“Lydia: A Goodbye & Farewell”
Seven years ago this summer, (2003) I went to see Sum 41 play a show in a parking lot on top of a bus at a mall (Weird…?) I saw the opening band and thought they were decent. Didn’t really hear much about them. I walked past a poster for the show in the parking lot and I found out their name was Lydia. This was their first show ever and I think they had like 4 songs, Maria wasn’t in the band, and they weren’t as fine tuned as they would end up being.
Flash forward to a year later, (Summer 2004) I go to a local show at The Clubhouse in Tempe. At this point, there were two stages inside The Clubhouse so there was no waiting between sets. I’m walking from the bathroom towards another stage and I look over to the other stage and just hear the two prettiest voices I’ve ever heard harmonizing. I was instantly overwhelmed by the music and just stopped and watched the rest of their set. I come to find out this band is Lydia.
I instantly became a huge fan boy of Lydia; Buying any t-shirt they had, (I actually still have the first t-shirt they ever printed) buying all of their demos, going to any show they’d play, etc. As I went further down the rabbit hole, things ended up getting weirder. I had mutual friends with them and at random times, I’d end up being around them. This was the equivalent of the time Bruce Springsteen showed up to a Gaslight Anthem show.
One night, I was with about 6 friends and Lydia’s drummer (who I didn’t know that well) at a mexican restaurant. Somebody dared me to chug a bottle of hot sauce and of course, I said no because that’s fucking ridiculous. But when Lydia’s drummer asked me to do it…Well, I downed the bottle. And to this day, I still fan girl about that band despite one of my best friends being the person to fill in for Mindy on the final tour and me eventually becoming friends with all of the dudes.
Tonight will be the final show Lydia will be playing. So, here’s to seven years of one of the greatest bands Arizona has ever produced. I eventually became friends with these guys but I will always be a bigger fan. It’s been an honor to watch this band for a huge portion of my life.
