City of Brotherly Love
(Sunday Paper, Volume II, Issue 43)
I mentioned this in a couple of recent Sunday Papers - that my brother was coming to town for a show.
That's always exciting for me...and I always love sharing about it when it happens.
But this show didn't seem so heavy on the promotion - so I followed the lead of the organization and didn't tell every single person I know about it like I usually do.
I'm sure Matt will be back soon...and hopefully often.
And then I'll try to get a bunch of people to come out and watch him with me.
But last week I went alone...which I don't think I'd ever done before.
I told Matthew when we got to the venue last week that I was probably going to write about his show for this week's Sunday Paper.
He said something like, "Not planning on doing anything exciting this week, huh?"
It's not that I wasn't open to something exciting happening this week...it's just that when I had something lined up on Sunday night for the following Sunday's Sunday Paper...I was going to leap at that opportunity.
(Also, as it turns out, I had to put this Sunday Paper to bed early...we lost our WiFi and cable on Friday so I had to schedule this to post from a remote location Friday night [after library hours] - more on that in 'Notes'.)
Anyway, over the past few years we've had some pretty fun hangouts watching Matt play a show in Boston. The best was probably June 23, 2011, when a bunch of friends were in from out of town, and a bunch of my teaching co-workers came out to the show, and I think a couple of Kathy's cousins did as well. The show was at All Asia, a venue in Cambridge that I think has since closed down, and I remember it so well because it took place two days after my youngest daughter was born.
So usually I'll post up and down that Matt's coming to town. (Didn't mean to rhyme that.) But this time I didn't - the organization that runs the show kind of keeps it all on the down low - it's kind of set up to make sure the audience is only people who are going to enjoy the music and not be a distraction to the artists or the crowd. It's really a great thing. (And I probably could have posted about it - but I didn't want to be the one who ruined the vibe. Now I know for next time.)
For what it's worth, the organization is called Sofar Sounds. It started in London, and the idea behind their shows is that instead of a crowded, loud bar somewhere where you barely hear the musician, these shows allow the musician to shine. (Sofar is short for 'sounds from a room'.) This was Matt's first Sofar show in Boston (it doesn't happen a lot here, from what I can tell), but he's done a bunch in New York and I think San Francisco and Los Angeles as well. Oh - the other reason I was hesitant to post about this show is that the other quirk about Sofar is that after you buy your ticket they don't e-mail you until a couple of days before the show with the address of the venue. So that's a little weird, but I guess younger people than me are cool with stuff like that.
Anyway, I knew where it was going to be a week ahead of time because I'm Matt's brother. But I can keep a secret real good. It was in downtown Boston and there was nothing else happening on a Sunday night in that area and we grabbed a quick dinner before the show at a nearby restaurant and there were like 12 people scattered through the restaurant and it turned out we saw pretty much all of them at the show later that night.
So Matt and I hung out in Boston, which is always a nice side benefit of him playing here - because I enjoy his music but I also enjoy his company. And this time, instead of hanging out with a bunch of people, it was just me and him.
As for the show, Matt did great, as usual. People loved him. I'm sure it will result in future shows back in the Boston area.
I can't wait.
And next time I'll even post about it.
Writing
*Busy week, but nothing you'd care about. Except, oh - this is fun. I got paid twice twice - from two places I work with - this week. And I've taken to doing something new when I get paid. I'll put that in 'What I've Been Enjoying' because I'm flustered by the change in venue for writing this Sunday Paper and I forget what I originally planned on doing there.
Comedy
*Whoo-boy what a good week for comedy. Was able to hit the mics I wanted to hit Monday and Tuesday night, did a great show at the Shaskeen in New Hampshire on Wednesday night, and then on Thursday got a spot hosting a show on Saturday night. That's the kind of week we're looking for all the time. (I was even going to go to a show on Friday night before I was forced to sit in a wifi place and eat dessert and write this because of the lack of internet at home this weekend.) This week I plan on trying to open mic Monday, going to a show in Waltham on Tuesday, and then who knows - maybe something will end up popping up for the weekend.
What I've Been Enjoying
*I know I should 'act like I've been there before' when it comes to making money, but it's been three years of freelancing and I'm finally making consistent paychecks at least once a month with one place and every other week at another place. One place is direct deposit, the other gives me a physical check (which I've written in a previous 'What I've Been Enjoying' is something that I particularly enjoy). Anyway, I act like a child when I get paid. A child who writes words for places and gets paid for it, which is kind of cool. And, listen, I don't act like a dope at the bank. I keep things professional there and I kind of think the ladies who work at the bank are secretly proud of me every time I walk in to make another deposit because they're thinking, "Aw, look at this guy doing better and better every time he comes in here." (And I don't even know if they know about the secret money that goes in through direct deposit!) So I keep it cool at the bank. But at home, whenever that direct deposit hits the account, or I get my check in the mail, you'd better believe this music starts playing at the Sucich house:
Notes
*Whoa. After all that I guess I should plug Matt's music, huh? Go to mattsucich.com and then do the Spotify thing or find a show where you can see him or watch his videos or whatever. I promise you you will love his music. He's so good.
*I'll say this - the woman who closed the Sofar show was also very good. Her name was Brooke Annibale, and she was like a female version of Matt. I really enjoyed listening to her....and I don't usually expect to enjoy someone who's not Matt when I go to a show he's on. So here's her website...she's from Pittsburgh, but it seems like she does a lot of touring.
*So somehow we lost our internet on Friday. Not sure how it happened - our power was scheduled to go out for some neighborhood work (we got a letter in the mail) overnight Thursday into Friday...and then on Friday morning there was another surge before we all left the house. It seems like that surge did in the cable/internet somehow. The power came back - the internet didn't.
*Neither did the cable. So I didn't see Games 6 or (hopefully) Game 7 of the ALCS. (Unless after I finish writing this I decide to hit a bar somewhere to watch the game. This is kind of a cool 'Notes' post - it's like I'm predicting the future! Chances are I didn't hit the bar and went to bed early.)
*For what it's worth, since I know the Dodgers are the National League champs, I'm rooting extra hard for Houston to win the American League because not only would Yankees-Dodgers be a repeat World Series matchup - it would be the repeatiest World Series matchup in the world. (If you don't know what I mean there, it's just that they've played each other a ton in the World Series over the years.)
*Everyone relax. I found a 2018 calendar this week. It got a little dicey - I got my first booking for 2018 (yay!) but I had nowhere to write it down. (Slight exaggeration.) So I went out and hoped Staples had a better selection this time (they did) but I didn't get adventurous - I just went with the same old plain design as the past couple of years. It seems to be working OK. ("Money money money money.....money!")
*Last week's Sunday Paper was very popular, leading me to believe you people only like posts that feature a really ridiculous picture of me...or ones that are written by my children. Oh well. I'll take it. Here's hoping you like posts about my brother.
*And here's hoping nothing notable happened after I hit 'save' on this post Friday night. Because I'm not going to have an easy time accessing it and updating it. (In fact, I won't be updating it.)
*Thanks for reading. If you came from somewhere other than the Facebook page, I'd love it if you gave it a like. You can also follow me on Twitter here. Thanks!