This morning at five a.m., our cat Misha was batting at the bedroom window. He’d been outside all night. I was awoken to his meowing, to the sound of his paws on the glass. I got up and let him in. I climbed back into bed and tried to get back to sleep. After fifteen minutes or so, I gave up and picked up my book. I started reading, only to see the words begin to disappear from the page. I was getting an ocular migraine. I’ve been afflicted with them, on and off, since I was ten. My kid Milo gets them too. I got up, took some Tylenol, and got back into bed. I closed my eyes.
I dreamed.
In my dream, I was in a helicopter, being flown over some strange, vibrant cityscape. I was also being interviewed — for a podcast, I think. I had a headset on, there in the cockpit of that helicopter, and I was talking to someone over the radio. I interrupted the interviewer in the middle of his question: I wanted to name my favorite bands from San Francisco.
I’ve never done this before in real life, catalogued my favorite bands from that city. I have no idea why I was prompted to do this in my dream. But, on waking, I discovered that it was a pretty rock-solid list, and probably one that I would, when asked, recreate in my waking life. Here it is.
American Music Club
Red House Painters
Donner Party
Steve Miller Band
The Grateful Dead
It was the sort of dream that comes to you when you’re just below the surface, when you can see the sun shining through the ripples in the water of your consciousness. I was not aware that I was dreaming and yet I was able to pretty faithfully call to mind which bands were from San Francisco and, of them, which I liked best. Upon waking, I realized I missed a few: The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Aislers Set, but for a top five, my dream-self did a pretty good job.
I hope you are transitioning smoothly in the fall and that your summer was long but not overlong. And I hope your dream-consciousness keeps cataloging your top fives from random cities all over the world.
The first time we got to see you sing live was in San Francisco, on a Colin Meloy Sings tour (2013 or so). You did the Kinks covers.
It was such a great introduction, and a great trip for my wife and I. Our first trip without kiddos.
So, in a sense, you are my favorite San Francisco artist (ok.. bit of a stretch).
I was fortunate to see you this past weekend in Astoria. The shows were amazing. I love smaller venues like that.
Severed was mind blowing. I also fell in love again with After The Bombs.
That opening chord made me think you were going to play Make You Better, then when AtB started my jaw dropped.
Thank you for the shows, for being OK with people taking pictures, and as always for the music.
-Don
PS, See you in November with the Symphony!
Okay, this is probably me just making it about me... BUT, last night I dreamt that I was at one of your shows (and I say "your" because it definitely felt like a solo act).
It took place in a movie theater and you sat upon a stool. So maybe more like a one man act or a bit of standup.
You then proceeded to sing "Last Night I Dreamt...", walking through the aisles as you did so. The funnier part being that you were doing it in a very Rat Pack way (imagine Dean Martin singing/talking to the crowd).
Point being- you titled this A Dream.
Anyways... 😁