Just as the name suggests, My Liner Notes takes from the nostalgic art form of an LP’s liner notes, which can be found within the inner sleeves and inserts of dusty records and cassette tapes. The personal essays found on this blog contain anecdotal and factual material which celebrate the visceral and emotional connection we all share with music. These analytical, humorous, and often poignant opinion-editorials are always delivered with the kind of brutal honesty you can only expect from a music nerd.
As mentioned before, Voxtrot announced their break-up back in April and revealed they would be playing their final shows as part of a tour appropriately called Farewell Cruel World.
So when tickets to their very last show at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom went on sale, I didn’t twice about traveling 500 miles to another city in order to say goodbye to one of my favourite bands.
Now before you start labelling me a softy (and you’re probably correct in making such a claim), let me just explain myself: Voxtrot has been one of those rare bands I have followed since the early beginnings of their career.
With each new single, 7”, or EP released, I became even more obsessed with the Austin band, whose sound is arguably inspired by the maudlin, jangly rock of The Smiths and the bouncy, baroque twee-pop of Belle and Sebastian.
And after seven great years, last Saturday night at the Bowery marked the beginning of the end of Voxtrot.
With three opening bands, it was clear that the night would be anything but brief. Truthfully, I could have done without at least one of the opening acts.
I don’t want to single-out any of the bands, but Austin’s Yellow Fever really tested my patience and ability to stay awake. But maybe it’s just because I was expecting to see a dorky white dude sing songs about manga and geishas.
But once Ramesh, Jason, Matt, Mitch and Jared finally took the stage just before midnight, I had forgotten all about the excruciating experience that was Yellow Fever.
I’m not going to lie. The show was emotional at times, just knowing that the next song they performed could very well be the last time you would ever hear it live.
The set list included the best songs in their catalog including “Raised by Wolves”, “Your Biggest Fan”, “Long Haul”, “Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives”, and of course, “The Start of Something”, which I’ve posted above.
Each song was dedicated to a friend or family member, and seconds before launching into the encore’s closing song, “Missing Pieces”, Ramesh thanked the crowd for all their support and offered some words of encouragement.
“This is our last song ever as Voxtrot,” he said. “Thank you so much for believing in music and for coming… Don’t lose your sense of curiosity. Just do whatever you want to do.”
Those words may seem like some trite, overly sentimental acceptance speech you would expect from Beyonce at the Grammy’s, but in that moment they seemed intimately honest and bittersweet.
