Trans Am… the band that spawned my personal exodus into
going to shows alone… There were several shows in a row where they played the old King’s (off McDowell St) in late 1999 and through 2000… the first time I wanna
say someone went with me…. maybe Jeff, my old boss at Record Exchange, maybe my
best friend’s brother (as he is the one who introduced me to the band)… but I do
know that after the initial time I saw them, there were a couple more shows
where I asked folks to go with, no one seemed interested, but I refused to miss
their live show because I was so smitten with their sound. I went to the next shows on my own, stood
right in front of Nate’s monitor and had my hair blown back by that incredible
wall of sound. I was a post-rock junkie before I even knew the genre had a
name. I used to call them “math rock” because I couldn’t think of anyway else
to classify them.
One of my most profound and prominent show memories of all
time happened at one of these Trans Am shows at old King’s, wherein I went solo;
during the song Home Security (I think, if not then maybe Am Rhein?), someone broke a
string… I think Phil was playing bass… and while he went off stage, Nate continued
on synth and Seb rocked one of the most hardcore and intense drum solos I have,
to this day, ever heard in my life. I believe this went on for a solid 10
minutes until Phil came back on stage. And beautifully, I think there were
about 14 of us in the audience. To this day, I have to say, that Seb Thomson is probably one of the most intense and talented drummers I have ever seen live.
Ok help on this one…? This was also the show where Seb’s
side project band opened – it wasn’t weird war or publicist or anything… I bought
the cd and listened to it a lot, but I can’t remember and Google searches are
fruitless. I swear I thought they were called like… “Foundation” or maybe even "champs" or something
like that… This show was also the first time I got up the balls to go and talk
to a band after their set. I spoke with all three of the guys in the band at
different points and was elated. I was also 22ish years old; keep in mind.
The last time I saw them was at 506, 6 or 7 years ago… I
don’t remember because bands that have amazing shows in Raleigh always seem to
get smothered with bad vibes in Chapel Hill. (sorry, chapel hill; you stink...
i.e. – every future islands show I have seen at (new) King’s or Lincoln here in
Raleigh is the best show ever; every time I have seen them in Carrboro, it’s
been awkward and non-raging. Carrboro suppresses rock, which is ironic on many
levels..... Merge?? WTF??.)
I am now learning the glorious majesty of Spotify. Bless whoever it
is that rounded out the full TA collection on there; I sometimes spend all day running
through the entire discography, repeating songs like "Polizei / Zu spät"
over and over again (bitte … ah… bitte…ah) and every time I find myself on another listening spree, I think about
that night with the drum solo and I say to myself “DANG...! WHEN ARE THEY TOURING
AGAIN??” I know they are all doing other things, but the thrill jockey site at
the moment says something about 3 or 4 shows in California coming up. Surely
they can add one more date in Raleigh.(note: the thrill jockey site also has an email address for Nate directly, to contact for booking... I wouldn't dare. however, someone else who may come across this blog post can feel free to forward it his way.)
So in conclusion;
Dear Trans Am,
Please play in
Raleigh, NC again. We have a whole brand new beautiful King’s for you to play. I
will not be shy about coming up to you and speaking to you this time! I will buy merch! I
will hype your show up to death and try to convince everyone I know to be
there! I will buy you fancy cocktail drinks at Neptune's and laud your majesty far and wide! Let’s do this!
Love, your
superfan, Karla Anne
here are two youtube videos of the band live, from the same era:
Le dreamy Sigh!
EDIT: Sudden moment of clarity - the song in which the epic drum solo/sting breakage jam session took place was "Play in the Summer"
