lawrence: copeland farewell tour

night two of "devon's best week ever"! i was already exhausted from tuesday's excursion to st. louis and the measly four hours of sleep. but there's no excuse for missing a copeland show. especially their last show ever. and especially after they cancelled their st. louis date this past fall that i so kindly spent thirty dollars on... i''m not bitter, no way. only problem was that this show was in lawrence, kansas. which is a two and a half hour drive from columbia. and i had a nine am class to look forward to the following morning. BUT, i sucked it up and made the trip. because i'm devon, and it's just what i do. it was worth it, too.

i made really good time on the drive there and scored free street  parking right across the from the venue. best feeling in the world if you've ever dealt with city and show-related parking. i was running a little late since my class didn't even get out until five [doors were at seven thirty] but i walked in at a little past eight and somehow, magically walked right up to the very front and center. what the hell. it's fucking copeland! not to mention deas vail, person l, and i can make a mess like nobody's business. i was seriously baffled. copeland's been around for a good seven years and have been on tons of national tours. i couldn't understand how this wasn't a sold out show, being their farewell tour and all. i'm definitely not complaining, but still. whatever. i missed a little bit of deas vail's set, but everything i heard sounded fantastic. i had just bought their new album 'birds and cages' a few weeks prior off amazon for a sweet two bucks and was already in love. up next was person l [kenny from the starting line's side project. once again, suprising that there weren't more starting line fans there.] and they were great. i saw them last summer in st. louis with mae and barcelona and bought their cd way back when. and after that was i can make a mess. [one of ace ender's many side projects.] they played a solid set and ace had some really funny stage banter. no idea where he comes up with the things that he talks about, seriously.

and last but certainly not least, was copeland. the band i've been waiting to see for a good two years. the band that is in close second next to brand new for the key to my heart. the band in close second in the fact that they could sound downright awful on stage and i'd still have a special place for them within my heart. with that being said, their set was good. not mindblowing, not fantastic, not EPIC, but good. i can't say i was disappointed exactly, because it wasn't that. they just didn't exceed my expectations i guess. all the songs were solid and i sang along at the top of my lungs to every last one, but they just didn't have that extra little something. maybe it's because i'd built it up for so long. i mean, i bought my ticket back in december. maybe it's because they're burnt out. it's a farewell tour for a reason, right? i'll just say that i t was a good show, i left feeling satisfied, and just a smidge let down. but all in all, it was totally worth the two and a half hour drive and three hours of sleep.

st. louis: barcelona, person l, mae

woah. i neglected a show review! and since i'm such a perfectionist, i need to write about it now even though it's going to mess up the order of my blog... (god i'm a freak.)

may 19th. epic show at a little venue called off broadway just on the edge of southside ghetto st. louis. i had no one to go with (what's new) so i called up my friend allison who happily agreed to come along. a great band called tokyo was up first, but unfortunately their trailer had broken down in alabama so their singer, robert smith, was there alone. he put on a great acoustic show though, and i really enjoyed it. i'm such a sucker for boys and their guitars. next up was a local band called tonight at seven. they actually impressed me; it's hard to find talented local musicians around here. so by the time i got all excited and had thoughts buzzing around my head of getting to know them, blah blah blah... they announce it's their last show ever. damn. oh well.

barcelona was up first, and i think i was about the only person there who came to see them. (as in, i was the only one dancing around and singing along and felt like an idiot since everyone else in the crowd was pulling that shoegaze bullshit.) but regardless, i really enjoyed their set. it's great to hear bands live that actually sound like they do on record. and they even played a fantastic cover of "one" by three dog night. apparently i was the only one who knew that song too... by this point i was getting the traditional "concert back" so allison and i went upstairs to sit and saw most of person l from up there. (person l is kenny vasoli's new band/side project/whatever you want to call it after the starting line went on hiatus.) i didn't know much of their music, but they sounded pretty good. little did i know that i would get a text the following night from a friend in minneapolis informing me that person l was sleeping on her couch... small world. love my music friends.

mae was up next, and although i'm not a huge fan of them, they put on a really neat show. they had some sweet graphics projected on the screen behind them complete with 3-D glasses for the audience. very cool. so towards the end of the show, i ended up buying person l's cd, mae's new scratch-n-sniff ep (how cool is that?), mentioned both urbanites (you're welcome mike) and we the living (you're welcome matt) to a very drunk barcelona drummer (who knows if he even comprehended what i was saying), and handed out a few flyers for state & madison and cavashawn. successful night. so basically what i want you to do, is check out barcelona. because they're absolutely amazing. and listen to the song wooden soldiers by person l. you certainly won't be sorry.