Brief Encouter

Last night we ventured to downtown Naperville, to the North Central College campus for a hurricane Katrina benefit show. An offshoot of The Smoking Popes, a band called Duvall was playing with John Davis (former frontman for Superdrag). The Smoking Popes are another of my favorite bands (how many is that now?!) and Duvall sound is very similar. While we weren't sure what to expect at North Central College, a private Christian college, at a Christian rock show, we really like Duvall so we decided to check it out. While picking up our tickets before the show, non other than Josh Caterer, the singer/guitarist for Smoking Popes/Duvall walked outside the side of the building by us. We didn't know if Duvall was headling, since no one at the Box Office seemed to know anything about the show, and John Davis was more pronounced on the web site, we went early to get the tickets and find out the lineup. I recognized him from the pictures I've seen on the web and in their CD inserts, but had never seen him in person. We almost just walked by without saying a word, then I had a weird feeling. I always get this feeling when I see someone famous, or that I respect privately, notably musicians. Most of the time I would have walked by, getting all giddy, saying "We just walked by (insert semi-famous name here)!" Instead, for some reason, I stop, turned and said "Do you know the lineup for the show tonight?" He looked at me and said "Violet Burning, John Davis and Duvall.", kind of like he wasn't really in the band. So I smiled and said "So you guys are headlining?" He gave me this big smile and said "Yeah". I wanted to say so much more, how excited we were to see Duvall tonight and Smoking Popes in November. How much I loved his music, voice and amazing guitar solos. Instead I just stood there for a few seconds, in awe, of this amazingly talented person in front of me, before turning around and heading into the building to get tickets. I'm almost glad I didn't say a bunch of stupid things, but I do wish I could have said more.

More on the show later...

Waj