Ladybird: Catharsis Live
Ladybird: Catharsis Live
Scattered members come together for an unexpectedly meaningful performance
Considering Ladybird’s three members are scattered between Oklahoma City, Dallas, and Wichita Falls, it could be considered surprising that we get to see them as often as we do, a few times every year. Guitarist and vocalist Garry Walden told us before their show that the band still has a jam pad in Wichita Falls for practices, but it doesn’t happen often.
For this gig in August of 2024, Ladybird was booked for punk night at Wichita Falls’ Iron Horse Pub with local favorites It Hurts to Be Dead and Dallas’ Down to Friend when Walden got terrible news — his nana, who had been ailing, passed away just days before the show.
“I had already heavily considered dropping not only this show but absolutely everything when my nana got way sicker and I knew what was coming,” Walden said. “I felt so lost and directionless that I had no idea how I’d ever do anything again, let alone music,” the songwriter continued.
“When the nurses came in and took her ventilator out and we were waiting for her to pass, I brought it up to my Papaw (nanas husband) and he immediately shut it down. He basically told me that Nana would be pissed if she could see me cancelling a show on her account,” Walden said. “So for her I went forward.”
TheFUSE has seen Ladybird on a number of occasions, but this time, in a way we had not seen before, Walden seemed to occasionally, momentarily… lose the tooth-baring six-string punk-rock-animal visage he usually embodies during Ladybird’s set. We could see flickers of the human inside, struggling with loss.
“Playing the set was definitely cathartic,” Walden said via DM. “I knew I was doing it for her. She’s been on my mind ever since she first got to the hospital so she was definitely in my head during the set,” Walden said.
Maybe it was just a spotlight, or maybe it was a ray of inspiration from someone watching from above. Walden had a moment.
“During the songs I dedicated to her I had a weird moment of absolute clarity and it hit me that I was right where I needed to be, doing exactly what I needed to do with two of my best friends.”
“Nana and Papaw bought me my first guitar in 2009. They’ve always been my biggest fans,” Walden told us. “She always said ‘To infinity and beyond’ to me, she had the utmost faith that music would take me that far,” Walden said.
“She was one of the most important people in my life and I feel like I woke up in a new world when my girlfriend told me Nana had gone to heaven the night before. I still don’t know if I’ve started to really sort through all of this but I know through music I will.”
Watching this performance gave us a new appreciation for our performers in Texoma — people like Peter and Daniel, who come together from hours away to have a bandmember’s back in difficult circumstances, and musicians like Garry Walden, living his life in public, through celebrations and struggles alike.
Ladybird is as real as it gets.
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