A Fiery Passion

So, the Blogulator staff attended its second Fiery Furnaces concert in the last six months this weekend, and, as per usual, the concert was fantastic. Performing at The Whole at Coffman Memorial Union at the University of Minnesota, the booze-free atmosphere allowed a much more intimate feeling than their last show in the Mpls area (October 12, 2007 at the Turf Club in St. Paul). Sponsored by Radio K, Lady Amy used her job-related connections to introduce (HOLY CRAAAAAAAAAAAP!!) me (ME?!?!??!!?!? QUALLER INTRODUCED?!?!?!?!) to the (I'M GONNA PASS OUT PASS OUT PASS OUT) band (YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Now, I don't know about you, but as a 25 year old, who has been out of college for two or three years (yeah, I don't even remember how many years anymore) and been attempting to be less of a fanboy for even more years, the panic does set in a little bit when confronted with what to say to your favorite band. As it turns out, my reaction to meeting Eleanor Friedberger of the Fiery Furnaces was akin to fourteen-year-old socially awkward Qualler's first meetings with a pretty girl. Lady Amy introduced me, saying "This is my friend, Mark" and Eleanor extended her hand out, saying "Hi Mark, I'm Eleanor" and I responded by weakly shaking her hand, saying "Nice to meet you" and staring at my shoes and puking. I may have blown my chance to make an impression on my favorite band, but there are a number of ways I could have screwed it up even more. Below is a list of things I could have said that would have made it worse (thanks to Chris, Brigitte and Lady Amy for thinking of them.)

1) "Um, I buy your albums when they come out, and listen to them, and sometimes analyze the lyrics, and it's fun!"

2) "Matthew, you look like another person who alternative people like me enjoy, comedian Michael Showalter."

3) "What's the inspiration for your songs? You guys seem like you get along really well!"

4) "Will you autograph our dogs? We named them after you -- this one is Eleanor and this one is Matthew!"

5) "Sometimes, when I'm having a bad day, I come home and listen to your songs, and it makes me feel happy!"

Yes, I had to settle for shaking Eleanor's hand and getting both Matthew and Eleanor's autographs on a free poster, and luckily I didn't stumble over myself too much. And aside from their fantastic music, Matthew and Eleanor seemed to be really, really nice people. So nice, that some day Brigitte and I will undoubtedly name dogs after them.

This entry was posted by Unknown, on Sunday, May 04, 2008. You can leave your response.