Definitely a fan

I love Better Than Ezra. I'm absolutely crazy about them, and discovered this today when I visited their website, saw they were coming to Chicago in November and had just released a live cd and immediately bought tickets and the cd, without question. I've already been to two concerts and now have all their albums (I borrowed two today from a friend, and it was listening to some of the tracks on those cds that motivated me to buy the live cd simply because they have so much more energy in their live performances), and am the proud owner of one BTE t-shirt.

The weird thing is, I've never been the rabid music fan kind of girl. I'm still not, really. Figuring out I liked Better Than Ezra has been years in the making; until a year ago I'd only ever heard the singles they'd played on the radio (Desperately Wanting, Good, and Extra Ordinary). And I was a big fan of said singles, but never really explored further. Then last summer I played a couple of them for a friend who'd never heard them before but whose musical opinion I respect, and she commented on how much she liked Extra Ordinary and how she'd like to hear other stuff like that. I decided that wasn't a bad idea and when I ran across the Closer cd for $10, I decided to take a risk. And I absolutely loved it.

This past summer I finally get it in my head that I'm going to go see bands I like, and BTE was playing a free show up in Palatine. Not a lot to lose on a free show, so I drove up there. And I was absolutely blown away--I went alone and was hanging out in the hot, humid air and still had a fantastic time because the band is just so engaging (Kevin Griffin, the lead singer, is the definition of presence). That was it for me, I was hooked, and have been looking for ways to get to know more about them ever since; all their cds, any concerts, you name it, I'm in.

I'm surprised by my enthusiasm; I've never been all that passionate about anything, nor have I ever been all that given to trying new things--it's almost like I'm growing up, or something. It's taken years, but now I can try something new without having to be dragged kicking and screaming. (Except for spicy food. Keep that the hell away from me.) More and more it seems as if, looking back on growing up, that I was in a cave, with nothing really allowed in or out except for books, and plenty of 'em.

It's slow, but something's defnitely changing, even though it feels like it's ten years late. Whence this sudden acceleration (I mean, those first 22 years feel like they were absolutely static from where I stand now) I don't know, but I hope it continues.