this is the sound of settling

McCarren Park Pool

Williamsburg, Bklyn

June 10, 2008

there was a tranquility brought on by the weight of the heat.  all the dialogues around me bled into one.  the evening felt easy and casual sitting on the chipping paint of the old pool floor.. creating the perfect outdoor setting to see death cab for cutie!  woo!

however...

at approximately nine thirty, the band lost a sudden discourse with the sky and the clouds.  after several days of nearly one-hundred degree weather, tuesday night, the sky above greyed, opened up, and finally dropped globs of relief. 

they were in the middle of "the sound of settling," which is an ok song.  as the wind picked up, the song did too, gaining a new intensity.  it seemed like theatrics, as if it were all part of the show.. that is, until a lighting rig from above came swinging dangerously down and the band members abandoned their instruments and ran off the stage.

it all happened so fast.  one second i was chanting along, the next i was holding tightly onto hands and snaking through the crowd as monster rain drops hit my skin.  pausing for a little at the arched exit, i looked out at what could have easily been an 'end of the world' scene in a disaster flick.  the weather got so bad that we nicknamed the thunderstorm, with affection, "hurricane death cab."

some people ran to their cars while others sought shelter in nearby restaurants and bars.  we joined the herd treading towards the nearest subway station.  as we made our way, the wind strengthened.  i let down my hair, and it flew around to the tune of thunderclaps.  you just had to laugh between the lightning and shrieks as the raindrops multiplied in number and speed.  i felt so comfortable and free, so exhilarated and alive!  summer nights are incredible.  the shortened show didn't matter anymore.  stepping in puddles didn't either.  death cab's set lights couldn't hold up to nature's flashing ones, and it was the most rock and roll part of the night.