st. louis: the strummalongs, architects, and am taxi

first night of thanksgiving break, what better way to celebrate than with a punk show?! molly was my obvious sidekick and we had ourselves a wonderful time. the lineup was, funnily enough, the exact same as the last time am taxi was in town and played at the firebird. i definitely can't complain though because it's one killer band after the next. the strummalongs are a great punk rock band from st. louis and they get better every time i see them, which turns out to be a lot because they always seem to open for friends of mine. next up was the architects from kansas city, missouri. i must have been too preoccupied gabbing with friends the last time i saw them. because damn were they great. i have no idea why i didn't buy all of their music the first time around, but you better believe i bought three albums this time. they played a fantastic set and all of them were so nice. molly and i chatted with their bass player for a bit after the show.

and finally, there was am taxi. they came, they got drunk, and they tore that fucking venue apart. i've been to my fair share of taxi shows, but i've never been in a sea of people so drunk in my life. molly and i were squished up front against the monitors and kept getting knocked over onto the stage because it's so low at cicero's. crazy times! we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves though, and they even played maydays and rosaries (normally featuring genevieve of company of thieves) and restless ways. molly and i hung out and talked to luke and adam for a bit after, and eventually parted ways. we probably went to steak and shake afterwards? maybe? but i don't remember. my brain was rocked pretty hard that night.

chicago: am taxi

this little trip actually came into effect because of darren criss. yes, that dude from glee. abby was hellbent on going to chicago to see him play at a street festival, so naturally i found a couple of shows i'd be interested in surrounding the festival, and we made a trip out of it. perfect! we drove straight to metro to catch am taxi which was wonderful. we hung out with sam for the night, and ran into nick and mark outside promoting. we ended up getting some dinner at a nearby bar with them and had some excellent hangs. turns out the entire band and their posse of friends, wives, and girlfriends ended up there as well so sam ash the chicago 'it girl' spent some time introducing us to everyone and taking shots of jameson. what a bad ass. we eventually headed back to her place and crashed hard. good times.

st. louis: the architects and am taxi

good old christmas break. plenty of time to be a hermit. plenty of time to stay up until five am and not leave my bed until the sun has already set. and also plenty of time to play hostess to some of my favorite chicagoans who came to visit me for the am taxi show! stephanie and claire got in town friday afternoon and we headed downtown a few hours later to the firebird for the one and only. to say that my circle of friends is obsessed with am taxi is quite the understatement. both sam and stephanie have been to close to thirty shows, and have been supporting the members, on one band form or another, for a good long while. i was a wee bit late to the taxi train, but better late than never. saying am taxi is rock and roll doesn't quite cut it. rock and roll is am taxi.

the architects were also on the tour and hailed from kansas city. great band. but am taxi stole the show and that's  really all there is to say. they had a really great crowd there and lots of people were dancing and singing along. always a good sign when multiple people know your lyrics. the group of us girls had a lovely time and  in the words of johnny, "things got weird."

st. louis: am taxi, civil twilight, and company of thieves

take another look at that title and let it sink in for a minute. the combination of those three bands last night was one of the most amazing things i've ever had the privilege of witnessing. and it was at cicero's no less. cicero's which has a capacity of under two hundred. those three AMAZING bands, all of them signed, playing at cicero's. i feel like this was one of those shows that, in two or three years, i'll have the rights to brag about. i saw AM TAXI at cicero's. i saw CIVIL TWILIGHT at cicero's. i saw COMPANY OF THIEVES of cicero's. you might be thinking to yourself, "those bands don't seem like they'd go together very well." and you're right. sort of. stylistically, they don't really match up. but company of thieves and civil twilight have wind up records as their factor in common; am taxi and company of thieves have the wonderful city of chicago in common. i'm not exactly sure who invited who onto who's tour... but it somehow worked out beautifully. *sniff*

am taxi played first to an already packed venue. never in my life have i had to fight to keep my spot at cicero's, but this night was one for the history books. fortunately, i was lucky enough to be right up front and had a great view of the stage. i'm not as keen on my punk-rock influences as i am my indie-rock influences, but am taxi reminds me a little bit of rise against. and they did a mean cover of paint it black by the rolling stones if that sheds any light. i was never a big classic rocker, but you can't NOT bob your head to these tunes. and adam krier's voice - as my chicago folk like to call it - sounds like gravel and honey. delicious. i bought both their ep's after the show - for five bucks a piece, it was a steal.

next up was civil twilight. quite a striking difference in style compared to am taxi, but mind-blowing nonetheless. i've had these guys on heavy rotation for a few months now, and with each listen, the album develops itself more and more and hearing them play the songs live was a totally insane experience. i wish i could put into words the feeling of their set. they're a mere trio, but the wall of sound they produce is astounding. they weren't just playing music up there, they were creating a soundscape. it was what i'd expect a sigur ros show to feel and sound like, but with english words. it was ethereal almost. their lyrics are great, but they're nothing too complex. lots of repetitive words and sounds, and it works so well for them. steven, the lead singer [who also plays bass and keyboard] has this perfect falsetto and it almost doesn't seem real. the amount of power and sound that comes out of his body just doesn't match up with how calm and composed he is while on stage. he barelyeven opens his mouth and this absolutely perfect pitch comes flying out at you. that entire explanation probably makes me sound like i was on an acid trip, but it's the best i can do. just go see them live and you'll see what i mean. i had a brief chance after the show to make a fool out of myself and talk to them; they probably thought i was nuts. i blabbered on and on about how great they were and the word vomit just wouldn't stop. but just hearing him respond in that sexy south african accent was enough to keep me blabbering.

and finally. the band that brough the house down. company of thieves. words cannot describe the love affair i've had with this band for the past year or so. it's been intense. and since this was my first time seeing them live in an actual venue [wicker park fest was great don't get me wrong, but it's not exactly intimate.] i was beside myself with fan-girl giddiness. they opened with a new song, and actually played three or four other new ones throughout their hour and fifteen minute set. i was surprised to hear so much new material sounding so good already. but i guess i shouldn't expect anything less from miss genevieve schatz who has the voice of an angel. that girl can SING. she's probably five feet tall and a hundred pounds, but the voice that comes out of her is just insane. and she's the cutest thing, too. she's got these crazy little dance moves that she does and it's all very theatrical. ten bucks says she used to be a dancer [it's the hands, you can always tell a dancer by their hands] or at least involved in high school theater. [is it creepy that i'm making these wild assumptions about her? maybe.] she was just too much precious to handle and i wanted to squeeze her and force her to be my best friend. there was a point at the end of 'pressure' when the entire crowd was belting out the lyrics and when the song was over she exclaimed, "how do you guys know this song?!" she clearly has no idea how good her band is. if she thinks a city just five hours south of chicago wouldn't have her entire record memorized by now, well... i don't even know. but it was great. just great. post show was a little chaotic; it wasn't over until twelve thirty and i still had a two hour drive back to school ahead of me. so i made a bee-line for merch and bought those two am taxi ep's, talked to adam and then some of the guys from civil twilight, and headed out. was i disappointed that i didn't get to talk to anyone from company of thieves? yes. but did i value my sanity and precious four hours of sleep that i was doomed to? very much so. every bit of lost sleep was worth it though. that show was a fantastic start to my week of insanity.

tomorrow - lawrence, kansas for copeland's farewell tour
friday - kansas city for manchester orchestra
saturday - a ridiculous seven hour drive to chicago for we the living
monday - st. louis circa survive and good old war

i love my life.

chicago (day one): treaty of paris cd release show

another roadtrip to chicago! and it came at a great time too, i was about to lose my sanity in st. louis. break has been nice and relaxing, don't get me wrong. but i can only sit at home and refresh twitter so many times a night before i get bored... and switch to facebook and refresh for a while... 

i had originally planned to go up on friday to see the noise fm play, but that didn't exactly work out. one, lawrence kansas got hit with a lot of snow and the highways were impassable. two, one member had the flu with no signs of a quick recovery. so i decided to just wait and drive up saturday morning. meesh, amanda, chelsey and i all got a hotel together and oh boy, did we have a time of it. four girls primping for a show at the same time... (pause a moment and picture it, giggle, move on) i'm sure it was funny. we headed down to metro, got a killer parking spot and met up with all 6947397 friends i have somehow accumulated in this city; notable people including sam, steph, nikki, liz, molly, and claire. the victory gins played first - not too bad, but nothing spectacular. last fast action was up second - they were a lot of fun and it was great finally seeing them play. i've met a few of the members and have seen them around at countless shows. it was nice to put... faces to a band? does that even make sense? anyway, the insecurities were next and i really enjoyed them. next was am taxi, and holy shit. i've heard a lot about them from friends and bands alike, but wow. their live set was amazing. and finally, treaty of paris. the crowd was pretty packed in by the time they played and it was so neat to be able to look around and know so many people. i'm not even FROM chicago and i feel a sense of unity with these people. so cool. we decided later that it was probably at 80-90 percent capacity; rough guess. but anyways. the show itself was incredible. there were balloons, confetti cannons, giant animals running around and stage diving, and my favorite part was probably the "cover" of the dog and everything's song hey luv. dan and augie from last fast action were originally members of the dog, so it was really cool to hear them play an old song of theirs for the first time in forever with members of treaty. so that was that. mass chaos of course ensued afterwards. i got quicks hellos and hugs from nick and tony, saw veronica and sonja, and chatted with mike for a while in the merch room. we snapped some pictures, stood outside in the cold for way too long talking to half of cavashawn, and FINALLY made our way to buffalo wild wings for some dinner. all sixteen of us. it was an adventure, let me tell you. we eventually made it back to our hotel, drank some peach champagne (absolutely amazing) and wine, had some obligatory girl talk and passed out.

[meesh, chelsey, dan, amanda and me]

[confetti!]

i had such a great time with such great people; i couldn't have asked for a better chicago show. the scene in that city never ceases to amaze me. the fact that five bands filled up metro, and they were all locals, will never cease to amaze me. and the way in which i happen to make friends, see them every few months or so, and still feel close with them, will never cease to amaze me. i absolutely love it.