Chicago’s Cap ‘n Jazz was one of the bands that preoccupied my teenage angst years which last from about 11 - 25. I had to grow up and be an adult as a teenager so my real teenager years were 18 - 25. I still got into plenty of teenage antics from 11 - 18 but that is simply another story that I will never tell here.

Cap ‘n Jazz was a band I simply fell in love with upon the first time they blasted my ears. They were around but for an instant and before I possessed any chance of seeing them live and loud in person. When I was still in high school focusing all my energies on music theory and writing I simply loved their use of time signatures, their vocal play, hooks and sound that I was relatively new to at the time.

Cap ‘n Jazz years after breaking up had a few reunion shows and one happened to be in Philadelphia… a town which I will forever have ties with in some way or another. To avoid getting into a rant any further than I have, I scored the last ticket available in town for the show. I nearly died bike riding from center city to olde city but it was worth the risk.

Now I don’t normally get excited for shows but this was a rare exception… I was only up front for the first couple of songs but something about the weight of 1,000 plus people pushing on me just wasn’t as much fun for me when I was younger but just as crazy. Being up front that close did allow me to get the shot I wanted which is pictured above.

After my tolerance for sweat and a body mass much larger than mine ran up, I made my way to some breathing room, I simply got to sit back and enjoy. While I ran into a few folks I didn’t see for a while there, I nearly left early because a lot of live shows just don’t excite me as much as they use to. I don’t mean to come off jaded because I don’t feel that way but it is how I feel. 

A lot of bands for me are time in place. I don’t feel as bad if I miss out on shows as much because the music never changes. The songs artists write, the hooks they play and lyrics they sing, what those mean to me will simply never change but please keep in mind that it was worth nearly getting hit by another car on my bicycle to hear the ramblings of “Oh Messy Life” screamed by over a 1,000 + people while loosing their minds.