ringfinger - viking funeral

there are a lot of nights and moments of the past several years that i can look back on  and think to myself, “that night was one-of-a-kind.  even if i tried to somehow recreate it, it would be impossible.”

i can think of a few off the top of my head - fairweather’s performance at macrock in 2003, arriving in california on the first brand new disaster cross-country tour, recording the olympia record in boston, friends’ weddings.  those are monumental occasions.  but there are also hundreds of little smaller ones that go unnoticed until much later - when the circumstances change and you realize that something you had is gone.

it’s a rare gift when you have one of these moments and you have the foresight to realize that you’re in one.  you appreciate that moment as it’s happening in a whole new way and you really take in everything around you.  you see the value of the moment with clarity and you know how fleeting it is.

tonight was one of those nights.  my friend tracy invited a small group of us to the independent label collective warehouse, where she now works.  the new company, having just opened its doors here in richmond, was celebrating with a little housewarming party.  both tracy, who performs under the name ringfinger, and her friend steve brodsky, from the band cave-in, both performed quiet solo sets.

i’ve been lucky enough to see tracy perform several times, but tonight her songs were stripped down and much more intimate.  she played a few songs she’d never performed live before.  steve also played some rare and unreleased songs, taking random requests and singing a duet with tracy that was one of my favorite songs of the night.

just before her last song, tracy announced that this would be her last show as ringfinger.  there in a warehouse with maybe fifteen of us there, all people who are proud to call her friend, it seemed as good a place as any for a final performance.  i had no idea this was going to be her last show, but i felt lucky to have been there.  the last song she played was my favorite ringfinger song, viking funeral.

so thanks tracy, for creating one of those one-of-a-kind impossible to recreate kinda nights.  i’m so grateful that i got to be a part of it.