Five Iron Frenzy is my favorite band of all time. Ahead of everyone from classic groups like The Beatles and Led Zeppelin to teenage favorite like Zao and Project 86. It's one of those "what's your favorite (fill in the blank)?" questions I can answer with ease.
I started listening to FIF in 1998. I was the the Family Christian Bookstore in the Savannah Mall, and found the album at one of the listening stations. The unique cover art convinced me to pop the disc into the player they had and slide on the headphones. "My Evil Plan to Save the World" was piped into my ears, and I walked out of the store with a CD in my hand and a little less cash in my wallet. I couldn't wait to get home and pop that sucker in and listen to it as loud as I was allowed. I had heard the Supertones before, from my cousin who I always thought was much cooler than I was, but this was something else. This was ska with wit, brain, and a sense of humor.
That album helped me realize just how much music can connect people who have never met before. A month of so after it came out, my youth group went on a ski trip. There were a bunch of youth groups at this ski resort, and in the ski lounge they had karaoke. I distinctly remember a guy getting up there and in the middle of some random song, he belted out "THESE ARE NOT MY PANTS!" and people all over the lounge had one of two reactions. Baffled puzzlement, or laughter and recognition. Here was another person who likes this band I like. He's throwing out a line, like a little gang sign that only fans are going to understand.
I felt that comradery next at my first Five Iron Show. I was visiting an uncle in north Georgia to work for a few weeks in his pharmacy. My dad drove me up, and upon getting there I met my uncle, his wife, and his two daughters. They were super cool punk rock chicks (who introduced me to The Dead Milkmen and Mustard Plug), but they cemented themselves as awesome in my books when they informed me that they were going to the Five Iron show that night with their friends, and that I should come along. Their group of friends and I had never met, but there was this instant connection as we sang along, skanked, and then hung out afterwards and talked to strangers and band members alike. I remember my cousin giving a "high W" to the lead singer of the W's, and being scandalized by the fact that a member of FIF was wearing a NOFX hat. (At that time I was of a very black and white, secular music is evil mind frame). I still have the sticker they handed out that night for signing my name and being a background singer for the "Live: Proof That The Youth are Revolting" album.
I attended three other concerts by the band, including their stop at the Murray Hill Theater on the Winners Never Quit Tour. I was wearing the shirt from that tour one evening last year at a sports bar after attending a Falcons game. The waiter for my table took a moment to stop and say how that was an awesome shirt and how much he loved the band. I asked if he had seen them in concert, and he said he only started listening a few years ago, long after the band broke up. Imagine his surprise when I told him about the Kickstarter, new album, and planned tour. It was one of those awesome moments I haven't had wearing the t-shirt of any other band.
Five Iron fandom is a kind of fraternity, and one of the most accepting and loving groups of people I've seen. It was great seeing this in Atlanta when they came through this year. I didn't have any friends who wanted to go to the show with me, so I stood in line thinking it was going to be a long wait. I was fully prepared to pop in my headphones and sit until they opened the doors. I don't know why I was so cynical that night. In line I listened to stories of people who had driven hours to come see FIF live. People who had flown to Colorado for their last show. People who had never had a chance to see them perform live because they only started listening after the breakup. I was able to share my stories of concerts, of foolishly yelling for "Kingdom of the Dinosaurs" and the other goofy songs from days of yore. And for a few hours there, in a crowd of people I had never met, I was surrounded by friends. People who knew every line to every song, enjoyed every on stage antic, and even though we knew it was coming, choked up and maybe cried a little bit when the familiar riff of "Every New Day"started up.
No comments:
Post a Comment