A wise man once whispered, 'every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.' Come to think of it, that wise man was the band Semisonic and they never really amounted to anything, but that's irrelevant.
Readers, believers and underachievers, truer words have not been spoken. As the summer sun sets and we fill up our flasks with liquid anti-depressants, it's time to look back and move forward.
Tugging on slipknots and tying up other loose ends, my summer was anything but expected, but it absolutely had a soundtrack. And hanging over the sounds of the season was this theme of rebirth and decay.
On August 21, which I'm sure all of you blink kids know, blink-182 played Darien Lake for the first time since their dismemberment in 2005. Along with The Offspring, blink and their perfect blend of pop-punk-emo immaturity shaped my youth.
Back in 2005, I saw The Offspring at the now defunct Dome Theater in Niagara Falls, screamed my throat raw and at the end of a passionate, sweat covered night with my first and favorite band, I became the scene kid that lives for shows and pretty much hates everyone under the 'scene kid' classification that I am today.
And then blink broke up.
Sure, I went on to see every other band I loved throughout my impressionable years but they weren't blink and I would never have the chance to fill that void.
Fast-forward through four years of going away to college, one plane crash and a three-way squashed grudge and I had my band back. Upwards of $400 later, I had two VIP pit tickets for the rock show and 10 years of butterflies ready to be released.
The giant black curtain dropped, the opening notes of 'Dumpweed' were stricken and I felt everything negative about the summer fade away. For seemingly the first time in their career, blink sounded amazing live, seemed liked pseudo-professionals and amidst their sea of children crowding stage right, they seemed genuinely happy.
And so was I, along with the thousands of fans and teary eyes in attendance.
But as quickly as they came, they were gone. Who knows if they'll stick around long enough to release another CD and play Buffalo again. But we did get that one night and it's more than enough to last a lifetime.
Opening for blink was Fall Out Boy, who I am a well-documented fan of. Despite my lack of braces and water-bra under my neon green Nollie v-neck, I'm a big fan of FOB and Pete Wentz's emo-agro lyricism. I got to meet the band before the show and was on a bit of a high.
From the second they came out on stage, it was evident they wouldn't be there much longer. They didn't have the energy they usually do and they basically looked like they were bored with the notion of being Fall Out Boy and playing with each other.
With Wentz saying this was probably their swan song and a definite hiatus striking after the tour, it was probably the last time Fall Out Boy will see my baby blues anywhere other than in the reflection of my iPod.
That bitter taste is still in my mouth.
Skip ahead two days to August 23 and you'll find me in New York City at Webster Hall watching Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails performing one of their last concerts ever. Hearing The Downward Spiral in its entirety and watching Reznor literally blow out his voice will never leave my memory, but the feeling that it was the end still sits heavy in my chest.
Another favorite, another wave goodbye.
Summer may have given me a second chance to blink, but it also took away two of the more meaningful bands in my biorhythm.
Maybe it was mind-blowing, maybe it was depressing, but it sure as hell sounded good.
And that my friends, is the story of my life.
e-mail: jjranic@buffalo.edu
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
