Kung Fu Necktie, A Surprise From the Stage, Church, and “Conversations about God on Tap” As Ive mentioned before, I truly enjoy underground rock music. Yesterday evening I went to one of those unusual concerts I enjoy. The venue: Kung Fu Necktie, a bar/concert venue (three miles northeast of Philly city hall) which has a stage and an open area for concert goers. The lineup: Three three-piece rock bands. Philadelphias Workhorse III (led by a woman singer-guitarist who is a nurse by her day job, with her husband on drums), Canadas Sierra (a doom-metal [i.e. very heavy and slow] Black Sabbath-sounding band), and West Virginias Karma to Burn (an instrumental riff-heavy band that names their songs by numbers, no song titles.) I really wanted to see Karma to Burn as Ive collected their CDs, enjoyed their music for fifteen years and always yearned to see em live, so I saw they were coming to Philly and off I went. Monica and I would have both gone to Dave Piltz’s “Conversations about God on Tap” at Baileys Bar & Grill (it was awesome last time I went) (and God bless Emilie United Methodist Church for being so creative and open minded to promote this, plus this is probably how C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien et al. commiserated anyway), but as I explained to Dave, I had to go to another bar…couldn’t miss this underground show. Dave chuckled at my musical tastes, totally understood, and wished me the best! So Monica went to the one event, and I, to the other, both in bars (!) I had an absolutely fantastic time at Kung Fu Necktie! I enjoyed meeting the members of the bands, talking to them, buying their CDs, and seeing each band in concert. Thank the Lord for smart phones. Let me explain. I was one of the first to arrive, and there was nothing to do, so I sat at the bar. A fellow comes in breathlessly. “Ten hours of driving in a van…I’d like a…” [and then he ordered something.] Well, I figured, this must be a band member….probably of Karma to Burn. Looks like the guitarist. What’s his name? So I fired up my iPhone, went to Wikipedia, and looked up “Karma to Burn”. The lead guitarist is named William. So I struck up a conversation with the fellow next to me. “You must be William.” Bingo! So I got a chance to talk with him. About touring Europe. About recording their latest album in Switzerland. About the filming of their latest rock video, playing on YouTube. About weathering lineup changes. Great stuff, and try doing all that when going to a concert at the Wachovia Center, or whatever it’s now called! Each band played with passion and excellence. I was right up at the stage extremely close to the action the entire time the various bands were playing. Let me recount to you an amazing incident. The band playing was Sierra. I truly loved what they were playing. Awesome stuff. The guitarist, at the end of one song, motioned for me to come up to him, so he could say something to me. Hmmm? I go forward, curious, and he says to me “Is your name Peter Anderson?” Absolutely flummoxed, of course, I say “Yes!” He says, “I’ll talk to you later” and goes right into the next song. I’m astounded! Now my adrenaline is really pumping. Prior, I’ve been showing a LOT of enthusiasm, but now with the excitement and mystery of “How the heck did this guy from a band I’ve never heard of before, from Canada, who’s here in the US for the second time in his life, know my name and identify me? I’m no celebrity!” I’m like a fanboy, COMPLETELY enthused. Yes, I can go a little over the top at a rock show. I don’t care if I’m a conservative Christian who plays bass for his church. I don’t care if I’m a professional person, doctor of optometry, business owner, husband and dad. Look: when it’s time to rock ‘n’ roll, it’s time to rock ‘n’ roll…there are no ifs, ands, or buts about it! And with the added adrenaline….I was there to rock, and yes, I went a lot over the top!!! Obviously, when the band finished their set, I had to ask the guitarist of Sierra, Jason, how he knew who I was. He said he’d seen me online. I looked like a relative of his. This made him look at my pic more carefully and he remembered my name. When he saw me at the front of the stage, he thought “Oh my gosh, is that my relative, so-and so?” and then he remembered the guy who looks like his relative (me) and he called me by name!! Yet he couldn’t recall precisely where he saw me online. My guess: my Amazon reviews. I review obscure albums by obscure groups and sometimes, musicians like reading reviews of obscure groups….and will possibly read the profile of the reviewer. That’s the only thing I can think of! Other highlights for me include meeting another true fan of Karma to Burn, who drove to the show from Delaware County. He was up there at the front of the stage going nuts along with me. Plus, during the intermission, he treated me and Will (of Karma) to Jägermeisters (a delicious herbal liquer.) It was also fun getting a laugh out of all the members of Karma to Burn…I knew the bass player was new, and before their set, asked him how long he’d been in the band. “Four Days” he replied. (Their music is complex, and not quick to master.) “I’ll pray for you!” I quickly said, which got a good a good laugh from the whole band. Only thing was, I meant it, and I did pray for him! (Quietly, in my mind.) And the bass player did play flawlessly, along with Will, the guitarist. Only, not just due to my prayers. Turns out, they’d only been touring for four days, but they’d practiced for months. It was his hard work and preparation that really paid off. Another highlight was purchasing the CD’s of the bands present…and meeting the owner of the record label that two of the band record with (DRP Records.) And discussing with him the pros and cons of running your own business. And another highlight….I bought The Workhorse III’s second album at the beginning of the night, and the husband and wife leaders of the band GAVE me, and wouldn’t take any money for, their first album, simply because I was enthusiastic , supportive and loquacious. What an evening! I felt like I had died and gone to heaven! Now, this all makes me think of church. Specifically, my church, Emilie UMC. Our church (me and Monica, and some who will be reading this.) My vision would be that church would be a place where you feel terrific. Absolutely accepted, loved, and appreciated. Where you have warm connections with other living, breathing human beings. We live in an isolated society. People struggle with emotional, spiritual and mental issues. Sometimes people go to a bar to be able to feel some sort of connection with humanity. Where they can feel alive! My goal is that church would be like that awesome bar. That people wouldn’t feel alienated and disconnected, but would be energized and refreshed and reinvigorated. That spiritually and mentally their batteries would be recharged. I felt that way at Kung Fu Necktie. And I DO feel that way at our church! And I want to continue to be involved in improving the entire church experience, to make church awesome. I am a follower of Jesus Christ. Any of us can do this solo. But how enriching to do this together. What an encouragement to become a part of something greater than oneself. I love playing bass in the church band. I’m committed to building up the body of Christ. Let’s do this together. PS If you don’t go to Emilie Church, you’re invited! PPS You’re also invited to “Conversations about God on Tap” at Baileys Bar & Grill, an Emilie function, where you don’t have to worry about saying all churchified things, and you can just be yourself. PS Sorry for tagging all of you, you may or may not find this interesting.....but dont blame me, blame Cathy Windland, I learn from the best!
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 04:58:39 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015