st. louis: cavashawn and state & madison

i have a problem. i somehow get myself way too involved with the bands that i like. i guess it's just something i'm good at. i have a passion for music that supercedes just about everything in my life. i will drop everything to go to a show. and i would do about anything to be with the friends i've met through all these bands and shows. that's precisely what happened this weekend. i knew cavashawn was going to be in st. louis and amanda and i had been planning on going for a while. meesh had to 'draw the line', which is of course understandable. as much as we'd all like to drop everything and drive across the country, sometimes school and work are more important. well her definite no turned into a definite maybe in the middle of last week. the more we talked and hypothetically talked logistics, the more clear it became that the ranch crew would be back in action. things were official once she realized state & madison was playing at cicero's the night following cavashawn. i added a day to my trip, meesh's maybe turned into a hell yes, and amanda happily agreed.

`

i drove the two hours home from school and the indy girls made the five hour drive. we met at my house, went out to a nice dinner at olive garden and made our way to cicero's. there were people! lot's of them! such a huge improvement from their last show at the creepy crawl. they had fans packed up front singing along and even got an encore. i was giddy; it was a proud mom moment. i can't believe the prorgess they've made in st. louis. all the guys were really stoked about the crowd's reception and we chatted for a while after the show.

[scott - cavashawn]

[chris and jesse - cavashawn]

we also briefly met nickolas and tony, lead singer and bass player of the band state & madison who we'd be seeing the following night. i'd never seen them live, but had heard some tunage via their myspace. they gave us a bunch of promo stuff to hand out so meesh and i spent the following afternoon sitting at starbucks working on flyers. amanda had to go home to take care of her poor cat and was greatly missed.

'

[meesh hard at work while i was scarfing down pumpkin loaf]

we went down to the loop a little early to promote and eat an amazing mexican dinner at el maguey's and eventually made our way to cicero's. we enjoyed a really great show. state & madison may not be big in st. louis yet, but all they need is time. chicago obviously loves them. we chatted for a while after the show and tony proceeded to enlighten us all evening with some truly fascinating jokes and bits of random knowledge. being the socialite alter-ego i am in show settings, i expressed my love and adoration of booking and promotional work, so hopefully the ball will be rolling again in st. louis as well as in columbia, if not at mizzou itself. i love my life and where it takes me. and i love meeting all these amazing new people. i also love the budding bromance between cavashawn and state & madison and will probably cry the next time i see them together. [middle of march in st. louis, anyone?]

[tony and nickolas - state & madison]

[nickolas - state & madison]

great friends, great bands, and an overall amazing weekend. i can't express enough how much these friends mean to me. it's such a relief for me to have people who understand me and my passion for music. and it's nice to have people who don't think i'm crazy for taking roadtrips and babbling on for hours about band stories that don't matter. i love them so much for loving that part of me. it means a lot. and it's just as great becoming friends with the bands. it's different when they're you friends. it different when you're not just another crazy fan girl. there's a thin line there i think, but somehow i think all band members have a sixth sense about themselves and can pick out the good from the bad. at least that's how it seems to work with me at least. and i love it. two weekends in a row of amazing shows and amazing friends, i'm not going to know what to do with myself for a while.

all pictures courtesy of michele.