nashville: we the living and mikky ekko

ohhh nashville. nashville crashville. as in crash on a couch cushion in the hallway sharing a pillow with some dude you met a few hours ago... but we'll get to that in a minute.

this is the show i'd been waiting for. this is the show that i made up a "dying aunt" for, so i could take my french final early and be able to go. the things i do for my friends and the music they make... it was my first time going to nashville; surprising, considering just how many shows i drive to. left around two, took my time, made a few stops and showed up at 12th and porter at a little before eight. and at the exact same time as nora, her brother ryan, and her friend olivia, which worked out perfectly considering i went alone. [what's new?] we meandered our way in only to find out that doors were at nine. so we [maybe?] crashed some family holiday party in the bar area until doors opened. the show didn't end up starting until close to ten. we the living played first with a full band! read: FIVE people! oh em gee! and they've never sounded better. it was probably the best i'd heard them, and they even played joy. oh happy day. there was a pretty full crowd too, so that was nice to see. sarah silva was next and DAMN does that girl have a voice. close your eyes and you'd think it's a fifty year old black woman; open them and you see a slinky little blond up there belting it out hardcore. so yeah, she kicked ass. up next was mikky ekko. holy saint that is mikky ekko. praise be to mikky ekko, the almighty master of the nashville scene... [too much? please, don't question it.] he was fantastic. best live show i've probably ever seen. he could have stood up there in a clown suit rapping in spanish and i would have been just as enthralled. i really can't even explain, it was just amazing and that's about all i can tell you. and for all his insanely crazy moves and weird stage presence... totally quiet and shy in person. very... out there. but wicked sweet.

i traded lots of hugs post show, met lots of new friends including tim, brian and molly and jp's girlfriend audrey, and talked with both sarah and mikky for a little bit. he definitely knew who i was because of facebook and twitter when i introduced myself... "it's mueller right? devon mueller?" *fangirl moment* [i was also introduced as @devonlynn earlier in the night... twitter is taking presedence over real names these days, didn't ya know?] so we [me, nora, olivia and ryan] eventually headed out and made our way to wethecastle, better known as wethefrathouse in my humble opinion. we got the obligatory tour, hung out for a good five minutes... then the beer arrived and before i knew it, was being peer pressured into a game called civil war. [some friends i have, huh? tsk tsk.] it's basically a free-for-all beer pong with more beer. so i played barely two rounds [thanks for chugging my leftovers matt] and was drunk within oh... maybe like a half hour? haha. ben and i then proceeded to polish off an entire bag of doritos. oh yeah. ridiculous shenanigans ensued until six in the morning... but i must protect the identities of the innocent as well as the not so innocent. we all ended up crashing for a few hours in the hallway. right in front of someones door. on couch cushions and band-van seats. yeah, it was great lemme tell ya. so i laid there for a few hours, got up and dragged myself into the kitchen. drank amazing coffee, said goodbyes to fantastic new friends, woke up lazy bum who was still passed out at two, and eventually was on my way back home. no idea how i survived that drive. whew.

so here i am. back to the harsh reality of real life which shouldn't even seem that harsh since i'm on break. but it does for some reason. those people, the combination of all of them together, just makes me so happy, so truly and honestly, one hundred and ten percent happy, that i don't know what to do with myself. i sound like a fucking cheeseball but it's true. plain and simple. i love my friends. my band friends, my band-related friends, my far-away friends, both new and old. and i love how randomly i have met each and every one of them.

*warm-fuzzies-but-wishing-i-were-still-in-nashville*