No Regrets Tour

Dramarama Collection

Great band shot.  Great New Jersey band.

On Jan 12^th, 2014, one of my best friends (Mike C) and I will happily be braving long check-in lines at Newark Airport.   We will don our dress Chuck Taylors.  We will shake off the cobwebs from the previous nights bender, er, banter.  And with gracious anticipation accept the mild trek ahead of us (5584! miles round trip!)  

FOR WHAT YOU ASK?

Two words…NOSTAGLIA PERSONIFIED

What do I mean by placing those two powerful words together like that?  For Mike & I, it’s the simple quest of finding youth.  You don’t need Doc, Einstein, and Marty McFly to go back in time.  Music is AND HAS ALWAYS BEEN my 1.21 gigawatts.  Sometimes an arrangement of chords & an iconic voice (John Easdale in this case) can make grown men drop every responsibility and chase, and ultimately FIND the “proverbial fountain of youth”.  Ponce de Leon fucked up, it’s not in Florida.  It's in LA at the Whiskey A-Go-Go on Jan 12^th.   That night it will be administered by a band that is the soundtrack of my teenage years (and ++) – Dramarama.

Scene:  (Tastefully decorated urban apartment.  A man and his fiancé begin to talk about some upcoming plans.  Man just comes up with what appears to be some sort of midlife crisis.  Fiance asks:)

“Who?”

“You’re doing what?!”

“Are you serious?!”  

“Yes honey, that’s what I want for Christmas - to fly with Mike to LA to see Dramarama play at The Whiskey” –

(smirk, fake smile, look back, wide eyed…)  ”Oh shit, you’re serious, aren’t you?!”

(end scene, but hardly.)

Alright, alright…I just reread this and I heard the “Wonder Year’s Voice” too.  I always wondered how Kevin Arnold grew up to look like Daniel Stern too?  Winnie Cooper avoided him more than Webster Papadopoulos avoided pole vaulting tryouts.  Apologies,  80s heavy tangents, along with 80s references,  are my social/writing  “safety nets”.

I’ve grown into a proud, yet uncomfortable music snobbery over the past several years.  Snickering at anyone that didn’t enjoy Velvet Underground's "Sister Ray or a deep brewing distain, no HATRED, for anyone that preferred "Here Comes Your Man" over "Debaser" - for those that don’t know,   google it. . By the way,  if you click that link you’ll NEVER get a Christmas card or handshake from me ever again.

I'm sorry,  but I’m serious.  Ugh, seriously this is tough.  OK, I’m wrong. 

Let’s get back to this trip I alluded to in the beginning of this “Clark W. Griswald roadmap” inspired post.

I assume the reason you’re reading this collection of overused commas & A.D.D. fueled 180s, is for the undeniable gift that we both “get it”.  

How can someone explain a sunrise?  Or for another uncalled for 80s reference - the first time I saw Det. Dee Dee McCall (Rick Hunter’s Aqua-Net commercial sidekick)? 

We just can’t…

Let’s get back on course –

In Janaury I’m getting on that plane with a good friend.  We are going to LA .  Another friend will meet us there.  And ultimately we’re going to see Dramarama play at the iconic Whiskey A-Go-Go.  
My Dee Dee McCall.  My Kevin Arnold.  My heroes that braved the highs and lows of the music industry.  They will, have, and continue to “wow” me and their loyal fans for over 30 years.  So much so, that 2 of them are enlightened enough to flip the bird to Lindbergh,  and make this 5584 pilgrimage. 

They continue to pursue their dreams.  Commercial success may have evaded them, but it has not prevented them from doing what they love, what makes them whole, which gives them meaning.

Isn't that we are all striving for?  You can go home again.  When is the last time you have been?

Check back next month for a full report.  In the meantime, go get yours.

_________________________________________________________________________________Some personal Dramarama favs, but as always, download the entire album for the proper experience,

Otherwise:

"Scenario"

"Anything, Anything"

"Some Crazy Dame"

"Transformation"

"Emerald City"

"Steve and Edie"

"It's Still Warm"

to name a few.

Their finest record is Vinyl.  Case closed.

PS: “Restless angels scale the walls upstaging Mr. Fields…”

cheers...

Me and John Easdale