columbia: we the living

the infamous band finally came back to my neck of the woods, and my oh my was it an entertaining few days. they played southeast missouri state on tuesday, and drove up to columbia the following day. i was eating lunch wednesday afternoon when matt called.

"hey, what are you doing?"
"eating lunch...?"
"well we're in st. louis right now, so that means we'll be in columbia in like two hours right?"
"yep."
"well let's hang out!"

so come nine o clock, that's precisely what we did. there's not a topic left in the world that we didn't cover. notable things being the gigantic spider on our apartment sign [so they say], pickleman's fried pickles, ben being on crack, and the obligatory discussion with matt on my post college plans involving music and writing. funny how every friend i have in the music business asks why i'm still in college and not touring with a band, and how they wish there were more of me to clone and spread to various cities. i've definitely heard that one before. those are some of the best compliments you can give me, and i hold them in such high regard. they passed out early which was somewhat fortunate; i had a chance to get some homework done and actually get a good night's sleep.

i went to class on thursday while they pulled the usual nine-to-five-in-a-coffee-shop-with-wireless-internet... and we eventually met up after class. i got some work done, met their tour manager adam and publicist nora [who actually graduated from mizzou last year; really sweet girl] and got a ride back to my place so they could pick up their two boxes of tee shirts. well eight o clock rolled around a lot faster than i had expected so me, katie, bri and lauren headed over to mojo's. not too much of a crowd at first, but the place filled up pretty fast and i was pleasantly surprised with the number of people there. it was mainly a plethora of drunk bitches, but it was a crowd nonetheless. they put on a fantastic show and i noticed loads of improvement since the last time i saw them in january. the girls screaming jp's name incessantly were annoying and i was about ready to slap them, but i still had a good time. best laid plans and half the girl never fail to give me goosebumps and old memories flooded my head; i may have gotten a little teary eyed... such a girl. i said hurried goodbyes after the show and we all headed home since katie and bri both had to get up super early. the original plan was to have band slumber party number two at my place, but travel plans made it easier for them to stay at nora's, so we made coffee plans for the morning instead.

it was such a great three days. i can't say it enough, how good it was to see those boys. it had been eight months. and eight months ago i didn't even get to say hi to two thirds of them. so this was a much needed reunion and i'm really happy with the way everything went down. three months ago you might remember a somewhat bitter blog about this band. things were cleared up yes, but i feel like three days worth of face time and good conversation restored anything else that may have been lost. the past is in the past and i'm very content with leaving it there. grudges aren't my forte thankfully, and the only thing left to be disappointed about is the fact that i have plans to see them only once more on this tour.

so now i'm left with the usual thoughts brought about post-good-friends'-shows; what the hell am i doing in school? please take me with you because i know in my heart that i don't belong here. i belong with a group of people who live their lives to play shows day in and day out. and i want to do everything in my power to make that possible and help them be seen by all the world.