T IS FOR TRAIN

My ex-husband loves to go to concerts.  I cannot tell you how many concerts that I went to when we were married.  I liked concerts well enough before my constant migraine started.  After that, not so much.  However, he was not to be deterred.  One of the many bands that we saw in our Tour De Force of concert-going was Train.  I had never heard of this band, and I wasn't excited about the event.  The only good thing about this concert, in my mind, was that we didn't have to travel to see them.  They were playing right in our town.  That was a Big Win.  Now, this was everything I thought BEFORE the concert.

The year was 2003, and they were playing at an outdoor venue.  This was excellent news for my migraine.  They recently released My Private Nation and were touring for that album.  Little did I know that I was about to be WOWED.  I loved this band.  I bought a T-Shirt before I left.  The ex-husband did not.  I started buying their CDs.  The ex-husband did not. 

The ex-husband did continue to buy concert tickets for other bands at all sorts of locations, so I saw Train again.  This time they were with Smashmouth and Natalie Merchant.  The venue was indoors and they were still awesome.  I only liked them more, because this time I knew more of their songs (thanks to the CDs).  Pat Monahan is amazing in concert.  He has this ability to relate to the audience that is rare.  He is a funny, funny man.  Yet, he can be serious, too.  He can literally wring every emotion out of you in one musical outing.

Like many people, I feared that Train was done when they disbanded after For Me, It's You.  However, they pulled it together and made Save Me, San Francisco.  They toured on that record for a LONG time while they decided where to go from here.  Their most recent album, California 37 is one of their best.  Each track has legs and can stand on its own merit.  In that way it reminds me of the much-loved My Private Nation, which I about wore the grooves off of back in 2003-2004. 

Here's to you, Train, and your successful comeback.  This is one of my favorite songs off of My Private Nation.  It was never released on the radio, but this video shows Pat Monahan's wonderful "presence" in concert.  You save me, and I will save the day!

Rating: Passion


What is your favorite Train song? Have you ever seen them in concert? Have you ever gone to a concert and been taken surprise by a band or singer?  Either liked them much better or not as well as you thought you would?  Have you ever gone to a concert that had a group/singer you didn't even know and you liked them so much you started buying their CDs or even bought a concert Tee?

Pat Monahan, I Got Your 411

You have probably been wondering why it has taken so long for me to post the Train concert rewind.

Well, it has been a bit difficult for me to wrap my head around it. That is honest.

I saw them a couple of times in 2004-2005 when they were on the road promoting their record, My Private Nation. The first time it was a total accident and I totally fell in love with them. The second time they were with Natalie Merchant and Smash Mouth and it was totally planned. That was just a trifecta of wonderful and I was already head over heels for Train.

They released several more records since My Private Nation. That means more hits. More songs. And they went into this tour in a completely different space. They headlined. They weren't opening or in the middle. I didn't think about what all of that would mean. There are always trades. The bigger you get, the more you lose. I know that you should get more, but you don't. It always works in reverse. You get more showy stuff like lights and big screens, but you lose time. You have more songs to sing and less time. Things have to go.

And that wonderful repartee that you used to get to enjoy with your audience... well, you don't have time for that anymore, either. You are on a freakin' clock. Too many songs. Not enough time.

What I felt in 2004-2005 was how much Train loved the performance. Pat is a funny, funny guy. He is also this serious guy who can write a song that will make you cry your eyes out. In other words, you can feel EVERYTHING in an hour (or two). You will, laugh, cry, and laugh again. Plus just drown in the beauty of the words. They are so good you don't need a light show or big screens to sell them. You just need Pat to talk to the audience. It is his opening the window to the soul of the band and giving the audience a peek in.. and it leaves everyone breathless for that moment in time. That is the moment that is worth the entire ticket price. Everything else is gravy.

So, when someone understands how to captivate an audience.... it does create magic when it happens... and I have lived through it twice.... why would you stop doing it?

California 37 is a brilliant album. It is their best work since My Private Nation. Save Me, San Francisco has moments of grace on it, but it fumbles. Like My Private Nation, California 37 is listening pleasure beginning to end. They got lost, but Train found their way again. And I was beyond happy for them:-)

So, things get cut in this new concert setting. That was one thing I just had to wrap my brain around. They didn't play my favorite songs. They truncated some and left out others entirely. Boo Hoo. They didn't have time. And Pat was somewhat chatty with the audience, but he was off. It was mostly song to song and we are outta here. Clap clap clap. Come back for the mandatory two song finale. And now we are really done. All with big lights and big screens. It was dizzying and not in the best way. Pat sang his heart out. Musically, it rocked. I can't say I didn't get my money's worth. I just didn't get my window. I didn't get my laugh, cry, laugh again moments. And if I had never had them, I wouldn't have known I was missing anything.

Today I read Pat's blog. I realize I haven't been keeping up. What people are saying to him is getting to him. The negativity is wearing him down. People aren't getting his humor. And that is a damn shame, because he is hilarious. So that is probably why he is cutting back on joking around between songs, because he doesn't want the negative feedback. And he doesn't want to open a window into his life, because that is just asking for negative feedback (right?). People and their negative feedback are taking the Meaningful out of Train concerts. You throw a bunch of crapola on someone and they stop giving you ammunition. It's called self-preservation.

Here is one of his more recent posts:

31th August 2012
And you’re sure you considered EVERYthing?

I am arriving at a place I dreamed of as a young lad(using this word as a tribute to the UK). On the way the road twisted, dead ended, forked, crossed…you name it, the road did it.
I thought I thought of everything. Really I did. I felt sorry for artists that started to believe the nonsense. Like believing that you’re as special as people want to think you are.
I looked on at the admirable jobs and places in the music world and decided that if I get my shot, I will do it with kindness and love and respect and I will make my parents proud, whether they are here to see it or not.
I decided that music is my ongoing road to find myself. The closer I got to that special music and connection, the closer I would get to knowing my true self.
I’m pretty sure that all of this was accurately moving towards truly working out as planned. Yeah, it took longer, had way more casualties and hurt way more than I thought it might, but the joy has continued to outweigh the lack there of.
Here’s the problem..I didn’t consider what might be the most important piece in this pursuit. I didn’t even think this part was possible. As I go down this road and get closer to finding myself, closer and closer each day, becoming in tune with my true self, what if I don’t like who I find waiting there?
I’m not looking for adulation nor confirmation. I mean really. What if as I approach that thing that we all long to find-our own personal meaning, what happens if the closer I get the more I resemble an unlikable version of what i was when i started this journey?
I’m not exactly sure what that would mean for me. I’m not sure that I would be able to continue this particular quest.
I do know this..I am making more mistakes now than ever and that worries me.

I dread writing and worrying people. I’m fine. I’m okay. I’m healthy. I’m okay. I’m in touch. BUT I’m not exactly sure I like what I’m becoming.
I’ve always wanted to be perfect. That led me to an endless sea of heartbreak and disappointment.
Now I just try not to break what I touch along the way. For everyone that I may touch positively, it seems someone else is being hurt or ignored.
As its said, “Everything will work out in the end. If it isn’t working out, it isn’t the end.”

As you move towards reaching your higher self, are you sure that you considered EVERYthing?

Pat

I couldn't respond to your blog, but I would have said you are allowing other people to dictate how you feel about yourself. You are a wonderful person. Please stop doubting yourself. You are not breaking anyone or anything. You always do the best that you can. Always. The only thing you are doing wrong now is not listening to your internal voice. You are not being you. I will explain this more as I go...

I used the link-in feature so that you could go direct to his blog if you wanted to do any other reading on your own. If you figure out how to comment, let me know. I am a total dweeb about these sorts of things.

One of the other comments he makes in a totally different blog is how hundreds of people can say how much they love him and one person's obnoxious hateful comment is the one that sticks. Doesn't that just suck? Why do we do that to ourselves? Hear all of the "you are wonderfuls" with a sort of "okay, if you say so" approach, but those "you suck" comments really hit in the heart. We believe that. Why is that? He was also talking about how people were targeting his sense of humor and really being ugly about it. He didn't say that he has since stopped talking on stage, but I know that he has really toned it down. He doesn't feel free to be himself. The haters are winning.

And there is the Catch 22 of stardom. The more you have, the more you can lose. When you don't have anything, you have nothing to lose. Back in the beginning, the haters didn't stop him. He didn't have a light show. He wasn't headlining. He didn't have big screens. Train wasn't rolling so hard. The faster you roll, the bigger you can crash. The flip side is that the faster you roll, the harder you can squash those little turds bullies with mouths that won't shut the fuck up. (If I just offended you, I am so thankful we got that over with, because it was bound to happen sooner or later. Now we can move on... because I always call it like I see it. And that was how I see it.)

So, Pat and the rest of Train, I hope that you read this and let Train start rolling again as AWESOME as it ever was, and even better than I can imagine. I just answered your 411. Give them hell. Be yourselves. It will solve ALL OF YOUR PROBLEMS. In case you forgot, this is who you are:




as for the image... that is me pre-Train concert 9/7/12.

You Can Quit At Any Time. But This Could Be Your Year.

Well, I missed a few days. Duh.

Did you miss me?

Yeah, I figure you were busy, too.

Funny how you can have great intentions and they can just get shot straight to someplace else. Well, that is what you call LIFE, I think.

Oh well.

Let's get back to California 37 and Train. Can you believe that the concert is only two days away? Me either.

I am absolutely ready for it. It is going to be outside, so I am really hoping that the weather cooperates. Last time I checked there was only 30% chance of rain, so that is good. And it has been cooling down in the evenings... another plus. So, I have fingers, toes, and anything else that is crossable... crossed.

Okay, let's get down to the music. I do believe that I referenced a blog or two back that the band did figure out what the problem was for their lack of ongoing success after they achieved success. In other words, just having a couple of great songs doesn't mean that you will continue to put out great songs. I think that there is a lot of pressure once you have made it to continue to make it. Before you make it, you can write whatever you want. After you make it, everyone seems to have an opinion about your music. And that is aside from the fans.

I found what Pat had to say during this studio session very enlightening.



Let's listen to the whole thing...



If if made you think of Billy Joel's song We Didn't Start The Fire at first listen, you are not the only one. Of course, the listing of events is the only thing those two songs have in common. BJ's song spans decades and isn't remotely personal. Train's song is an intimate look at Pat's life. I look at the timeline of it and I see that at various times there was hopelessness there. Gaping hopelessness. Couldn't you feel it? He even says "this is the time I felt most alone."

I love these kinds of songs because he is offering the entire spectrum of his life to date. There was some terrible places, black places, with sunlight filtering in here and there. However, he kept going and then KABOOM... the universe rewarded all of his tenacity with bounty. Train took off. Train crashed and burned. Train took off again. His marriage crashed and burned, but finally he met the true love of his life in 2004, and it was true and good, and he finally felt at home. The lesson is that you can quit at any time on the timeline, but if you do, you won't get the reward.

So, Journey has the right of it DON'T STOP BELIEVING. And so does Train because MAYBE THIS WILL BE YOUR YEAR.

This is another song I just really like off of the new album. They didn't create a Studio Session for it. And it hasn't been deemed radio worthy... yet. But, it is one of my personal favorites.

If I go before I say to everyone in my ballet

Let me take this chance to thank you for the dance
If I run out of songs to sing to take your mind off everything
Just smile, sit a while with the

Sun on your face and remember the place we met
Take a breath and soon I bet you'll see
Without you I would never be me
You are the leaves of my family tree

Sing together
If you knew me from the very start,
Or we met last week at the grocery mart
Just sing together
It's the least that I can do
My final gift to you
Oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oooo

When I'm past the pearly gate, I will find some real estate
Where we can settle down and watch the world go round
We'll send down all the love we got and let them know we got a spot
For them to be and it's all free,

The sun on your face and remember the place we met
Take a breath and soon I bet you'll see
Without you I would never be me
You are the leaves of my family tree

Sing together
If you knew me from the very start,
Or not at all you're still a part, just
Sing together
It's the least that I can do
My final gift to you
Oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oooo
Oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oooo

So, let's all sing together. If you knew me from the very start, or not at all you're still a part of it all. It's the least that I can do.

Without you, I would never be me.


image found on facebook, yet again
Don't ask...

Do You Speak Your Truth?

Knock. Knock. Who's there? Me. Again.

Are you shocked?

I know. Me too.

Posting back to back is downright a-mazing.

Here's the deal, peeps. It just smacked me right upside the head that my long awaited concert is next Friday. As in less than a week away. Yes, Train is coming to Atlanta next Friday night. I am so totally and completely psyched. I got out my IPod this afternoon, put California 37 on shuffle, and soaked it in... again. Man, I love that album.

While I was listening, I said to myself, "Robin, you have seriously got to share the deliciousness that is this album with your blog friends. So many people are still in the dark about how awesome Train is. If you start today and post at least one song off the album every day, you can cover a good many songs before C-Day (Concert Day)." So, I decided to go for it.

Then, I had to decide what to choose and why. These are always the hardest choices. Every song on this album is so revealing about Train in different ways. Stylistically, they are all a bit different, which I totally love. Don't you hate listening to a singer or band and come away thinking that every song sounds exactly the same? No chance of that with this band. They really dug deep and found their sound, which is totally unique, but not remotely the same as any other song on the album. I love that.

The other thought that kept running through my head was how honest Pat was in so many of these songs. Pat is the lead singer and does a lot of the writing, for those of you not in the know. Some of that honesty was so raw that it reminded me of another favorite singer (can I bring up Marshall Mathers and not have this become an MM post????). When you live in the spotlight and decide to write about your life, it means writing about other people. Period. And the people who were crappy to you end up not looking so good. If those people are your exes and still wield some power over you because you share kids, you have to decide whether or not you or going to live in fear of them or not. Or are you going to tell your story with fearless truth and courage? And then let the chips fall as they may. I have to say that I respect someone who steps up and lets it fly.



Anyway, this is not the first cut off the album. It isn't even a particularly long song, but I feel taps the attitude of the album very well, so I think it is a good place to BEGIN.



Knock knock, who's there?
2012 is a brand new year
Cleaning house, singing songs
Shedding light and righting wrongs
Ding dong the witch ain't dead
She's still trying to take my bread
Four more years 'til my girls all grown
Then the b*tch gotta have to leave me alone
It's all good 'cause I'm as happy as a flea
On a mountain of dogs you see
A little music cured all the hurt and put hate in six feet of dirt

I was looking for some heaven
There's no need to look no more
California 37
Took me right to heaven's door
Knock knock, woah oh
Rock and Roll
California 37 took me right to heaven's door

Here's to those who didn't think Train could ever roll again
You were the fuel that I used when inspiration hit a dead end
San Francisco got it done 415 took the 911
Thank you all for believin' in
We won't let you down again
Truth is, it was attitude
Replaced greed with gratitude
Then replaced a pretty key dude
It's all truth not being rude
Making love now, not mistakes
Working hard instead of looking for breaks
Came all the way from the eighth Great Lake
And found 37 reasons to stay

I was looking for some heaven
There's no need to look no more
California 37
Took me right to heaven's door
Knock knock, woah oh
Rock and Roll
California 37 took me right to heaven's door

I was looking for some heaven
There's no need to look no more
California 37
Took me right to heaven's door


Okay, I just had me a time with the italics, large, larger, and largest functions. For those of you not in the know, Pat is divorced with two kids. He remarried in 2004 or 2005. And he had two kids with his new wife and they are very happy. Obviously, that first marriage not so much. And they are still not getting along. However, I have seen pics of him and his two oldest kids and they are great with their dad. He doesn't talk much about they whys and wherefores of it all, but clearly it is not good! See the italicized portions for clarification.

There was speculation that Train would not bounce back. Pat talks about this in a Studio Session that I will post in a later blog. When you have discord in a band about your "sound," you have discord. They needed unity about who they were. Apparently in order to get that unity they had to pare down the band. Well, core values and goals are a must. If your destination isn't the same you will always be tugging at each other and spinning your wheels. It is a strange sort of marriage. I love the part about how they turned it around: replaced greed with gratitude and then working hard instead of looking for breaks. They realized it wasn't working at the root, which explained the lack of success on their last two albums prior to Save Me, San Francisco, which had the hit Hey Soul Sister on it. However, something had to give. And that was it. They had to strive for gratitude and hard work. And when they did, it turned everything around. They made something incredible.

Let's look at one more song for fun. This is their current single. It even has a video. As you will soon see, it is stylistically very different from everything else on the album. I love the lyrics. I love the beat. Actually, I love everything about this song. Just LOVE it.



Isn't that hilarious? I freakin' love the video, too.

They just put this T-shirt up for sale on Train's Official Website, due to fan outcry, after Pat wore it on a morning talk show. It was previously only available at the concert. Now you can buy it on their website. I wish it came in purple...




Stay tuned for more Train and some cool 3-4 minute Studio Sessions with Train to see how the new record came together. I think you tend to like a band better when you feel like you have a better sense of who the people actually are. And they are always just people. It's when they let you in and get to know them a little bit, you can see that they are really COOL people.

Stay away from those crappy Purple Scions everyone. They can be killers... lol.


all images except the T-shirt found on facebook, of course
where the crazy people live

you can find the T-shirt on Train's official website

Stepping Out

It seems like everything on this blog has been weighty and stressful. One big fat *ugghh* at each reading.

The band Train came out with their new album, California 37, in April. I have been psyched about this ever since it arrived on the scene. I even downloaded it on my IPOD immediately. Every song on it is amazing.

I first discovered Train when I was dragged to one of their concerts by the ex-husband. He wasn't an ex at the time. They were playing right here in our hometown, the concert was outside, and it was fairly inexpensive. That meant we were going. This man was willing to travel several states away to see a concert. So we were going. I didn't even know who Train was at the time. I was less than thrilled. However, as soon as they started playing, I was hooked. And I mean seriously hooked. I bought a T-shirt before we left. He didn't. I still have it. I also made a point of buying their CDs after that. I became a FAN.

So... when this album came out, I got on the computer and looked up the tour schedule. Sure enough, they are on tour. And they will be in the south this fall. I bought tickets. The venue is outdoors, which is much more tolerable for migraine sufferers. And I am hoping by then that I have it better under control. I haven't been excited about a concert in YEARS. Mostly because they are painful. But I am optimistic. And excited.

So, what is the fuss about? Some of you may be scratching your heads. Train who? I don't know whether to enlighten you by way of their old stuff or their new stuff. Heck, it is all awesome. This is a new song, not yet released, that I think is just wonderful. It is live.




This is the new single, obviously the video. Professional job. Very cool. Awesome song.




This is something from the studio sessions for the new album. Gives you some insight into the band.




And this was the song on that first tour standing in the audience when I knew it was love. I can't remember if there were tears running down my face or not. But there probably were. Because that is just who I am.





It's good to have things to be excited about, things to look forward to, etc. And when I talk about Train, it feels really good not for it to be in the context of riding on the Crazy Train... lol. I am learning that people do need these things in their lives. (these positive things to focus on) I think that these are the things that help us get through the days. If all we have are the bad things, the negative things, the scary things, then we have nothing.

It is slowly occurring to me that my life has become so insulated by doctor's appointments and migraines and things that I cannot do because of illness that I don't have positive things to look forward to that are actually substantial. As in real. I have things that I want to happen. Things that I envision happening someday. But not much that is on the books. I need more on the books. I now have a Train concert. To some of you that may not seem like a whole lot. To me that is major progress. It is huge. No one ever made it anywhere without taking that first step. I haven't stepped in a long time. Hello world. This is me stepping.


image found at www.weheartit.com