musings from boston

by Henry Ruiz

all photos by Henry Ruiz

“Wow. Great show. New songs sound really good. The show was raw and powerful and edgy – no fancy stage props… just them and their talent.” – Tammy Asaki

The show Wednesday night was so incredible! 21 song set list, including one song that was played for the very first time. My cousin kat and I arrived at the Troubadour around 4:30 to beat the much dreaded L.A traffic. We stood in line for a bit and saw everyone pull up in separate cars, each band member waving and smiling at us as they drove by. Mikel came out during sound check and we talked for a bit before he had to go back in to finish up. The new record is hopefully going to come out this August/Sept followed by some possible touring… maybe. He said that as soon as he got back into town last month that everyone has been doing their own thing and that he tried but 48hrs later locked himself in his room and started writing song after song. That is so amazing, I think.

Doors opened up at 8pm and it was pure magic after that. The crowd was pretty good, mostly newbies that only go to big name shows but to each his own I guess. This one guy with his son behind me in line was talking to this girl about previous Airborne shows and I heard him say, “Yeah they put on good shows but that band Henry Clay People were annoying..” In my head I was like, “What!? are you crazy! Those guys are awesome!” Then I just remembered…Oh yeah newbs lol. [They'll come around in time; we just have to be patient. Think of them as young children.]

Aushua were really good. They reminded me a bit of the band Sea Wolf but a little more upbeat. Hardly anyone was into them [once again, patience]. I thought they were awesome. Good music to sway your body to and bop your head to. I loved it.

Airborne was up next at 9:30 but before I get to that I must tell you that the benefit show was put on by Mikel’s brother Tony. He was or should I say is a recovered drug addict himself and with the help of ‘Friendly House’ were able to come together and put on this wonderful benefit show.

The show was absolutely great! Mikel looked so happy and relaxed up there. They opened up with ‘Wishing Well’, ‘This Losing’ and ‘Gasoline’ and after ‘Gasoline’ he said “Yeah, that song is about my high school girlfriend who I recently had lunch with *mixed reactions from the audience*, whoa, I didn’t expect that kind of reaction but it was nice and a bit awkward and weird…” Everybody was full of energy, Anna rocking out all over the stage, swinging her hair around ‘Rock n roll style’ haha. Mikel and Noah were horsing around on stage, pushing one another..just having some fun! Before they went into ‘Happiness Is Overrated’, Mikel looks down at me and asks “Henry, what’s overrated?” I responded with “Happiness!!!” After ‘Echo Park’ he looks at me once again “Yeah, that song was about Echo Park, You know Echo Park, right Henry? It’s that place where all the indie kids hang.” I scream out “Hell Yeah, I was there last night!” [the Henry Clay People previewed their new album at The Echo; by all accounts it's awesome, so keep your eyes peeled...]

This was definitely one of the best Airborne shows that I’ve seen in a long while. Way better than San Diego, Pomona at The Fox and Del Mar. I guess I liked it so much because the venue was so small, which I had grown accustomed to.