Tuesday 21 August 2012

Three Mile Pilot Live at the Tractor Tavern

 I was nervous...

I dont know why but I had that feeling you get when you know something significant was going to happen. The minute I got out of the cab I saw the poster that indicated that yes, there was something important about to happen and I was a part of it. 



I know Im being dramatic but thats the mentality I had going into this thing. I managed to settle my nerves before the show started with some help from the super cool people now at the door with me. I usually do concerts by myself but I was very thankful for the people who felt the same excitement as I did. 

The show started off with Dramady, a two piece combination that created beautiful music drenched with passion, rhythm and intent. Amanda Mason Wiles and Zachary Quintin Stanley created an atmosphere that was fun, colourful and very warm. Perhaps what was most impressive about the duo (other than their glowing personalities) was the amount of sound generated from just the two of them. Zachary played the keyboard and drums simultaneously for the entire set and Amanda worked intricate bass loops around a beautiful Saxophone. They were a fantastic start to a magical night and their EP "I Can See What You're Saying" is a delight from start to finish. 


Before Three Mile hit stage, I had the chance to talk to Tom and Paul at the Merch table. It was so nice to finally make the connection with these people who have been so influential in my life...and they are just normal people. No surprise to most of you reading this I know, but extraordinary nonetheless. 

Finally, they step on stage and T.S. Elliot would of been proud. They started not with a bang, but with a whisper with "The Premonition" from the new full length LP. This caught me off guard but I was ok with it. At this point I was fully enveloped in sound... They continued with the new material for the first  four tracks. 





Onward they went and as they did so, I could feel myself becoming whole in the presence of such wholesome goodness. They moved on to "Another Desert, Another Sea" which led me to conclude that they were going back in time in order. This was exciting. The first song they decided to play from "Song from an Old Town We Once Knew" was one they do not play often; they started that album with "In this Town I Awaken" which drove me over the edge. 


After disproving my theory about the setlist and going back to the new album, they finally came to my favorite. Off of "The Chief Assassin" they played 97MT, Shanger vs Hanger and Circumcised. 


The encore was all "Another Desert", starting with "Year of No Light"and "Bolivia" and finishing the show with a rare live performance of "One False Eye", which may have been the most perfect ending to the nights performance. It just had such a concluding element to it and as Paul and the crowd sang "One day, he will return" there was a moment of deafening silence in my mind. It was and will always be perfect in my memory. 


The show was over and I could hardly believe my eyes when Paul walked up to me and handed me the setlist, completing me in so many ways. I waited for Zach and had a great talk with him as well. Once he realized he actually knew me, but under my Pinbackfreak alias, he warmed up and gave me a big hug. I was astounded. I wanted to say so many things about how his music changed my life and my very perception of it, but instead I hugged back, asked for a picture and talked about things I cant even remember. It wasn't important anymore, any of it. It just was. 


That was it. I said goodbye to the new friends I met, bought all the merch I could afford, and walked out of the Tractor a new man. 

I Am Become Whole, the Creator of Worlds. 


Full Set List 

1. The Premonition
2. Whats In The Air
3. Still Alive
4. Battle
5. Ruin
6. Way Of The Ocean
7. Longest Day
8. In This Town I Awaken
9. Days Of Wrath 
10. Left In Vain
11. Birdy
12. 97MT
13. Shanger vs. Hanger
14. Circumcised 

Encore
Year of No Light
Bolivia
One False Eye.