Story... like a Scar

I finally went to my first concert since moving to New York, and Liz, at 24 years old, went to her first concert ever. The last show I saw before leaving Boise was Jimmy Eat World (for the ninth time) at The Knitting Factory. My first show in New York was Matt Pryor (for the sixth time) at The Knitting Factory. Clearly my life has changed a lot in the big city.

Matt Pryor was the front man of The Get Up Kids, and The New Amsterdams, but now primarily considers himself a solo artist billing under his own name. I've seen four New Ams shows, and one Get Up Kids show, but last night it was just him, an acoustic guitar, and the occasional accompaniment by members of the opening acts.

I bought a vinyl copy of Matt's May Day album and talked with him briefly before heading out of the venue when Liz asks me, "did you get him to sign it?" Shit, why didn't I ask him to sign it? Running back in for an autograph while ripping the shrink wrap off the album, I realized this was also a chance for me to re-emphasize how much I loved one New Amsterdams album in particular, Story Like a Scar. As a senior in college, somehow that album meant everything to me. The other bands I loved around that time all seemed to be producing terrible albums and I was coming to the tragic conclusion that all bands get worse with age. Even the previous New Amsterdams album wasn't great, and I was about ready to give up on everyone.

Then, all of a sudden, there was this album. A band I had loved for years was able to release music which was not just new, and not just good, but the best music they had ever released. I listened to the album every day for weeks, and the next time I saw the New Amsterdams play, I went up to Matt at the bar and told him "love the new album!" I was really glad I did because a few days later I came across a blog post he had written saying the tour they just got off of was kind of depressing since no one even seemed to realize there was a new album.

Maybe I'm in the minority of people who felt so strongly, but if someone occasionally comes up to Matt after a show and says, "Story Like a Scar is one of my favorite albums of all time" then I hope he senses that it didn't go unnoticed after all.

Oh wait...

I woke up this morning afternoon realizing there was one small problem with what I told Mr. Pryor the night before: the name of the album isn't Story Like a Scar, it's called At the Foot of My Rival. Story Like a Scar is the name of the previous album which I didn't like so much. Fuck.

To be fair, At the Foot of My Rival has a song titled "Story Like a Scar" which makes it very confusing. Maybe the fact that I said, "I like that the New Amsterdams went out on such a high note" clued him in on the fact that I got the album names confused, or perhaps I simply reaffirmed that, seven years later, people are still unaware of the final New Ams album. Though, if he did realize I got the albums confused, maybe he took it to mean I've never heard what was technically their final album Outroduction. So, yeah... way to go, me.

As I've gotten older I've grown to appreciate Story Like a Scar much more than when it came out (I'm even listening to it while I type this), but I don't have the same connection to it. Sadly, he didn't play any songs from either last night. In fact, in trying to remember the set list, I can only recall three New Ams songs total out of their seven albums.

It probably shouldn't be surprising that he played four songs off the Get Up Kids' Something to Write Home About. They were the obvious crowd pleasers, and I don't begrudge that. I asked Matt if he ever still plays live with the New Ams band members and he told me, "yeah, we did a special show recently with an orchestra." WHAT?! In 2009, when The Get Up Kids reunited and played their entire Something to Write Home About album live, I made a special trip back to Lawrence, Kansas to see it. I'm pretty sure I would have made a trip back to see the New Amsterdams with an orchestra had I known that was happening. Oh well.

It's probably too much to hope that the New Amsterdams would tour or make new music again, but the next best thing is getting see Matt play live, to hear some songs from his immense almost 20 year catalog, and to send him confusing mixed messages about which album I appreciate most. That's what I did last night, and it was a good night.