I heard of Kurt Vile in bed. I was so sick and half dead. It was noon, in a cold Saturday and all I wanted to do was to take a nap, but I felt so tired that I couldn't do it. Had flu and pharyngotonsillitis. I couldn't even read a couple of paragraphs of anything, without sneezing. Besides, my eyes watered all the time. It was annoying and so disturbing.
Turned on my Smart TV to distract myself, and found out a video of a guy named Kurt Vile in You Tube. His band was playing a radio show for KEXP. He was singing melancholically and I felt sort of hypnotized. I was almost in an hallucinatory state, due to the illness itself.
I thought he was singing just the way I felt. The song was so hypnotic, too. Guitar and drum and percussions made up the whole melody, and above all, Kurt's voice told a story of a man needing to be alone even when surrounded by friends, or so. I loved the song, and heard it several times. It was called Wheelhouse.
I became interested in his music, and soon heard B'lieve I'm Going Down. After a while, I loved the songs. I bought the album and just a few days later the band announced they will come to Mexico City. It was a happy coincidence, and of course I bought a couple of tickets for the show.
My wife rarely enjoys the music I like. She's more into pop music. Even though, she accompanies me to all the shows I want to go. She's so nice and lovely. Nevertheless, I had spoken to her about Kurt Vile and she had heard a few songs of B'lieve I'm Going Down and she had just liked them. For several months, maybe for our entire relationship, it would be the first show we would attend to in which we were both interested.
After a couple of months, the day of the show finally arrived. I was so excited. I had thought for entire nights about the show. How would it end up? Would I be disappointed? Would it be the most amazing and intimate show I ever attend to? Would Kurt Vile became my most admired multi-instrumentalist?
I had never attended to a show of this kind. Kurt Vile's music was more folk than garage, and my entire life I had attended to garage punk shows, mainly. Media said he sounded like Neil Young at times. And Kurt Vile even played the banjo in a song of B'lieve I'm Going Down and I sort of hated it. Nevertheless, I was so excited and had great expectancies of the show.
We arrived to El Plaza an hour before the show, or so.
My wife made me notice a guy who was speaking in a funny mixture of Spanish and English to another guy selling souvenirs of the show. He wanted to buy both a cap and a T-shirt of Kurt Vile's Tour in Mexico. Obviously, none of the stuff was official merchandise. The souvenir seller was Mexican for sure, and the other guy apparently was from the United States.
I didn't think much of him, 'cause it was normal to me to find out tourists in that place of the city. I just kind of thought it would be nice to attend a show from an artist of your country in another country, in your holidays. Besides, my wife started to ask me to help out the guy. He was having difficulties to communicate to the souvenir seller. Sometimes I don't like to speak English. I felt selfish, but I wasn't in the mood.
Suddenly I looked around and I sort of recognized one of the musicians of Kurt Vile's band. Thought I had seen him in the KEXP show. He was playing bass guitar in Wheelhouse. I got close to him and asked him if he was the bass player of the band. He said he was, and then I asked him if I could take a picture with him. He agreed. After that I thanked him and we shook hands.
We entered to El Plaza and my wife made me notice I just had ignored the other musicians. I felt stupid and mean. She's right all the time.
The show started with Dust Bunnies. People was connected to the band and sang along almost all the songs. Even though the band didn't play Wheelhouse, the show was awesome. Kurt Vile was left alone on stage a few times, and he was amazing. I understood why media said he was like Neil Young, when he sang and played guitar all alone. It was so intimate and almost made me cry. Stand Inside was my favorite song of the night.
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