I remember the first time I heard “Crop Circles” by Odie Leigh in my aunt’s kitchen about 9 days after my freshman year of college ended. I sat at the island just holding my phone, looking at the screen, looping the song for about an hour before I shifted to the room I would be sleeping in all summer. I fell asleep to that song and listened to it for the rest of the next day.
I sent that song to my mom, I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was that made me think of her, whether it was the lyrics or the way Leigh’s voice sounded paired with her guitar. Every time I heard the song, a wave of nostalgia crashed over me. It sounds like a song she would put on her iPod and play through the speaker in our kitchen when I was little. I would sit on the counter by the speaker, watching her make dinner, singing gibberish to her favorite songs. It’s a memory I didn’t know was there till the dust was blown in my face.
A solemn reminder that I keep getting older.
I found out that Leigh would be playing at Space Ballroom in early December and I was over the moon, and jumped at the chance to see her immediately.
December 9th, the day of the concert. I was in the middle of finals, all I wanted was to pull myself out of the work that I was drowning in, and this was the perfect way to stop thinking about work for a few hours. Me, Becca, and another member of WQAQ pulled up to the venue, dressed in our best Odie Leigh appropriate attire (I wore overalls and an open button-up if you were wondering).
We got there early enough that there were about 15-20 other people scattered around, all talking, waiting for 8 p.m. so the opener would play. The three of us got nice and close to the stage and began the wait as well. We talked to a few other people, expressing excitement about seeing Leigh perform live.
8 p.m. hit and the opener, King Strang, got himself set up. He sat on an older suitcase with a drum pedal at the base of it. He put his kazoo around his neck and made sure it wasn’t going to move. Then he started playing his guitar and I was blown away.
I wasn’t certain what to expect from King Strang, as I had yet to hear any of his music prior to hearing him live. I certainly wasn’t expecting this older jazz mixed with traditional folk sound. His music sounded like something you’d hear coming out of New Orleans, and I immediately went to follow him on Spotify and made note of certain songs that caught my ear (Sidenote, I do think I have this concert to thank for sending me into a hyperfixation on older country/music you would hear in a modern queer western movie, a blend of Hozier and Johnny Cash if you will).
He finished his set, and the Space Ballroom’s waiting playlist came back on. We were back to waiting, but we knew it wouldn’t be much longer till Leigh and her band came out. I tended to some school work, and Becca slipped away to get a t-shirt from the merch stand. She came back with one of the coolest merch designs I’ve seen in a minute, and out walked Leigh. I put my phone away and was pulled back in.
Leigh introduced herself and her band, and then asked everyone to say their name on the count of three so she knew everyone in the room. After some back and forth with the crowd, the music began.
Yet again, I was brought back to being a child again. But this time I could feel the music in my chest. In all honesty, I didn’t attend very many concerts before this school year. I didn’t always get why people had this need to see concerts all the time; I get it now.
Seeing an artist you love, especially one whose music has influenced a part of who you are, is so special. I looked around when Leigh was singing “Nine Lives” to see members of the crowd crying and singing along. Isn’t it so human to want to create and experience art together? How special is it that there are people who create music that brings together people who would’ve never crossed paths otherwise? I continue to feel so lucky to have the opportunities and experiences that I have.
Leigh would go on to play “Nothing New” where I would continue to think about my mom. I remember the way I looked at her when I was little. She was like a goddess to me. I remember the devastation that came with realizing your parents are not only not gods, but they’re not perfect, I think I’ve heard someone describe it as losing your religion and I can’t help but think that’s spot on.
The other two songs that truly stuck with me from this set included “Bigger Fish” and for obvious reasons, “Crop Circles”. “Bigger Fish” was a good reminder to keep focusing on the bigger picture, and to not get too caught up in the smaller details that you can’t always control. Especially if those details are being pointed out by someone else. Then “Crop Circles”.
I knew this song would hit me just as hard, if not harder than the first time that I heard it this summer. I prepared myself for battle. The song started out as it usually does, but eventually it turned into something more upbeat and positive, like there was a possibility for change, and it wouldn’t be the end of the world. It felt like talking about your problems to let them go, instead of to continue feeding into them.
After a long, emotionally heavy semester, seeing Odie Leigh perform felt like the perfect balance of acknowledging how hard things were at time, and also that this isn’t the end of the world. I left the venue a little more sure that things would end up how they’re supposed to be, and that I’m going to be okay when all is said and done. And I think that’s really the point of live music, isn’t it?
