First Fridays November - A Stillness Before The Final Countdown

November’s First Fridays had a different weight to it. Local Summer was long gone, Halloween already behind us, and the whole town felt a little muted in a way no one needed to say out loud. There was something in the air that everyone seemed to be carrying, a shared heaviness that settled over the night. Even so, the music helped. The Foes of Fern played and brought a small lift to the space, just enough to make things feel a bit lighter. This was also my first event back since SPX, and stepping into the familiar rhythm of First Fridays felt grounding after the whirlwind of the past few months.

I spent most of the night fully in promotion mode for Rin’s Comet Part III, which was only a week away from release. All year had been building toward this moment, and now the countdown was real. Trivia was announced, the band lineup was out, and every trick I had was on the table to get people excited. Even with the somber tone of the evening, there was a quiet sense of momentum under everything, like the last deep breath before a long awaited moment. It was a subdued night, but it marked the final stretch, and that alone gave it its own kind of energy.