Sebastian Langkilde

Soft Animal

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Photo by Chloe Muro

I hadn’t been to the Che Cafe in almost 3 years or so. The venue survived a near shutdown from the University of California San Diego and stayed opened just of campus. Coming back refreshed my memories as a concert goer as a teenager and young adult. It doesn’t feel tarnished by times past with my ex or old friends. The Che, after all this time, still stands and hosts bands I want to see in a tight space. I went with some good friends to see The Hotelier last night. I wasn’t too familiar with them other than their Home, Like Noplace is There and briefly browsing them on YouTube. They’re on tour promoting their new record Goodness which the press has praised thoroughly.

The band didn’t seem too energized but performed a great setlist of new and old songs. They ran through a strong portion of Home playing “Your Deep Rest”, “Among The Wildflowers”, and “Life in Drag” early. I had hoped for these listening to their discography and got my wish. It’s pretty rare for bands, in my experience, to play songs off their records in order, unless they’re playing a full record. I felt myself falling into the Wildflowers singing the words I knew. The mixed crowd of kids and adults murmured as well. After they quieted down, Hotelier broke into “Life in Drag” inciting their ferocity into the front stage crowd. Finally some motion, some energy, some connect from band to audience, fans to artists. I knew this was what I missed about going to shows.

Hotelier’s best moments came during a new song “Soft Animal” in middle of the set. It’s a beautiful song and to experience it live validates my affection for the lyrics and pulse. Going through all my tragedies over the past year, especially recently, “Soft Animal” helps me put myself into perspective. Life is beautiful when you look outside of yourself. There’s more to existence than our own. The lyrics speak about encountering fawn in the winter, probably in Massachusetts where Hotelier is from. When I think about the wonder of earth, and all it homes, the words “make me believe that I don’t have to die” heals the wound in my chest. Like two hands rubbing warm water on my body. It was therapeutic. The Hotelier had a solid performance. As a new fan I can see they’re building on a connection with their scene. Goodness will serve well them well for the next two years or so on tours. This is a group I will look to see again on bigger stages with bigger crowds.

Old Vibrations

It’s good timing for A Day To Remember’s next record. Summer has started and there’s space for someone to make an everlasting impression. Each summer there’s always a record we can look back on years later and define that summer by. Dr. Dre and The Chronic in 1992. Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories in 2013. Name your own summer records. ADTR have an opportunity to forever etch their names into summer. The album title track “Bad Vibrations” opens the new album and brings the intensity fans of old can reminisce in. Early breakdowns and catchy angry verses to feast on. It’s a smart move to announce a new album with a uniquely ADTR song to get everyone excited. Vocalist Jeremy McKinnon utilizes more screaming and half singing than cleaning singing. ADTR’s last few albums have slowly moved away from that style and focused on poppier verses and chorus. It’s not a sign a this new record will return an overwhelming restoration of hardcore centric vocals however “Bad Vibrations” feeds the dogs. New record drops August 19th.

June 1st & 2nd

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I don’t have anything important to write about. Just need the exercise for my mind. It helps expel so tension within. Exhume my anger, my negativity. I didn’t end up getting the room for rent I wanted. It pissed me off so much and threw me off my good streak. Of course, I should be in control and I can choose to let it affect me but I’m still struggling overcoming myself. I’m still mentally fragile when it comes to disappoint or failure. The dam didn’t break but the cracks have let water through slowly pounding the initial damage. I have to resist and hold myself accountable. Seal the cracks and keep the flood at bay. I’ll start looking for something else tomorrow. Tonight I finally get to see my close friend who now lives in Oregon with my close friend who has been their for me over the past few months. I have to drive home eventually but I’m not going to let that stop me from drinking however much I want. We’re meeting at Churchill’s tonight for drinks. No way I’m not having my way with that tonight. Pick up food on the way. Punish my body with bad food, alcohol, and cigarettes. I need that short term pleasure.

Tomorrow I’m off and I’m watching game 1 of the Finals with those guys. We’ve been waiting for this since last summer. I definitely felt like Golden State were favored to get back to Finals unless they lost to the ole Spurs. We all knew and predicted the Cavs would be back in the Finals. The team definitely have themselves more figured after almost two seasons together, their second Finals appearance, and most importantly everyone healthy. I don’t think the Channing Frye upgrade will make much of a difference but this one will be far more competitive than last year. I expect this to go seven with Golden State winning in the final minutes of the last game. Their personnel runs too deep and I’m not sure Coach James and Lue will magically find a line up that can deal with Curry, Thompson, Green, Barnes, and Iguadala like Oklahoma City developed throughout the playoffs. They don’t have long stretchy guys like Steven Adams, Enes Kanter, and Andre Roberson that can move on the perimeter.

Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving are defensive liabilities and can’t be expected to play all series long for extensive stretches. Matthew Dellavedova, Iman Shumpert, and the zombie of Richard Jefferson will have to play serious minutes. The Cavs will certainly push the Warriors to game 7, they may even steal one in Oakland, but they just don’t have the right guys to match with the death line up Golden State uses to finish games or catch up if Steph or Klay get hot from 3. I’m excited to watch this series start to unfold tomorrow night. I’ll be interested to see how the guys will watch. My friend from Oregon works in the sports media world so going back and forth with him will be fun and productive as far as understanding the game. My other friend hasn’t watched as much NBA over the year but I hope to see him entertained. Maybe I can turn him on to professional sports a bit more to getting him into more conversations. Thursday should be a better day. My outlook for that day has risen. Going to therapy will help me feel better and make progress. I look forward to tonight and all of tomorrow.