it happens only in the daytime

SO. I just had an epic day of Crash Kings madness.

Here's the deal:

I'm exhausted. BUT, I'm going to briefly tell you about it because I'm so excited I just need to tell people. Briefly! And, I don't have my camera cord with me, so there'll be no pictures. (But I got a really good one from the looks of it on my camera!)

SO.

The scene was PORTSMOUTH, NH. REDHOOK FEST. At the Redhook Brewery. My mom is wearing my gray Crash Kings shirt and I'm wearing my newly dyed hott pink Crash Kings shirt. WHICH CAME OUT FREAKING AWESOME.

We get there and walk to the ticket holders line. Immediately one of the event workers says to me,

EVENT WORKER: Crash Kings! Awesome! I'm excited to see them. Right before Blues Traveler.

So great! Blues Traveler was the main attraction.

So we get in there and walk to the stage. It's pretty crowded. The whole event is sold out. But, there's like, one spot of grass in the front on the lawn that is perfectly sized for my mom and I. Like, it was perfect.

We put our stuff there. Sit there for a minute, and then decide to get up and walk around. And we walk around for a while. Check out the vendors. Get some food. Then, we head back to our seats.

Listening to the band, 'Rustic Overtones' play. They're kind of, eh. I thought they sounded too much like every other band that plays radio festivals.

And then I start to people watch. Just kind of stare at people around me, because I was bored. And I like to look at people a lot.

There's a couple sitting directly in front of us. They're older. Maybe around the age of my parents. And for some reason, the man looks familiar to me. And I'm thinking very hard about this because WHAT I'M THINKING, is that he looks what I remember Tony and Mike's dad to look like.

BUT NO, I would not have such luck to sit behind their parents.

So, I keep thinking. And keep thinking. And while I'm trying to figure out who he is, I'm also telling myself that it would just be so freaking awesome to sit behind their parents that I'm creating this man who looks like I remember their father to look like.

And so finally, they start to change the set for Crash Kings. And he stands up to watch. And this is when I turn to my mom and whisper,

JULIE: Okay, I kind of think that's Mike and Tony's dad...
MOM: I've noticed he seems very interested in what's going on with Crash Kings.

And then Mike comes out on stage to do bass player things. And this guy in front of us starts waving.

JULIE: (thinking to herself) HOLY CRAP OMG NO WAY I'M SITTING BEHIND THEIR PARENTS.

Finally he gets Mike's attention as if to say, "this is where we're sitting." Mike smiles and head nods back.

He sits back down. My mom immediately reaches over and taps him on the shoulder to ask if he's their father.

YEP. Yep.

This place was really big. It was super crowded when we got there. THE ONLY spot of available grass that fit us perfectly was directly behind Mike and Tony's parents.

No matter WHAT happened for the rest of the day, IT WAS A GOOD DAY.

AND THEN, my mom has a tiny conversation with their dad. And then he takes out his camera and starts taking pictures of the guys setting up. And he goes up to the stage to take more pictures. I imagine these will go somewhere in their living room.

I really don't know how much time passed. I was in such a daze. SUCH A DAZE. A daze of wonderment.

I told their dad that this was my 12th show and he laughed and said he had stopped counting.

And then he leaves for a little bit and my mom initiates conversation with their mom. It was basically mom talk. Like, normal mom talk. For realz.

And then I decide I'm going to go up and stand in the standing area so I can get a good spot.

So I go up and stand. Moving closer and closer every few seconds. Until I'm in the second row. And then the guy in front of me says,

GUY: You want a spot on the rail?
JULIE: Really?! You don't mind?
GUY: Not at all! I thought I was going to be the only fan here!!
JULIE: You're not!!

Turns out he was a super fan. We actually talked for a while. TURNS OUT he lived (or lives, i can't remember) in Amherst, MA, which was where I went to college. Hampshire College. SO THAT was really weird. And I told him I was going to the Crash Kings show in Boston and he seemed like he would go too.

So, I'm watching things happening on the stage and keep looking at the clavinet and wondering, 'why aren't they setting it up?' It was just sitting over in the corner on top of a big wooden box.

And then I look directly in front of me on the stage, and Tony is setting up his clavinet. And I think,

JULIE (thinking) HOLY CRAP Tony got another clavinet!?!? How did he make that happen?!?!

Because, as we all know, the modified clavinet with the whammy bar that Tony owns is only 1 of 12 in the whole world. So I was PRETTY excited for him.

ANYWAYS, so then Jason notices me from the stage and smiles and waves. And I smile and wave back. And he makes gestures like, "your shirt is awesome!" And I make, "I know! Thank you!" gestures back.

And the guy next to me is seeing all this and says,

GUY: OHhhhhh... so that's how it is??
JULIE: (laughs) Umm...nooo...
GUY: (laughs) Wow.... okay.
JULIE: If I see them, I might get a hug. But that's it.

it was funny and really awesome.

ANYWAYS. Then their set starts and they open with '1985.' Immediately the SOUND SYSTEM GOES TO CRAP. Which was the theme of the performance. A version of 1985 without vocals or piano, was what we heard. A drums and bass version! They keep going right into 'Nonbeliever,' still with no piano, and now with very, very low vocals. Tony ran off stage during the beginning for a minute to talk to sound people, but made it back just in time for the beginning.

So then after they finish 'Nonbeliever' Tony stops and says something like,

TONY: Okay, we're not gonna start again until this gets fixed... TELL ME WHAT YOU NEED!!!!

And people start shouting PIANO PIANO and making "piano motions" with their hands.

So then, the piano gets fixed. But there's now no vocals. So, they take a long time figuring that out. The crowd kept shouting LOUDER LOUDER LOUDER and making upwards motions.

Then, the vocals come back in, but they're still very low. People keep shouting louder. Tony looks down at me and I mouth, "louder."

TONY: (looks to the sound booth, points to his microphone.)

YEP. He looked at me, and then did what I said. Even though everyone else was also saying it. It was like he trusted me more. YEP. That was it - he trusted me more.

ANYWAYS. Then everything was worked out. They played 'It's Only Wednesday.' ROCKED IT. But halfway through the piano went out again.

So, they stopped again at the end of the song and worked out the piano. FIXED.

Then Tony starts 'Come Away' and almost immediately the piano goes out again. By this time - he looks pretty pissed. Like, really, REALLY annoyed with this whole thing.

and Tony stops the song and says,

TONY: Okay, I'm not going to play this one anymore. It's just not working.

And Mike stalls and goes into this whole speech about people came here to hear music, and why isn't the MUSIC working.

So, they try and fix the sound some more. A lot more. Tony finally says,

TONY: We're gonna play 2 more songs for you. This one you might recognize.

And they played 'Mountain Man.' WHICH ROCKED. I did the claps. No sound on the piano, but the clavinet sounded GREAT. After that was finished, Tony mouthed to Mike and Jason, "Carry On."

And they played 'Carry On,' which was a TOTAL SUCCESS because there's no piano in that song, only clav action. It sounded great. Ohhhh and I rocked. Because I freaking love that song.

And things are finally sounding pretty good. So, they tackle 'War Pigs' another clav-only song. Almost immediately the clavinet sound goes. Then, something happens and Jason's kick drum breaks. Tony announces that Jason is now playing with a broken kick-drum.

So, now the song is crazy sounding drums, vocal and tons of bass. It's insane. BUT - the crowd is totally rocking and getting really into it.

I, however, am now so used the 'War Pigs' melody in lullaby version, that I started to get sleepy.

No, I'm kidding. I didn't get sleepy. But, I did think about the lullaby version and how it has a ton of bird noises in it.

ANYWAYS. So, they end the show. Tony says,

TONY: Thanks for coming to our sound check!!

Mike says,

MIKE: I would like to invite every one of you to come see us in Boston at The Middle East on August 3rd. We'd really love to give you a real Crash Kings show.

And the crowd is going wild. Like, really cheering them on. And Tony! He's just unplugging his stuff so fast it's crazy. You can tell he's really, really upset. I felt super bad. And then Jason looks at me and just shakes his head. I shake my head back and shrug.

Then, I head back to our seats, where I find my mom laughing, chatting it up with Mrs. Beliveau.

JULIE: (thinking) OMG this cannot really be happening!

So, I go over. Kind of join in the conversation about what a bummer it was about the sound.


JULIE: I think Tony was pretty mad...
MRS. BELIVEAU: I've never seen Tony that angry before! Well, during a performance. I mean, I've definitely seen him that angry before (we all laugh), just not during a show.

And then I think it really hit me that OMG I WAS TALKING TO THEIR MOM.

And then my mom, Tony and Mike's mom, and myself proceeded to have a conversation for like, 45 minutes. It was on and off for about an hour, because then Blues Traveler started playing.

And it was like, the perfect conversation, because all we talked about were Mike and Tony! Who needs to talk about anything else, ever, really? She told us about the time when Tony was 6 and he came to her and said he wanted to start taking piano lessons and then took lessons from the same woman for 12 years. About the time when Michael (she kept calling him Michael) was in 3rd grade and wanted to learn piano, but then stopped because he didn't think he could be as good as Tony. So he picked up the guitar. And then the bass. And then the upright bass, which he played in the school band. And also that Tony played violin in the school band.

She told us about how when Tony was really little and they would all dance around in their living room, but Mike was just a baby, so she had to hold him. (and then she made a motion of holding Baby Mike.)

I think my favorite was the story about when JET came over. First she went on and on about how nice and how funny JET was, and we talked about how the show at the Paradise JUST SO TOTALLY ROCKED EVERYONE'S WORLD.

And she said,

MRS. BELIVEAU: I got a call from Tony at 11 the morning before, it was their day off, and he asked if it would be alright if all of them came over for dinner, it would be about 12 people. So, I said 'okay.' And Steve was outside doing yard work and I went out and said, 'stop whatever you're doing, the boys are coming over tonight with 12 people!'

it was a great story. And I had heard Crash Kings talk about this event to some degree, making it seem like things got pretty crazy, and they all had a blast.

And that's just exactly what their mom said too! It was just really fun hearing it from their mom.


OOHHHHHH IT WAS AWESOME. We talked about lots of stuff. She told me twice that I should come find her at The Middle East. My mom asked her if she was from Massachusetts and she said,

MRS. BELIVEAU: No, I'm from Michigan.

Which, I thought was weird, since Michigan has played such a strange part in my Twitter life recently... Tony was in Ann Arbor and "so was i."

um, so the whole thing was great. like, great. and she was just a normal mom. like, just really proud of her sons.

so, by this point i had missed the guys at the merch booth. they never announced that they would be there, but their dad said they were for a little bit. he went to go look for them, but couldn't find them.


ANYWAYS. this didn't end up being a brief version at all! So, their parents left a little while after Blues Traveler went on.

Shortly after that, Mike walked over looking for them. He saw me,

MIKE: Heeyyy!! Nice shirt!!
JULIE: Thanks!

This was at least the 6th time talking to Mike and I still don't think he knew who I was. 2 hugs, 6 conversations later, no progress. Sorry, at least 7 conversations.

So, he's walking around looking very confused, obviously looking for his parents. I was thinking I should go over and tell him they left. But, my mom acts upon this before I do.

MOM: Are you looking for your folks?
MIKE: Yeah...
MOM: They left just a little while ago.
MIKE: They left?
MOM: Yeah, I think the crowd was getting too rowdy.
MIKE: They left? Oh, okay... Thanks.

My mom said he seemed very sad. BUT, she touched his arm during this conversation, which she mentioned a few times throughout the rest of the night. Also, how cute he is. And also, the prettiness of his eye color.


So, even though the actual performance part of the day was kind of a bummer fail, the overall day was SUCH A MAJOR WIN.

yeah, it was kind of a dream. like, i'm writing this now and thinking, 'really? all this really happened?' because, how often do you get to talk to the parents of rockstars?

OMG IT WAS SO GREAT. i'm just really thinking about it now.

and i actually didn't get to talk to Crash Kings in person at all. but it totally feels like i did!


and i'm just going to mention it real quick:

but all this comes THE DAY AFTER i got a hug from Robert Schwartzman. ♥ believe me, i'll talk about that more in detail. also, he held my hand. MORE LATER.

MORE WITH PICTURES LATER. which is amazing in itself, because the NO CAMERA POLICY at the Cape Cod venue was soooo super strict it was insane. like, INSANE.

but, yours truly, is a super stealth picture taker - AND I GOT SOME GREAT PHOTOS. of Hanson, mainly.

ANYWAYS. i've had a great weekend so far. nay - A GREAT WEEK. between this and all the personal contact with River City Extension - i am exhausted. it's known as GREAT WEEK EXCITEMENT EXHAUSTION. it affects 4 out of 5 Crash Kings fans. very serious, as it may involve driving long distances, staying up for long periods of time, and rocking out really freaking hard.

it's currently 2:30am. i'm going to go to bed. but hey,

I'VE SEEN CRASH KINGS 12 TIMES NOW!!!!!

that's pretty awesome.

ok! i love you all. Schwartzman hugs all around! *does circular finger motion in the air*


have a super great sunday.


✭✭✭,
Julie