Searching around google in order to place “Afterlife” chronologically into Jump, Little Children’s music career, I came across this review of JLC’s show in Atlanta during their Farewell Tour this past fall. Reading this review immediately brought me back to New Year’s Eve: during a respite from drinking, my friend Ryan told me, through tear-filled eyes, the emotions behind the Dec 30th Jump show at Dock Street. Not unlike the emotions described in the review.
This naturally led me thinking back to the 29th, when I trotted down to Dock Street with friends myself (we weren’t cute enough to score Dec 30th tickets). I remember having my arms in front of me, on top of the old theater’s bannisters, with my chin on my arms, mesmerized . As song after song flowed from the stage, bits and pieces of the last 6-8 years of my life flashed before my eyes.
From dancing with My Guitar during our monthly dances in the Assembly Room, to the Govie compilation CD that I still have, to swaying in a circle of friends during Cathedrals at Jump’s Underdog Tour kickoff, to a first date, to awkward family friends at my first Dock Street, to shared interests with an English major, to anniversaries, to the black hole that is Boston, to weddings, but most of all to the dear friends who introduced me to JLC and with whom I have shared the music ever since.
If I were to make a soundtrack of my life from 11th grade to present, it would be full of Jump songs, not because the lyrics necessarily apply to my life, but because I associate very specific songs to specific events and life segments. Now that Jump has likely played their last show ever, I find that my soundtrack is ending too. Just before Christmas break, I remember telling a friend that I think the older I get, the more I feel that I have out-grown Jump. I said that I felt most of their fans are teeny-boppers, and because my fan-ship really grew out of high school when I was a teeny-bopper, I am losing touch with Jump.
After I said that, I felt like a traitor. I am glad that Dock Street completely threw my logic out the window and proved to me that I still love JLC as much as ever. However, I think the source of my love has switched from “I like their fun sound” to “I like the emotions and nostalgia their music invokes.” Inevitably, the end of Jump, Little Children leaves me feeling empty. How could I not? Someone just pulled the plug on the soundtrack of my life.