Jingle All The Way

Think of this as my personal add on to the wonderful Carbon Leaf review below.
Remember that ‘excited fan’ who obtained a set of sleigh bells during the show? Yeah…hi.

So I’m going to welcome you all on a journey here. One full of sleigh bells and principles, where the night doesn’t end when the band leaves the stage.

Lead vocals Barry Privett was doing a great job controlling the crowd. We watched in awe as he sang from his soul, and quieted down when he hollered, “Shut up!” before singing a beautiful rendition of “Learn to Fly.” I was enjoying his presence when an instrument appeared before me. Wanting to contribute, I took the bells and began shaking them along with the song.

I stopped. It didn’t feel right. There I was, with the lamest sense of rhythm in the building, holding a set of bells that my friend next to me was drooling over. I forced the bells into his hands, and continued my demented dancing.

The instrument, already coming apart at the seams, was suddenly ripped from one hand to the next as the crowd behind me fought over it.

Boys will be boys.

After the show, which was satisfying to say the least, I hurried over to talk to Barry Privett and Terry Clark (Vocals/Acoustic Guitar). I snapped a picture of Barry and a friend of mine before heading back to the friend’s dorm.

And that’s when it started.

The boy to whom I had given the instrument had brought it back to his dorm. One girl had stayed long after the show to talk to the band, and she called someone in the dorm to say that Carbon Leaf wanted their bells back. Please.

The question arose: had they wanted us to keep it?

Argument 1: They’re kidding! Of course they meant for us to keep them. The thing’s broken. They gave it to us. It’s just a set of bells. They don’t care.

Argument 2: Take it back to them. It’s the principle of the thing.

This dang instrument (which, by the way, would NOT STOP jingling) caused more trouble than anyone thought it would. Everyone started cussing. Someone tried to call the girl back to see if CL was serious. One guy ended up twisting someone’s arm to retrieve the sleigh bells.

The next thing I know, I’m practically ice skating toward Legends with slush flying in my face and a set of sleigh bells under my arms. My friend and I stumbled into the venue, holding the bells up to Barry as if presenting Excalibur to King Arthur.

With a laugh and a look of pity on his face, the singer said, “Look at you! You’re all wet. Oh, wow. Thank you for bringing it back. What can I get you for your troubles? A CD?”

Heck yea! We took the copy of Love Loss Hope Repeat and hurried to the warmth of my dorm, the sound of sleigh bells still echoing in our heads.

Thanks for joining me for this recollection. I hope you learned something. Maybe it’s that, if you follow your principles, they’ll lead you to a free CD. Or that Carbon Leaf puts on a dang good show. Or that boys can be catty, too.

“This is the goal: to get into your soul.”
--Carbon Leaf, “Life Less Ordinary”