Mono Was Back

No, I wasn't sick. The band Mono that I've mentioned here a few times before. I had my camera all ready to capture some great images, but things were not turning out in my favor. So I'll just have to try my best to hold on to the memories that I have of it. I don't think I'll have too much trouble remembering this show though.

This was the first time that I saw them and had a friend in the crowd. The two previous times I had gone by myself. The coolest thing about this was that she actually heard of the band before. Not even my good friend Benn, who turned me on to Mono in the first place, has met someone, outside of one of their shows, that knew of them without him having to fill them in. I guess that just means they're becoming more popular and these intimate little venues may one day be a thing of the past. I think one of the reasons their shows are so engaging is the fact that you are right there with them. Just mere feet away and you can see and feel the emotion that goes into every note and chord that each member is playing. There was one point during their set that I turned to my friend and said that the drummer looked like he was dying. I know it was part of the show, but there was another reason for that too.

Apparently Walter's doesn't understand that a large room packed with people and hot lights will cause the temperature to rise dramatically when a cooling system is not employed. I did not see a proper reading any where, but I feel like I can safely say that it was well over 100 degrees there last night. Stepping out into the warm, humid air that is Houston on a May evening was more like stepping out into a large walk-in refrigerator after spending an hour inside. Everyone was dripping in sweat, my shirt had soaked through completely. My friend and I were sitting on the bar to get a better view, a chance to get ice water whenever we needed it, and it kept us from expending too much energy by standing amongst the crowded hot bodies. Both of us were putting ice down our shirts and I even balanced a few on my head hoping it would cool me down. It just made that spot completely numb for a bit until the heat of the room quickly warmed it back into life. I tried cooling my head with my plastic cup of ice water and I could see steam billowing down from the cup in front of my eyes. Even people around me would point to their friends to show them. I happened to be sitting near a neon sign so I was pretty well illuminated.

I know I haven't spent much time in this post talking about the band itself, but there really isn't much more that I can say about them that I haven't in my two previous posts. It's really a sight to be seen with one's own eyes. They played a few new songs off of their newest album, "You Are There", which I picked up last night. This latest album is supposed to be like a journey that you take in all at once. You need time to just sit with your eyes closed and allow the music to direct your thoughts in creating the story. In the little booklet included there is some artwork done by the same artist that did the cover to "Walking Cloud and Deep Red Sky, Flag Fluttered and the Sun Shined". It looks like a very simple picture book, with just six pages, but the story is fairly straight forward. I think "You Are There" and "Walking Cloud..." are two albums that have a bit of a story that unfolds as you listen. It's not easy to find their albums, I think a few can be found online at Amazon.com and Borders/Barnes and Noble, but if you're interested in finding out what I'm talking about or just for a sample you can check out their web page by clicking this blue stuff or going to the link over on the side.