I Shudder To Think what would happen if I missed this opportunity - posted at 15:50

Those of you who have been following my humble webspace for at least, oh, six years will need no remainder of my favorite band, Shudder To Think. Back in the days when I had a fully functioning website with multiple sections as well as a blog (i.e. the days when I had a lot more time on my hands) there was even a section dedicated to them called Shake Your Halo Down. As I slipped into the post-college era of my life, music slipped to the background since I suddenly found myself no longer surrounded by like minds, rampant file sharing, and Hey-have-you-heard-of-this-band-I'll-burn-you-a-CD. My music collection stagnated, I stopped seeking out new music, and I knew practically nothing of news going on in the music world.

During my latter time in Vegas this year I started to climb out of that void. I realized how long it had been since I had bought any new music and exactly how many albums my favorite artists had released while my head had been stuck in the sand. Before too long, I even started too look up Shudder To Think again even though they broke up in 1998 and it wasn't bloody likely that they had put out any new music. When I did that fateful lookup, it's like the music world exploded in my face. Those guys had been busy, and to my immense shock, they hadn't been busy 100% alone.

Yes! They had been reuniting while my head had been in the sand! They even toured last year!!! I was incensed that I had missed these opportunities - one of which had taken place near where Cory lived last year a mere six days before my birthday. Sometimes life just makes you kick yourself.

But my despair perked up its ears just a few days later when I learned that they were releasing a CD this September. And that despair did a full-on flip on its head when I found out they'd scheduled a single concert in early September in New York City. If you heard some manic squees across the country in late July, well, that was me, so freakin' giddy at the prospect of seeing my favorite band after longing for that very thing for the last fourteen years. (Yes, fourteen. They've been my favorite for over half my life!)

So I cashed in some frequent flier miles, bought myself a concert ticket, and here I am, sitting in the Tucson airport, waiting to board my flight to NYC all by my little lonesome, and so excited that I feel like my skin is going to come apart at the seams. My family thinks I'm crazy and I can hear the concern in their voices (Hi Mom and Dad!), but I've been given this complete gift of an opportunity and I will regret it for years if I don't get out there and live it.

The concert is on Wednesday night at the Bowery Ballroom, and I can't wait to see Craig, the virtuoso lead singer, and Nathan, guitar god extraordinaire (alas that Stuart, the imminent bassist, seems to have hung up his spurs, in Craig's words) and the hired guns they've assembled to play the greatest of their formidable library. As a total bonus, I'll be picking up their CD two weeks before its official release date. It's going to be a night to remember!

In anticipation of what's sure to be a great show, I'm going to post my wishlist of a setlist, the songs I'd most like to hear them play on this most golden of opportunities. Here they are, in no particular order:

1. X-French Tee Shirt
2. About Three Dreams
3. She Wears He-Harem
4. Hit Liquor
5. Jade-Dust Eyes
6. 9 Fingers On You
7. I Grow Cold
8. Pebbles
9. Red House
10. She's a Skull
11. Day Ditty
12. Funeral at the Movies
13. Shake Your Halo Down
14. Heaven Here
15. Kissi Penny
16. Drop Dead Don't Blink

X-French Tee Shirt is an absolute must since it's always been my favorite song of theirs and is my favorite song period. I have a feeling that Hit Liquor live is one of those songs that is essential to happiness and I just don't know it yet (kinda like the way another blogger wrote after seeing X-French Tee Shirt at the first quasi-Shudder show). A good chunk of my seltlist corresponds with the tracklist on Live From Home (the new CD), so I figure I've got a pretty good chance of seeing most of these.

I've more to write, but alas, the flight is boarding, so it's time for me to sign off. More to follow...