I moved to Seattle in July 2003 and found a job working for a landscape company. A co-worker and I were talking about music and I mentioned Sunny Day to him. He of course having grown up here in Seattle had heard of them. He informed me that Jeremy Enigk, SDRE's front man had a solo career and had started a new band. "The Fire Theft" Rich set me up with a copy of Jeremy's first solo album and I was hooked, as well was I with the album by The Fire Theft.
As time went on I got a new job and I slowly got disconnected from new music. Fast forward to present day, I'm living in the city and very close to the heart of the music venues on Capitol Hill. One evening I was walking around and I was looking at the concert bills on the telephone poles and much to my surprise and delight, Jeremy Enigk is releasing a new solo record and he has a show at Neumos in a week!!! At the first chance I had I got my ticket! I wasn't going to miss this show, I've missed a lot of good shows in the past and have kicked myself as a result, especially since some of those musicians are now gone (ie. Kurt Cobain)
So the night of the show arrives and I get to Neumos early and listen to the 2 opening acts who were both good bands. For our listening delight Jeremy has collected the talents of 15 orchestral musicians and they were going to back him for tonight's show, very cool!!! There was a stand up bass, a couple cellists, about half dozen violinists, some clarinets, and a few french horns. In the middle of the stage were two acoustic guitars and a piano for Jeremy to dazzle us with. I've never seen what Jeremy looked like but my fellow fans sure did and the crowd went wild when he took to the stage. After almost 10 years a dream of mine was about to come true, hearing Jeremy's unmistakable voice live.
His voice is both powerful and melodic. Over the next hour or so he entertained us with songs from his solo career and Sunny Day Real Estate. The orchestra played beautifully behind him. As the show went on the room got very warm but nobody seemed to notice or care and we were being treated to one of the best musicians that Seattle has ever put out. At one point he hinted towards the rumors that SDRE was going to play again, that sent the crowd into a small frenzy. All I can say is that I really hope that happens, what a treat that would be for me.
Jeremy alternated between his guitar and piano as he gave us his musical candy. His first solo album includes a piano driven song called "Shade and the Black Hat" which he played in such a spectacular manner that after he finished the song there was silence for a moment before the crowd went crazy with cheers, clapping and just plain euphoria. After a short break he came back for an encore. First he played a song on his guitar without the orchestra, at that moment I felt that I was witnessing a genius on the stage. He finished the night with one last song with the strings and waved to the crowd and disappeared offstage. During the show he frequently interacted with the crowd as he was tuning his guitar, complimented the strings for making him sound good and just genuinely seemed to enjoy being on the stage and playing music for us to enjoy.
This was by far the most memorable show that I've ever been to and I'm so glad that I was able to go and hear some music that I've been listening to for 10 years. If it turns out that Sunny Day Real Estate does get back together for a show I will get in line for my ticket as soon as I can.
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