nothing like a show on a thursday night to shape up my first week of classes. roman candle, treaty of paris, and ha ha tonka. even though i got there a good while after doors opened, i still seemed to be one of the first people there. so chris kept me company for a while and we discussed their soon-to-be recording session. (can't wait for a new treaty album!) and once again, just when i think i have to go to a show alone, molly and her friend rachel showed up. love those girls. roman candle opened, and although i'd never heard of them before, i really enjoyed their set. they reminded me a lot of the format, which is ALWAYS a good thing. then sam tweeted me that fun (basically a regrouping of the format, in simple terms) has a song called light a roman candle with me. weeeeeird coincidence. but anyway, i digress. treaty was up next, and they put on a fantastic show. it was my first time seeing them in a real venue, so that was cool. my treaty virginity was taken at wicker park fest; quite the different atmosphere. so the three of us sang along, danced and laughed at nick who was making ridiculous faces at us the whole time. ha ha tonka played last and HOLY CRAP do they kick some serious ass. i'll be honest - i bought their album a while back and just couldn't get into it... too folksy, a little bit too far on the side of country. but hearing them live was another story. four part harmonies that make your brain want to explode and your heart melt. it was pretty sweet. i intended to duck out fairly quickly, but got sucked into a lengthy and somewhat drunk conversation with nick. that was interesting to say the least, what a flirt. so after a good half hour of discussing college and cats with mr. fonzi, i finally made my goodbyes and after lots of hubbub about the ha ha tonka after party... i headed home. great way to wrap up the ending of week one.
speaking of week one...
it was quite successful if i do say so myself. classes are great, i actually enjoy most of them. and i feel like i'm headed in a direction of some sort with a major declared this year, which is an encouraging feeling - i'm taking writing about literature, french two, intermediate creative non-fiction, and writing intensive peace studies. i'm barely even into the school groove yet and i can already tell this year is going to be a million times better than last. i've complained about it before and most of you who read this already know; dorm life wasn't for me. i'm an only child; i never learned to share my room, my food, my belongings. i was quite uncomfortable with both roommate number one AND two, and i just couldn't catch a break from any of it. but i'll leave it at that. no need to dwell in the past. the present is what (dare i say it) has a hint of a smile on my face. yes, it's only been a week, and yes it's still technically summer, but i'm HAPPY. such a simple statement, but an absolutely huge one for me. i haven't been this happy during school in a very long time, if ever. i don't want to raise my expectations too high though. saying that winter leaves me depressed, and that i am most likely a victim of seasonal affective disorder, is quite the understatement. but hopefully this winter won't be as bad as the past few. this place actually feels like home, and i'm hoping it will take care of me when the cold comes around and tries to ravage my mind.
i was at a really low point last year, and was almost on the verge of just dropping out, or at least staying at home to finish school. mizzou is huge and to be honest, isn't the place for me. summer gave me time to clear my head and think though, and i now have some pretty focused ideas in mind for the future. good friends and good music have placed me in the midst of a fantastic job opportunity if circumstances will eventually allow. we'll see where everyone's at in three years when i get around to graduating though. i wouldn't dare speak too soon. as for how an english degree pertains to it all... well it doesn't really. but i like reading and writing, and a college degree is of utmost importance to me, so the english degree will be great cushion if life leads me in another direction in the next few years. i had some very thought-provoking conversations with a friend before moving back to columbia; about both staying in school and taking time off, and about moving here and there, about touring with one band or another, working here or there, in this coffee shop or the other one, writing this or that... on and on and on... you get the point. and while i think i'm finally coming around and breaking out of my obsessive-compulsive, perfectionist shell, it's still a work in progress and i'm hoping the journey through this semester and the next, will continue to point me in the direction best fit for me.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
columbia: the spill canvas and lifeinjersey [the goodbye summer/back to school edition]
the annual fall welcome concert - a first for me since i was sick and confined to my bed with a fever last year. but it was quite the spectacular event. eye alaska opened for the spill canvas, and both bands put on a good show. i'd seen eye alaska open for ludo last fall, and distinctly remembered how strange they were... good, but strange. lead singer wears this nerdy little backpack 24/7, usually has some hideous hipster glasses on, constantly gives death/sexy-time stares to the audience, and this time came on stage non-chalantly eating an apple. and continued to munch on it during the entirety of their first song. what. the. fuck. but whatever, the sounded great and i broke down and bought their ep. spill canvas was up next and man oh man was i a giddy fan girl. first time seeing a band will do that to ya. they sounded fantastic, besides being a little out of shape. you could tell they hadn't played a show in a while; nick kept apologizing for the massive amounts of sweat he was dripping on us and told us they were trying their best to come up with cool stories to buy time to rest, haha. i was literally bursting from excitement, but the crowd didn't seem nearly as ecstatic as me; i was one of only a few singing along. they of course closed with 'all over you' though, and the crowd suddenly sprang to life. i don't think i realized just how mainstream that song had become.
day two of "just how many shows can devon squeeze in before classes start?" - starring we are voices, highland fall, and the always amazing lifeinjersey. AND it was at the cherry street artisan which is always a plus. arrived at eight, talked to carson briefly and watched a great show. we are voices opened, highland fall was next, and then finally lifeinjersey. there seemed to be a few people there besides the usual band members + girlfriends/wives, so that was nice to see. i ducked out pretty quick though, since it's sunday and classes start tomorrow. so that was it. the last show of summer; the last show for, oh... four days, haha. treaty of paris is playing at mojo's on thursday. but that was it, the grand finale of my summer. here's a short list to put things in perspective:
13 weeks of summer.
24 shows.
8 different cities.
countless new friends made, and countless memories made as well. here's to fall, and here's to new things. the amount of shows and promoting abilites will ineveitably slow down due to classes and studying, but not too much if i can help it. september and october are already filling up and i couldn't be more excited. thanks for a fantastic summer and i love you all; every single one of you that made me smile this summer. you know who you are.
day two of "just how many shows can devon squeeze in before classes start?" - starring we are voices, highland fall, and the always amazing lifeinjersey. AND it was at the cherry street artisan which is always a plus. arrived at eight, talked to carson briefly and watched a great show. we are voices opened, highland fall was next, and then finally lifeinjersey. there seemed to be a few people there besides the usual band members + girlfriends/wives, so that was nice to see. i ducked out pretty quick though, since it's sunday and classes start tomorrow. so that was it. the last show of summer; the last show for, oh... four days, haha. treaty of paris is playing at mojo's on thursday. but that was it, the grand finale of my summer. here's a short list to put things in perspective:
13 weeks of summer.
24 shows.
8 different cities.
countless new friends made, and countless memories made as well. here's to fall, and here's to new things. the amount of shows and promoting abilites will ineveitably slow down due to classes and studying, but not too much if i can help it. september and october are already filling up and i couldn't be more excited. thanks for a fantastic summer and i love you all; every single one of you that made me smile this summer. you know who you are.
Monday, August 17, 2009
familiarity
it's day three after move-in. i am both sick, and homesick already. not necessarily for the people at home, but for the comfort and familiarity of my home. and also for my concert folk, primarily from chicago and louisville. i am homesick for them too, which is strange. but columbia leaves me feeling trapped, like i can't get out to the real world - the world i love, the world that makes me happy, the world of shows and show-related friends.
i just need to give it time, i know that. but right now, my heart aches for all things familiar.
i just need to give it time, i know that. but right now, my heart aches for all things familiar.
Friday, August 14, 2009
columbia: the noise fm [amidst move-in chaos]
so today was the day. back to columbia. new apartment, new phase of life, and new roommates to adjust to and to learn to embrace. i got hardly a wink of sleep last night which didn't help anything, mentally or physically today. got to the reserve at nine, unloaded some crap, then snuck away to catch the noise fm at hot topic at two. well it was basically [and unfortunately] a joke. me, and two other girls - one of whom worked there but must have helped the guys set up the show. but alex and i got a chance to talk which was nice, and i heard about the sketchy show in louisville the night before. i skipped out pretty quick after; there was still a lot to attend to at "home".
i finally finished what i would actually like to call a bedroom by around five, and it's a pretty good feeling. it's eerily like home; the room is set up similarly with the door, closet, bed and window all in the same places. i'm sure i subconsciously added to the "room at home" feel on purpose, i need familiarity to be comfortable here. but i like it. so katie and i freshened up a bit, then headed out to the cherry street artisan to see the noise fm play a real rock show. the artisan is a great little coffee shop in downtown columbia. again, another place perfectly for me. coffee shop + music venue = perfection. there was hardly anyone there, maybe around seven to ten for the show. but it was good regardless. the nosie fm sounded really great, much better than at the firebird. and it's all about the benjamin's played too, and were pretty good. fun night with some absolutely amazing coffee. katie and i chatted with austin for a bit, but didn't hang around for long. we were both really dragging.
it's barely eleven thirty right now, but i've never felt so drained in my life. both physically and mentally. i got maybe two hours of sleep last night, plus i think i'm starting to come down with something. it's a curse i think, i was sick last year the day after i moved in. fever, chills, sore throat, the whole nine yards. i think it's just all the stress and a huge shock to my system, and my body completely freaks out. my head hasn't quite caught up with the rest of me though, which i guess is good. i've been so busy and so preoccupied with today, that i haven't had any time to stop and think. it hasn't really hit me that i'm back. i'm in columbia. at mizzou again. in an apartment. so much better than last time around already, but i loathed this place with every fiber of my being last year. i'm not sure if i'm mentally prepared yet. i have a focus now, i have an actual major. but there are still so many thoughts humming in the back of my mind:
what am i even doing here? why english? but i like english; i like reading and writing. but is it worth it? all the time, the effort, the money, all the stress ...but i'm too much of a chicken shit to do anything else. ...but what if i did?
for now i'm just going to take it one day at a time. and right now i still need to focus on settling into the place before i start making premature judgements. this year could very well be different and things could take a very different turn from what i'm expecting. as for the next show to distract me from all the heavy shit of real life... the spill canvas on campus next saturday and lifeinjersey at the artisan the following day.
i finally finished what i would actually like to call a bedroom by around five, and it's a pretty good feeling. it's eerily like home; the room is set up similarly with the door, closet, bed and window all in the same places. i'm sure i subconsciously added to the "room at home" feel on purpose, i need familiarity to be comfortable here. but i like it. so katie and i freshened up a bit, then headed out to the cherry street artisan to see the noise fm play a real rock show. the artisan is a great little coffee shop in downtown columbia. again, another place perfectly for me. coffee shop + music venue = perfection. there was hardly anyone there, maybe around seven to ten for the show. but it was good regardless. the nosie fm sounded really great, much better than at the firebird. and it's all about the benjamin's played too, and were pretty good. fun night with some absolutely amazing coffee. katie and i chatted with austin for a bit, but didn't hang around for long. we were both really dragging.
it's barely eleven thirty right now, but i've never felt so drained in my life. both physically and mentally. i got maybe two hours of sleep last night, plus i think i'm starting to come down with something. it's a curse i think, i was sick last year the day after i moved in. fever, chills, sore throat, the whole nine yards. i think it's just all the stress and a huge shock to my system, and my body completely freaks out. my head hasn't quite caught up with the rest of me though, which i guess is good. i've been so busy and so preoccupied with today, that i haven't had any time to stop and think. it hasn't really hit me that i'm back. i'm in columbia. at mizzou again. in an apartment. so much better than last time around already, but i loathed this place with every fiber of my being last year. i'm not sure if i'm mentally prepared yet. i have a focus now, i have an actual major. but there are still so many thoughts humming in the back of my mind:
what am i even doing here? why english? but i like english; i like reading and writing. but is it worth it? all the time, the effort, the money, all the stress ...but i'm too much of a chicken shit to do anything else. ...but what if i did?
for now i'm just going to take it one day at a time. and right now i still need to focus on settling into the place before i start making premature judgements. this year could very well be different and things could take a very different turn from what i'm expecting. as for the next show to distract me from all the heavy shit of real life... the spill canvas on campus next saturday and lifeinjersey at the artisan the following day.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
peoria: state & madison
i'll make this short and sweet because i have to get to bed so i can pack up my entire life tomorrow before i move back to school.
last minute decision to go to peoria... [it's only three hours, so why not?] i convinced nikki to meet me there, and alex later decided she wanted to go too, so we had ourselves a cute little gaggle of girls. i left home around three thirty, and got there a little before seven. SAM CAME ALONG AND SURPRISED ME! nikki, sam and i got buffalo wild wings for dinner and came back in time to catch one of the openers. cute little venue: coffee shop + music venue = my life in a single building. we then enjoyed a fantastic state & madison set. i'm really loving the new songs, and holy SHIT does peoria know how to rock out. probably one of the most excited crowds i'd seen for them besides in chicago. and it's always cool to see people in other cities singing along, that's when you know something is working.
hung out afterwards for a while, did some excellent band member impersonations, laughed a lot, said my final goodbyes, and was on the way home by a little before midnight. it was a great last show before i move back to school, with some absolutely amazing people. i don't think i can begin to describe how much i love my friends. and how much all four of those guys mean to me without getting mushy.
thursday: pack up my whole life, see kiera, mow and hang out with my grandma
friday: MOVE IN at nine am, unpack, see the noise fm at 2 at hot topic and 6 at the artisan
life is about to change drastically on me and i'm not sure if i'm quite prepared. on one hand i'm really excited but on the other, kind of sad.
last minute decision to go to peoria... [it's only three hours, so why not?] i convinced nikki to meet me there, and alex later decided she wanted to go too, so we had ourselves a cute little gaggle of girls. i left home around three thirty, and got there a little before seven. SAM CAME ALONG AND SURPRISED ME! nikki, sam and i got buffalo wild wings for dinner and came back in time to catch one of the openers. cute little venue: coffee shop + music venue = my life in a single building. we then enjoyed a fantastic state & madison set. i'm really loving the new songs, and holy SHIT does peoria know how to rock out. probably one of the most excited crowds i'd seen for them besides in chicago. and it's always cool to see people in other cities singing along, that's when you know something is working.
hung out afterwards for a while, did some excellent band member impersonations, laughed a lot, said my final goodbyes, and was on the way home by a little before midnight. it was a great last show before i move back to school, with some absolutely amazing people. i don't think i can begin to describe how much i love my friends. and how much all four of those guys mean to me without getting mushy.
thursday: pack up my whole life, see kiera, mow and hang out with my grandma
friday: MOVE IN at nine am, unpack, see the noise fm at 2 at hot topic and 6 at the artisan
life is about to change drastically on me and i'm not sure if i'm quite prepared. on one hand i'm really excited but on the other, kind of sad.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
st. louis: state & madison and the noise fm
this was it, the show(s) i'd been waiting for all summer long, the very reason a street team was created. and i couldn't have imagined it turning out any other way [except with maybe a few more people in attendace, but that's just the brakes].
nikki and stephanie came in town from chicago and we got to spend the day together, which was quite the fun time. we met at the galleria for state & madison's acoustic show and it seemed to go over pretty well. there were a couple new faces and those new faces seemed pretty excited about what they were hearing [but unfortunately didn't show up at the real show later...]. and there were of course the familiar faces - stacy and drew, tabitha was there, and alex and austin came in town a bit early to see the set too. i feel like things went pretty smoothly, besides the fact that things got started a little late. but i wouldn't expect anything esle when four guys have to collectively hit the road at six in the morning... so we hung around and talked for a while and eventually made our way to california pizza kitchen. thanks again stephanie, for the delicious free meal! your dad's the best.
so after going home to freshen up, and after getting cake and balloons for tony's birthday, we picked up and katie, swung by starbucks, and were on our way to the firebird. sketchy part of town, let me tell ya. and the venue was a bit hard to spot from the street [there are no markings on the front of the building, only on the back is there a sign that has their name on it] but the gps never fails, and we spotted band vans/trailers and figured we were in the right place. all the opening bands were pretty good which is always a plus. and state & madison played a good set as always. it seemed a little short, but i enjoyed hearing the new songs that they had time to play. the noise fm was up next and they sounded great as well. i personally think they sounded better at cicero's when i saw them last, but maybe that's just me. i'm so partial to cicero's. they did have a little trouble with some of their backing synth tracks, but all in all it was great. can't wait to see them again on friday! we hung around until everyone was packed up; nickolas informed me earlier that they were indeed staying at my house. so we gathered up the group, got some denny's and i think everyone crashed pretty hard around three or so. but not after the tour of the basement of course. the bear was a hit, as always.
the guys + sonja left around noon, andrea and veronica around one thirty, and nikki and steph sometime around two. all in all, very good times. i love chicago folk, and i love that my group of friends there keeps growing and growing. i just wish things would start growing more here in st. louis; fanbases specifically. i work so hard to promote these bands and their shows, and it seems like hard work isn't creating much progress and it's frustrating. i mean, the core group who always shows up - it's great don't get me wrong, you've got to start somewhere and i know that. i appreciate them and i realize how lucky it is to even have that support in the first place. but when i personally know every single fan at the show, it's makes me sad. why aren't we drawing more new people? how is is that i can go to so many shows, stand outside so many venues with fliers, hand out SIX HUNDRED of them at warped tour, and not draw a single new person? i know it's not my personal responsibility alone, but i like doing this kind of work and when i'm the only one promoting the show, it kind of is my responsibility. if i didn't enjoy doing so much for bands that i love and support, i wouldn't have started in the first place. sometimes the music just has to speak for itself, i know that. but i do a lot, and a lot is in vain. and it's annoying. [deep breath, end rant]
oh, and just when i said no more roadtrips before school... haha. did you really expect me to keep my word? definitely going to peoria tomorrow. i know, i know... you don't have to tell me. i have a serious problem. but i kinda like it. gotta get it all out before school starts up again.
nikki and stephanie came in town from chicago and we got to spend the day together, which was quite the fun time. we met at the galleria for state & madison's acoustic show and it seemed to go over pretty well. there were a couple new faces and those new faces seemed pretty excited about what they were hearing [but unfortunately didn't show up at the real show later...]. and there were of course the familiar faces - stacy and drew, tabitha was there, and alex and austin came in town a bit early to see the set too. i feel like things went pretty smoothly, besides the fact that things got started a little late. but i wouldn't expect anything esle when four guys have to collectively hit the road at six in the morning... so we hung around and talked for a while and eventually made our way to california pizza kitchen. thanks again stephanie, for the delicious free meal! your dad's the best.
so after going home to freshen up, and after getting cake and balloons for tony's birthday, we picked up and katie, swung by starbucks, and were on our way to the firebird. sketchy part of town, let me tell ya. and the venue was a bit hard to spot from the street [there are no markings on the front of the building, only on the back is there a sign that has their name on it] but the gps never fails, and we spotted band vans/trailers and figured we were in the right place. all the opening bands were pretty good which is always a plus. and state & madison played a good set as always. it seemed a little short, but i enjoyed hearing the new songs that they had time to play. the noise fm was up next and they sounded great as well. i personally think they sounded better at cicero's when i saw them last, but maybe that's just me. i'm so partial to cicero's. they did have a little trouble with some of their backing synth tracks, but all in all it was great. can't wait to see them again on friday! we hung around until everyone was packed up; nickolas informed me earlier that they were indeed staying at my house. so we gathered up the group, got some denny's and i think everyone crashed pretty hard around three or so. but not after the tour of the basement of course. the bear was a hit, as always.
the guys + sonja left around noon, andrea and veronica around one thirty, and nikki and steph sometime around two. all in all, very good times. i love chicago folk, and i love that my group of friends there keeps growing and growing. i just wish things would start growing more here in st. louis; fanbases specifically. i work so hard to promote these bands and their shows, and it seems like hard work isn't creating much progress and it's frustrating. i mean, the core group who always shows up - it's great don't get me wrong, you've got to start somewhere and i know that. i appreciate them and i realize how lucky it is to even have that support in the first place. but when i personally know every single fan at the show, it's makes me sad. why aren't we drawing more new people? how is is that i can go to so many shows, stand outside so many venues with fliers, hand out SIX HUNDRED of them at warped tour, and not draw a single new person? i know it's not my personal responsibility alone, but i like doing this kind of work and when i'm the only one promoting the show, it kind of is my responsibility. if i didn't enjoy doing so much for bands that i love and support, i wouldn't have started in the first place. sometimes the music just has to speak for itself, i know that. but i do a lot, and a lot is in vain. and it's annoying. [deep breath, end rant]
oh, and just when i said no more roadtrips before school... haha. did you really expect me to keep my word? definitely going to peoria tomorrow. i know, i know... you don't have to tell me. i have a serious problem. but i kinda like it. gotta get it all out before school starts up again.
Monday, August 3, 2009
st. louis: warped tour
just when i'd convinced myself that it was acceptable to skip a warped tour... "all the bands are shitty, you're not missing anything" i thought. just when i'd convinced myself that it was all gonna be okay... emma texts at me at three in the morning. "wanna go to warped for free?" well DUH. i can't pass up a free show! so that's precisely what i did. i made a couple hundred copies of state and madison fliers, made plans to meet up with jon from building rome, and agreed to earn my free ticket by helping emma promote and hang posters for fueled by ramen.
well apparently things were a little out of sorts this morning. we arrived a little after nine, like we were told. and what time did we actually get in? fucking eleven. two fucking hours later. the same time as everyone else. by the time we got in and found our tent, it was too late to hang posters. so we handed out cobra starship fans, the swellers pamphlets and a random assortment of stickers. mission accomplished. and i handed out probably two hundred or so of my fatty stack of state and madison fliers so i'm considering that a success as well. we caught a little bit of saosin, sat in for big d and the kids table and enjoyed less than jake from the shade of the monster tent. well by that time i was getting pretty tired and frying faster than an egg on the sidewalk; so i said my goodbyes and headed out to the parking lot to leave some fliers on cars. i called jon. no answer. i called again. straight to voicemail. but alas, i have great timing because as i was snaking through row after row of cars leaving behind my trail of little paper squares, i started noticing the windshield wipers had building rome fliers under them. well i finally caught up to jon; we chatted briefly and he agreed to come to the show on sunday, and then we swapped a handful or two of each others fliers - he took some state and madison and i took some building rome. it was an excellent team effort, i tell ya. four hundred fliers and about and hour and a half later, i was empty handed. i crawled my way back to the car, blasted ac, and headed home. good days work.
well apparently things were a little out of sorts this morning. we arrived a little after nine, like we were told. and what time did we actually get in? fucking eleven. two fucking hours later. the same time as everyone else. by the time we got in and found our tent, it was too late to hang posters. so we handed out cobra starship fans, the swellers pamphlets and a random assortment of stickers. mission accomplished. and i handed out probably two hundred or so of my fatty stack of state and madison fliers so i'm considering that a success as well. we caught a little bit of saosin, sat in for big d and the kids table and enjoyed less than jake from the shade of the monster tent. well by that time i was getting pretty tired and frying faster than an egg on the sidewalk; so i said my goodbyes and headed out to the parking lot to leave some fliers on cars. i called jon. no answer. i called again. straight to voicemail. but alas, i have great timing because as i was snaking through row after row of cars leaving behind my trail of little paper squares, i started noticing the windshield wipers had building rome fliers under them. well i finally caught up to jon; we chatted briefly and he agreed to come to the show on sunday, and then we swapped a handful or two of each others fliers - he took some state and madison and i took some building rome. it was an excellent team effort, i tell ya. four hundred fliers and about and hour and a half later, i was empty handed. i crawled my way back to the car, blasted ac, and headed home. good days work.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
kansas city: state & madison and lifeinjersey
my final far away show for the summer; bittersweet feelings are what i have.
for once in my life i got to sleep in and get ready at my leisure before an out of town show. so many crack-of-dawn drives; i absolutely hate them. but this one was nice. kansas city is only four hours away and it's the easiest drive in the world. get on highway 70. drive. arrive at destination. bam. end story. okay, so not exactly but it's a really easy drive and it was nice to change things up a little because 55 has been getting a little old. and now that i think about it, that was the first time i've ever driven past columbia. at least by myself that is. i usually go northeast if anything. but anyway. i left home at around one and after a little trouble finding an open exit [thank god for garmin, that's all i have to say], i arrived at the RecordBar at just a little after five. tony was kind enough to put me on their guest list so i ended up not paying, which was great. and just when i thought it was going to be another show alone, i saw molly and her friend rachel, both from st. louis. so i sat with them for the night. things were starting out wonderfully.
we are voices played first and they sounded great. state and madison was up next so molly, rachel and i made our way up to the stage area and sang and danced our little hearts out. there was a decent sized crowd and they seemed really receptive which is always good. next was damiera, but i took a dinner break and listened from the table. and finally lifeinjersey, the band everyone else had been waiting for. i'll be honest, i've always thought there sound was just average, but this show certainly changed my mind. the only other time i'd seen them was at a real shitty show in columbia. but this cd release was fantastic. alex ward from the noise fm was filling in for them on guitar. i had talked to him earlier in the night, but had no idea he was actually playing. so that was a nice surprise. man did they melt some faces.
there was a later 21+ show so we got shuffled out pretty quickly. i made my rounds to say goodbye to everyone but tony told me to stick around because carson [of lifeinjersey] was having a party at his house afterwards. well it was still early so i decided to stick around for a bit. all the bands were packed up and ready to go by ten, so i gave myself a midnight curfew. hung out for a while, watched tony sing along and strip to naughty girl, dave get his beard shaved, and had real conversation with jonah. i have yet to figure him out, he just baffles me and i find it hilarious. everyone was concerned because i was so quiet, but i prefer to be a people watcher with that much going on. it was certainly entertaining. i left at midnight and made it home by four am. all in all, excellent day. can't wait to see state & madison and the noise fm again next weekend.
for once in my life i got to sleep in and get ready at my leisure before an out of town show. so many crack-of-dawn drives; i absolutely hate them. but this one was nice. kansas city is only four hours away and it's the easiest drive in the world. get on highway 70. drive. arrive at destination. bam. end story. okay, so not exactly but it's a really easy drive and it was nice to change things up a little because 55 has been getting a little old. and now that i think about it, that was the first time i've ever driven past columbia. at least by myself that is. i usually go northeast if anything. but anyway. i left home at around one and after a little trouble finding an open exit [thank god for garmin, that's all i have to say], i arrived at the RecordBar at just a little after five. tony was kind enough to put me on their guest list so i ended up not paying, which was great. and just when i thought it was going to be another show alone, i saw molly and her friend rachel, both from st. louis. so i sat with them for the night. things were starting out wonderfully.
we are voices played first and they sounded great. state and madison was up next so molly, rachel and i made our way up to the stage area and sang and danced our little hearts out. there was a decent sized crowd and they seemed really receptive which is always good. next was damiera, but i took a dinner break and listened from the table. and finally lifeinjersey, the band everyone else had been waiting for. i'll be honest, i've always thought there sound was just average, but this show certainly changed my mind. the only other time i'd seen them was at a real shitty show in columbia. but this cd release was fantastic. alex ward from the noise fm was filling in for them on guitar. i had talked to him earlier in the night, but had no idea he was actually playing. so that was a nice surprise. man did they melt some faces.
there was a later 21+ show so we got shuffled out pretty quickly. i made my rounds to say goodbye to everyone but tony told me to stick around because carson [of lifeinjersey] was having a party at his house afterwards. well it was still early so i decided to stick around for a bit. all the bands were packed up and ready to go by ten, so i gave myself a midnight curfew. hung out for a while, watched tony sing along and strip to naughty girl, dave get his beard shaved, and had real conversation with jonah. i have yet to figure him out, he just baffles me and i find it hilarious. everyone was concerned because i was so quiet, but i prefer to be a people watcher with that much going on. it was certainly entertaining. i left at midnight and made it home by four am. all in all, excellent day. can't wait to see state & madison and the noise fm again next weekend.
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