I couldn’t tell you the exact date.
Sometime over six years ago at this point.
Outside of Stage Door for the Old Town Playhouse. 8th and Cass, Traverse City, Michigan.
It was autumn then.
My brother and I had just finished rehearsal for a show that I’ve written about before. (Read it here.)
Above us the night was clear. Maybe clearer in my memory than it was in reality. But the sun shines fondly in the strongest memories, I’m sure.
Hunter and Noah became fast friends through that show, so by proxy I was taken into what would become a trio, and often a quartet when Liam would tag along.
But it was a trio this night.
Part of me wants to say he played the song through his phone speakers; another says that he just sent it to us by text so that Noah and spent the whole night going album by album.
The song, of course, was Graceless; then, a new track from The National.
However I ended up with the song, by text or phone speaker, it was clear to me that the band was something very important.
It’s hard to say whether it was the Dessner twin’s brilliant compositions or Matt Berninger’s dark and melancholy lyricism, along with his smooth baritone vocals that first caught my attention.
Though, it’s safe to say that it was a combination of the two and contributions from the rest of the band, along with music videos, album covers, and live shows at talk show appearances that kept me around.
I saw them live in 2017 in Detroit, Michigan with an old friend from high school.
It was autumn then, too. I remember the drive.
The only regret I have with the band is that I haven’t gotten to see them live with Hunter yet. It feels like that’s something important that oughta happen, eh?
Let’s do that before we fall through the glass again and down the rabbit hole.
Before we’re invisible and weightless from the medicine.
We’ll listen to his voice again.
.
.
.
I wanted to write more about this, but the words wouldn’t really come outright today. I hope that’s okay
Micah Mabey
