Live from the Artists Den

I have seen what the darkness - There's already so much context to this beautiful old theater that as an audience member you're gonna kind of pick up on.

I think we're still getting our footing in arenas.

We're used to theaters and it feels like home.

I can bring your fears to life.

Show me yours and I'll show you mine Meet me in the woods tonight Oh-oh-oh-oh La-da-da (upbeat music) - [Narrator] At Southwest Airlines, our purpose is to connect people to what's important in their lives.

Our heart is to bring people together around shared moments that champion community.

(upbeat music) (gentle music) (crowd cheering) (singer vocalizing) (upbeat music) Oh oh oh oh oh oh Whoa oh oh oh oh oh Oh oh oh oh oh oh Whoa oh oh oh oh oh I think I'm ready to go I think I'm ready to go Were ready to go Whoa yes I think I'm ready to go Yeah, ah yes We're ready to go Oh Ah (crowd cheering and clapping) (gentle music) (crowd cheering and clapping) (gentle music) (Ben vocalizing) (crowd clapping) - I've always been fascinated by the format of anything that's live, anything that has variety to it.

Something I've been thinking a lot about is what's so magic about that format?

It's kind of a dying art form, you know, everybody watches stuff on demand as opposed to having to wait.

I guess concerts are kind of our closest thing to that these days.

This is one of those spaces that's already got a great character to it.

It's evocative all on its own, so just putting our music in it feels very natural.

(gentle music) - John McGroarty built this theater to house his play, "The Mission Play."

He wanted to glorify the Spanish coming in and founding the missions throughout California.

Because we're almost 100 years old, we've had generations of people on this stage, and because we're a community theater, we are mainly for the people of San Gabriel.

People get married here.

People have graduations here.

For the local community some portion of their life has taken place in this building.

- There's actually spirits hanging around.

It's not being literal about that, but more just about the feelings of conjures to be in a place like this.

And that's very different than an arena, (chuckles) which is a thing we're figuring out.

How to make those places feel as much of a partner as a room like this feels like.

(objects clatter) - [Interviewer] Seriously, people.

(chuckles) - The ghosts.

It's the ghosts, man.

(gentle music) (crowd chattering) (crowd cheering and clapping) - It was in 1968, I believe, that the Albee Theater in Brooklyn was going to get rid of this organ, and it took them 11 days to dismantle it and get it over here.

It took four years to get it set up and housed in this theater.

(gentle music) It had its grand preview in 1972.

I mean, these instruments, there are so few left now.

They're very intricate.

A lot of people don't realize a full orchestral organ is actually all the instruments are real.

Wind goes through a pipe that is blowing an actual trumpet.

And there's nothing like hearing that organ live.

(crowd clapping) - It feels like there's already so much context to this beautiful old theater that, like it or not, as an audience member, you're gonna kind of pick up on.

And I think we're still getting our footing in arenas.

We're used to theaters and it feels like home.

I'm gonna leave that city far behind And get a long, long way from there I've got a burning feeling deep inside of me And don't know where to put it Now that I've left that place I feel like someone For the first time in my life You don't remember what I said But you'll remember what I did (upbeat rock music) I found no solace on the radio Nothing but crackpots and static UFOs and white noise Scripture and garbled frequencies I tried to switch it off But the dial snapped in my fingers The volume lodged at a distorted maximum So loud, I never even heard the sirens I gripped the wheel and stomped the pedal I said a meaningless prayer through my gritted teeth I kept my eyes on the long white lines I laughed like hell I'm gonna leave that city far behind And get a long, long way from there I've got a burning feeling deep inside of me And don't know where to put it Now that I've left that place I feel like someone For the first time in my life You don't remember what I said But you'll remember what I did I sure like the feeling of an endless road My life is still a tale untold I gotta stop believing in a long-gone past If nothing stays forever, who laughs last I sure like the feeling of an endless road I'm tired of doing what I'm told I know that life is fleeting and it all goes fast If no-one lives forever, who laughs last Who laughs last Who laughs last (audience cheering and clapping) (upbeat music) (audience clapping rhythmically) With a little bit of money I'll get gone and I won't be found With a little bit of luck I'll find a place where I can stay forever If I get a little money I'll get gone and I won't be found I don't want nothin' but a lonesome quiet place Where I can think I spent my whole life looking back and wondering who I was Something changed the day you left So now I'll never know just what I spent my whole life looking up And wondering who I am Something tells me you and I will never meet again I had a few good years out on my own But it didn't last long I made a couple good friends We used to pass the lonely days together I made a little bit of money And I got stoned and I let it all go All I want is a noisy crowded place Where I can drink I spent my whole life looking back And wondering who I was Something changed the day you left And I'll never know just what I spent my whole life looking up And wondering who I am Something tells me you and I will never meet again (gentle music) I'm gonna see if I can live outside The lies of my body and mind I'm gonna see if I can find time to sit And wonder why forever If I need a little money I'll sell my soul though it isn't worth much Maybe I can pay my cosmic debt before I turn to dust I spent my whole life looking back And wondering who I was Something changed the day you left And I'll never know just what I spent my whole life looking up And wondering who I am Something tells me you and I will never meet again (gentle music) (audience cheering and clapping) (Ben vocalizes) (upbeat music) This is how my tale begins I was outside looking in again Nothing like rain to wash you clean So I slept in the cold and left unseen I'd never seen a sky that pale at night Should have known it wasn't right Wandered out there on my own Just a rattlin' bag of bones (gentle music) I can see you're doing just fine without me What did you say when you left I believed you'd never get far without me How wrong I was in the end Thus, my tale of woe continues It was me they got but it should have been you You were the only one I trusted But you left town and I got busted Let me see you one last time You can kiss my worthless (...) goodbye I doubt that it's been nice to know me Bon voyage, you'd best be going I agree, there's something not right about me I thought the darkness would pass I believed you'd never get far without me Life is a joke if you laugh This is how my story ends I'm stoned and broke and drunk again No one laughs in nothing's face I'm just floating on through my aimless days Been a long road, but I'll be alright I'm living on the countryside I'll be out there on my own Just a rattlin' bag of bones I'll be out there on my own Just a rattlin' bag of bones I'll be out there on my own Just a rattlin' bag of bones People die and planets turn And empires rise and fall and burn Nothing lasts and no one stays We just spiral off into outer space I've never seen a sky so full of stars Makes me wonder where you are I'll be out there on my own Just a rattlin' bag of bones I'll be out there on my own Just a rattlin' bag of bones I'll be out there on my own Just a rattlin' bag of bones (gentle music) (audience cheering and clapping) - Well well, well.

(audience cheering and clapping) How the hell are you folks doing out there, you all right?

We're so glad you're here in this beautiful room.

- [Audience Member] Yes, sir.

- What a place, huh?

The first act of our show finds our beloved cast of characters in strange and unfamiliar territory.

(audience cheering and clapping) San Gabriel.

(audience laughing) How about an old, familiar tune to ease our troubled minds?

(audience cheering and clapping) Ooh, ooh-ooh ooh Ooh, ooh-ooh ooh Oh, there's a river that winds on forever I'm gonna see where it leads Oh, there's a mountain that no man has mounted I'm a-gonna stand on the peak Out there's a land that time don't command Wanna be the first to arrive No time for ponderin', why, I'm a-wanderin' Not while we're both still alive To the ends of the earth, would you follow me There's a world that was meant for our eyes to see To the ends of the earth, would you follow me If you won't, I must say my goodbyes to thee (gentle music) (audience cheering and clapping) Ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh Ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh Ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh Ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh Oh, there's an island where all things are silent I'm a-gonna whistle a tune Oh, there's a desert that size can't be measured I'm a-gonna count all the dunes Out there's a world that calls for me, girl Headin' out into the unknown Wayfarin' strangers and all kinds of danger Please don't say I'm going alone To the ends of the earth, would you follow me There's a world that was meant for our eyes to see To the ends of the earth, would you follow me If you won't, I will say my goodbyes to thee (audience cheering and clapping) Just 'cause I'm ready to die for you, baby Doesn't mean I'm ready to stay What good is livin' the life you've been given If all you do is stand in one place I'm on a river that winds on forever Follow 'til I get where I'm goin' Maybe I'm headin' to die, but I'm still gonna try I guess I'm goin' alone Ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh Ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh Ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh Ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh Ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh Ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh Ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh (audience cheering and clapping) - I've drawn a lot of my inspiration from literature and films.

The goal is to try to put as much richness as a piece of literature into our songs, just to make the work we make as evocative and as immersive as it can be to put you in the story.

And it's kind of challenging to do that in a song, (chuckles) you know, it's a very short format, generally.

And I personally like lyrics that leave space for people to insert their own biography into the song.

(audience cheering and clapping) (phone ringing) (audience clapping) (phone ringing) (audience cheering) (phone ringing and falling off hook) (phone static) (audience laughing) Hello.

Hello?

- [Person On Phone] There are rules.

And there is a price for breaking them.

Nothing escapes the Balancer's Eye.

No one runs free from fate without paying back that cosmic debt.

No one runs free from fate.

Nothing escapes the B- (phone beeping) (phone clicks) (upbeat rock music) (audience cheers) I sit alone in the dark, and I try to remember The words you spoke when you summoned the Ender You chained my life to an ancient master Will the curse be reversed if I say it backwards La, da, da Oh yeah La, da, da Oh yeah What you crossed was a line at the edge of the void And you can't crawl back without making a choice But then something escaped when you opened the gate You cheated death and sealed your fate Ooh, ooh, ooh Ooh, ooh, ooh Goodbye (upbeat rock music) Put on your new dress tonight Have a look to the west, the moon's in the sky I wanna get at least that high Wanna leave the earth and my things behind You told me you're never gonna die How am I supposed to sleep through the night You showed me the secret of life I can't forget that look in your eye (upbeat rock music) I've been a long time gone, living out on the coast It's a long way back from the edge of the cosmos Truths once known never come unknown I learned that lesson lives ago To die for good, it must be earned The ways of death can never be learned And the life I've lived is only dust The darkness comes for all of us Ooh, ooh, ooh Ooh, ooh, ooh Goodbye (gentle rock music) (upbeat rock music) Put on your new dress tonight Have a look to the west, the moon's in the sky I wanna get at least that high Wanna leave the earth and all things behind You told me you're never gonna die How am I supposed to sleep through the night You showed me the secret of life I can't forget that look in your eye La, da, da Oh yeah La, da, da Oh, yeah (gentle rock music) (all clapping rhythmically) (phone ringing) (audience clapping rhythmically) (audience cheering and clapping) (gentle music) (upbeat rock music) Well, the neon lights burned red and gold I came to have my fortune told Can't imagine what she saw While gazing in her crystal ball Far out past the astral plane I cast you back from whence you came Cosmic ash and blackened brain And call you by your ancient names I gotta get away from here I gotta get away from her (upbeat rock music) What the fortune teller said Is I'm alive for now but good as dead She claimed she'd seen it all While she was gazing in her crystal ball I can't evade my fate Then I won't sit around and wait A fallen star will be thy bane And call you by your ancient names I gotta get away from here I'll never see another sunrise I gotta get away from her Oh, if I leave this place alive I gotta get away from here I'll never see another sunrise Oh I gotta get away from her (upbeat rock music) (upbeat rock music) I gotta get away from here I gotta get away from her I gotta get away from here Oh I gotta get away from her (audience cheering and clapping) (gentle music) I gotta get away from here I'll never see another sunrise If I live to see the next sunrise I gotta get away from her I'll never see another sunrise Oh, if I leave this place alive (vocalists vocalizing) (vocalists vocalizing continues) (vocalists vocalizing continues) (vocalists vocalizing continues) (vocalists vocalizing continues) (vocalists vocalizing continues) (audience cheering and clapping) - "Long Lost," that song comes from an album of the same name that's very focused on nostalgia and just the way your perception of the past alters over time.

Sometimes you need to do that in order to be able to live with it, I think.

And to some degree, that's what that song is about and what it embodies.

(audience cheering and clapping) (gentle music) Leave me where the light pours down Through the trees like rain Let it wash over me like a flood Let it ease my pain Let it drown me For a while, I was held by the myth of the lost highway In the spell of the night And the lights of the Great White Way I ain't lonely, are you Send me to the mountains, let me go free forever Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh I'll be running through the forest Dancing in the fields like this Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Long lost (gentle music) Leave me where the moonbeams carve Through the leaves like blades Lay me in the tall-grown grass in a shallow grave Let it have me I've got a place in the world and I found out where Out in the night, all alone in the way out there I ain't lonely, I'm long lost Say goodbye Long lost Out of my mind Long lost (gentle music) Send me to the mountains, let me go free forever Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh I'll be running through the forest Dancing in the fields like this Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Send me to the mountains, let me go free forever Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh I'll be running through the forest Dancing in the fields like this Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Long lost Long lost Long lost (audience cheering and clapping) - How the hell are you folks doing out there, you all right?

(audience cheering and clapping) (gentle music) (upbeat music) Deep into the night With the moonlight as my guide I go wander through the pines And make my way to nature's shrines And I look up to the sky And I know you're still alive But I wonder where you are I call your name into the dark I wake up in the morning, oh And I don't know where I've been All alone on a mountainside And huddled in the wind And it feels like I've been away for an era But nothing has changed at all And it feels like I've been with you But, oh, what did you do and where have you gone (gentle rock music) On the night you disappeared I wish I had seen you clear But the strange light in the sky Was shining right into my eyes There was no one else in sight Just the endless frozen pines And I wonder how they know 'Cause they don't die, and they don't grow I am ready to follow you Even though I don't know where I've been waiting the night Until you decide to take me there 'Cause I know I don't wanna stay here forever It's time to keep moving on And I don't wanna be the only one living If all of my friends are gone (gentle rock music) (audience clapping rhythmically) (upbeat rock music) I'll be waiting for you On the other side of frozen pines I'm gonna find a way through There's another light beyond the lie I will be waiting for you On the other side of frozen pines I'm gonna find a way through There's another life beyond the lie (gentle rock music) I will be waiting for you I will be waiting for you I will be waiting for you I will be waiting for you (gentle rock music) (audience cheering and clapping) (gentle music) (gentle rock music) (audience cheering) (upbeat rock music) I took a little journey to the unknown And I come back changed, I can feel it in my bones I (...) with forces that our eyes can't see And now the darkness got a hold on me Oh, the darkness got a hold on me Oh oh oh oh oh La da da da da da da da da Oh oh oh oh oh La da da da da da da da da How long, baby, have I been away Oh, it feels like ages, though you say it's only days There ain't language for the things I've seen, yeah And the truth is stranger than my own worst dreams The truth is stranger than in all my dreams Oh, the darkness got a hold on me I have seen what the darkness does Say goodbye to who I was I ain't ever been away so long Don't look back, them days are gone Follow me into the endless night I can bring your fears to light Show me yours, and I'll show you mine Meet me in the woods tonight Oh oh oh oh oh La da da da da da da da da Oh oh oh oh oh La da da da da da da da da Yeah, the truth is stranger than my own worst dreams Oh, the darkness got a hold on me I have seen what the darkness does Say goodbye to who I was 'Cause I ain't ever been away so long Don't look back, them days are gone Follow me into the endless night I can bring your fears to light Show me yours, and I'll show you mine Meet me in the woods tonight Oh oh oh oh oh La da da da da da da da da Oh oh oh oh oh La da da da da da da da da Oh oh oh oh oh Meet me in the woods tonight Oh oh oh oh oh Meet me in the woods tonight Oh oh oh oh oh Meet me in the woods tonight (audience cheering and clapping) - [Interviewer] "The Night We Met" has taken on quite a life of its own.

- People have found all kinds of meaning in that song.

I mean, they've interpreted it so many different ways.

People played at wedding people play at funerals, people Some people see the darkness in it, and some people see something hopeful in it, which I think is really interesting.

Its been So in that way, I'm very happy with the life it's taken on.

And of course, the main thing is, it's opened up our music to such a huge audience that I don't think there would be any other way for us to reach.

I mean, not because Just because the nature of information these days and how much stuff there is out there.

But somehow that song has touched so many people, And I hope they I hope its a doorway where they'll check out the other stuff, and see that there's a lot more to us than that one song, and there's a, you know, a variety of emotional pathways you can take into our music.

Ooh, ooh, ooh Ooh, ooh, ooh Ooh, ooh, ooh (gentle music) Ooh, ooh, ooh Ooh, ooh, ooh Ooh, ooh, ooh I am not the only traveler Who has not repaid his debt I've been searching for a trail to follow again Take me back to the night we met And then I can tell myself What the hell I'm supposed to do And then I can tell myself Not to ride along with you I had all and then most of you Some and now none of you Take me back to the night we met I don't know what I'm supposed to do Haunted by the ghost of you Oh, take me back to the night we met When the night was full of terrors And your eyes were filled with tears When you had not touched me yet Oh, take me back to the night we met [audience] I had all and then most of you Some and now none of you Take me back to the night we met I don't know what I'm supposed to do Haunted by the ghost of you Take me back to the night we met (audience cheering and clapping) (gentle music) (audience cheering and clapping) (gentle music) All messed up with nowhere to go I stare at myself in the mirror alone It's hard to make friends when you're half in the grave But I ain't dead yet And I've got somethin' to say Oh-oh-oh, yeah You got holes in your clothes And booze on your breath You look like hell And you smell like death Oh-oh-oh (upbeat rock music) There's a stranger in my eyes again I swear to God I don't know him You're tired of me I'm tired of you So turn around and leave me to myself Oh-oh-oh Oh-oh-oh, yeah You got holes in your clothes And booze on your breath You look like hell And you smell like death Oh-oh-oh (upbeat rock music) I've been out way too long Headin' right for the edge If she asks about me Tell her I'm not dead yet (upbeat rock music) Ooh, oh, oh Well, you got holes in your clothes And booze on your breath You look like hell And you smell like death Oh-oh-oh (upbeat music) (audience clapping rhythmically) You look like hell And you smell like death (audience cheering) You look like hell And you smell like death You look like hell And you smell like death You look like hell And you smell like death You look like hell And you smell like death You look like hell But you're not dead yet (upbeat rock music) Well you got holes in your clothes And booze on your breath You look like hell And you smell like death Oh-oh-oh (audience cheering and clapping) (gentle rock music) This is how my story ends I'm stoned and broke and drunk again No one laughs in nothing's face I'm just floating on through my aimless days Been a long road, but I'll be all right I'm living on the countryside I'll be out there on my own Just a rattlin' bag of bones I'll be out there on my own Just a rattlin' bag of bones I'll be out there on my own Just a rattlin' bag of bones People die and planets turn And empires rise and fall and burn Nothing lasts and no one stays We just spiral off into outer space I've never seen a sky so full of stars Makes me wonder where you are (upbeat music) - [Narrator] At Southwest Airlines, our purpose is to connect people to what's important in their lives.

Our heart is to bring people together around shared moments that champion community.

(upbeat music) (gentle music) (audience cheering) (upbeat music) (audience cheering and clapping) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music)