Monday, April 6, 2009

kirksville: the graduate, ludo & red jumpsuit apparatus

this blog seems to have somehow turned into a list of concert reviews. i didn't really intend for that to happen. but i guess it's inevitable when i go to a show about once a week and update this about once a week. this is the last show for a few weeks though, as far as i know. hopefully i'll have some more in-depth musings and insights in the near future. we'll see.

so i'm nineteen. i can't believe it. i can't believe it's been a year. a whole year since i turned eighteen. it was so long ago, yet then again time has moved so quickly. i can finally say that i had a good birthday. this is the first time in quite a few years. last year i got a meningitis shot, gave blood and passed out at school. the year before that my mom was in the hospital in minneapolis and my dad was with her, so i was alone. the year before that i was sick and doing MAP testing. and the year before that i was competing at a gymnastics meet that turned out to be the worst meet of my life, resulting in me not qualifying to nationals. and to top that night off, my happy birthday balloon flew away and they were out of buffalo chicken wings at applebee's - the one thing i wanted on my birthday. needless to say i've had some really shitty birthdays. this one certainly made up for all those bad years though. i just wish i could have had one more person there with me, or at least call, but i know she was looking down on me blowing birthday kisses.

festivities started on friday. my four favorite girls and i went out to dinner at macaroni grill, my traditional birthday restaurant. we had some excellent bread and pasta, some good conversation and amazing free chocolate cake, graced with a candle and brought to me amidst being sung to in italian. we then went to the missouri gymnastics state championships where i got to see all my old teammates and catch up with some good friends. it was really great to see them in their real element again. i don't miss the gymnastics and pressure aspects of the sport, but i do miss that electricity you feel at competitions. those were the days...

the next day, me and angie drove an hour and a half to kirksville to visit kiera, who is the greatest friend EVER. she doesn't necessarily condone my insane concert life, but she knows me well enough to realize that a ludo ticket would make this the best birthday ever. so the three of us went out for a late lunch at a chinese buffet and eventually got in line for the show on truman's campus. it was a pretty sweet line-up - the graduate, ludo and red jumpsuit apparatus. it was weird being at a show without my usual crew. but i made the best of it and had a great time. the graduate really blew me away - i'd heard of them and listened to a few of their songs before, but their live performance definitely blew me away. check them out! ludo of course was amazing. if i remember correctly, they played go getter greg, broken bride, drunken lament, please, horror of our love, lake pontchartrain, a cover of epic [one of my favorites], love me dead, and goodwill hunting. we were pretty tired of standing among tall, sweaty people, so the three of us made our way out of the masses and sat back on the bleachers for red jumpsuit. i'm not such a huge fan of them anymore, as i've mellowed out some in my "old age", but it was still nice to hear some familiar songs. i remember face down, guardian angel, false pretense, cat and mouse, and a cover of a blink-182 song. they played a lot of new stuff, but i bought the album maybe a week ago and haven't gotten much of a chance to wade my way through it. but overall, it was a great birthday weekend, and as much drama and friend problems as it seems i have, i really am truly blessed to know such amazing people and be able to call them some of my best friends.

as for the here and now, it's monday. oh, monday. i'm counting down the hours until i go home for easter and it can't come soon enough.

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