#bruce willen

As of today, the band Double Dagger has ceased to exist. As someone who has followed them for the past four years, this is a strange thing for me to accept.

I discovered the band thanks to my boyfriend, who urged me from afar to go see them play. I lived in New York while he lived in Virginia so we both went to different shows and compared experiences. The first Double Dagger performance I witnessed occurred at Glasslands Gallery in Brooklyn. I knew some of their songs but not well enough to call myself a fan just yet. After their performance, I purchased Ragged Rubble from the band on vinyl and officially became a convert.

I will show up to a concert with my camera, whether I'm covering the show for a website or not. I have been doing this before the proliferation of digital cameras at concerts and took photos on what is called "film." So back at this Glasslands show (which occurred two days before my 27th birthday, I may add), I took photos and Nolen asked me if I was on assignment. I sheepishly admitted that I was just taking photos for myself and gave him a card with my Flickr account link on it. Ever since that show, I made a promise to myself not to miss their performances.

Prior to the boyfriend moving to New York, I would hop on a bus, five hours each way once a month to spend a weekend with him in Northern Virginia. Sometimes, these trips would coincide with Double Dagger performances. About a month after my first Double Dagger show, I experienced my second where the band played Hampdenfest in their hometown of Baltimore, MD. Eric and I drove to meet up with Alison (who is now studying for her PhD in Dublin, Ireland) just for the festival. It was the first time I met Alison and the three of us just had a fun time hanging out and seeing bands.

Other Double Dagger shows of note I managed to attend and the memories associated with them:

October 25, 2007: Double Dagger and No Age at Columbia University. First show I was able to convince a friend to come to so I didn't have to go alone. Also, the first time I saw them perform at a college. 

April 18, 2008: Double Dagger at Rock and Roll Hotel in Washington, D.C. Not many people attended this show, which was a shame since I recall it being the first time hearing songs like "We Are The Ones," which ended up on More. Also, a megaphone was used.

October 18, 2008: Round Robin Feet Night at Le Poisson Rouge. The Baltimore round robin tour hit New York City. I showed up early since I had purchased tickets for myself and friends in advance. I ran into Nolen outside of the venue and he offers me the opportunity to grab pizza with him and the band. I politely decline because I have to wait for my friends to show up since I have their tickets. Once inside, I force them to stand near Double Dagger's equipment. Purchased my first Double Dagger t-shirt.

January 29, 2009: Brooklyn vs. Baltimore at the 1896. Holy hell was this place huge! And it was very cold out since it was in January.

May 23, 2009: Record release show for their album, More at Market Hotel. Bought the LP and the poster for this show currently hangs in our living room. Discovered Screaming Females at this show and have followed them ever since. I also bought one of their foam fingers which is hanging in our living room.

May 2, 2010: One of the three (or was it four?) times I saw Double Dagger at DBA. I took this photo which appeared on their Facebook band page. I also end up fighting chest congestion for about a week because of the large amount of second hand smoke I was exposed to that night.

September 24, 2010: Double Dagger at Shea Stadium. This show took place at a venue that's about 5 minutes away from our apartment. Finally purchased Masks on vinyl from Bruce. You can listen to their performance here.

February 11, 2011: Double Dagger at NYU (The Fu**ing Valentine's Day Show). This concert was surprisingly nuts and I shot it for Impose Magazine. I didn't expect the audience to get as crazy as they did. When I arrived at NYU, the auditorium was decorated like a school dance and people were sitting against the walls and there wasn't any dancing. When I left, there was blood in the sink in the women's bathroom and an ambulance was attending to some injured person.

All of the photos at the beginning of this post were taken at Double Dagger's final New York show (October 20, 2011). The show was hot and sweaty (despite it being the end of October) and was a fitting farewell for the band. Purchased my second Double Dagger t-shirt. We also bought a poster and Eric jokingly asked Bruce to make it out to his cousin named, "eBay Auction Winner." Bruce did it so we asked Denny and Nolen to also sign our poster for this fictitious cousin.

Although the chances of me seeing the band perform again are practically nil, I will harbor some hope for that. Maybe in a few years they'll change their minds (hey, if Hot Snakes can do it, why not them?). If they do reunite, I'll be one of the first people up front, like I usually am. If not, I am perfectly happy with that too. The band is ending amicably, on a high note and I wish nothing for Denny, Bruce and Nolen on their future endeavors since they are extremely nice guys, didn't file any restraining orders to keep me away from their concerts and have given fans like myself wonderful shows and songs that we can cherish for the rest of our lives.

Additional photos from Double Dagger's final New York show can be found here (and a review of the show is forthcoming on Impose).

Double Dagger are calling it quits per the message on their website. I am equally saddened and excited by this news. Sad because I have seen them play a variety of places around town (two colleges: NYU and Columbia and mostly DIY venues like Shea Stadium, Death by Audio and Glasslands) and outside of town (Washington, DC's Rock and Roll Hotel and at Hampdenfest in their hometown of Baltimore, MD) their live shows are always fun and not to be missed experience.

I am also excited because they'll be working on new things and that gives me something to look forward to.

I will be at their last Brooklyn show on October 21, 2011.