Sitka or Bust: Commute The World

Remember how the fish processing plant in Naknek played music over the loudspeakers in the Fillet House? Well, on my first shift they played Everybody Talks by Neon Trees just about every hour meaning I heard it about 16 times. Now maybe if I’d even heard of Neon Trees before then I might have gotten sick of its continuous playing, but because they were so novel to me –and I really enjoyed the peppiness of the song– I just bobbed my head to the beat and learned the lyrics especially quickly. In case you don’t know the song, here’s a link to the YouTube video for Everybody Talks.

While most people began to deteriorate under the overplaying of many popular songs I just wanted to preserve a playlist of my time in the plant. I want to blare it from my convertible as I go on a huge road trip and share my experiences with the lucky passenger. The songs I remember most are:

• Everybody Talks-Neon Trees
• Animal- Neon Trees
• Home-Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros
• Don’t Stop Believing- Journey (Let’s just say this song now makes me want to stop believing)
• Electric Feel- MGMT
• Some Nights-Fun.
• Young, Wild, Free-Wiz Khalifa
• Drive By- Train
• Call Me Maybe- Carly Rae Jepson
• Turn Me On- David Guetta & Nicki Minaj

Now, back to the Neon Trees story. I decided that I really enjoyed the band that I hadn’t even heard of until Naknek and the fillet line so when I got the opportunity to go see them in concert I was just plain stoked. Some of my friends from high school who I sadly hadn’t seen in a handful of years decided to let me into the concert sphere and I couldn’t have been happier. I don’t do the concert thing very often and besides a few dates at jazz shindigs, I hadn’t been to one since Martina McBride in the early 2000’s. But this was one to change all my preconceived notions. Instead of sitting like civilized people, we crammed against one another in an attempt to see the band better. Now, I don’t know about you, but I NEVER know what a band looks like. I mean, I like your music but you would only anger me if I knew you were also damned attractive.

More on the Neon Trees concert in the next installment. What fun awaits.