Astorians are few and far between in DC (at least the Oregon variety), which makes it that much nicer to see a familiar face. Luke, one of my dear friends from high school, has been enjoying a great deal of musical success lately, and I shared a taste of his good luck last night when his band performed at the Black Cat, just down the street from my apartment. Brendan, Frannie and I went down for the show (which lived up to glowing reviews) and even got a chance to chat Luke up (which warmed my heart), so it was an all-around good night. It was a brief reunion, they’re off to Philadelphia and beyond, but it was enough to recharge my nostalgia banks for a little while.

The band, Blind Pilot, has been doing wildly well. Luke met up with them while they were still practicing in the old red cannery building in Astoria, back before the big storm, and it was just another of Luke’s seemingly infinite lucky breaks (this should read as wonderment, not resentment). I don’t know what order it all happened in, but they toured down the coast to California by bike and reached #1 iTunes download and conducted all sorts of adventure and mischief. It should be noted that Luke plays an upright bass in this band, and that he somehow transported it hundreds of miles via bike. This has all culminated in a UK tour that they’ve just returned from and a US tour opening for the Decemberists and now headlining gigs of their own.

The music is pretty and poetic, almost too delicate for a lot of the venues they’re playing in, but fundamentally enjoyable. The Black Cat is a fun half-bar half-dancefloor space, and though the acoustics weren’t ideal the performance was great. Israel’s voice is beautiful, the instruments sounded lush, and they were all clearly having a blast. I was surprised by how active Luke was on stage, taking up the microphone and chatting with the audience between songs. He has always loved performing, but it’s like he fed off the crowd as he grinned and tossed jokes, periodically dropping his gaze and rubbing his hair in that classic way. I wonder how he catapulted to that frontman-type role, but he played it well.

Brendan and I met up with Luke after the performance and grabbed a couple beers in the backstagey area and did a quick exchange of recent events. He asked about our friends, though he was more up-to-date than I was on most of the news. He seemed older than I remember (from two years ago, imagine), at least calmer and more content. It could have just been exhaustion from being carted around in a van for days of hours, but I felt like the intervening years have provided some resolution to his search, whatever it was for exactly, love or direction or approval. I’ve brushed up against so many new people and places and ideas since high school, but when I see people like Luke I feel like I am reintroduced to that old world and my old place in it. Of course these friends have changed, too, but it’s still possible to look back together on a common memory that can’t quite be recalled alone. It doesn’t take much, a small gesture or smell, a raised eyebrow, and that other world rushes back along with this new world and all the transition points between them, and life is that much richer for having friends to share it with.