chicago: sixth annual fall formal

featuring: south jordan, super happy fun club, tommy and the high pilots, and state and madison


ohh, fall formal. it didn't go quite as planned this year, but it was a fun time nevertheless. as always, i spend thanksgiving with family and head to chicago early friday morning; i drive five hours while the crazy shoppers shop. this year was even more perfect because urbanites were playing friday night, and formal was on saturday. two shows in one weekend!

but then i got sick. like, really sick. it started a couple hours after thanksgiving and i pretty much spent the next twenty four hours crawling from my bed to the toilet and wimpering and crying the whole time. not a pretty sight. there was no way i could have driven anytime on friday and i felt awful because molly was riding with me. i didn't know when i'd start feeling better so i had to play it be ear and listen to my poor body. we left as late as we could on saturday and while i was nowhere near one hundred percent, at least i could hold food down. we got to meesh's, put on fancy clothes, and headed down to a sold out beat kitchen. south jordan played first and they were lovely. my good friends jesse and benton, formerly of cavashawn,  play drums and bass respectively and i hadn't seen them in aaaages. so it was nice to catch up. super happy fun club just got back from touring europe for a month and this was their first show back in the states. they were lively and hilarious as always. next was tommy and the high pilots who i am absolutely enamored with. they blow me away every time i see them and i just can't get over how. damn. GOOD. they are. and finally was state and madison. i probably sound like a broken record talking about them as much as i do, but they're wonderful. wonderful people who make wonderful music.

we hung out for quite a while afterwards and shenanigans were had with very drunk noise fm brothers, and eventually meesh, sam, molly and i ended up at the traditional big top for a late dinner. meesh made an amazing brunch the following morning and sean and pete (of the heyday) came over to eat and hang out for a while since they flew in from denver for the weekend. i had to head back to school and the seven hour drive was looming over me, so i bit everyone farewell and headed south.

i can't believe i was in chicago for less than twenty four hours. it was nuts, but i'd do it again in a heartbeat.

st. louis: lucky boys confusion and state & madison

as if two shows in one night were enough to supress my musical appetite. psh. my chicago boys were in town and i was way more excited than i care to admit to see them. molly came to the show with me and we had a wonderful time. this was state and madison show number twenty-something and it was just as good as all the others. they're damn consistent, if not better each time i see them. i also got to meet their new bassist travis so that was fun.

there was quite a large crowd forming by the time lucky boys confusion played, and with good reason. lucky boys has been around for a good decade and all the members have multiple notable projects under their belts: am taxi, super happy fun club, the insecurities, and shock stars to name a few. while i didn't grow up listening to their music and probably can't appreciate it like some of the longtime fans in attendance, i really enjoyed myself. they put on a great show and stubhy really knows how to capture an audience.

morton: state & madison

my summer vacation started a few weeks ago and i spent the first two of them at home in st. louis. it was a lazy and relaxing two weeks and since i had nothing better to do with myself, why not take a mini roadtrip with my friend claire?! so that's exactly what we did.

state and madison has played middle-of-nowhere morton, illinois a couple of times before because of our mutual friend matt so i jumped on the chance to visit everyone with a fairly short two and a half hour drive. (morton is about about halfway between st. louis and chicago if that gives you any kind of mental picture)

claire and i received numerous different start times for the show: doors at five! show at seven! state and madison at seven! state and madison at nine! the band told me nine so i went trusted that answer. and while they were indeed correct, shit happens. an opening band dropped off the bill last minute so state and madison were bumped up to eight. well claire and i thought we'd left in plenty of time, but with the last minute change, we baaaarely made it with the band stalling as much as possible. we walked in during the first song. not too shabby!

they played a decently long set, and it was really great to see tony filling in on bass for them. he recently left the band to pursue other interests, but they have yet to find a replacement. plain and simple, it just felt good to catch up with friends whom i hadn't seen in quite a few months. they loaded out fairly early and i think we were all on our way to a cracker barrel around ten. not after nick let claire and i preview a few new demos though. (they're fucking rad. there are STRINGS. and HORNS.) seriously. every single time nick shows me new songs i'm completely blown away. they just get better and better.

it was a five hour trip for maybe three hours of time with them, but it was worth it.

www.stateandmadison.net

st. louis: state & madison

my favorite people in the whole world came to visit. yay! it had been a whole two months since i'd seen them, but even that was way too long. things have certainly changed for the band over the course of two months, too. tony, bass player, decided to pursue his own musical endeavors and left the band. pretty much broke my heart, because i had no idea i wouldn't be seeing him again for a while the last time i was in chicago. this was quite the abrupt decision, he played his last set with them on new year's eve opening for local h, and that was that. so once again, state and madison was back to three members and are still in search of a bassist. alex ward of the noise fm stepped in this time around though, so it was great to see him as well last weekend. it's always neat to see friends step up for their friends' bands and help out when needed. just goes to show how supportive the chicago music scene is of each other.

the show went well and there was quite the large crowd at the firebird last saturday evening. it was an early show - the firebird is starting to host two shows on saturdays, so doors were around 5:30. i was home in st. louis for the weekend, so my drive wasn't too bad. i had agreed to pick up the lovely molly cowan though, who didn't get off work until 5. so i picked her up around 5:30 and we got there in time to see the opening band. i hadn't heard much about either the opener or the headliner (state and madison played second of three) but they were some youngsters. average crowd age was probably around 14 or 15 and there were lots of parental units floating around the outskirts of the venue. molly and i made our rounds catching up with everyone. ran into my friend matt who goes to school at slu. and in general readied oourselves for the party that was to come next. the boys played a great set - although it always feels so short. played the usuals,  (molly and i made sure to sing all of tony's vocals, tee hee) played a "new" song called come back from the sea (that i've actually heard a couple times already, and then a real new one that they played for the first time that night. and it sounded great! i remember it being catchy, but that's about it. i'm sure i'll be hearing it again sometime soon.

we sang and danced to the headlining band. they weren't terrible, i probably would have loved the pop-punkish set from them in my pre-teen years. but we had a good time belting out hearts of to fall out boy and the starting line covers. shenanigans were had, and we eventually shipped out to cicero's for dinner, where more shenanigans were had, including the mindblowing tricks of matt's phone, which IS WATERPROOF. bad. ass.

if you haven't checked out state and madison yet, shame on you first of all. second of all, check out their website: http://stateandmadison.net and their twitter: http://twitter.com/stateandmadison

and check out the noise fm while you're at it, since alex is a dear to fill in for them: http://thenoisefm.net.

chicago: fifth annual fall formal

featuring: the phoenix philosophy, the aesthetic, the heyday, and state & madison





nothing like fall formal to be a milestone show. number twenty for state and madison! fall formal is a wonderful tradition that's been happening at beat kitchen in chicago the past couple, all thanks to my friends. it's always thanksgiving weekend, which gives me plenty of time to rest up before a wild weekend out of town, and leaves me energized and still on a hapy music high when i head back to school a few days post show. so i made the trip to chicago, stayed with my friend meesh, and we had ourselves a lovely weekend full of great people and shady shenanigans.



my favorite italian was in town from LA playing guitar for brand new band the aesthetic, the heyday was in town from colorado, and all of my friends with the most remote of musical connections were at beat kitchen. i couldn't have been happier. plus, who doesn't love dressing up for no reason at all?






the phoenix philosophy opened. they were alright. the aesthetic was really great, and played some bad ass covers, the heyday was solid as always, and state and madison brought the house down. chicago shows give me warm fuzzies, and this night did just that. it couldn't have been more perfect.

<3

st. louis: the without a state tour

featuring without a face and state & madison


ohhh this. this tour, these people. so many stories and so many things that are to never be talked about again.

state and madison. my loves. words cannot describe my love for them. they came to visit me in wonderful st. louis on the craziest weekend of my life, and by the time their show rolled around i was exhausted. first up was one man band henry, of without a face. i'd probably seen henry play a good five or six times with my gaggle of chicago locals, but had never really introduced myself. let's just say that night was the beginning of what will eventually be marriage. he opened, made everyone laugh, and it was great to be among all of my st. louis music friends. we're a scarce bunch compared to those of chicago, but we're getting there. state and madison played next and of course tore shit up. it was my first time seeing alan play as their new drummer too, so that was fun. both bands and about eight of us friends all shipped out to denny's for a rowdy and way too sexual dinner. words cannot describe the topics of conversation and the pictures taken that night. oh my. both bands were going to drive to columbia and crash at my apartment there, so we were in for a long drive. tony knew i'd had a long and tiring weekend so he rode with me to keep me company and keep me awake, and everyone else followed behind.

and we'll leave it at that. many shenanigans commenced upon arrival in columbia. those italians, i tell ya. they snore all night long and drool on your pillow!

www.withoutafacemusic.com
www.stateandmadison.net

chicago: without a face, jonas sees in color, windsor drive, and state & madison

so remember that one time i went to chicago to see my besties in state and madison at their CD release? ...no? yeah, me neither. that's how fucking long ago the show was. and of course, because of the apathetic procrastinator that i am, i'm just now getting around to writing about it. (are you sensing a slight pattern here?)

since the show was on a sunday, and since my good friend meesh had just moved into her new apartment in oak park, i decided to go up a day early to hang out. i left around noon, made really good time, and got there a little before five. meesh and i got some dinner in downtown oak park and wandered around peeking in cute little shops and stopping for a while in this really neat bookstore. she had to work early the next morning so we opted for a chill night in, where i downloaded about half of her CD collecton.

the show was an early one at beat kitchen on sunday, and there was a street festival happening on belmont. so we left in plenty of time to pick up sam and stephanie, and hung around outside the venue for a while when we got there (and stuffed our faces with festival-esque potato skins... YUM.) without a face opened the show and there weren't too many people there are first, but we still had a good time. henry is the one and only member of without face, and let me tell you. he's hilarious. without a face isn't really the rock n roll kinda band, but if you're looking for some lighthearted comedy, henry's your man. jonas sees in color played next and it was quite fortunate that they did. the band was in a really bad van accident the night before the show - their van flipped three times and everything was totalled. fortunately, besides some cuts and bruises and sore muscles, everyone escaped harm free. they put on a good show and the blood running down the lead singers arm made it all the more bad ass. they were really good - not exactly my type of music, but i bought a CD anyway. i mean they almost died and still made it to chicago to play the show. the very least i could do was offer up ten bucks to help them get back on the road. windsor drive played third and were just as wonderful (and attractive) as i remember them being. they played a wonderful set and it was over all too quickly.

state and madison was up next but before they played, there was a surprise in store. little did you know, tony is an ordained minister in the state of illinois (i couldn't make this shit up if i tried) and he MARRIED a couple on stage. and then they played the show. so random, but i would expect nothing less from state and madison. their set was one of the best i've heard them play, and that's saying a lot since this was number eighteen or something crazy like that. i say it every time, but they really do blow me away every show they play. they're so. fucking. good. it was also really cool to see jesse (ex-cavashawn, now south jordan drummer) play with them. the friendships and love in this music scene never get old for me, i love seeing bands helping other bands. we all hung around for a while after the show and i said my goodbyes to everyone moving away. sad times. benton just moved to LA, jesse's going to nashville, chelsea's going to LA as well... boo hiss. also talked to tony and gossiped about new drummers... times are certainly changing and i'm trying my best to keep up. craziness i tell ya! but all worth it.

the four of us got dinner and meesh and i went back to her place and passed the hell out. she had work in the morning and i had a long drive back to st. louis ahead of me. i stopped in la grange for dinner with the always entertaining silver siblings, and was on my home home by around three. all in all, a very successful weekend.

st. louis: lindenwood's break music festival

featuring: the noise fm and state & madison
[as well as: we should whisper, the fundamental elements, me verse you, zack weber, stereo skyline, and murphy lee]

it was a glorious weekend with absolutely beautiful weather; what better way to enjoy it than at an outdoor music festival on a gorgeous college campus? i certainly can't think of anything better, especially when it includes my good friends in the noise fm and state & madison, as well as molly, one of my favorite chicagoans who was home for spring break. festivities started around two, and the guest list was once again my saving grace. i made my way down to the guys' merch tables and traded hugs with everyone, and immediately made friends with stero skyline's merch guy, kosub, [who's so cool that he goes by his last name] who was set up next to us. he saw me standing behind state & madison's merch and told me i'd better come hang out under stereo skyline's tent; "you're a ginger, you're gonna fry out here." so that's precisely what i did all day long, and it was a great decision. we really hit it off and saying that him and molly hit it off as well... is, well, the understatement of the year. ...and i'll leave it at that. there was also bret, who was stereo skyline's guitar tech; we immediately bonded as well. if adam krier and mike racanelli had a love child, it would be bret. all four of us geeked out over twitter and i somehow ended up with bret's number in my phone. and that was just the beginning...

the noise fm played second at three o clock, and man was it good to see them. it had been a long ass time! their set sounded really good too; so much new music! i absolutely can't wait until their album comes out in may. [mike, if you're reading this, i'm still waiting on that e-mail... just sayin.] it's always a little bit disappointing when i can't sing along though. but i guess that's all the more reason to get excited for may. state & madison played at six, and i swear to you, everytime i see them they just sound better and better. their new stuff is golden; can't wait for the next mini release of some singles in the future.

the rest of the night included lots of interesting little tidbits, including, but not limited to:
the amazing zack weber who's from st. louis and has a voice that i would like to marry - check him out!
murphy lee, shakin his tail featha - my first rap concert
nickolas made the above mentioned rap concert bearable with his delicious pepsi
jonah and i had in-depth discussions about naughty words
kosub entertained us ALL day long with his groovy dance moves
bret and i became best friends
spencer [my boss] called and needed someone to replace building rome at a show at midnight... a few phone calls later and state & madison had agreed to do it - WIN

so that was that. what a crazy saturday. i couldn't have asked for anything better. and now i'm left with the typical warm fuzzies of a post-band-friends-show, and well as warm fuzzies from the new friend[s] i made.

dekalb: state & madison and treaty of paris

just when i thought i could look forward to a nice relaxing saturday without any crazy roadtripping plans [FINALLY] for the entirety of my spring break, mike convinced me. he convinced me to drive the four hours north to dekalb, illinois to see treaty of paris [again] and state & madison. it was a fairly easy decision since one - i adore both those bands, two - all my chicago friends would be there, three - meesh and her parentals would be there, and four - honestly, what better plans did i have? so i rolled myself out of bed at noon, lazily got ready and was headed north by around two. my bladder was most definitely not in roadtrip mode so it took a little longer than four hours, but i arrived in plenty of time. and as i walked in, i was promptly knocked over by a collective group hug from sam, steph, claire, molly and meesh. have i mentioned how much i love them? well i absolutely adore them. so we hung out for a while and chatted it up, said hey to various band boys wandering aruond, and mike came over and pointed and laughed at me. he loves me, i swear, even told me i was his favorite person. WIN. [check that one off the bucket list.]

without a face [yes, again] played first and was hilariously entertaining as always. kirkland was next and they were really good. not exactly music i'd choose to listen to day in and day out, but they put on a great show and their lead singer, sarah, has an absolutely killer voice. next was state & madison, my chicago loves, and they were of course amazing as they always are. they're now tied for first place with cavashawn for "number of shows i've been to". ooh, the competition! [the magic number is sixteen if you were wondering.] and last but not least, was treaty of paris. quite the show, as was the one the previous night. they never fail to impress me, and phil kosch never fails to make me laugh with his crazy moves on stage.

so we all hung around for a while after the show, took some pictures, made fun of meesh for being WASTED [just kidding] and i made my goodbye rounds with most everyone. left around eleven, made it home by three thirty, crashed into bed.

/end last-minute-decision-saturday.

st. louis: the rad bromance tour

featuring the heyday, state & madison and cavashawn

finally reunited with some of my favorite [chicago] locals and oh boy, was it a fun friday night. actually  thursday night was interesting too. state and madison needed a place to crash and although i wasn't at home in st. louis at the home they know so well, i did have a lovely little apartment with a couch and some floor space. so it was around four in the moring when they arrived. i let them in, went back to bed, and that was that. gotta love touring and crashing on random floors. so the weekend finally commenced at three on friday and i made my way home. stopped at the house for a little bit to freshen up, ate some dinner and headed out to the firebird. i was surprised to see people lined up outside, and even more surprised to see how many people were already inside. i'm not a big fan of this is energy, the headlining band, but they sure know how to draw a crowd, which was most fortunate for the bromance boys who needed fourteen hours worth of gas to get them to austin overnight. eek.

the heyday was the first of the three to play, and i had forgotten how great they are live. i'm kind of ashamed to say i haven't given their album as many listens as i should have, seeing as i've had it for months. they remind me of a delightful little mix of limbeck and the format. if that's your thing, definitely check em out, you won' t be disappointed. state & madison played next and MAN did they sound good. they always sound good live, but they sounded REALLY good this time. maybe it's because i hadn't seen them in so long and was excited, but regardless, it was great. the crowd flocked to their merch table immediately afterwards so that's always a good sign. loved the new songs they played too. can't wait for them to be released! and finally, there was cavashawn. scott's vocals never fail to make my jaw fall to the floor and benton never fails to make me smile with that permanent grin he always has plastered on his face. overall, it was the rad bromance boys that stole the show - the opening band was pretty terrible and like i said before, i'm not a big fan of this is energy.

it was so good to see some of my favorite people all in one venue, playing right after one another and all singing along to each other's sets and hopping up on stage to join in occasionally. i've said it before, but i love those state & madison and cavashawn boys like it's my job and it's always good catching up with them. scott and i talked crazy fan girls and tony and i gossiped about all things chicago-band related. nickolas about knocked me over every twenty minutes or so with huge bear hugs. and jonah thanked me about forty seven times for the amazingness of my apartment shower. the litte things in life, i tell ya. check out http://www.radbromancetour.tumblr.com/ for live updates on all their shenaningans at SXSW. it's entertaining, i promise.

chicago: fourth annual fall formal

featuring state and madison, urbanites, windsor drive, and koo koo kanga roo

what a perfect way to end thanksgiving break. a trip to chicago! [seriously, what else were you expecting?] it was the fourth annual fall formal, but this was my first year in attendance. it's been a slowly building tradition, but everyone treats this show as a sort of prom, and gets all dressed up and ready to party. in the words of mike racanelli, "what do girls like to do? get dressed up and dance." lights, streamers, balloons, confetti, a photo booth... my oh my, was it a good time.

i left around ten on saturday and made good time; arrival time in chicago = around three o clock. it's amazing how the absence of traffic can literally shave an hour off of that commute. meesh and i met sam at her house, but decided to go to liz's house to get ready instead. sam's mom was in "a mood" and nobody wants to intrude on those treacherous mom moods. sam's car had been overheating so i braved the chicago streets with great success. we got dressed and primped and fussed until everything was perfect and headed down to beat kitchen.

koo koo kanga roo was up first and i'll have to admit we were all a bit skeptical from what we'd heard prior to the show. they're not exactly a band. i'd call them more "entertainers" or "performers" maybe. rappers, as opposed to musicians if anything. but they were hysterical, and i enjoyed their set. lots of break dancing in the middle of the dance floor, lots of yelling and chanting and crowd participation, and lots of silly dances. it was a fun way to start the night. windsor drive was up next and they played a solid set. i really enjoyed their music and ended up buying two EPs after the show. nice guys, and all very nice looking as well. up next were urbanites who BLEW MY FUCKING MIND. i've said it before and i'll say it again: every time i see them they have improved ten fold. they just finished recording an album and it'll be out in early 2010. i highly suggest you pick it up. i swear to you, these guys are gonna blow up soon. they only played one old song if i'm remembering correctly, but all the new stuff was great. two of their new songs involved a mini orchestra and it was epic. i had goosebumps. can't wait for them to play some more shows in the future

and finally, last but certainly not least, was state and madison. i'm usually good at taking mental notes but i was having to much fun and didn't really care to keep track of anything. i don't remember much of the set list, but i remember it being awesome. i believe there were four covers thrown in there; i love rock and roll being the last song of the night and involving members of treaty of paris and cavashawn swarming the stage for a jam session with the entire crowd dancing and screaming "i love rock and roll." it was pretty bad ass. i also remember being severely worried about jonah's health at one point. he makes strange faces all the time and he falls off his stool all the time, but this time i was just hoping he would make it through the set without passing out or throwing up. he made it though, and all was well.

we all made our rounds afterwards. i bought some merch, talked to windsor drive, part of treaty, part of cavashawn and said hurried goodbyes to mike and most of state and madison. being underage, we were all shooed outside and proceeded to stand around for another hour. chatted with various people, took some pictures, met a few band boys' girlfriends who know me as "girl with the bear in her basement", and gave some hugs. we left at last and a whole slew of about thirteen girls and one guy went out for dinner. stephanie so graciously let meesh and i stay with her, so we eventually ended up crashing over there. and i was on my way back to columbia by eleven the next morning.

thanks to everyone for such a fantastic weekend. i can't even begin to describe how much i love all of those people. there are just too many of them. they're seriously my family away from home and i feel like i can say that i feel like i belong more in chicago's music world than i do in st. louis's. but thanks to sam, meesh, liz, stephanie and nikki most of all. and molly, andrea, sonja, veronica, alex, and everyone else i only sort of know, and everyone i met for the first time, and all the band guys who i'm not about to list. you make feel warm and fuzzy inside. love youuuuu.

p.s. congrats to sonja on her 81st state and madion show. fuck yeah.

p.p.s. i'll try and add some pictures when i get the chance.

st. louis: state & madison, the heyday and cavashawn

weekday shows are a bitch when there's a two hour drive involved, but this one was definitely worth it. it had been three months since i'd seen cavashawn and two since i'd seen state & madison. definitely not okay when i was seeing them every few days over the summer. so i hauled ass to st. louis on a wednesday night, dropped off my stuff at home and headed down to the loop. hung out at starbucks for a while and eventually met up with nikki and stephanie who drove in from chicago/eiu. we made our rounds and said hello to everyone and caught up on always-interesting gossip. [tony was apparently a little impatient. i got a text saying "where you is?" to which i replied "right behind you..." haha.]

state & madison played first. and played a very short set. tony said later that they had to cut four songs - two of which were new. boo. so that was kind of a bummer, but they put on a great show nonetheless. one of their new songs that i've heard maybe twice before, finally has a name - phantoms - and i absolutely love it. once again though, it's cicero's, in which band line-up is key; there weren't too many people there yet. but i knew all the faces that were there, so they had their main group of fans present which is promising. i always forget just how much i love them until i see them play again, and everything is renewed. i probably look so dumb with my goofy smile plastered on my face, but oh well. the heyday played next, a band from denver whom i've never seen before. i've heard a lot about them though from various bands and friends, and they didn't disappoint. reminded me slightly of the format which is always a good thing. i ended up buying a shirt and cd for fifteen bucks and talked to the lead singer randy. good deal. at some point i'd seen jon and tiffany walk in and went over to say hey, and got sucked into quite the conversation. i've been really trying to get building rome to play shows with some, or one, or all of "my bands" and i'm really hoping it'll happen sometime in the future. *crosses fingers*

so cavashawn finally played and oh man. it was a great time. there was a large and very energetic crowd considering the night, and i feel like they've really improved since the last time i'd seen them. nick and tony came and sang for a few songs and the drunken shenanigans were definitely entertaining. there were also a few not-so-familiar faces in the crowd which is good. afterwards, we all stood around forever and had various strange conversations and were eventually kicked out, to where we then stood outside for a good forty five minutes and talked. lots of memorable events and conversations took place outside, but aren't quite suitable for a public blog... haha. so we eventually said our goodbyes, and nikki, steph and i got some jimmy john's for a much overdue dinner and headed back to my house. woke up six hours later. drove back to columbia. went to class. love it.

what is my life?

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.

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.

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.

st. louis: cavashawn || morton: state & madison and danger is my middle name

stellar shows two days in a row; my head might explode. thursday was cavashawn's cd release show here in st. louis. those boys have worked so damn hard to promote their new ep coming out and it was great seeing that work pay off. it's also neat from my perspective as a fan having been around for a while; every time they come here i watch the fan base just grow and grow. it's also neat when i'm standing in a room full of people i know just through cavashawn! we're our own little community and i love it. it was a little over six months ago that they played the creepy crawl for twelve people. yes, twelve. so thursday was definitely a success and i couldn't be more proud. it was also good to see the lovely scott feister again. what a character. looking forward to seeing them again next weekend at summerfest! THAT will be one amazing show.

the following day featured a lovely little town called morton. oh, you haven't heard of it? yeah, me either. not until a few weeks ago at least. and let me tell you, it's in the middle of fucking nowhere. but it was only three hours to nowhere so i said sure, why not. state and madison and danger is my middle name were two of the SEVEN bands playing... longest night ever. i arrived around five [to boys jumping on my car and stripping off clothes] and nickolas slid me in as merch girl, which was nice. i sat around [on fabulous comfy couches] through the first four bands before state and madison finally played. they put on a great show as always and we celebrated jonah's birthday with a lovely cake and princess balloon...? danger was up next and they really impressed me. i've been to one of their shows before but didn't actually watch the set. but they had some great energy and bill cox is a fucking beast on that guitar. i hung around for a bit afterwards, talked to people and was on my way home by about midnight. got home, crashed. and am awaiting the next show; july fourth, you shall be one of the most epic days of my life.

chicago: urbanites and state & madison

holy hell. what a crazy twenty four hours. it was a last minute decision to go to chicago anyway. but the super last minute part was when kiera called me around eleven the night before and said her band practice was cancelled, meaning we could leave earlier than two thirty. she then jokingly said "we can leave whenever you want, as long as it's not six in the morning or something." i laughed and said "well..." state & madison had an acoustic set scheduled at orland square mall at noon and i really wanted to be there for it.

i went to bed at midnight, feel asleep at three and got up at five thirty. oh yes. perfect way to start the longest day ever, i know. i left the house by six thirty, got gas and was at kiera's house at about ten til. well kiera slept through her alarm and had woken up to me knocking on the door. NOT a good way to start our day; i was already a little panicky about making it by noon. but she pulled an amazing feat; showered, got ready, and we were in the car by about three after seven. absolutely amazing i tell you.

well the two hours of sleep seemed to be doing me just fine and the drive went pretty fast. we got the mall in record time (thank you handy dandy garmin) and were inside wandering around by about eleven thirty. we then run into nickolas who seemed just as lost as we did. he looked at me, cocked his head, looked down at his watch and back up at me. "what the fuck are you doing here?" was his only acknowledgement. we chatted briefly and found our way to hot topic together. tony, then mike proceeded to have the same reaction to our early morning appearance. sam of course knew what was up and just shook her head and called me insane. ahh, friends. love them.

the set-up was small, as was the set. but it was fun and it was cute. and jack martino even made an appearance on drums which of course was adorable. kiera and i wandered the mall for a bit then left and got some lunch at tgi friday's. we then rolled ourselves out of there and went to old navy, then barnes and noble, and that's where we spent most of the afternoon. we both found books to read, i got some starbucks, and then curled up in a big comfy chair. kiera passed out for a few hours, but i read straight through my book. by that time it six or so, so i texted meesh and we decided to head over to the venue. everyone was in the parking lot talking, so we hung out for a while and eventually made our way inside.

no one was really interested in the opening bands, so we grabbed a table and meesh i caught up on life. lots of shenanigans ensued, of course. [there was a lot of batman and a whole lot of brewnicorn.] we eventually made our way over to the stage for a part of hotel ahead's set. they weren't bad. urbanites were up next though, and i think we all wanted to secure our good spots up front. deb was of course doing her thing - right up front taking notes on all the set lists. love that woman. so urbanites finally came on and besides quite a few technical difficulties [water bottles flying, drums falling, faulty mics] they put on a pretty bad ass show. this was only my second time seeing them live, but i noticed loads of improvement from the last time i saw them back in january. they broke down quickly and the crowd packed in fairly tight for state & madison who put on one hell of a show, let me tell you. this was by far the best i'd seen them. it's great to have small shows in st. louis with thirty to forty people and watching the fan base grow, but it's another story seeing a band in their hometown with everyone singing along. the urbanites came on stage for a few songs and caused a ruckus, and scott from cavashawn even came and sang for part of 'everybody wants love'. great show.

`

[tony of state & madison - i stole this from his facebook. meesh will probably upload more pictures at her leisure which means this will probably be updated at some point.]

it was a bit chaotic post-show, but i got a chance to catch up with the cavashawn boys, officially met brad and steven from urbanites and talked briefly with mike, tony and nickolas. i ended up with three shirts and a huge bag of state & madison promo stickers and flyers [thanks mike]. kiera and i had set a curfew for ourselves earlier in the day, and our goal was to leave by midnight which would ensure us getting home by a solid five am. well i made my rounds, said my goodbyes, and we were off by just about twelve. the drive home was long and kiera fell asleep about an hour in. i think i was hallucinating by the time i got home, but i made it safely in one piece. i'm pretty sure i was in bed by about five thirty... the time i was getting up a whole twenty four hours earlier... whew. great trip, i'm still smiling.

st. louis: state & madison

oh state & madison. i'm so happy we've crossed paths. [thanks meesh, i credit you for that.]

the ever so lovely amanda came in town thursday afternoon and we actually got to enjoy a leisurely afternoon. no homework to worry about, no classes to rush back to. amazing. we got some lunch, saw a movie and hung out in the loop for a bit before the show.

sitting through the three opening bands was certainly interesting. what a vast array on non-talent. time passed quickly though; thank you tony and mike for providing me with interesting text-commentary on the evening. so finally the headliner of the evening, which this time seemed to be of benefit. sometimes it can really suck to play last at cicero's; everyone comes for the first band at eight and leaves before anyone else plays. but state & madison put on a great show and the crowd has grown in the last three times i've seen them here. that's always promising. it's exciting to see growing fanbases and know that it's because of something YOU did. makes me feel like a proud mom. [i've had many proud mom moments, they're the absolute best feeling.] we hung out for a bit afterwards and eventually made our way back home. arbor mist and pizza rolls were enjoyed and amanda and i crashed around two.

[nickolas killing it - thanks for the picture tabitha]

what's even more exciting than the actual show, are all the things that have been happening as of late. mike had talked to me briefly a few days before the show about a state & madison forum and being the st. louis leader, blah blah blah. well i agreed and he said things would be up and running in a few days. he was indeed true to his word. the past few days i've spent quite a few hours at the computer discussing plans, recruiting members, and trying to set up shows and get promotional ideas flowing. it's been interesting. my eyes have certainly been opened a lot wider than they were before. music industry, you are a bastard.

chicago: cavashawn, state & madison, and more

oh chicago. are you ever going to give me even so much as a chance to like you? first it was negative temperatures. this time, pouring rain and three inches of snow. lovely. someday, you shall redeem yourself. someday soon i hope.

i left st. louis saturday morning, drove the five hours on I-55, and arrived in chicago in the same pouring rain. what a drive, let me tell you. michele, amanda and i freshened up a bit and headed over to mojoe's for what was one of the best nights i've had in a long time. a great ska band opened, cavashawn rocked my face off next, and then state & madison. i think all three of us were done standing in a sea of smelly people by that time, so we ventured our way back to the merch/coffee shop area. [danger is my middle name and the frantic were up next.] the chicago scene never ceases to amaze me; i bet we stood around and talked to various important people, friends and band members for a good three hours. [and i'm pretty sure benton stole a solid hour for himself.] oh the gossip. it was certainly entertaining. we had dinner at steak n shake after the show with the cavashawn boys, jesse's adorable girlfriend chelsea, and michele's mom who is absolutely amazing and ended up picking up the tab for everyone. yes, everyone. she's amazing. we crashed hard that night, i got no sleep thanks to much snoring, and we were up at eight thirty the next morning to take full advantage of free continental breakfast. i was on my way back to columbia in the snow by nine thirty, not at all happy about the six or so hours ahead of me. but it went quicker than i thought, and taking some backroads proved to be a lot faster and far prettier than any highway i could have chosen. during those six hours, i fell madly in love with jack's mannequin again, had some profound thoughts that i have since forgotten, and ate an entire bag of chex mix. riveting, i know.

so now i'm back at school, trying to resist the inevitable groove of stressed out college life. i'm already behind, how does this happen? but i'm trying to keep my head up and continually remind myself of the mere six weeks left, and then finals. that's it. i can do it. ludo and my birthday this weekend, easter the next, cavashawn in chicago again three weeks after that, then finals, jack's mannequin and i'm out of here. i'm entirely capable.

st. louis: cavashawn and state & madison

there's nothing like driving home on a random wednesday night, only to drive there again in two days. but it's what i do, and it was well worth it.

went to my one and only class, packed up the car and was on the way to st. louis by 11:30. got home around one, threw in some laundry, went to starbucks number one, hit up guitar center and met amanda at starbucks number two. we sat and talked for a while when she pointed out the group of boys standing on the corner and noted they looked like band boys. i turned around and indeed, it was state & madison. we said a quick hello, got some dinner and made our way back to starbucks to meet emma before the show.

there was actually a line when we got to cicero's which was surprising, but exciting nevertheless. hard work and tireless promotion really does pay off. we made our way in, talked to almost everyone i think, and settled into a spot up front. cavashawn played a great set while we got very aquainted to psycho chick next to us. amanda needed a beer after that experience, so we hung back while HXC-STL band screamed for thirty minutes. state & madison was up next so we made our way back to the front and enjoyed another great set. jonah threw me a battered and bruised drumstick that's now hanging out in my backseat. i should have been creeper-fan-girl and had him sign it or something, i guess. amanda and i then confirmed our stay at the cavashawn hotel post-mojoe's show, said hurried goodbyes wishing them both safe travels to austin, and were on our way home. got back to school and was in bed by 2:30. successful trip, i say.

spring break starts after my ten minute class tomorrow. i'll be back in st. louis by 12:30. let the madness of trying to find a summer job [that works with my roadtrip/concert traveling] begin.