Sure, I have my own interests, but I’ve also been known to fill my time with other peoples' interests just so I can hang out with them.
Thanks to my many ex-roommates, I’ve watched a lot television shows that I otherwise wouldn’t. (See: Boy Meets World and Who’s the Boss?) When it comes to Jaimee, I go to The Gypsy more often than I should, and end up tipsy on rum and Cokes, hearing a lot of bad karaoke, less than a block from my house and glad that I let her talk me into another night out. With Robyn, I end up consuming a lot of vegan food all the while thinking how much better it would be with meat and/or cheese, but discover Blossoming Lotus‘ amazing Coconut Chai. Alexis takes me into the world of Vietnamese barbecues and Asian eateries, and I happen upon Frank’s Noodle House (fresh noodles make a HUGH difference) three weeks before I move out of the neighborhood.
I've come to enjoy trying new things and spending time with my friends and family members, which is why I jumped at the chance to join Halley at a Tally Hall concert and Allie’s organized outing to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. Needless to say, it was busier than my average weekend.
Halley LOVES her some Tally Hall. And, when I say “love,” I mean she likes them more than the 35-year-old mother I met at their Mississippi Studios concert who was bribed with a free concert ticket by her teenage daughter to chauffer the daughter’s posse to and from the concert, but less than Kathy Bates’ character in Misery. To put it another way, if Tally Hall was Phish, Halley would have spent the last five years selling veggie burritos out of a Volkswagen van. But, since we’re talking Tally Hall – not only was I able to wear shoes to the concert, but my deodorant was also a welcome tagalong.
Mississippi Studios is an adorable venue with a capacity in the neighborhood of 250, which I would consider intimate. Casey Shea opened the show. It was either the balcony full of minors calling out amorous phrases or it could have been the two audience members he pulled on to the stage, dressed them up in animal masks and gave them party poppers – either way, he worked that venue like it was nobody’s business.
Speak followed and if I had been 14-years-old I might have thought they were dreamy, instead they gave me a reason to drink – more. If I learned anything from Airheads (other than Adam Sandler can be strangely hot) it is this, “If it’s too loud, you’re too old.” And, it appears that I’m too old for Speak. Of course, this feeling could have been the result of Halley referring to my “Thirty, flirty, and loving it” phase of life as “middle age,” but since the two coincided – I may never know for certain.
While talking me into the show, Halley described Tally Hall as Indie Rock and Power Pop. Now that I've heard them, I agree with the description but it feels like an over generalization. It’s kind of like categorizing both The Radio Active Boy Scout and Chelsea Handler’s My Horizontal Life as nonfiction – it’s true, but you could say so much more. Maybe it’s the suits or maybe it’s their harmonies, but Tally Hall sounds like a throwback to the rock bands from the 1950s and ‘60s. Let’s try it another way, if The Monkees were reboot with a touch of The Everly Brothers and took a few writing tips from Wally Pleasant – I believe the result would be something like Tally Hall.
Their songs are catchy. Some are catchy in their repetitiveness. (See: &). Others are catchy in their quirkiness. (See: Banana Man). However, and I'm just going to put this out there, there are other songs that are intriguing because of their pairing of bubblegum pop beats with lyrics I would describe, in literary terms, as rooted in the same zip code as Gothic horror. (See: Cannibal).
Halley told me the main reasons she likes Tally Hall – it’s a tie between their nerderiffic music and they’re appreciation for their fans. And, Halley’s right. Members of the band circulated through the crowd before and after the concert. Halley hobnobbed and introduced me to all of them except, “Ross, Gray Tie, because he’s quite.” (That's actually how she talked about the band members. "Rob, Yellow Tie, postponed med school to stay with the band." And, "Andrew, Green Tie, is over there," even though Andrew was in his civvies and no where near a tie.)
It was great to experience Halley’s favorite band through her eyes. I kept forgetting that I was with Halley and would do things, like a whole head eye roll when she suggested that I not put my beer down on a table when the closest person was 20 paces away. Well, that was when Halley thought I was having a seizure. You'd think I'd know better by now and not use things like sarcasm or exaggerated facial expressions around Halley. But, then again, last week I was told not to color my hair without her (even though it turned out super kick ass). But, I digress. I can see why Halley adores Tally Hall. They had witty banter. And, they had not so witty banter, (e.g., Andrew trying to start a game of Truth or Dare when all he had in mind was a dare and Joe, Zubin, and Rob all wanted Truth. So, instead they played a song).
The problem is that Halley's not the only one who likes these guys. Looking at my fellow audience members, I'd say that they're a hot ticket with teenage girls and the over 50 market. I'm glad that I was able to borrow her interest before I had to do something like shell out $8.50 for a beer or stand in line for 20 minutes to use the restroom, because I'm pretty sure that it’s only a matter of time until they move out of the sweet and adorable venues like Mississippi Studios and into the likes of the Crystal Ballroom and then Edgefield* where the crowds would be too large to allow for the one-on-one attention that Halley has come to love. When that day comes, I hope she’ll take comfort in knowing that it’s Tally Hallmanacs like her who moved Tally Hall out of New Jersey Spring Fling gigs and into the Portland, Ore. Mississippi Studios in the first place.
* Maybe I have McMenamins' Cajun tots on my mind.
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