bouncer guy.  That's all to say that the pics here are blurry and not fantastic, but it was the best I could do.)

Kate Miller-Heidke opened for him, and her performance was a blast.  What an amazing vocal range- and she was beautiful and funny and her Australian accent had me loving her immediately.  Her classical training comes as no surprise, because even though she's creating pop songs, she's clearly got major vocal talent.  Although I didn't recognize her name, I had, of course, heard her infamous song on youtube- Are You Fucking Kidding Me?  (The Facebook Song).  If you're bothered by the cursing, but could get past the one word, this is a hilarious, yet quite relatable song!  In a more serious tone, one song that she performed had me tearing up at its tenderness and it's a must-listen-to kind of song- Caught in the Crowd.  After the performance, she was graciously hanging out at the merchandise table, where my friend bought me her latest CD and had her sign it to me.  Thanks T!!

 Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall

Immediately after that, the Mr. Steven Page came on stage, and I was instantaneously in awe.  The crowd in front of the stage was not large, so we stayed on the floor rather than returning to upper level balcony.  It ended up that we stood there for the entire show, with only a few heads in between our viewpoint and the glorious voice going into the microphone on stage.  I stood amazed for the rest of the concert- literally closing my eyes at times to isolate the auditory experience.

I'm the kind of person (perhaps there are others like me?) who needs to document experiences, because I can't trust my memory to serve me well just a short time later.  From my post-concert scanning of all cd track lists, I'm pretty sure this is the list of songs Steven Page performed (not in order, except for the opener and finale):

• A New Shore
• Indecision
• Clifton Springs
• Entourage
• All the Young Monogamists
• She's Trying to Save Me
• Over Joy
• The Chorus Girl
• Enid
• Jane
• I Live With It Every Day
• The Old Apartment
• It's All Been Done
• Call and Answer
• Tonight is the Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel
• Brian Wilson

Even with my now-old, mostly-healed, mildly-sprained ankle, I danced through and loved every single moment of Steven Page's set.  And even though he didn't do either of the two old BNL songs that I love, What a Good Boy or Break Your Heart, I was still leaving that club with a gigantic goofy grin on my face.

As we walked out, we passed the tour bus on the street and I asked my friend to take a picture of me by it, because I was thinking like a blogger, obviously.  Here is the goofy result:

The closest brush with fame I expected for the evening.

 

When I saw a handful of people standing around, I realized that my fledgling idea of waiting around by the bus was shared by other silly folks.  I asked T if she would mind hanging out for a bit.  Since she's as good-natured as anyone I know, she said she was up for it, so we took our place among the small crowd and chatted with some folks.  Then we talked some more just to each other, about this and that. 

And we kept talking.

And it got cooler.

And we kept talking.

And then some lady joined the crowd and proceeded to very curtly ask each and every person who came out, "Is he coming out?  Do you know how long?  When is he coming out?"  Man oh man, that lady was getting on my everlasting nerves.  Thankfully, she and her small posse eventually took off.

And we talked some more.

And then T asked me how much more wait I had in me.  It was definitely more a question of how much wait she had in her, and we agreed fifteen more minutes would be our limit.

Ten minutes later, a few people walked around the corner toward our group.

And my heart started to pound.

Autographs MUST be a celebrity's favorite past-time, right?

Suddenly, the others in front of me had completed their few minutes' brush with fame, and Steven Page turned to me, and that's when the background of the world fell away.  It was surreal to be standing next to this man whose gorgeous voice comes out of my kitchen CD player almost every day and to have that voice directed at me.  I know my cheeks flamed to their brightest pink and my smile showed each of my approximately 7,162 teeth.  I began to report to him what I told Red I would, when I joked to her about possibly talking to him at the show.  Yup, I told Steven Page that my four year old daughter likes him and likes his music- that was my opener.  Dear lord.  I asked him if I could take a picture with him, and because I hadn't given T a proper tutorial on my camera, she didn't realize that it was zoomed in pretty close:

Excited much?

Thankfully, T is a very highly educated and observant person, and she noticed right away that it was a wee bit close.  Steven Page (have you noticed that I cannot bring myself to call him anything but his whole name?!) was so very gracious to allow for another picture, which will forever be beloved by me.

Me and both my chins are clearly delighted to be standing with Steven Page.

Many people had posters or CDs for him to sign, while I had nada.  BUT, the night before, Red had given me a suggestion if I met him- "You should have Steven Page sign your hand, like when Mo signed my hand!"  And that was for her birthday, and remember who just celebrated a birthday?  (Pssst... it's me.)  So what did I do?  Oh yes, I told him that suggestion of hers, saying that her favorite author signed her hand.  Which prompted him to ask "Who's her favorite author?"  Which then resulted in a conversation about Mo Willems with Steven Page.  (For the record, Steven Page also loves the Pigeon books!)  So somehow when I hang out after a concert to stalk my favorite singer, I end up talking about my favorite children's author who I've stalked as well.  (Also for the record, I'm using the term "stalk" in a facetious tone... I've never actually broken any statutes.)  (These are my feeble attempts at humor.  Just go with it.  And do not call the authorities.)  So there I stood while Steven Page autographed my right hand.

Guess which 35 year old mom showed up at her son's teacher conference the next morning with the 9:30 Club stamp and Steven Page autograph on her hand??

Thursday, November 11, 2010 will go down in my memory as a gloriously happy night.  Steven Page's live performance was outstanding, and he was friendly and patient with the crazy fans like me.  Just another night to him translated to a most beautiful evening in my life.  Thank you to everyone who made this night happen: my hubby, my friend T, and Mr. Steven Page!!


With admiration and love for the music,