In Simple Black and White

Some things have led us to consider what we want — exactly, more or less, I suppose — from music. Feel free to substitute "the band," or "art," or even "life," for music. That is:

Some things have led us to consider what we want from the band, or: Some things have led us to consider what we want from art, or: Some things have led us to consider what we want from life. Everyone seems to be doing it, considering.

I saw him sliding down the stainless steel wall, dropping to the dirty concrete of Newark Penn Station, exhausted. Among the many pins decorating his backpack lived one of ours. Somewhere in the middle of this colorful mess, surrounded by so many band names I'd never known, in simple black and white: "the multi-purpose solution."

This seemed to be the perfect compromise. I walked over to him and invited him to Saturday night's show. "We'll be playing at Maxwell's this Saturday with Tris McCall, Marc Maurizi, and Charles Bissell. It's for the release of Tris' new album, I'm Assuming You're All In Bands."

"I'll be there," he said.

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