Neon Trees, "The Dark Knight Rises" and thoughts on the Colorado shooting

Last week I interviewed Branden Campbell, the bass player for Neon Trees, who will be playing at the All-Star Summer Concert next week at Water Works Park.

I'll have an interview with Campbell in Sunday's Register and next week's Juice, and in it he talks a bit about how important film is to the band and the influence it had on the band's new album, "Picture Show."

Something I didn't include in either story was the next movie the band was planning to see together was "The Dark Knight Rises," and at least at the time of the interview they were planning to see it today in Denver, where Neon Trees has a show tonight.

“I think putting on headphones and getting lost in the music is a great escape. Especially for young people, it’s like a sacred place for them to go,” Campbell said. “For us, cinema is like that. I get into a theater and want to be taken somewhere else for those two hours. Great movies make you think about your life, and we want our music to do that for some people.”

I didn't include either the location or the film they were planning to see in the story because it didn't seem important at the time (it's probably not important now), "The Dark Knight" would be a few days old by the time the stories ran and pretty much every one was planning to see this movie. It hardly seemed worth the mention.

But I have to agree with Campbell's thoughts on movie going. I love music, but it's often background noise. I can listen to music and write, drive, surf the web, mow the lawn. Film requires a different level of commitment (at least for me), especially in a theater. I've cut down on my theater going in recent years, because sometimes it doesn't seem like there's a big advantage in seeing something like "Wanderlust" on the big screen rather than waiting and paying $1.25 to get it at Redbox.

So when I go to the movies now, it's for movies like "Avengers" or "The Dark Knight Rises." Something big and usually a bit escapist that I can't really replicate the viewing experience of at home. I like to see a film that will transport me somewhere else for a few hours and make me forget any desire to check my phone every few minutes.

At the end of it all, this shooting happening in an alley or a school or a movie theater doesn't really change the horror of it. It's always shocking, it's always disturbing.

I'm still planning to attend the 12:45 p.m. showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" tomorrow at Merle Hay Mall Cinema.