Nostalgia

A friend of mine emailed the other day about an art show she was involved in in Chicago. I emailed friends of mine in Chicago to let them know. I haven't talked to this one friend that I met back in my Northampton days for a while, so I checked in on his website.

I remembered that he had turned me onto this band, whose 1998 album I still listen to today, some ten years after it's release-- some songs are on my top played list on my iPod. I remembered that they had played this bar in the East Village when I first moved to the city, so I looked around the internet to see if they were still doing New York gigs.

Sadly, they disbanded in 2002, each moving onto other projects. The lead singer and über personality of the group has added an interesting new facet of his career. The bassist has done some solo stuff and joined another band, in which the drummer of the defunct band is also a member. That drummer has also done solo stuff. But the band I remember seeing at the local drink (also now defunct, or rather, turned into a, um.... nicer place?) is gone. A passing of time, of sorts.

I had a lot of fun during my three + years in Northampton. It was a college town, with it's cultural heart built by Boston and New York artsy refugees and it's primary twenty-something residents in the mid-to-late 90s when I was there were a mix of guys in bands, townies, college kids. We all worked in the same handful of local restaurants and ran to last call at the same handful of bars each night.

I had nary a care in the world when I lived there, so I always look back on my time there with a daydreamy lovingness. There are small pockets of Brooklyn that remind me somewhat of Northampton. I think that's why I like it so much here.

Now, I guess I'll return to my regularly-scheduled life. *sigh*