Sinister: The wrong dream to have on my mind...

[Rachel]

Hello SINISTER!
First off, I have to tell you how wonderful I think you all are... especially in light of the
recent tragedy. A lot of Americans are so ethnocentric that they have no clue that regular people
in other countries are profoundly effected by this. They have no contacts outside their
communities. I have shared some of your stories with people I know, and they were amazed. Also,
even though some of you posted opinions that maybe were misinterpreted (like Adam), I find it
extremely interesting and oddly soothing to really think about this from a lot of different points
of view. I thank you all for the perspective you've given me, it has helped me deal with this. 

NOW FOR A LITTLE STORY... THE FOLLOWING IS A VERY DETAILED ACCOUNT OF MY EXPERIENCE SEEING BELLE
AND SEBASTIAN ON SEPTEMBER 6TH IN LOS ANGELES...WARNING: IT IS VERY LONG!!!!!!!

I live in the suburbs of Los Angeles. Three years ago I was on Sinister, and I actually had to
sell my tickets I had for both New York shows (I had to move suddenly, so I couldn't afford the
trip.) I have not been on the list since then, until 3 weeks ago. I was checking the website to
see when the next b&s release would be, and I read that they were playing 2 shows in L.A. the
following week. I FREAKED OUT! I knew the shows had to be sold out, but I was determined to get in
to see them somehow. I rejoined Sinister right away, vowing that I would never EVER turn my back
on it again!!!!

Then, I saw a post that Tim Plumley had 2 extra tickets for the second show to sell me and I was
ECSTATIC! (thanks, Tim!) They were general admission tickets, too. Probably better tickets than I
would have gotten had I known about the show when the tickets went on sale!

Thursday morning, the day of the show, I was at work and I got a phone call from my boyfriend,
Dustin. He said he had bad news, and that he'd just gotten into a car accident. I was afraid he
was hurt, but he wasn't. Then I was afraid that he couldn't go to the show with me, but he just
asked if I could come pick him up (he's away at school now, going to the ArtCenter, which isn't
too far from the venue) I arranged to leave work early so we could get there without any panic. I
hate when I get panicked, I get all uptight and bitchy. The next obstacle was getting out of work
early.  I find that most art departments are fairly lax about the comings and goings of the
graphic designers as long as there are no tight deadlines pending, I have only worked for this
company for a little over 3 months and I hated to ask for special favors, but I HAD TO!!! They
didn't have a problem with my early departure. I think I was driving them all crazy because I just
kept saying "OH MY GOD!!! In __ hours, I will be seeing them!!!" and I think they were glad to get
rid of me! 

I got to Dustin's and he was not sure if he should wear a tie. I was wearing a tie, and I told him
he looks so sexy in a tie... we both went in ties. (We tend to dress up for everything! It's a
compulsion!) We amazingly found our way to the venue even though neither of us can drive our way
out of a paper bag (*see "car accident" from earlier that morning!) It was as if we had a homing
device, always figuring out the correct turns in the unfamiliar territory! I usually have to leave
at least 30 minutes early when I'm going somewhere new, or going from a different direction. We
were both in high spirits, especially because it was so easy to get there.

We had no problem finding Tim and his friend Garrett, and we got our tickets and stood in line
talking about the show that Tim had seen the night before. I was practically bursting with
excitement! Soon we were going inside!! The entire floor of seats and the pit area were for
general admission ticket holders, but only those who lined up at the venue early and got
wristbands were allowed into the pit. The rest of us got to choose our seats anywhere else on the
floor. Dustin and I ended up toward the center, second row. I couldn't believe we were sitting
there, and to think, we almost missed the show!!

"People watching" at a Belle & Sebastian show is great! Usually, when I'm people watching, I try
to find those who look like Belle & Sebastian fans, but being in a crowd of them was an overload!
We admired lots of great hairdo's, outfits and glasses! So many cute people! We were very
entertained by Jonathan Richman. It's so weird because the other designer I work with was just
talking about him, and I had never heard of him before. She had made a little mini
sculpture/doll/model of him for the movie 'There's Something About Mary' but they ended up not
using the footage. Anyway, he was really funny and dorky and cool. At first, we didn't know what
to think of him, but by the end we were totally into it.

When Belle & Sebastian took the stage, everyone stood up and I just put my hands up to my mouth
and I almost started crying. I couldn't believe how great they all looked and sounded! I was
delighted to see that Isobel wasn't the skinny model type (surprised? um, I should listen closer
to "Family Tree" !) She has such a gorgeous face and a cute body!!! She was wearing a navy and
white striped shirt and had her hair pulled back. Her eyelashes are MILES long! Sarah looks so
young, she has a doll face. Stuart was wearing a very cute outfit, I can't remember exactly what,
but I know that he was well dressed and showing off his figure nicely. I think it was brown pants
and a cream colored button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up (not like with a cigarette packet
rolled up in it like Fonzie, more like Brett Anderson from Suede circa 1995. Oh wait, that's
Fonzie again, isn't it!)... Stuart's so handsome. Stevie was wearing jeans and a black t-shirt and
he looked adorable as well. Chris looks so cute in glasses! It was funny when Stuart made a
comment about his glasses and Chris said he didn't have time to put in his contact lenses. Richard
and the rest were equally as adorable and, God, they sound just like the albums, only better!!!!!
But BOBBY, let me tell you, was the biggest shock to me. He's GORGEOUS. I had no idea. He had his
rocker hairdo and a tight t-shirt on, and he's just adorable... his face is perfection. It was
really cute, because at one point during the show, I can't remember what song it was, Isobel and
Bobby were sitting off to the side, waiting to stand up and do the hand clapping, and they were
saying hello to some kids in the pit. Isobel said something to Bobby and he was laughing and she
looked at him with such an expression of adoration, it made me wonder if there wasn't some romance
between them! So cute

It was great during "Jonathan David" when Stevie took the record cover from a fan in the front row
and started singing to the picture!!! When he tried to fling it back to them, he missed, or it hit
them, I couldn't really tell. He and Stuart kept apologizing!

After about 3 songs, Stuart was talking to the crowd.  He commented on how there were some well
dressed people out there. He was looking out at everyone and said something along the lines of
"You, out there with the tie and what is that, a vest or something...it's great, thanks for
dressing up!" Yeah, Dustin just looked at me like "is he really talking to me?" and I just laughed
in amazement. Dustin said thanks and waved. Then Stuart said "and the girl next to you, she's
smartly dressed as well, are you his girlfriend?" and I looked at Dustin and said "oh yeah!" and
Stuart said he thought so and I said "but I'll be YOUR girlfriend!" and Stuart said "oh, I'm
spoken for, but thanks!" ARRRGGGHHHH!!!! So cute!!! At that point I was feeling really elated,
mixed with a feeling of insecurity, wondering how Stuart could have seen us well enough to notice
our outfits!!! We both were extremely flattered.

I was almost brought to tears again when they played "Fox in the Snow"... it was so PERFECT. They
were going to play a cover song and Stuart said it was a band from California, at least, he thinks
they were from California, he hopes so! Their version of "Creeque Alley" by the Mamas and the
Papas was really great, they sounded just like them.. When the girls sang the line "in a coffee
house Sebastian sat", and when the boys sang "Sebastian is off Lovin' Spoonful" they really
emphasised the Sebastian part and it was really cool how perfect the song was for them to be
singing! When they played "Dirty Dream Number Two" Stuart forgot to get someone from the audience
up there to sing the "In a town so small..." part, so it was omitted. And when Stuart had the girl
(was her name Tina?) come up onstage to sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" it was so cute, and the
whole crowd was singing along loudly, and you could see it on their faces that they were pleased
to get such participation! The girl got an autographed baseball. I thought that was so adorable
and thoughtful! When they played "Family Tree", Isobel's voice was so whispy and beautiful, and
it's one of my favorites so I was in awe, and I looked over at Dustin and he was completely
entranced. I liked Isobel and Sarah trading off the lines at the end "If my family tree goes back
to the Romans..." and overlapping eachother, it was so great to see them singing it. 

Then, the most amazing thing happened. Stuart said that they needed some dancing to break up the
sleepy songs. He was asking that couple to come up onstage to dance during the next song, and
Dustin and I were in denial. He couldn't possibly be talking to us AGAIN! So we just stood there
smiling like idiots, and all these people in the pit were saying they'd go up, but Stuart insisted
"the smartly dressed couple... you DO dance, don't you? Don't worry, it won't be a slow song..."
and I just looked at Dustin and he looked at me and I said "let's go!" and he took my hand and we
quickly made our way up to the front, we had already wasted enough time being oblivious to the
fact that Stuart meant us! 

We got up onto the stage and I looked out at the crowd... I almost fainted. It was people as far
as my eyes could see. I couldn't imagine how Stuart spotted us, looking into the crowd to where
our seats were... I could see lots of smiling faces. Stuart showed us where to stand and then I
almost fainted again, seeing him up close!!! I felt like I was watching TV, like my body was
someone else's. Dustin is very shy, so I think he really was panicked, too. Someone in the crowd
yelled "Jarvis!" because Dustin is very skinny. Dustin is really young and isn't very familiar
with Pulp, so he looked at me and said "what?" and I said "the lead singer of Pulp is named Jarvis
and he's skinny" and I saw two girls in the front row laughing, I think they thought we were
pretending he didn't know! Then the music started and it was "The Wrong Girl" and we just tried to
dance like we were at home rockin' out because really there was nothing else to do but rock out! I
just thought to myself, "What would Ken Chu Do? (WWKCD?)" He would ROCK OUT and then have a Red
Bull! I couldn't worry too much about my lack of dancing skills or the fact that not only was my
favorite band amongst our flailing, but that thousands of eyes were watching us. It was SO MUCH
fun! But Isobel needed to get up to the microphone and we were sort of blocking her way and so
Stuart moved over a bit so we could move over. Standing up there right next to her and dancing was
such a triumph!!! She's definitely one of my idols!  Dustin and I looked at eachother as if to say
"is this real?" and we both just started laughing! 

Once the song was over, I was in a hurry to get out of their limelight. I would be mortified if we
had to be asked to leave the stage, and I wanted to get out of their way as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, I left without getting my autographed baseball, but Dustin got one. The memory of
being up there on the stage with Belle & Sebastian was enough for me! We made our way back to our
seats. The boy standing next to me asked "How was it?" and I just said "OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!
AMAZING!" The rest of the show was kind of a blur. We got really excited when they played "Legal
Man" and there were all these shiny stars projected on the backdrop, it was really pretty! This
was the best concert ever.

As we left the venue, all of these people said "nice dancing" and "good job" and it made us feel
like celebrities. A couple of people I used to know from the "L.A. Britpop Scene of 1993-1997 RIP"
came up to us and it was great seeing them again! Dustin and I didn't talk about it at first, and
then we got into the car and were saying "WHAT HAPPENED?!" and I said, "Just think, you were in a
car accident this morning, and tonight you're onstage with one of your favorite bands!!! I'd say
this was one of your best days!!!" and Dustin agreed. To this day, we are still coming across
people out and about who ask "are you the couple that danced onstage at the Belle & Sebastian
show?" and it's pretty amazing. We felt and still feel so special. It's so great that they take
the time to involve the audience in the shows, I'm sure it's something anyone involved in any of
their shows will never ever forget. But just in case, if anyone has photos of me and Dustin on the
stage, please contact me off the list!  I'd be so grateful!

Sorry that I wrote SO MUCH, but personally, I like reading all of your stories in detail, so if
you find it boring/self-serving I apologize! A shout out to Tim, Brier, Colin, and all of the
Rachels (!viva Rachels!) And if the girl I "sold" some of my New York b&s tickets to in '98 who
never paid me for them is still on the list, thanks for giving me this good "Ticket Karma!"
I am fortunate, and I'm happy, hope you're happy, too...
Love to you all.
Rachie

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