Crumbling Arches: THE END OF AN ERA

To call Crumbling Arches my favorite band in the world would be an understatement. If I loved these guys any more than I do, they'd probably have to put me in the crazy house. Seriously. As the band that's most responsible for bringing me into the Athens music scene, motivating me to find and follow my own dreams, and giving me the most spectacular memories like my insane birthday party last year, I can't thank them enough. And somewhere along the way, I was lucky enough to become friends with all of these awesome guys too. Crumbling Arches may have just played their final show, but this band will always rock a huge piece of my heart.

Attending their final show was as bittersweet as I knew it would be. I've been mentally preparing myself for this for quite some time now, but seeing the band in all its glory just like in the old days brought back a veritable flood of memories. They played through some of the highlights of their body of work, songs that span over the more than eight years that they've been together. Several of the tunes were from the very beginning of the band's existence, long before I had ever gotten a taste of their sound. Purely rockin'! And, rather spectacularly, as the show wound to an end, they thanked me and other fans that have been there through it all by name. Nothing can beat a band who truly loves their fans back! Most tragically, though, the set itself was much too short. I wasn't ready for it to be over. It still hadn't really hit me that this was the last time they would all be playing together like this.

Luckily, however, their final note belonged to a song I've been dying to hear as it was recorded many years ago, a song that I had never gotten to see performed in its original version in all my years of loving this band. Phantom, the band's notorious Phantom of the Opera cover, brought me full circle again with an epic finish that involved Alex perching atop Zachary's shoulders and smacking the drums with reckless abandon, lots of delicious falsetto, and just pure magic. Phantom was the very first recorded song I ever heard from Crumbling Arches all those long years ago. There could be no greater finish than finally seeing that tune performed live at the end of their final show!

It's only just starting to hit me that I won't get to see them again like this. Singers/ guitarists Brian McGaw and Alex McKelvey are off to New York in less than a month, fully ready to debut a sure-to-be-awesome brand new joint music project there to complement their amazing solo acts Aman Amun and Mud Scholar. Ever-smiling bassist Ian Hennessee will be jetting to Africa with the Peace Corps soon, and Zachary Hennessee will be working at an environmental consulting firm in Atlanta which is just brilliant. I will miss this band and these people more than I could ever express in words. If ever there comes a day that these guys reunite to play once more, you can bet I'll be in the front row, ready to sing along to their tunes just like I always do!