It's amazing when a topic or idea emerges around you just as you think of it yourself, like there's subconscious ESP or a neural network of thoughts channeling through us without our knowing. At least I felt that way when some blast-from-the-past footage popped up on the interweb just as I was recalling my first performance. God, it was terrible. My two best friends and I had plugged my laptop into a PA system then sang, played guitars and poked a 3-octave keyboard over a loop of beats and faux synthesizers. The sound quality was atrocious, our audience was only five-strong and we had to ditch our last song because we almost blew an amp with our bass track. Our compliments were few and far between, but I'm sure even Ben Gibbard and Arcade Fire went through a similar experience when they first started performing.
Emerging decades later to either haunt, embarrass or delight, these videos are a gentle reminder that we as humans learn, grow and change to become amazing, talented beings. I'm even impressed with how well-mannered the audience is at Arcade Fire's house show in Montreal, and how rowdy the crowd was during Ben Gibbard's version of "God Save the Queen." Yes, that is indeed a teenage Ben playing with his band Oddfellows Local. On TV, no less!
Enjoy both of the videos below, even if they don't make you feel as strongly connected to the human race as they did for me.
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