Rock 'n Rain

As you know I'd spent Friday night watching the Goo Goo Dolls Live in Buffalo concert dvd (a recording of their July 4, 2004 homecoming gig). Many articles and reviews have been written marveling at the band's seamless performance and professionalism—
considering the unexpected DOWNPOUR smack in the middle of the show. Johnny Rzeznik's perfectly tousled tresses instantly transformed into a soggy mop of rockstar locks—still cute in my opinion, in a way only someone famous could pull off.

Thoughts of electrocution came to mind, followed by envy for those who'd witnessed the musical spectacle (and yes, Rzeznik's sexy crooning, flirty gazes, biceps and all). Among several favorite scenes and songs, one worth noting is the part where Rzeznik peels off his drenched black tank, wrings it, and flings it to the crowd. Cut to the next scene, he is singing "Acoustic #3" while the rest of the set is now covered in plastic. Bassist Robby Takac joins him in "Broadway," and you get shivers down your spine as you watch stagehands frantically uncover the drum set, and drummer Mike Malinin enters in PERFECT CUE right after:

"...see the young man sleeping in the old man's bar/
Waiting for his turn to die..."



And the band—plus the crowd that stayed put and braved the storm—roars back to life! *SIGH*

Speaking of percussionists with awesome musical timing, I read an interview of Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters a while back. Apparently, he had been a drummer prior to becoming band leader, and he still thinks of himself as a drummer at heart. To paraphrase, he said something about how cool it is being the drummer because all the psycho girls go for the lead vocalist, and the decent ones go for the other band members. Cute. Click here for a tongue-in-cheek, funny interview of Malinin—who runs ultra marathons when he's not touring with the band—and see clearly how the people at the back really don't mind being un-cool, and therefore become the real cool ones by default.

As I watched the rain pour in the video, and see clearly how the band was totally performing in their element, literally and figuratively immersed in the moment, I got reminded of a particular 'rainy run' from back in college, at the height of my sportclimbing days. I was on strict curfew and only had a few hours after school to swing by the climbing gym, and squeeze in a workout with friends (in the guise of a late afternoon "class").

We usually drove to U.P., parked the car where the mountaineers hung out, and did the whole route along the campus outskirts. On one particular day—this I remember distinctly because I wrote about it in my journal, back when blogging was still unheard of, if not non-existent—in the middle of the run, it started raining: nothing like a dainty drizzle, but fat, globs of water loudly splattering on the pavement. And instead of halting, we all savored the cooling drops on our tired muscles and sweaty backs [hydro-massage anyone?]. Perhaps it was the adrenalin rush, we all ended up running back to the climbing gym, as we were way too soaked to hop back in the car. I still remember the feeling: the excitement, the light-heartedness, the euphoric spring in our step, which I relished as I rushed to make it home on time.

Going back to the Goo Goo Dolls, "Iris" was on heavy rotation that year. It was 1998, I was 18, oblivious to rest of the world, naive. Back then it was all about simple pleasures, good coffee, good music, enlightening conversations, conquering cliffs, surf trips, classes. There was no career to worry about, no beauty desks, no New York plans, and definitely no London dreams.

One day I'll put on my running shoes again, and try to recapture that wonderful familiar feeling.