CRASH KINGS ROCK THE NORTHEAST!!!!!!

this is going to be EPIC, so i figure we'll get right into it



FRIDAY, 21 MAY 2010

My mom's birthday!!! Happy Birthday Mom!!! I ended up going into work with my sister, Kara!!! Now, we all know that Kara is an extravagant baker. She's working at this bakery in Wells, ME as head baker. And she has to go into work at very early hours. Normally around 4am, but since I was going in with her today, we decided to get there for 12:30am.

So we went into the bakery and baked delicious things!!! Well, mostly Kara baked delicious things. I was in charge of dishes and getting things out of the walk-in for her. But! I made the vanilla bean glaze for the vanilla bean scones. YUM!!! It was the most beautiful looking glaze Kara had ever seen. (She didn't actually tell me that, but you could tell from her face....)

All this time I couldn't believe I was seeing CRASH KINGS tonight in Portland, Maine. AMAZING.

So, we worked in the bakery from 12:30 to about 5am. Then we went home and went to sleep. Woke up at around 9:30am and ready for birthday festivities!!!

We had brought home scones from the bakery to have for breakfast. I had white chocolate raspberry which is the most delicious thing one could eat. OMG they are so good. We enjoyed a nice family breakfast together.

After spending the afternoon relaxing and chatting and lunching, it was time to get ready for Crash Kings.

I was going to be spending the next two nights at Ryan's house in Boston, so I packed a bag. I was picking up Ryan and her friend Liz at the C&J Bus stop in Portsmouth, NH, which is about a half hour or so from my house.

So, I set off!! I had no idea where I was going once I got to C&J, so there was a bit of confusion as to where the main bus stop was. I kept following the signs, but kept ending up in the overflow parking area. Ryan and I were on the phone with each other trying to describe our surroundings to see if we were close.

The C&J bus stop is not very well marked if you're just picking someone up. My mom told me later that she has had the same problem, where she could only find the overflow parking lot and not the REAL one.

EVENTUALLY, we found each other and the CRASH KINGS ADVENTURE ROADTRIP WEEKEND officially began!!!!!!!!

PORTLAND, MAINE - HERE WE COME.

This was the third time I had been to Portland in the week. Crazy. Because I can't even remember the last time I was there before this week.

I had heard from friends that the Port City Music Hall was a great place to see a show - and they were right!!! It was a great place. Very pretty and swanky on the inside. Fancy couches and light fixtures. And nice wallpaper. I think it used to be a movie theater.

Once inside, we met up with our other new friend Jo ("Sharpie Girl" from the CK show at Great Scott) and her two friends Sara and Elyssa. They had gotten a PERFECT spot RIGHT at the front. So we all got into place and waited.

The opening band was a Portland band called Sidecar Radio.

A trio! They were pretty good. Some of the people behind us had just come to see them and had never heard of Crash Kings! So, they must be pretty popular in the Portland area. Their songs had some good melodies hidden in them, but they were all very loud.

I ended up really liking one song and remembered one of the lyrics so I could look it up when I got home. The song is called, "Funeral for the Major Key." Can't find it on YouTube, so you can sample it on your own at the iTunes store. I ended up buying it, and have been enjoying it.

(Also, the bass player was a total cutie. He's the one on the right. And he's waaaaayy cuter in person.)


THEN, it was time for Crash Kings. We thought there might have been another opening band, but when we saw the CK roadies setting up the stage, we knew it was time for our boys.

Oh man. Excitement jumped from like, ten to ten thousand.

Then the radio guy from WCYY came out and introduced them. Talked about how by the end of the year, Crash Kings will have performed in Maine 5 times. Or something like that. One of those times is the Nateva Festival over July 4th weekend. Tickets are ridiculously expensive. Plus the cost of camping.

Anyways, THEN THEN THEN THEN THEN, Crash Kings came out.





I had seen many pictures of this shirt that Tony was wearing, so I was excited he finally wore it to one of my shows so I could figure out what it said.

The first time I saw this shirt, I thought it said something about 'Andover.' There is a line that I later figured out says, "ANDWER" which I mistook for 'Andover.' So, at first I thought it was some kind of high school shirt. But, it looked way too cool to be a shirt from high school.

Here is a semi-okay pic of it that is from the Crash Queen photo album:




here is what the shirt says,

IAMUAND
UAREME
ANDWER
WEAND
WERALL
TOGETHER

Beatles shirt. "i am you and you are me and we are we and we are all together." Nice. And yet once again, I am mesmerized by Tony's choice of clothing.






Yeah, look at that hair!!!!!

This was a pretty amazing show. Like, amazing. And we had the perfect view. PERFECT. And throughout MOST of the show (I would say....60%) Tony spent looking at us and smiling. YEP. I think he was pretty happy to see all our familiar faces. And during the song '2nd Rate Citizen' there is a line that goes, "you got the shit that's gonna make my head spin," and he looked RIGHT at us and pointed.

It was the coolest thing in the world. BUT, he kept doing it. He kept looking at us and smiling! And, it was starting to make me nervous!!! Like, butterflies in my stomach. For realz. That's how awesome it was.

Semi reminiscent of the Rooney show (first time hearing Crash Kings) where Taylor Locke kept making eyes at me during 'Losing All Control,' and it was making me nervous.

Gorgeous rock stars look my way and I melt.







And then there was something even more amazing that happened.

Tony broke a piano string during 'You Got Me,' and so after the song was over, he whipped out a screwdriver, unscrewed the piano top, their techie (Josh?) ran over and they changed the string!!! I guess Tony keeps piano strings in these little shelves under the synth to his left.

So, he said that recently he's been breaking lots of bass strings due to his heavy left hand.

AND THEN, he asked if anyone wanted a string.
AND THEN the crowd went wild.
AND THEN, he saw Ryan in the front row and threw the string her way.
BUT, the string bounced off the rail and fell on the ground.
A drunk girl tried to reach for it.
BUT, (this part is the next important part)

Tony jumps off the stage,
picks up the piano string,
hands it to Ryan and says,
"That's for you, my dear."

Should I make that more clear?

TONY: (to Ryan, handing her the piano string) That's for you, my dear.


UUMMMMMMMMM yeah that happened.

AND - it gets better, because RYAN just happened to be recording a video at that exact moment, and YOU CAN WATCH IT HAPPEN!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's right at the beginning of the video. Now, it's a pretty clear video, except for the part where Ryan tries to grab the string being thrown at her by Tony, and the camera tilts. BUT - you can hear the whole exchange, including the now famous,

"That's for you, my dear."

It was an amazing moment. Totally amazing.







The show was just insane. It was so good. So freaking good. It's just not fair to every other band out there that Crash Kings are so good. MAN, they put on an incredible show.

And it was the first time seeing them that they were cheered back onstage for an encore. In Providence they had an impromptu band meeting at the back of the stage and decided to play War Pigs.

But I think this was the first time that they actually left the stage and were cheered back on. Rockstars.

They played War Pigs, which of course everyone went wild over. And, I actually know more words to that song than I ever thought I would.

After the show we hung around waiting to say hi. Ryan had more transcriptions to give to Tony. This time it was 'Non Believer,' 'Mountain Man' (because Tony asked her in Austin, "When are you going to do Mountain Man?") and another corrected version of 'Saving Grace.' Remember the first time she gave him Saving Grace in West Chester and they debated about the time signatures and the debate continued over onto Twitter and RYAN ended up being right?!?! Yep.

So, their merch table was immediately swarmed by people wanting autographs and pictures. We walked to the front of the venue and found some of the swanky couches to be unoccupied, so we took them over.

Tony began talking to this girl who he obviously knew. She was very touchy. Eventually, they stopped talking AND. AND. AND.

AND,

he walked over to us. HE walked over to US. We all stood up and he said, "Hello ladies!" He seemed pretty happy to see us all. He looked over the transcriptions that Ryan gave him. It's really fun to watch him read music. 'Saving Grace' was again, the one that he had corrections for.

But! Just like in West Chester, he had to stare off upward, trying to figure out what the chords are. And!!! This time, it led into AIR PIANO.

Yep, he totally played the Air Piano. First in the air, and then he sat down on the couch to play it on the coffee table. Amazing.

I think the end result was that there was a B on top? Ryan told me to remember all these corrections for later. And I think 'Saving Grace' had the B on top.

So, then we all sat down on the couches again and found ourselves in a hangout sesh with Tony!!! WHAT!?!!??! Hangout sesh??! Tony!!??

Next came 'Non Believer.' He had a LYRIC correction, which was very interesting to us all. He said (and sang) the part where Mike sings the days of the week at the end and said that the second time he does, instead of saying 'Sunday' he says, 'Soldier' to match up with the melody that sings, "take me for an open-minded solder." This was fascinating to us all.

For 'Mountain Man,' Tony wanted Ryan to add a grace note to "sunshine," as in, "I'm sippin' on some SU-UNshine." kind of.

- b on top
- soldier
- grace note

Those were the three corrections. Tony mentioned a few times during this whole time that he loved actually looking at the music for his songs because he really wants to release a Children's Songbook of Crash Kings songs. He said that when he was young, all he wanted to play were his favorite songs, so now, he wants to make his music accessible for children to learn how to play.

All throughout this time I kept wanting to mention how much I wanted lullaby versions of all the Crash Kings songs. BUT - I thought this would severely down whatever cool factor I might have had, so I refrained.

Other things that Tony mentioned was about how old he was. He made a few references that implied he was super old.

RYAN: Well, how old are you?
TONY: .....I'm definitely not in my twenties.

But, he's 30. We all know he's 30. And that's one year not in your twenties. Come on. That's not old at all.

The guy who worked at the venue kept coming around saying things like, "10 minutes to closing, finish up your drinks." "5 minutes to closing, finish your drinks." Lame.

AND THEN, came the also now famous encounter with the super drunk girl.

Tony was sitting with us, talking about sweet things like children's music and this girl sits down next to him on the couch and immediately throws her arms around him.

We all (Ryan, Jo, Liz, Elyssa, Sara and myself) ALL assume that he knows her because of how forward she is being.

Then, she says something like, "I don't know you, but....." and goes on to start groping him. She's got her left arm around his neck, her head resting on his shoulder and her right hand moving up, down and up, up, up his leg. UP his leg.

Tony looks at us. PRICELESS. Oh, he was so uncomfortable. It was terrible. Man, that look on his face. So, the super drunk girl's friend says, "Can she get a picture so she'll remember this in the morning?" Tony agrees and takes the picture. Super drunk girl kisses him, says "I love you," and both girls leave.

I mean, he was in the middle of talking about CHILDREN and playing AIR PIANO. So sweet and dorky. And then this act had to happen.

BUT! We all agreed later that because we all experienced this with Tony, we now all feel that much closer to him. And he gave us that look.

Ryan asked him some questions about his tattoo and saw that on his right wrist next to IMAGINE is an = sign, but with three lines, and then a 3/4 time signature.

I love that his tattoos are all music and piano based. He also talked about (i think this was during the "childrens version of CK songs") how they want their music to be challenging for them to play, so that they really have to work to get it right and not let it become too easy. Nice.

The only thing that made us stop talking to Tony was the bouncer guy who told us that the club was closing and we had to leave. BUMMER. But, we told Tony that we would see him tomorrow at EarthFest. He told us they were going on at 1:15 and to have a safe drive back.

OH! He also said something about how they had the best fans because they were all sweet like us. Yeah, he called us sweet.

And then we left. First night of the Crash Kings Adventure Roadtrip was a total success. Definitely the best show I had seen so far. My 8th!

IF YOU want to watch the whole concert, I would 100% recommend that you do. You can watch Ryan's videos because she got the whole thing!!!!!! It's truly amazing:

- 1985 - really great opening song. hott bass line.
- Non Believer - "awwwww" song.
- 14 Arms - song about taking over the world. my favorite part of the whole record is the second verse. LOOOOVVEEESSSSS IT.
- You Got Me - the new single!!! song made of sex and sweat.
- 2nd Rate Citizen - "you got the shit that's gonna make my head spin." Jo made a t-shirt out of that line.
- It's Only Wednesday - featuring the piano string incident.
- Raincoat/My Love - break-up song followed by warm fuzzy song.
- Hey Bulldog (Beatles cover) - first time hearing this live!!!!! SOOOO AWESOME.
- Carry On - MY FAVORITE SONG. they went crazy with this tonight. it was incredible.
- Saving Grace - amazing song featuring the end piano part that Crash Queens go crazy over.
- Mountain Man - most famous song that never actually features the words, 'mountain man.' great.

We didn't make it very far outside. We all stood around talking and being excited. Made plans to meet up tomorrow. Marveled at Ryan's new piano string necklace. :) And then around 12:30am we parted ways.

And then we drove to Boston!!! Got a great parking spot right across the street from Ryan's apartment.

Went to sleep around 4:30am. GREAT GREAT DAY.



SATURDAY, 22 MAY 2010



Earth Fest!!!! We got up kind of early. Met up with Jo, Elyssa and Sara again. No Liz this time, she unfortunately had to work. We went to Whole Foods to buy things to have a picnic. Got on the T at Mass Ave. Switched to the red line at Downtown Crossing. Off at Charles St stop.

Followed all the people in Earth Fest shirts and flowy skirts to the Esplanade. Saw Mike on our way in, but he didn't see us.

Got a pretty good spot at the front on the very side. I asked the security guard if we could put our blanket on the grass in the VIP section. But he said no. Lame.

The opening band was the Jackson Wetherbee Band, they had won a contest to be the very opening band. They were pretty good. We got free CD's but I haven't listened to it yet.

Then came Marcy Playground. They were kind of boring. They played Sex and Candy. I liked the openers better.

AND THEN!!!! Came Crash Kings!!!!!! They weren't even the very first band playing!!! FAMOUS!

First they played this little interview with them, but you couldn't hear the sound very well, and then they dropped the sound completely so the lame radio people could tell lame jokes and be lame up onstage when all we wanted to hear was the INTERVIEW! They totally played up the fact that Mike and Tony are from Andover.

And it was strange to see them on a JUMBOTRON...





They had some major sound issues during the first part of their set. Drums were too loud. Clavinet wasn't working. Drums too soft. It was messed up. We Crash Queens were panicking. Mike had to stall again while they fixed the sound. He also had to stall the night before when Tony broke the piano string. Basically Mike's version of stalling is shouting the name of whatever city they are in and then talking a lot about the expensive Nateva festival.

FINALLY, they figured everything out and DUH, ended up playing a great show. The people really loved Mountain Man. That's not my video, but I like it.








After the show, we headed over to the merch table to try and say hello to them. Again, they were swarmped with fans. Wait, 'swarmped?' is that a word? I think I meant 'swamped.' But, swarmped sounds good too.

We caught the boys just at the very end... they were going off to do VIP and press things, but stopped for a minute to say hi. Jason seemed happy to see us all again, as did Tony. Mike was swarmped by other fans, but I managed to get a smile and a wave from him. And it was wonderful.

They said they would eventually be back around to the merch table, so we waited for a while. Set up our picnic there, near a grassy spot. Listening to Gin Blossoms and Collective Soul.

I would say that despite the sound issues, Crash Kings were definitely most high energy show. Also by far the best looking guys.

We didn't get another chance to see the guys, so around 4:30 we headed out. Back on the T to the Mass Ave stop.

Made plans for the next day to meet up with Jo and a new friend named Kelley.

Ryan and I took it super easy that night. We were both exhausted.

But it was very exciting because we returned from Earth Fest to see she had gotten a package from Custard Records, which is the record label that Crash Kings are on. Awhile back she had won this CK prize pack - and it just happened to come TODAY!!! It was amazing timing.

It included these Warren Miller ski documentaries. Three of them. We thought that Crash Kings had some kind of involvement with them....so we watched 2 of them. But, no Crash Kings. Turns out, they were in the most recent ski documentary that this guy made. Not in the box set that Ryan got. Ah well. We watched a lot of skiing.

Then, we hooked up some speakers and rewatched the concert from the night before. Ryan got every song on video!!!! So, we put it in a YouTube playlist, sat back and enjoyed.

It was great.

Then, we went to bed. It was great. I was absolutely so freaking tired from only getting 9 hours of sleep over the course of two nights and also from all the excitement.

And tomorrow we were going to New York!!!



SUNDAY, 23 MAY 2010



Woke up, got dressed and had a great breakfast with Ryan!! We invented Curry Eggs. Scrambled eggs with lots of cheese and curry. DELISH!! I highly recommend them. Also, yogurt and fruit. Yum!

Then we met up with Jo and Kelley and we set off!!!!!! This was the day of fantastic U-Turns made by me. And also, one Q-Turn.

We were driving to the Mercury Lounge on East Houston Street in Manhattan. Ryan had been there just a few nights prior to see - BLOOD FEATHERS!!!! Oh, I am still so jealous of this.

We drove to the parking garage that was recommend by the Lounge, which, turns out, was just stacks upon stacks of cars. Like, huge metal shelves holding the cars. This is the parking garage. I'm always up for trying something new - so we did it. Gave the guy the keys to the car, and put it on one of the shelves. Crazy.

We arrived around 5:30. Doors weren't until 7pm. So, we walked down the street to this Indian buffet for $6 that Ryan had had a few nights ago and said was very good. And it was! It was delicious. And $6!!!! Awesome.

Went back to the Mercury for like, 6:45. Doors were at 7. We were the first four people in!!! Awesome.

There were THREE OPENING BANDS, which we were not exciting about because we just wanted more Crash Kings. But, then we saw that the first opening band had a cello in it and so maybe they would be kind of good.

And OHMYGOD they were amazing.

River City Extension is their name, and YOU MUST check them out. They are from Toms River, New Jersey. Holy crap they were so good.




That's what they look like. There's 8 of them!!!! Now, I know that sounds like a lot of people. It is! But - it's totally worth it. They started playing and it was like a wave of good. All throughout their set I kept thinking, "I can't wait to tell my blog friends about this." THAT GOOD.

Kind of like more bluesy-folk-rock. But amazing. Guitar, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, trumpet, cello, djembe. SO GOOD.

AND - what great dancers they are!!! Oh man, this is the most fun band ever. They look like they are up on stage absolutely LOVING it. Dancing, laughing with each other. It was SO GREAT. And it seemed most of the songs either included an elaborate clapping pattern or collective shouts of, "HEY!" or "WHOA!" It was totally awesome.

And then for the last song, they jumped down from the stage and played in the audience...




I realize that just looks like a crowd of hipsters. But, I promise there are musicians hidden in there somewhere. The guy in the red sweater was the lead singer. And note the guy on the far right wearing the Crash Kings shirt. Yep.

Immediately after they ended, we went to the merch booth and bought their CD. And it rocks. And I've listened to the whole thing multiple times through, including 2 times while writing this very entry! CHECK THEM OUT.

Highlights of the CD include:

- Friends and Family
- Something Salty, Something Sweet
- Our New Intelligence
- Adrianne

love those.

Then the set changed for Blackbells, which looked to be a band of cute hipster boys. They were!

Four cute hipsters, as shown here.




They played a really good set and I enjoyed them a lot. The lead singer, Ben looked like he had just woken up, threw on his hott turquoise ring, and then arrived just in time for the show. Loved it. And I was jealous because I've been looking for a turquoise ring for a long time now and can't find one that I really like. His looked so good and cool. Go Ben!

Also, Ben and the lead guitarist Anthony (Tony?), kept doing this thing that was super hott where they would like, stare at each other and stand super close. It happened a lot. It looked like they were going to slap each other across the face and then make out hardcore. Awesome.

The more I think about it, the more I really enjoyed them a lot. And actually, I've been listening to their EP a lot since the show and I really love it. 'High Healer' is definitely my fave.

ANOTHER GREAT BAND TO CHECK OUT = Blackbells.

Next band = I can't remember their name. But! It was very strange because it included most of the members of Blackbells.

So, Blackbells left the stage and nobody was rushing to change the set. We all were joking about how funny it would be if the third opening band was just Blackbells with a different name. Did the third band not show up? Why wasn't anyone changing the set?!?!!

And then they came up onstage and it was Blackbells for real. But, with a different lead singer and a new bass player. Ben, the lead singer of Blackbells had now become the guitarist. And the drummer changed his shirt.

It was kind of confusing and funny. We all looked at each other and laughed like, "wow, that really happened."

I thought the third opening band (I'm really sorry I can't remember their name....) sounded like JET wannabees. But, not as good. I liked their sound, because I like JET. But, eh. They were probably my least fave of the three openers.

The lead singer wore REALLY tight pants. His jeans were tighter than my leggings. For realz.

I liked Blackbells better. But! During the third act, Jo turned to me and said, "I think that's the drummer from The Hymns!"

* The Hymns is this other band who opened for Ben Kweller when we saw him in Boston. That's the vintage livejournal entry from the night back in 2006. JASON, is the hottie in that band. Remember?

ok, hold on - I'll get proof:






That is Jason from The Hymns!!!! Although, I believe here he is playing with the Ben Kweller band.

And - funny story - I proclaim in that livejournal entry that I am now in love with this new Jason. And, now I meet my new friend Jo who loves the Hymns. loves them so much that she is best friends with them. AND, her and Jason text back and forth sometimes.

TEXTING. with ROCKSTARS. I couldn't believe this. I also remember really liking the Hymns, and I wrote in that livejournal entry that I loved them, yet I have never really listened to them since. Perhaps I will now.

SO - the drummer for both Blackbells and the non-Blackbells third band was ALSO the drummer for The Hymns. Small indie music world, no?


SO THEN, Crash Kings come on. And yet again - they rock the place.





(disregard the guy who bent over during my shot....)




SO CLOSE.








I think this is, "I would love you Monday through 'till Sunday,"








This is, "you look around, look around, but you're looking for excuses,"






The crowd was so freaking WILD. Everybody was just going insane. I had been kind of wondering what the NYC show would be like. If it would kind of be a 'small band in a big city' scenario. NOPE. It was like they were the biggest band in the world.

During the sexy 'You Got Me' some super drunk girl pushed her way to the front of the stage and stood right in front of me. Not only did she keep almost passing out, but she was texting the whole time. UGH so not cool. We were all upset. Eventually, she left and there was more room for rocking.








LOVE THAT SHOT OF MIKE.

















Please note Tony's fingers in this picture. Don't they look freakishly long?

It's like when you see a newborn baby with really long fingers and everybody says, "awww he would make a great piano player someday!" But then what are the chances that he ACTUALLY becomes a great piano player? Well, it's like Tony was that baby who ACTUALLY became a great piano player.





MIKE SWEATING. Break out the restraints.





They played 'Hey Bulldog' again and I got a pretty sweet video of the piano solo at the end. It's like in a cartoon how when they run really fast and their feet are just a blur. That's what Tony's hands are. A blur. Holy crap they are moving so fast you're just like, "HOW is he hitting those notes?!?!"

And if you want to see the funny music video Crash Kings did for the song, you can watch that HERE.



I mean, he has huge forearms. I don't think it was an illusion in the other picture. I think he must have really long fingers.





:) Yep.








Whammying!!!!

Ryan got a great video of 'Raincoat' which again, features Tony's hands moving at incredible speed. We were all amazed.





NICE.

Pretty sweet shots from The Mercury Lounge, I must say. Once again, they left the stage and were cheered back on to play War Pigs. A crowd favorite!!! People went crazy. JUMPING. Lots of jumping. Who would have ever thought I would find myself at a rock concert in NYC jumping around to War Pigs? Not me.


NYC was amazing. The crowd was so crazy.

Afterwards was incredible.

We headed out to find the boys. Jo stopped to talk to the drummer of Blackbells/The Hymns and so we all stopped. His name is Austin. He's the one on the front right in that picture of them above. Super cutie. We actually all talked for a while. Mainly about how excited they were to be opening for Crash Kings. And, I don't think I'm making this up, but at one point Austin said, "They need to become the biggest band in the world like right now." Or SOMETHING along those lines. And we were all kind of like, "YES we've been saying that for sooo long!!!"

And then! Ben from Blackbells came over to join in the convo!!! Again, all talking about how much we loved Crash Kings and how amazing they are to see live.

We talked to Ben for a while about how we had heard of Crash Kings and then he said something like,

BEN: Did Austin explain our situation?
RYAN AND JULIE: Umm....noo?
BEN: The band situation?
RYAN AND JULIE: Nooo...?
BEN: Ok, here's the situation:

and he went on to tell us about Blackbells and the other band and how they were worried people might think it was weird that it was pretty much the same guys. I can't totally remember what he said, mainly because it was still pretty loud at this point.

But, he seemed to really like us because he told us we were awesome and then said he would get us the Blackbells EP. And THAT'S how I got the Blackbells EP!!! Ben personally gave it to me!! After saying that we were awesome.

*Jump to the next day - I sent Blackbells a tweet just saying that it was great meeting them and thanks for the EP.
*Jump to the next day - BEN sent me a direct twitter message back saying that it was great meeting us too, glad i'm enjoying the ep, asked me what was my fave song, and said hope to see you again soon.

SO GREAT.

CHECK OUT BLACKBELLS - they are good people. :)

So then, we spotted Tony and he once again came over to us saying, "Hi ladies!" He seemed a bit flustered because it looked like there were many people that needed him for different reasons. He stood with us for a minute, but then had to do important rockstar things.

Then we went out into the bar area and were standing around talking with Ben and Austin even more! So cool. They were headed to DC to play with Crash Kings on Tuesday and were really excited about that. Really nice, attractive people.

Then Jason passed us on his way out to smoke and gave me a hug! Saying to us, "didn't I just see you yesterday?!" Then he went outside to smoke.

Then we spotted Mike at the bar. We decided we were going to go over and try and have a conversation with him. Mike is a tough one to talk to. He's so shy. But he's also so pretty and soft looking.

AND I DECIDED that tonight would be the night where I got a Mike hug. I wanted one, and I was going to make it happen.

SO - we all walked over. Mike was just finishing up a conversation with someone. He saw us, smiled. I walked up to him with my arms out - and got a Mike hug. MIKE HUG. And said, "Miikkkee!!" And he said, "Hey! How are you guys!?"

And then I told him that this was my 10th Crash Kings show and he held up his hand - and I got a high-five.

First a hug, THEN a high five. How awesome is that?!!? HIGH FIVE. Just before the high-five happened, when I saw him lift his hand, I thought:

1. We're going to high-five right now
2. Can't wait to blog about this!!!

It was great. We chatted with him for a bit. We also decided that we were interested in knowing what 'It's Only Wednesday' was about. So, we asked Mike...

MIKE: Umm...you'd have to ask Tony.
US: Ohh..
MIKE: He told me once, but I forgot. Yeah, you'd have to ask Tony. I think it's about a girl.
US: About a girl?
MIKE: Yeah. It's probably about a girl.
US: Probably about a girl..... ok!

Mike was really not very helpful. But, I got a hug and a high-five. So, it was 100% awesome anyways.

Then we were standing around after Mike left and Jo and Kelley saw Jason in the other room and wanted to go get a picture with him. So, they leave and are gone for like, 10 minutes.

Finally, they come back and say that they took like, 10 photos with Jason. I guess the guy taking the pictures kept taking more and more. During one of them the command was to "act ridiculous" and so Jo and Kelley lifted Jason up off the ground and Jason extended his arms out in the air. It's pretty hilarious and amazing. When Jo posts that picture online I will show it to you.

Shortly after they come back, Jason comes over and stands with us. He stands there for the next 30 minutes talking to us. YEP. That happened.

We all talked about EVERYTHING. Turns out - Jason really hates Denny's. But loves the McCafe drinks from McDonald's. Also, the reason he had food poisoning during South by Southwest was because he ate some bad relish on a hot dog. And he said it was like, the fifth time he's gotten food poisoning and he explained it to us. Does not sound like something I would ever want.

Also, he explained to us the knife incident. A while back on Twitter he posted this picture of his fingers with the caption, "it's going to be fun drumming tomorrow!" or something. And the picture is his fingers with this HUGE gash. Like, an enormous chunk of skin is missing from his middle finger.

He showed us how well it is healing and explained what happened. That he was trying to open a kitchen knife package with another kitchen knife. Something happened, the blade flipped over, and he ended up totally slicing his finger instead of the package. Graphic.

Then he used his iPhone as a flashlight as he looked at Ryan's fancied up Crash Kings shirt. She has sewn beads and things onto it and it looked awesome.

He ordered a Jameson on the rocks.

Ryan and him talked a lot about the food in Houston, TX, where they are both from. Turns out they have a lot of the same favorite restaurants!!! Jason was excited to hear there was an Indian place down the street from the Mercury Lounge.

We asked them when they're getting a tour bus. He said tour buses cost like, $30,000 a month. Crazy! I asked him about 'Ol Blue and he said she had about 175,000 miles on her and they had put about 85,000 on in the last year.

Then, we asked him about 'It's Only Wednesday.' Maybe he would have some better insight.

JASON: Oh, you'd have to ask Tony. He's the one who really knows.
US: Mike said it was maybe about a girl.....?
JASON: Definitely about a girl. Yeah.
US: Okay.
JASON: And also maybe about New Zealand.
US: New Zealand?
JASON: Yeah. Tony lived there for a bit way before I met him...Maybe like, 6 years ago.
US: So, it's maybe about a girl, and also maybe about New Zealand?
JASON: Yeah.... you should ask Tony.

Hm. Not too much better. And then he was called off to help load 'Ol Blue. Mainly, to help carry the piano off the stage.

And so, we waited around to try and catch Tony again. Finally, he emerged!! Carrying all his bags and wearing his jacket. On his way out.

We asked him about the mysterious song...

TONY: Ohhhh.....I don't think I can get into that right now.
US: Oh?
TONY: It's....I'd have to think about it. I can't think about it.
US: Mike and Jason said it was maybe about a girl and maybe about New Zealand....?
TONY: Definitely about a girl. Aren't all songs about a girl? Yeah, about New Zealand too. I think I'll have to really sit down and figure out what all the songs actually mean. I've kind of forgotten. It's kind of just words put together that make sense.

But - we don't believe it. Because in New Jersey when we saw them, he was soooo eager to tell Ryan what the songs were all about. And he totally knew. It must be something about the song... HM. It remains a mystery.

It's such a creepy song, though. Kara doesn't like it because she says it sounds like a circus. I love it.

Anyways, after Tony had left we stood pondering for a moment and then decided it was time for us to go too. So, we exited, passed the guys again on the way out, they all waved and said 'goodbye.'


IT WAS KIND OF AN AMAZING NIGHT. Like, a lot. There were a ton of great things that happened. As is obvious.

Yeah. I can't believe it was so awesome.

Crash Kings are awesome. And they are such nice people. And create such wonderful music.

OH!!!! I forgot to tell you that we ALSO talked to the lead singer of River City Extension!!!! Joe! We told him how much we so incredibly loved the band. He said that we could go onto their Facebook or Myspace page and contact them and he would send us an email with a bonus track!!! I have yet to do that. BUT I WILL.

Also, we asked him if they have plans to come to Boston, and he said YES. And those dates were released like, TODAY! 8 August at The Middle East!!!! Where we FIRST saw Crash Kings!!!! And where they are playing on 4 August!!!!!!! Another great week to look forward to!!!!!

I think Jason told Jo and Kelley about the 4 August date. That's really cool.

ANYWAYS - that was the amazingness of it all. It was truly amazing.


It's 7:36pm and I've done NOTHING today but blog!!!! It feels really good to relax all day after such busy days. Definitely needed. Tomorrow I'll get back to "the grind."

I've been really blogging for like, 5 hours. For realz. But look at what amazing information I'm giving you!!!! Great new bands to check out!!!!!! Yet MORE opportunities for you to watch Crash Kings videos!!!!

ALRIGHT. Ruby Tuesday has been very upset that she can't sit on my lap because my laptop is here. I keep having to take snuggle breaks so I can hold her for a little while. Just like a baby, I tell ya.


if you haven't already:

CHECK OUT CRASH KINGS. I promise they are amazing.




That's a shot from the Crash Kings iPhone app. Does it get any hotter? Remember how Tony sat with us on the couches and we witnessed him being groped by a drunk stranger? Remember how I gave Mike a hug and then he gave me a high five? Remember how Jason gave me a hug and then talked with us for half an hour??

It's THOSE guys! Those guys up there. The super famous rockers I've seen ten times.



loves it. so much.