Another Panda Riot show

Another Panda Riot show. How many times is it now. This time its at Emporium Arcade Bar on Milwaukee Ave. I should have missed the show, I was running late for it. I had to drive a cousin back home....to Indiana, come back, shower, drive to this show that fohhck it I was late for.  Driving there was essentially another training exercise. I did not expect to make it on time. I park with the usual long distance from the venue. Its me never believing I'll get rock star parking. So there is Brian smoking outside off to the side of the entrance. Hmm, there is no...urgency evident on him. A casual slouch that knows there is nothing to anticipate for a while. Naw,.....that can mean anything.  Fuck, that can mean their set is done and he chillin'.  I've seen them a bunch of times, sure, but a thwarted effort always hurts. And I feel like a moron that was caught being a moron. I still ask.....as it turns out. The gig itself was running late. I turn giddy again. Does not help Brian much....the band has been at the place since 8pm and my happy ass arrived just after 11pm.  You know that scene from Jerry Mcguire when Tom Cruise is in the office on the phone with all those lights that blink until no more. The band before them was just sucking all the time. Its not really on them. I noticed a lot of their audience actually familiar with them. And I can start counting the people that I'm quite certain came to see Panda Riot. I noticed them at one moment, and gone the next. So there's time to kill on our side. I see Cory and then Rebecca. Cory is in Lightfoils as well. They got a new CD that I eventually want to hear and see
live.

I feel bad that I missed their last show at Empty Bottle I believe.

   Its an 80's video game bar. We watch Rebecca reach a high score on....I forgot the name of the arcade, damn. Its gonna bother me. Its an iconic game at that........I notice a number of singers of other bands that I imagine would have stayed for Panda Riot's set had it not stretched well into 11pm. Rebecca's partner in her other band architecture stopped to say goodbye, work in the morning. There were a lot of Panda Riot supporters that had to leave for that reason. It was a Tuesday night. I just barely arrived....early apparently. So I'm good. And they've been ready to go on for a while. Eventually the go on. They play familiar songs that they got in their new available album and new songs that for me streamlines and focuses the sounds, the things that drew my attention to begin with are tweaked and feel naturally matured. I still get that feeling of wonder from their music. Beats are heavier and faster thanks to Jose, more risk taking, more assertive, muscle. This is the first record I believe recorded with Cory. Some of these songs I remember before they became recorded and tangible. Its something to hear them and for the moment not have it to take home, and now I can. When they only had She Dares All Things and then Far And Near they were already playing from Northern Automatic Music.  Nice, something to anticipate. In The Forest (Some Kind Of Night Fills Your Head) is the first one I recall being able to call dark with a good degree of comfort. Black Pyramids is the the first to strike me as more assertive, confident. Its always fun to see Jose as the drummer. Through him is channelled all that joy and power. Its infectious and you see it in Cory. I hear Good Night, Rich Kids, and I can finally take that home and wear the shirt....just not in front of them. I have this inner fear of being seen as too obsessive a fan. Some tracks for me do echo back to She Dares .....and among those are the stark and cool departures that separate Northern. So at least for me I see a transition....an evolution within Northern.  And so for this late performance I can hear a lot and not feel like its sand passing through my hands. It does not twist and fade in memory. And it all begins again with them playing like two new tracks I think.  They are not done and there is a lot of work to anticipate from them.