Finding New Favorites

If you are not familiar with West Virginia Public Radio's Mountain Stage then you should be. For the cost of a pizza I saw the Indigo Girls (the partial subject of an earlier blog post entitled Rowdy Ladies & Live Music ), and last Sunday I sat 7 rows back from the stage for Dar Williams, David Wax Museum, Raul Malo, and three of the greatest living musicians, Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer, and Zakir Hussain playing as a trio. All in all, I am not sure there is a better "more for your money" concert experience than Mountain Stage.

When I bought these tickets for my wife's birthday, it was all about Dar Williams and Bela Fleck. Williams, with her incredible voice and wonderful lyrics, and Fleck, easily the most accomplished banjo player living. With these two on the same ticket, it was easy money & when we arrived at the venue I started thinking, "I hope she plays..."

Dar Williams, with her beautiful voice, didn't sing a single song I wanted her to play. While I am no super-fan and am certainly not familiar with her extensive catalog in a way that would have been happy to hear any of her works, I thought I would get at least one tune from my personal wish list. Alas there was nothing. Hopes were dashed when the final song closed. No encore. No The Christians and Pagans. No The Babysitter's Here. She closed with Hudson, a song I was hearing for the first time.

Normally, I would have said I was disappointed. Having an opportunity to get exactly what you want and not getting it seems to be a fair definition of disappointing. It was possible, she could have sung my songs. Not out of malice or an attempt to ruin my evening, Dar just didn't. Concert goers know what this is like. Yet, as it turns out, I wasn't too disappointed. Sure, I didn't get my songs but something else happened.

There is this band called David Wax Museum. They opened the show, and they are awesome. I didn't know much about them when I picked up the tickets. They, like a lot of acts on Mountain Stage, are the green beans to the pork chop that is the headliner. Well, as it turns out, I really like green beans, and when the pork chop isn't exactly to your liking, the side dishes are that much better. David Wax Museum made a fan out of me with their upbeat, original music, and the shear love they had for what they did. I bought their two albums yesterday.

Life never 100% of the time gives you what you want. You don't get everything all the time. This fact can make people bitter; hating the fortune of some while lamenting the disappointment in their own lives. When your best laid plans fall short, and your proverbial pork chop is dry, you can't help but be disappointed. There is no cure for failed expectations other than have no expectations to begin with, and that seems impossible.

What my concert experience re-confirmed for me is that expectations cannot crowd out an openness to what life, God, and others have in store. While Dar Williams didn't give me exactly what I want, David Wax Museum gave me something I didn't think I would find: a new favorite band. Being open, flexible, and willing to learn something new is the only way I know how to combat the disappointments of life. I will still hope I hear the songs I like. I will still hope that my favorite food is still on the menu, the book I want to read is at the library, and the exhibit is still at the art museum but in the event that the food, the book, and the art is gone, I will do my best to try something new, and be open to finding new favorites.