st. louis: the noise fm

the noise boys are back! i feel like i hadn't seen them play a show in ages and it was good to catch up. i went by myself, but met up with molly and claire (who had just gotten back from her study abroad in oxford!) and hung out with hawley and carolina who tagged along with the boys for the show. there were four bands on the bill and the show got started pretty late. i had driven from columbia after a long day of class and work and was so. freaking. exhasuted. but austin was supplying me with a never ending supply of drinks, so that kept me... energized? on my toes, at least. they played third and it was a killer set as always. i believe there were three new sons, which i'm sure we'll see on a new record sometime in this coming year. normally we all get some late night food together, but i'm pretty sure i was hallucinating from tiredness by the time the show was over so i headed home and crashed hard. good times with some of my favorite southern gentlemen.

st. louis: the noise fm

you've heard me wax both poetic and not so poetic about this former-lawrence, now chicago-based threesome. this time around i'll keep it short and sweet, just like the band members. (love you guys.) it was a thursday night show in my good ole hometown of st. louis. i only have one class on fridays... and it's not until one. SCORE. a drive home for the evening to watch my good friends tear shit up was definitely on the list. as you've all heard by now, st. louis is completely hit or miss for mid-level indie, touring bands. there aren't many locals that have a solid draw, so the traveling bands are usually on their own at bringing out people to the show. cicero's, although small and dark, is one of my favorite small venues in the city. the door guy has worked there for ages; he knows me by name, and also knows my birthday. he offered to buy me a drink the next time i'm there since i'll FINALLY be 21. yesss. and it's become a a bit of a nostalgic place. all of "my bands" play cicero's, and the soundboard, which is covered in stickers, boasts names of all of them. some are still around and going strong while others have since broken up, gone separate ways, or formed new bands completely. but i always enjoy cicero's, even when i'm one of the only people there. yes. literally. if i remember correctly, there were three other bands besides the noise boys and they brought no one. i thought i was going to have the privilege of a private noise fm show, but a group of about five or six people showed up just in time for their set.

and to be honest, i feel bad that people missed out. i know how hard it must be as a band to put on a happy face and play to an empty club. but this was a fucking amazing show. i'm not one to dole out compliments to bands. you have to earn my respect and work to keep it. i've seen plenty of shitty bands to notice when a good one comes along and really brings it to the table. this show with an audience of probably fifteen or twenty was one of the best i've ever seen the noise fm play. maybe it was the sound. maybe it's where i was standing. maybe i was just in a really awesome mood. whatever you wanna call it, it was a flawless set and i was really glad i made the drive to see it.

www.thenoisefm.net
check their twitter too, it's hilarious: twitter.com/thenoisefm

columbia: the acbs, the noise fm and giant radio

and the noize boyz are back! in good old columbia no less, making it a piece of cake to go to the show, go home, and still have an entire evening left.

the acbs were great and hilarious. the noise fm slaughtered faces as always. giant radio was solid as always.

not much else to say, and i think that's a good thing.

st. louis: PLAY:stl fest: the noise fm, eagle scout, cast spells

surprise! my friend carolina met me in columbia and we carpooled to st. louis for the day for this festival. my noise boys were playing and she's quite partial to one of them, so i couldn't turn the cute girlfriend down! it was a lovely day out, perfect for walking the delmar loop. play:stl fest has been an ongoing thing for a couple years now and draws some pretty big acts. so sad they're not doing it again in 2011. oh well. so we met up with alex, got our wristbands, and made a beeline to chipotle to get our free burritos. we walked the loop a bit, made a trip to walgreens, and then decided to take a mini field trip to a really cool set-up we'd all noticed on the drive down. there was a church that had a bunch of ladders set up and it was a sight to see. carolina's photographer-self was freaking out and she got some really cool shots. here's me:



so after our little photo shoot we headed back to the loop so the band could load in at the regional arts comission. not the best place for a show (echo is the understatement of the year) but everyone made the best of it. somewhat-local-band eagle scout played a great set, then the noise fm, and finally cast spells, the side project of david davison, lead singer of maps & atlases. what a hipster day.

the noise boys (and noise girls) all crashed at my house and of course were introduced to the basement...

st. louis: pm today, abandon kansas, and the noise fm

here we go.
updates from (literally) years past.
bear with me, because my memory is fuzzy and i just need to satisfy my OCD and get these over and done with so i can be up to date with all my shows.
also bear with me because you're about to be inundated with posts...

so this one time i saw my friends the noise fm play in st. louis at the firebird. they had themselves a little tour all lined up with pm today and abandon kansas, and even called themselves (adorably, of course) tour story 4. yeah, you just "awwed," don't even lie. from what i remember it was a great show. pm today plays a little bit harder music than i care to listen to on a daily basis, but they rocked it. abandon kansas was great as well - they're one of those bands that i've always heard about and never given the time of day. and my noize boyz were flawless as always.

notable memories: their discovery of the free panera bread in clayton (st. louis), as well as sleeping in hotel parking lots and "showering" in the hot tub, then stealing "complimentary" breakfast. love it. love them. good times.

www.twitter.com/pmtoday
www.abandonkansaslovesyou.com
www.thenoisefm.net

st. louis: the noise fm

you've heard about these lovely boys a million times over. so i'll keep this short and really sweet.

they played cicero's last saturday, so i went home for the weekend. i left columbia really late, stopped by my house for two seconds, and drove straight to the loop for the show. opening band played a sweet cover of daft punk's harder faster stronger or whatever that song is actually called. the next band, i have no memory of. clearly it wasn't too exciting. then the noize boyz played. wonderful as always. austin's girlfriend aley sang on one of their new songs and it was fabulous. she's adorable. my friend carolina was also along for the four day tour, so we chatted it up and i was finally able to pass along the local natives tickets i has purchased for her and a friend. carolina and i also bonded over our love for taro milk tea from bubble tea. i met alex's alter ego who has yet to have a name, but wears hipster glasses. and we all chatted about chicago and how exciting their move is going to be in august. anddd that was about it. they were making the five hour drive back to lawrence that night so i didn't stick around too terribly long afterwards. love them, as always.

as excited as i am for their move to chicago where they'll be among their band friends and more of their kind, it's gonna suck losing the one band that i only have to drive two hours for instead of five like everyone else. siiiiiiigh.

kansas city: the noise fm and ha ha tonka

i suck. plain and simple. it's taken me for-freaking-ever to get this show review written. i don't know what my deal is, but motivation certainly isn't a part of that deal anymore. it's summer; i have all the time in the world. but for some reason i can't find enough me-time to sit down and flesh out some blogs about my favorite thing in the whole world: music.

but all the complaining aside, i went to an amazing show last friday. and in even better news, i drove by myself but didn't have to make it through the entire show by myself. my friend carolina was there, as well as one of my coworkers, sam, who also drove over for the show. she looooves tonka, so we had ourselves a great little night. i missed of the first band, but it was still great timing. the noise fm was up next and we only had to wait a few minutes for them to set up before the show started. and like always, they sounded absolutely fantastic. but i would never expect anything less of them. after them was ha ha tonka, who are a fantastic group from the ozarks. they ride the line between alternative and bluegrass/country music. and to be completely honest, i don't listen to them much. they're just not a band i'd pick to listen to, or a cd i'd choose to stick in my car. but HOT DAMN do those boys put on an amazing live show. i've seen them a couple times before; once with the noize boyz in columbia, and once with ludo in st. louis. so i know a lot of their music, and i know a lot of their fans. this was definitely my favorite show of theirs, hands down. the atmosphere was really intimate and relaxed, they tried out a couple new songs, and there was even a dance off in the middle of the crowd at one point. good times, kansas city. you show me nothing but good times. i hung around for a little while and talked to austin, alex and carolina, swiped a @mrbudgetisacat sticker (yes, their cat has merch. you know you're nevious. don't lie.)and eventually said goodbye to everyone. i got home at an atrocious hour of morning, but it was worth it. quite the lovely friday night.

lawrence: the noise fm and cowboy indian bear CD release party

hot diggity damn. i'm so freakin behind it's nearly laughable, but i'm incredibly OCD when it comes to cranking out these show reviews. so here ya go. short and sweet, since my writer's block hasn't done much of anything besides move a smidge, and i hardly remember what happened three weeks ago.

i'm gonna take a wild guess and say that the show was on a friday. (i think?) i'm too freakin lazy to look it up, and i just want to get this damn thing posted. so i won't say much about the show. i'll just express my undying love for the noise boys and how precious they are. have i mentioned they're from lawrence kansas? and that they have these adorable little southern accents? yeah, yeah they do. plus, being brothers makes things so cute, that you might throw up a little just seeing the two of them together. even better seeing them together amongst a sea of hipsters. someone somewhere in the land of twitter, tweeted this little gem: "If you wanted to kill all the hipsters in Lawrence come to the Granada with a bomb." see? too precious for words. i felt right at home at the granada that night.

the noise fm played a great show, as did cowboy indian bear. yeah, i went there. totally freakin general. i told you this wouldn't be much. i did make a friend though. it happens every time i go to a show alone; i always meet someone cool. her name is carolina (not like the state, but like a cool spanish sounding name) and we are musical BFFs. we bonded over brand new, and we also bonded over the fact that we'd both be at the local natives show in columbia a few days later. good times. we stood around talking for quite a while and eventually went our respective ways. twas a fun night in ku territory. (yeah, i go to mizzou.)

and for the love of god, please please please check out the noise fm's new ep. if you like muse, you'll love em, guaranteed.

http://www.thenoisefm.net/
www.twitter.com/thenoisefm

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.

lawrence: the noise fm

i've seen a lot of the noize boyz recently and it's been great. they're so down to earth and so polite and i just can't get enough of the sweet southern accents. they'd been peer pressuring me to come to one of their hometown shows for a while now and this was the perfect opportunity. nothing better than a holiday show on a saturday to round out the last week of the semester. mike and sonja made the drive over from chicago, those crazy cats. it was thursday night when mike texted me "hey we're driving through columbia right now and i thought of you". long story short, we ended up at cracker barrel! haha. it was so weird to see them in my neck of the woods; i'm always the one making the drive up to chicago. but anyways, we had dinner, chatted, said goodbyes, and that we'd all see each other again on saturday.

saturday rolled around and i made the two and a half hour drive west - not too bad and i'll admit, this was only my second time venturing any further west than columbia. first time in lawrence too! it's a cute little city and has a really small downtown area - reminded me a lot of the loop in st. louis. the boys were [like always] too kind and guest-listed me, and i got to the bottleneck right in time for doors. the stage was beautifully decorated with presents, trees, lights, balloons and everything holiday-related. the opening bands were nothing to write home about, but mike kept me company and the noise fm eventually played fourth out of five bands. it was great to see them amidst a legit crowd, and it was even more exciting to see them rocking out while wearing ugly christmas sweaters... i made it home by around three something in the morning.

so that was saturday. i took my one and only final on friday and turned in my one and only paper earlier today. and that was it. my semester is over and done with. today is monday [tuesday morning] and i am sitting at home in st. louis nice and comfy by the fire. thank god i got that french final rescheduled; it was originally supposed to be this thursday at five thirty in the evening... but i'm trekking down to nashville on thursday to see we the living, so that wasn't an option. solution? fabricate a "dying family member" that i must visit, and therefore get my final rescheduled for an earlier date. i'm so going to hell. but hopefully it'll be worth it. i'm looking forward to a relaxing few days at home, some fantastic times in nashville, then some quality time with amanda and michele this weekend who are coming in town for the cavashawn show. good times ahead, my friends.

columbia and st. louis: the noise fm

night one - what better way to end a stressful week than with a show involving some of your favorite people [with the cutest accents ever]? nothing comes to mind. the noise fm rolled into columbia thursday night and put on a great show. most of the line-up was really great in fact, aside from the headliner. [aren't headliners supposed to be the good band of the night? ...i thought so too.] we are voices played first. i've seen them a couple times before and they're really great. finally got a chance to introduce myself too; lucas gave me a free cd and shirt which was rad. rocketboys, from somewhere in texas played next, then giant radio, the noise fm, and finally moonrunner. moonrunner was kind of a shit show but whatever. the first four bands made up for it. also really glad there was a real crowd this time; last time the noise fm played columbia i was one of maybe five people in attendance... haha. yeah progress!

i went home and did some homework while the guys worked out the money situation, and they somehow ended up at a rave in an abandoned meat packing plant... [don't ask, i haven't a clue.] well it was pretty sketch i assume and they showed up a while later and passed out in my living room. and left a sweet little note in the morning about loving my apartment but it needing some cats. good times. we said our goodbyes and i promised to see them yet again in under twelve hours. i went to class, they went to the city museum.

night two - decided last minute to pack a bag with the thought of actually staying the night in st. louis, and headed east around five. dropped by the house, snuggled my kitty, and headed down to the firebird. i was a little worried at first because the venue was pretty empty, but it was the headliner's farewell show so it filled up soon enough. first band was "eh", and the noise fm played second. they blew everyone else of the night out of the water. i feel like they've had a lot of shitty luck when it comes to st. louis shows - one thing or another seems to not work out too well - but this time there was a decent [and old] crowd and they were really receptive. lots of toes tapping and heads bobbing. i feel like they're finally making some progress which makes me happy. they're too good to go unnoticed. i left pretty soon after the show; hunger and exhaustion were pulling me home, but overall it was a great two days. i'm looking forward to their hometown show next weekend in lawrence. rumor has it some crazy chicagoans are making their way down. it should be a good time.

st. louis: building rome cd release and the noise fm at play:STL fest

what a whirlwind of a weekend! i left columbia at around three thirty, got home two hours later, and turned around and left my house again just an hour or so later to head downtown. it was so weird to be home. it had been five weeks; this was my first time coming home since move-in, a crazy feat for me. last year i was home almost every weekend, if not at least every other. at first i wasn't even all that excited to go home, but once i got there it felt really good. i had really missed my hometown. the familiar faces and "regular" treatment at starbucks, my house and the way it smells, my kitty, my bed... and of course my dad, although he was hardly home all weekend either. but it felt really good to be home, and i'm glad i went.

friday marked the long-awaited cd release show of building rome, one of the only bands that st. louis has left who hasn't gotten huge and run away to other parts of the country yet. i've known them for quite a few years, and have seen them undergo many changes in line-up, style, and pretty much everything under the sun. i was losing hope for a while, but they're definitely back in action, and things are going strong. as always, i was dreading going alone to yet another show. but it seems these days, with the more shows i go to, the more familiar faces i see. so after crawling my way down to the loop and spending a good half hour looking for parking, i finally made my way to the pageant. play:STL fest was going on and in full swing, hence the terrible amounts of traffic. but i finally made it, about a half hour late. i missed most of without a face, but i did get there in time to see tim ferrell from ludo make an appearance. (woo!) i was only there for a few minutes when a girl turned around and squealed my name... but the stage lights were super bright making it impossible to see who it was. i inched forward and realized it was julia, the girl that i met at warped tour! she was one of the girls i worked with for fueled by ramen, and i remembered her saying she was a big building rome fan. so we chatted in between sets and ended up having really good time together. it wasn't long before i spotted drew and stacy, and later on tabitha. cavashawn fans are everywhere... ha.

if i remember correctly, our last summer played next. not too fond of their music, it sounded like every other nasally pop-rock band out there. i'm a little fuzzy on details, but i think after them was last night's vice. oh my. they were interesting to say the least. i felt like i was at pointfest watching a cross between seether and nickelback or something. ugh, not too fond of them. but julia and i made the best of it. there weren't too many people down in the pit at the time, so we noticed the guy behind us very obviously dancing around like an idiot. well we decided to join him and did some pretty bad ass interpretive dancing. i believe the macarena was started, and we even slow danced together for a bit. good times. this is energy was up next. they were nasally pop band number two of the night, but were a little better than the first. we waited through the set and FINALLY building rome was up next.

they opened with the first song on the album 'what are we fighting for?' and it was a pretty kick-ass opener. they played a good mix of both new, really old, and semi-old. notable songs i remember include nightmare, dr. doctor, last time again, streetlights, choking on eggshells, gangster baby, one in a million, panting dog, and belly dancer girl. even more notable was the cover... they played poker face! and it was fantastic, the crowd really loved it. they got called back for an encore, and eventually called it a night. overall, i was really impressed. with the crowd they drew, and the performance. this was only my sixth time seeing them, so i don't have quite the extensive knowledge of their growth and progression as a band, but i was pleasantly surprised by the crowd. the pit wasn't super crowded per se, but it was definitely full. and although the balcony was closed, the entire first floor's worth of seating was full as well. by no means was it sold out or anything, but for a predominantly local show, i thought it was a pretty good draw. ludo was helping out and really pushing the show, which i'm sure helped. the band itself sounded really great too. it's been almost a year since i've seen them play, and they'd added two new members since way back then. the combination of two talented new members (formerly from a local band from waaaay back in the say, centerpointe), writing an entirely new concept album, recording, and lots of hard work, promotion, and practice, the band really sounds good. i've only listened to the album all the way through maybe three times, but it's growing on me. this definitely isn't the "gangster baby" bulding rome, but regardless i like it. they're a lot darker and somewhat harder than previous albums, but it's a natural progression for them i think. overall, i like it, and i'm happy for them in what seems to be the direction they're headed. i talked to both jon (of building rome) and alex (of the noise fm) and both have mentioned trying to hook up some shows together in the near future.

so that was day one of my music-filled weekend. day two involved the noise fm, dear future, eikon, ellee ven, owen, and finally copperview. once again, by myself. but i made a friend whose name i didn't even get, but she was there alone too so we hit it off great and talked about all the shows we'd both been to. longest show of my lifeeeee though, oh my goodness. it got started earlier than expected, probably because there were six bands to squeeze into the night. but the noise fm opened, and rather unfortunately only got to play for about twenty-five minutes. i've said it before, but i can't stress enough how much band order at cicero's can lead to either a huge success or epic failure. well in my opinion, the noise got screwed. granted, there was a good crowd there to see them [a lot better than the last time they were here], but people were still coming in and even still in line at the door when they were finishing up their set. and compared to the crowd the entire rest of the night, it was pretty shitty luck. sonja and veronica, friends and music crazies like myself from chicago, came and missed their set because they played so early. now i'm not saying their set sucked or anything by any means. it was great, as always. and the crowd was definitely better than last time; progress was made which is great. but it just sucked to see how much more potential there was for such a kick ass show, compared to the rest of the night.

so after them was dear future, who i'd never heard of, but i really liked. they reminded me a lot of barcelona. it was a little low-key, apparently because they had just lost two members of the band. but they didn't want to cancel the show and played anyway. well i didn't notice much lacking and still really enjoyed their music. next up was eikon, who i was really stoked to see. i believe it was me, michele and possibly amanda too, who had seen them open for state and madison quite a few months ago. we were all blown away and sad to hear it was their last show since everyone was leaving for college. well apparently this little band from st. louis relocated to nashville and was back in action. and holy shit did they kick some ass. they'd improved ten-fold and i was totally digging their sound. it reminded me of a mix between paper route, maybe a little circa survive and mutemath, with some killer thom yorke-like falsettos. long story short, they were great and are apparently releasing a new ep in early october. next was ellee ven. total shit show. not worth mentioning and i'm shuddering just trying to bring up any memories. next up was owen, who seemed to be a pretty big deal, and the reason my nameless friend was there. well owen is apparently a full band; this was just one guy and his guitar. mike kinsella? maybe you recognize the name? it sounded vaguely familiar to me, and apparently he used to be in a band called american football. but his guy melted my heart. to quote a tweet from that night "Lumberjack hipster from Chicago. Acoustic guitar. Fully bearded. I am melting." that pretty much sums him up. the majority of the crowd left after that, and what was left was copperview, a hinder-esque growly metal band that i was NOT enjoying one bit. i made my way to the back to sit with sonja, veronica and alex, and we talked/hand signalled/laughed our way through the set. i also noticed about three fourths of the bands from the previous nights show at the bar, and chatted briefly with some of them. they were probably too drunk to even remember, but whatever.

long story short, us girls plus the noise boys got some jimmy johns and had many LOST related conversations, and finally left around two in the am. the guys stayed with a friend, and the girls followed me back to my house and i think we all passed out pretty quick. they had planned to leave at ten, but i definitely woke up at noon and saw that there car was still in the driveway... ha. they came in to say their goodbyes at two, but we promptly sat around for another good hour or so talking about shows, local bands, mutual friends, and other general gossip not worth repeating. overall, a fantastic and music-filled weekend. i was sad to be heading back to school so soon.

columbia: the noise fm [amidst move-in chaos]

so today was the day. back to columbia. new apartment, new phase of life, and new roommates to adjust to and to learn to embrace. i got hardly a wink of sleep last night which didn't help anything, mentally or physically today. got to the reserve at nine, unloaded some crap, then snuck away to catch the noise fm at hot topic at two. well it was basically [and unfortunately] a joke. me, and two other girls - one of whom worked there but must have helped the guys set up the show. but alex and i got a chance to talk which was nice, and i heard about the sketchy show in louisville the night before. i skipped out pretty quick after; there was still a lot to attend to at "home".

i finally finished what i would actually like to call a bedroom by around five, and it's a pretty good feeling. it's eerily like home; the room is set up similarly with the door, closet, bed and window all in the same places. i'm sure i subconsciously added to the "room at home" feel on purpose, i need familiarity to be comfortable here. but i like it. so katie and i freshened up a bit, then headed out to the cherry street artisan to see the noise fm play a real rock show. the artisan is a great little coffee shop in downtown columbia. again, another place perfectly for me. coffee shop + music venue = perfection. there was hardly anyone there, maybe around seven to ten for the show. but it was good regardless. the nosie fm sounded really great, much better than at the firebird. and it's all about the benjamin's played too, and were pretty good. fun night with some absolutely amazing coffee. katie and i chatted with austin for a bit, but didn't hang around for long. we were both really dragging.

it's barely eleven thirty right now, but i've never felt so drained in my life. both physically and mentally. i got maybe two hours of sleep last night, plus i think i'm starting to come down with something. it's a curse i think, i was sick last year the day after i moved in. fever, chills, sore throat, the whole nine yards. i think it's just all the stress and a huge shock to my system, and my body completely freaks out. my head hasn't quite caught up with the rest of me though, which i guess is good. i've been so busy and so preoccupied with today, that i haven't had any time to stop and think. it hasn't really hit me that i'm back. i'm in columbia. at mizzou again. in an apartment. so much better than last time around already, but i loathed this place with every fiber of my being last year. i'm not sure if i'm mentally prepared yet. i have a focus now, i have an actual major. but there are still so many thoughts humming in the back of my mind:

what am i even doing here? why english? but i like english; i like reading and writing. but is it worth it? all the time, the effort, the money, all the stress ...but i'm too much of a chicken shit to do anything else. ...but what if i did?

for now i'm just going to take it one day at a time. and right now i still need to focus on settling into the place before i start making premature judgements. this year could very well be different and things could take a very different turn from what i'm expecting. as for the next show to distract me from all the heavy shit of real life... the spill canvas on campus next saturday and lifeinjersey at the artisan the following day.

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.

st. louis: the noise fm

yet another show review. i'm sure i'm losing audience members who don't give a shit about what concerts i attend, but i like to keep my memories in written form. and plus i don't really care who reads this or who doesn't. it's more for me, so when i'm fifty with kids we can all go back and read about my ridiculous shenanigans and teen angst.

last night was the noise fm at cicero's. i'd yet to meet them and see them perform, so like always i was really excited and of course a little nervous. for some reason i always get really jittery before shows. i was also not too happy that i was going all alone, but that's the brakes. i've done it before and survived so this was no different. i did have one friend who wanted to come along, but she was in the midst of family tragedy and had to bail on me, so i had to be okay with that answer. well it turns out, i was THE only person there for the noise fm. literally. and there weren't many other people there at ALL so my social awkwardness was at it's all time high. it wasn't until maybe two minutes before they went on, did sonja and veronica show up [two girls from chicago who always show up in st. louis]. so just as i was about to SIT during the show, they walked up front so i at least had someone to stand next to. well the noise tore it up and blew my mind. it's always great when a band sounds like their record, but when they sound BETTER... well shit. it was great. alex, lead singer and guitar player, came up to me afterwards [i was singing along and gave him the date to their next date in stl with state & madison because he couldn't remember, ha] and asked who i was, and when i told him my name all sorts of recognitions light bulbs went off. ohhhhhh, YOU'RE devon. not really sure what that means, but cool. he then proceeded to ask if i knew the two girls who were in from chicago [yes] and if i knew of urbanites and state and madison [yes and yes] and if i had met their manager mike racanelli [yes]. "well damn" is the answer i got back. ha ha, funny kid. with the cutest accent ever! so i bought a shirt and ended up getting the cd and a poster for free which was nice of them. i took off right after the set promising to see them again soon at the firebird and then again at the artisan in columbia.

as for the rest of this week, it's gonna get crazy. tomorrow is incubus, unless someone buys my ticket off me so i can go see paper route instead... the next day is coldplay. i'm not even a die hard fan, but it's fucking coldplay. so i'm excited. and the following day i'm running away to chicago. that's right, more last minute plans; wicker park fest to see cavashawn and treaty of paris on saturday and company of thieves and margot and the nuclear so and so's on sunday. plus seeing michele and nikki and the wonderful sam who is letting me stay at her house. STOKED.