The Kite, Plus You, Plus Me

You have to run if you want to make it fly,

Head against approaching winds 

So it can slowly reach the sky.

Steadily unravel the thread and let it rise

An amazing thing is happening right before your eyes.

**Watch it fly...Watch it glide

Watch the kite making its climb

Ready to feel...Something real

Letting child like naiveté be our guide.**

Lose yourself and never mind your predetermined path

Never knowing what's to come,  

Just zig zagging along the grass.

Glancing behind only to see how it's progressed

How long it'll last at it's highest point 

Is anybody's guess.

**Watch it fly...Watch it glide

Watch the kite making its climb

Ready to feel...Something real

Letting child like naiveté be our guide.**

Can't remember feeling so above the ground.

Don't recall this feeling of having someone around.

Couldn't tell you the last time I've felt this, if I tried.

Wouldn't know how to describe

When happiness makes u cry,

Two pairs of eyes come together in perceiving

Potential in a world of trust where no one is deceiving.

All that's here is what you see 

A kite, a boy a girl. 

Enjoying life, growing free

Let's give this thing a whirl.

The kite plus you plus me.

**Watch it fly...Watch it glide

Watch the kite making its climb

Ready to feel...Something real

Letting child like naiveté be our guide.**

Here for the Music: Circa Survive

          On May 05th, 2010 I flew to San Francisco, California to see Coheed and Cambria live in concert. I had heard there was a band called Circa Survive supporting this leg of touring and I was intrigued. I chose not to listen to their music before seeing them perform because I prefer to judge bands on their energy and live vibe on stage rather than develop predisposed opinions based on studio tracks. However, I noticed a lot of fans gathering in excitement and the temptation to hear some songs developed. But I held out, instead looking up some lyrics to see if I could get a feel of what they were about. After just a glance of a few written words, I knew I was in for a treat.

          At the show, I'm up front against the rail, and the crowd was growing behind me. I was at the show alone so instead of conversing and drinking with friends, I stood and waited. The filler music kept me entertained and eventually the lights came down and I felt the force of more than 500 fans pushing against my back, a feeling I've grown accustomed to as a regular concert goer. Circa Survive made their way to the stage. The crowd was screaming and pushing and the first lyrics hadn't even been sung.

          Finally, Anthony Green steps forward and screams "I can't get started from the part where I left off..." then outstretches his mic to the audience, where they scream back at him "Yesterday!" and the first song begins. Throughout the set, Circa Survive just delivers every punch of live music bliss to the faces of those in the audience. Whether you were right up front or so far back you couldn't tell who's lips were moving when, you felt it. The on-going energy and connection flowing from the band's moves and range of vocals to us in the crowd.  With songs like "Glass Arrows" and "Imaginary Enemy" (From their new album "Blue Sky Noise"), the set was a winner and the never fading electricity of their performance had clearly made a fan out of me.

          That Spring I followed Coheed and Cambria's YOBR tour, and my love for Circa Survive grew. When I found out they would be back supporting Coheed in the Fall (Along with The Dear Hunter, another band I have grown to love), my heart grew with anticipation. Now more familiar with the band and their music, I found myself just as excited to see them as I was for the headliner. After another tour came to an end, I was determined to see Circa play the main stage. And so I did.

          Cut to November 29th 2010. Circa Survive at Irving Plaza, NYC. The last stop of their tour for the year. They were headlining and taking no prisoners. For this show, I was up in the balcony so I had the perfect view of the band and the audience. Their interaction, the love being shared between artist and fan, such a sight to experience. They opened with "Strange Terrain", and I was instantly taken away. The flow between songs throughout the set was perfection and Green immersed himself into every tune, from jumping across the stage, hitting every note, to diving into the audience, not missing a beat. At one point, he had members of the band's fan club (aka "The Creature Club") come on stage to sing during "Sprit of the Stairwell", a song he had dedicated to his son who was sleeping back stage.

          It was truly a roller coaster of emotions, and just before they played their final song "I Felt Free", Green took a moment to thank all of the fans for the on going support and expressed his love and appreciation for us being there. His words were heartfelt and brought tears to my eyes. As the last song was being played, members of the opening bands and basically anyone who was back stage jumped in and sang along, hugging it out and dancing about, while confetti and balloons were released. It was the perfect show to end out the year.


   Circa Survive deliver songs that can be taken to mean anything you want them to mean. No message is the wrong message, and that's what's so great about their music. Aside from the range of vocals and high pitch heart felts Green delivers per track, the instrumentals manage to keep up and not fade into the background. No one aspect of the music outshines the other. They perform unlike many bands out today, full of heart and life, as though each performance will be their last.  No two nights are alike, and I've seen them play day after day for weeks at a time. Though I have a few songs I favor more so than others, I do enjoy each album this band has put out and I highly recommend each of them to be heard at least once, all the way through. I look forward to being apart of their live experience again in the future, because it is indeed an experience for the musical books.

For all things Circa Survive: Click Here

Comics: Holy me likes: “C2E2 Exclusive TAW: IKS #9 cover preview.”

The next issue of The Amory Wars: IKSSE3 (issue 8) comes out on February 9th and I wait anxiously. What’s more exciting is that this baby has just been released. The exclusive c2e2 variant of issue 9, illustrated by Sam Wolfe Connelly. I absolutely live for these con exclusive variants and makes the experience of going to those events all the more grand. 

Also looking forward to see what Aaron Kruder can bring to the table of TAW. He will be replacing Chris Burnham as the series’ artist while Chris moves on to Batman Inc. An awesome gig if I do say so myself. Aaron’s work is quite amazing and we all welcome him with open arms. 

c2e2 is surely to be a great event. I’m working on a couple of things for Evil Ink Comics to showcase at the convention, as well as another treat of cosplay (mayhaps).

I can’t wait to go and see my favorite people surrounded by my favorite comics and comicbook lovers alike.

Btw, I’m fully prepared for the onslaught of friends asking me to pick up an issue for them. :)

Lyrics: "Blind Eye"

"Blind Eye"

Lost travelers of land

Find no destination,

if treading the sand's

Your mind's manifestation 

Of an escape unneeded 

From problems unheeded.

You should have stayed behind,

But you lied to us all. Cheated 

Yourself right from the start.

How could somebody so smart

Find a way to shed his logic. 

His body just falls apart.

Hiding behind ways of a loner 

Never did help.

Perhaps it was all of the

Personal shit you dealt

With on a day to day basis.

The constantly changing faces 

Of people once deemed 

Your true friends

All gone.

And you're left with loose ends.

Still, a blind eye's turned.

Against the one who's earned 

Your trust . No questions asked 

But now you're called out.

Your truths unmasked

If you leave this time, 

Let's bid farewell, goodbye

Warm welcomes won't exist.

Don't try to reach out.

You'll be dismissed.