semi-official word on michael (posted by tmidgett)
Subject:
RE: semi-official word on michael
Well, when I came home to Chicago this weekend the last thing in the world I expected to see was the crashed car of a friend on the cover of the Tribune.
Even though I didn't know Michael very well, the past few days have been (as I'm sure they have been for everyone reading this) clouded by the spectre of this horrible event. I've been in so many conversations about this that just ended in heavy silence, collective sadness shared by everyone in the community.
I first saw Silkworm about ten years ago at CMJ. They played a stunning set at Under Acme to not nearly enough people. My friend Franklin and I became religious devotees of Libertine, and by the time I met the band personally -- probably through the aid of my new, extremely talkative friend Tim Cook -- I felt like I already knew them through their amazing music. Each one of them was always kind to me.
I saw Silkworm many many times after that, though not nearly enough, from New York to Toledo to Chicago and Toronto and Detroit to an ill-chosen house party at Greg Midgett's house in South Bend. I hadn't seen the band since the El Mocambo in 2002 but I would read the website often to see if they might be coming back my way, without fail finding something ridiculously funny that had made its way from Michael's mind onto the electronic page.
I'm just so sad for everyone who's lost these three guys, but I'm also happy and bolstered by how much kindness and -- gulp -- unity these messages have witnessed. We should all aspire to be as loved in life and and missed in death, to leave as big a void when we are gone, as Michael Dahlquist has.
