Oh, Mojave...
May 1st, 2007
As I flew toward California, I couldn’t help thinking that the US landscape was like a sea, suspended in time – mountains hang as sheer waves in a storm, great plains expand across other horizons, the calm ocean.
The theme of this trip is turning out to be humility. I stood beneath a cap rock today in the Joshua Tree National Park and … well, I imagined it was something like standing next to a dinosaur. Similar feelings as I flew across the southern tip of Greenland, looking out at the snowdrifts receding into eternity.
Coachella was also humbling in a way, but also inspiring. Let me explain.
I first saw The Frames in Whelans about 7 years ago. I then watched Damien Rice rise out of the obscure Juniper (now Bell X1 ) and saw him join the Frames onstage several times, even once in Simon’s Cafe, where he sat beside me with his guitar before being called up by Glen to perform the Jackson 5’s “I want you back” ... then about a year later just before he released “O”, I watched Damien play through the album acoustically in the Temple Bar Music Centre before which, Brazilan couple Roderigo y Gabriela wowed the audience and began their rise to success.
Having been out of touch of the music scene in Dublin for about 4 or 5 years, it was both novel and exhilarating to see bands who were local just a few years ago and whom I was excited about then really shaking up audiences 5000 miles away. In a way, it was inevitable, but it sure felt good to watch those three acts against a backdrop of palm trees.
Right now, I’m about to watch Heroes on NBC, on a television, as it’s meant to be seen. Now that’s novel.
Sorry, comments are closed for this article.