How long has it been?!?! IT'S BEEN TOO LONG since Crash Kings excitement graced this blog.
If, however, you'd like to re-live that last time, please enjoy that here. That was another 3-shows-in-three-days adventure that we love so much.
THIS TIME - was epic. GET READY for awesome. Because there's going to be a lot of it.
THURSDAY:
I drove to Malden in the mid-afternoon, thinking that it would take me like, four hours due to traffic. UM, NOPE. There was no traffic. Why? Because of the power of Crash Kings. There SHOULD have been tons of traffic, but the Universe knew I needed to get to Boston - and it got me to Boston.
I parked at Ryan's house and had to wait for her for a minute, because she was at the grocery store down the street. I didn't mind, because she was buying ingredients to make DELICIOUS cookies.
She came back and it was so great to see her! I had seen her back in September for the night when I went to her totally awesome gig.
I left again after about 15 minutes or so of brief relaxing, before walking down to the T station. I kind of rock the T.
Got off at Central Square, much like the last time I met up with Emily and David.
SO GREAT to see them. Like, unbelievably awesome. We walked into Harvard Square and over to this great Mexican restaurant, Border Cafe. We had a bit of a wait, but it was fun catching up and chatting.
The restaurant was super crowded! And our waitress kind of wanted to be our best friends. We were talking about past Halloween costumes at Hampshire Halloween and the waitress comes over and is like,
WAITRESS: OMG are you guys talking about Halloween??
EMILY: Yeah..
WAITRESS: I'm dressing up as a slice of watermelon! It was actually my costume from when I was little, but it still fits me!
Then she described the whole costume. Yeah, it sounded kind of adorable. Then she was like,
WAITRESS: ... And I'm wearing it to work on Saturday!!
Yep, great. Although, I would think it would be awkward being a waitress and wearing a giant slice of watermelon. Well not actual watermelon, but a watermelon slice shaped costume. And trying to waitress in between tables. Whatever, I don't really care about this, yet I've talked about it for like, 20 minutes.
ANYWAYS. We had a great dinner.
Then, Emily suggested we walk over and get some of the best hot chocolate ever invented. Um, how could I say no??? So, we did. And it was like, "Polar Express" hot chocolate. Tasted like melted chocolate bars. It was kind of crazy.
Then we walked over to this wall-structure, sat on the wall, and continued to talk.
It was a seriously great time and it really made me realize how much I miss my friends. And also being in college. But mainly my friends. And also Jan Term.
Sadly, we both needed to be on our way, as Emily had to wake up at like, 5am for work.
BUT WEIRDLY - They were going to be in DC this weekend for the Jon Stewart rally! So, we would be in the same city again on Sunday!
Anyways, then we parted ways. And then I was crossing the street to get to the T station and this guy approached me and asked,
GUY: Hey, is the Middle East this way? (pointing in the wrong direction)
JULIE: Um, no, actually! It's this way. (pointing in the right direction.) Maybe like, three blocks down, on this side of the street.
GUY: Thanks so much!
JULIE: Who's playing tonight?
GUY: (names some guy)
JULIE: Cool! Have fun.
GUY: Thanks!
Yeah, I felt pretty great. Because when he approached me and said, "hey...is the..." and I could tell it was a directions question, I was instantly bummed that I would probably have to say, "sorry, I'm not from around here." BUT NO!!! It was the Middle East, which is one of the best places, because it was the first place I saw Crash Kings.
Then, I continued back to Malden on the T. Rocked it again.
Excited to see Ryan again when I got back. Her roommate, Tony, was there too, and it was nice to see him.
Then, Ryan and I hung out in her room. Mainly discussing very important business things like Crash Kings and boys. It was very fun. Then, I blogged and she finished her CK transcription of 'My Love!' YES. #WIN.
(again with using the hashtags out of Twitter. it kind of makes me excited.)
THEN, I went downstairs to my domain - the couch - and set up shop. Did some FB chatting, because I'm so popular and awesome. Then, went to bed. Even though it was hard to calm down enough to sleep, because I was SO FREAKING EXCITED for the Weekend of Awesome.
Slept great.
Woke up the next morning, took a great shower. When I was getting dressed, I realized I had forgotten A CARDIGAN. Now, if you know me at all, you know that I love cardigans. So when I realized I had forgotten one - HORROR. UPSET. DEVASTATION. I had planned two outfits around a cardigan, and then had forgotten said cardi.
And, it was getting late.
SUDDENLY, I remembered that last night while on the T, I saw the reflection of a Target symbol in the window of the T. Seriously. So, I went on to the Target website and got directions to the nearest one. Not that one, but an even closer one! Like, 1.8 miles away!
I plugged the address into the GPS and was on my way. With my duffle, back pack, bag of cookies, container of water and Ryan's yellow raincoat. READY TO ROCK.
Except that I got lost on my way to the Targs. Even though it was a pretty straight shot - the GPS lady didn't tell me to turn left. I went straight instead and then realized I was in some parking lot for a T station.
I sat and thought for a minute, trying to remember what the Google map looked like.
And then I saw a guy walking, so I jumped out of the car and briskly walked over to him to ask for directions. He wasn't from around here, so he had no idea.
Then I got back in the car and thought about how to get out of here. THEN, I looked through the trees on the other side of the parking lot, and THOUGHT I saw the red Target symbol. GLIMMER OF HOPE.
So, I got on the Mystic River Parkway and sure enough - it was the right direction. It turned out to be an Office Depot, or something, not a Target, but it was in the same plaza at Targs! RIGHT ON.
Went into Targs, found a great silver cardigan with sequins that would work with both the outfits I had planned. Also bought a water.
THEN, ran back to the car and changed. Yep. In the car. In the daylight. Ashamed? Nope. Why? Because we were seeing Crash Kings tonight and there was nothing that could bring me down.
UNTIL I got to the traffic circle on the Mystic River Parkway. Um, what's the deal with that thing??? GET RID OF IT. Normally, roundabouts do not make me nervous. Let me try and explain this one.
Two lanes, in a circle. Four stoplights in the circle. Highway running above the circle. Another two lane road going through the center of the circle. MADNESS. Like, the worst traffic pattern ever invented. It was insane.
(Actually, no. The worst and most confusing traffic pattern would be on that road that me and Ryan tried to navigate post-Crash Kings show in Albany. Or, just outside Albany. The road that was like, 8 lanes and completely covered in orange cones. And it was kind of blind-driving through the cones to figure out the way. That was crazy times.)
ANYWAYS. I feel like this is taking me FOREVER. But, I guess there were lots of fun times even before we saw Crash Kings. I guess that's why it's taking me so long to come down off the 'high.'
Then, there was a traffic detour in Malden and I had no idea where I was going. There were no detour signs. Lame. So, I had to pull over and GPS it into Boston.
Then, I get off the exit after the tunnel, (I picked Ryan up at school), and there's a huge traffic jam. And it's not moving. And then, an ambulance decides to come through. And then, two police cars and another ambulance decide to come through. And then a huge bus gets behind me. And then - MORE MADNESS.
Eventually, after some very stressful driving, I made it to Columbus Ave, which was where I was picking up Ryan, and where she used to live, so I was kind of familiar with it.
And then we were FINALLY off!!!!!
TO PHILADELPHIA!!!!!!!! The City of Brotherly Love, as I learned from Elizabeth, who posted in my Facebook blog after I didn't know the nickname.
SO - TOTES PERF - because Crash Kings is made up of 2/3 brothers. And they love each other. And we love them. So, great.
I can't remember how long it took us to get to Philadelphia. We left Boston around 12:45pm. Got into Philly around.... 7:45, maybe? I can't actually remember. We hit traffic a lot on the way down, through NJ, south of NYC, and trying to go over the George Washington Bridge.
BUT WE MADE IT IN TIME!!!!!!
We parked, and navigated our way to the venue, the Theater of Living Arts. Nice place.
Immediately walked in and found spots in the crowd, which was pretty big.
The line up for all three shows we saw was this:
- Civil Twilight
- Crash Kings
- Anberlin
Civil Twilight went on soon after we got there...
I think the lead singer, Steven, looks like Robert Pattinson. I told this to Kara, when I was showing her pictures and she said,
KARA: Robert Pattinson mixed with Chuck Bass from Gossip Girl.
YES. That's exactly it. If you didn't know, Kara is the queen of figuring out which celebrities people look like. True story.
So then, I pushed my way through the crowd to be closer to Ryan and also closer to other Crash Kings fans. YES - there were others!!!!!
OMG. These moments before they came out were so exciting and horrible at the same time. It had been SO LONG since I had last seen them and I just couldn't wait any longer.
AND FINALLY....
Hey IT'S JASON!!!!! How great is it to see Jason in the blog again?!!? Yeah, it's pretty great, I know.
TONY. Yep, there he is. In all his piano glory. Actually, he's claving there. I like this picture. Because it's sexy.
Did you miss these guys?? Come on, admit it. You were kind of looking forward to this weekend so YOU could get to look at the candy results. I know, I know. You guys are in love with this band just as much as I am. :)
OH! When the CK crew was setting up their stuff, there was one notable thing missing = JOSH. There was Jimmy, but there was no Josh. It was a mystery. This guy seemed to be with them, and kept having to come out to fix Jason's drum mic, which kept falling over.
Jason was just KILLING it on the drums. He had all these great solos in 'War Pigs,' which they covered, and played as their final song. Before they played it, he got up and went to the mic and said,
JASON: I just want to dedicate this show to my grandmother... she's here tonight and this is the first time she's seeing me play, seeing this band play. I'm so excited she's here!
During, 'Raincoat' when they have the big, super intense, way awesome, hardcore jam sesh at the end, Mike went over to the piano and Tony reached up and was playing Mike's bass! It happened for like, 5 seconds, but it was totally awesome. I've never seen that happen before. Aww, they're brothers.
And THERE'S Mike. Due to my position in the crowd, pictures of Mike were rare. Which was a bummer, because DUH, it's Mike. And he's really great to watch. (Because he's usually sweating.)
Tony was wearing this hat. I liked it more seeing him in person, than when I had seen other pictures of it.
MIKE.
Someone taking a picture of Tony on her iPhone, while I take the same picture of Tony.
THEY PLAYED A GREAT SET. And surprise - there was a clavinet solo during '1985!' I KNOW. No, I KNOW. You're thinking, "WHAT? Clav solo in '1985?'" TRUE STORY. It was shocking.
The sound was great. Like, everything was perfectly balanced. And it felt SO GREAT to be out there, rocking and dancing and singing at the top of my lungs. Like no time had passed. EXCEPT THAT SO MUCH TIME HAD PASSED AND OMG WHY DID IT TAKE THEM SO LONG TO COME BACK TO THE EAST COAST?!??!?!!
After their set, Ryan and I jetted towards the back to try and catch them at merch. We waited. And waited. And waited.
Jason walked by really quick, saw us, said hello and we quickly exchanged "great show!" "great to see you!" sentiments. Jason is so sweet.
Then Anberlin started playing. I got no pictures of them after "attending" three of their concerts, so this is what they look like:
(haha.) Like, why is that guy putting on his jacket? And why is he wearing that huge watch?? It's like a spy watch. We weren't crazy about their music. But their LIGHT SHOW was cool. We decided it was a "smoke and mirrors" effect. To distract from their "eh" sound.
I texted this to Keith, while we were waiting for Crash Kings to come out, and THEN, Tony walked by.
TONY: Hey hey, guys, I'll be right back, I just have to go see some people!!
RYAN AND JULIE: UMM OKAY, WE'LL WAIT.
yep. We would wait there someday. (Non Believer, anyone??)
So, we waited in excitement for Tony to come back. Because, ya know, he said he would.
AND HE DID. Oohhhhh, he did.
I had decided during this waiting time that I wanted a Tony Hug. So, he walked back over, I outstretched my arms, and went in for the goods. Mmmmm.
He seemed seriously happy to see us. Like, seriously. And I don't know if you've ever seen Tony smile up close - but it's one of the greatest things on the planet.
Ryan asked about Josh, and Tony said that Josh left, and was working on his film and photography, which is really his passion. He said it was totally good for him and there were, of course, no hard feelings. CRAIG, their new tech, is much more experienced and knows much more about "tech things," so it's awesome. And, his name is Craig. And Tony said something like,
TONY: Craig's a big guy (making "big guy pose") so he can handle my set up by himself, which is awesome.
AND HE DOES. Craig sets up the folding piano by himself. I was really impressed by that. Because, dude, it's a piano.
So, when Tony was walking off stage after they finished playing, he grabbed the set list and handed it in Ryan's direction. Then, this random girl who totally hadn't been standing in the very front and rocking, reached across like, five people and grabbed it away, like, screaming at the top of her lungs.. (Ok, maybe I'm making it seem more dramatic than it was. But, it was a bummer.)
So then Tony says,
TONY: Did you end up with the set list?
RYAN: NO! This screaming girl reached over me and grabbed it.
JULIE: It was crazy, she like, totally LUNGED for it.
TONY: (laughs) Wow, sounds like things got pretty aggressive.
RYAN AND JULIE: Yes! She was lame.
TONY: (laughs) (and smiles)
Then Ryan gave Tony her transcription of 'My Love,' which he was very happy to get. She asked him about the chords, and they discussed that it was a suss. Then they discussed how much Tony loves susses. And he PLAYED AIR PIANO and shaped his hand in the way you would play the chord on the piano,
TONY: It looks like this.
And then we all stared at his hands, which are beautiful, by the way. I was standing across from Tony, so he kept looking up at me while he was talking. It's a great thing. This was the reason I was staring at his hands, because he was standing across from me, holding the sheet music. And, I just love looking at the heart on his hand.
Then we discussed how Ryan only has three more transcriptions to do before she's got the whole record down.
- Raincoat
- You Got Me
- 14 Arms
(I also pointed out that they didn't play '14 Arms' tonight. Which I was bummed about.)
Then Tony said,
TONY: It'll be interesting to see how '14 Arms' looks on paper.
Or something like that. Then Ryan mentioned that she would do that one next, as he had mentioned that before. (I think at the Portland, ME show, when he wasn't being groped by drunk girl on the couch.)
Then Jason came over, was super happy to see us, and gave us great hugs. Jason is a great hugger and he loves giving them out. I have no problems with this.
We then discussed the clav solo in '1985.' We were excited to tell Tony how surprised we were. He said it was new, they added it for this tour. Then! He proceeded to tell us all the new things for this tour:
1. Clav solo in '1985.' He said,
TONY: Ya know, we're trying to make it more 'Queen.'
RYAN AND JULIE: (laughs) YES!!!
RYAN: Everything should be more Queen.
TONY: (laughs) 'Everything should be more Queen,' that's the quote of the night. That's awesome.
2. Tony's hat. He said he's trying to wear it as a new thing, and his goal is to wear it at every show. I think this is awesome. It's a great personal tour goal.
3. Position of the piano on stage. They turned the piano slightly, so the crowd is more able to see Tony's hands. Hence, the reason why most of the shots are of his back. (Which... I have no problem watching...)
TONY: I know that my back is kind of to the audience, but I really want people to be able to say, "wow, that guy is rocking on the piano!'
RYAN AND JULIE: YES. Awesome.
His hands are a blur when you're watching him. It's incredible. For example, please watch this video Ryan took from the Portland, ME show of Crash Kings covering, 'Hey Bulldog.' Note: piano solo at the end when Tony is playing so fast he can't even sit down. That's the best, when he's just rocking so hard, and he's jumping, and standing, and sitting, and standing, and kicking over the piano stool. And I love when he gets is leg stomping.
BTW - I just showed Ruby Tuesday that video, and she was purring the whole time. And, she never looked away. So basically, cats love Crash Kings. (and you should watch that video)
In talking about this rocking, Tony then said that from now on, when he does radio interviews he's going to say that Crash Kings are the only piano rock trio in the world. Because, until someone comes forward with a hard piano rock trio, they are. And then he gave us an example:
TONY: Like, 'You're listening to 92.9 WBOS and this is Tony from Crash Kings, the only piano rock trio in the world.'
RYAN AND JULIE: That's awesome.
And, I love that he used the Boston radio station as example. Not like, some famous one in LA. That whole thing was awesome. When he pretended he was doing a radio interview. Because, we were talking to someone who does radio interviews. WHAT?!
I can't remember how we got into this next part, I think just because Tony was excited about it and wanted to tell us.
He told us that he had bought this keyboard on eBay and it was THE keyboard used in the recording of the Radiohead song, 'Kid A.' We were all very excited about this. So, a friend was picking it up for him, and he was getting it tomorrow. He stressed that it wasn't just the same type of keyboard, it was THE ACTUAL KEYBOARD used in the recording. Me and Ryan were super impressed and got really excited, because he was so excited about it.
Then, a slightly drunk guy came over and said how awesome Crash Kings were and introduced himself to Tony, they shook hands, etc. He was like,
GUY: Do you guys have Facebook?
TONY: Um, yeah. You can just Google Crash Kings and you should find it.
It was funny. And then there was like, an awkward silence between Tony and this drunk guy. Then drunk guy was talking about how he could hardly hear now because they were rocking so hard and Tony was like,
TONY: Earplugs!
And then we discussed the importance of earplugs during rock shows. I mentioned that I've never worn earplugs and Tony disapproved.
TONY: Aww, you gotta wear earplugs. I got mine from Northeastern University, they were like, a hundred bucks, but totally worth it, because they special make them to form in your ear, and the sound is great. Nothing is muffled or cut out, everything is just at a lower volume.
Basically, Tony cares about my ears. :) I wore earplugs the next two nights, per Tony's recommendation.
And then drunk guy left.
We talked about the sound on stage, and Tony says that he can't hear anything that's happening in the audience, except a little through Jason's drum speakers. We all remarked on how weird this is.
Then, Tony included two other girls in the conversation who were standing by, waiting to say hi to him. They basically just wanted to gush to him and then have their picture taken with him. I took the photo, and assured them it came out really nice.
The girls left, and Tony turned back to us. He like, just wanted to hang out with us the whole time. We talked a little more... both him and Jason were SUPER excited to hear we'd be at the next two shows. It's really cool when you're presence at these shows makes the band happy. It was definitely like a mutual appreciation.
Then, Tony and Jason had to leave, them being rockstars and all. Jason gave us hugs goodbye and we all said we'd see each other tomorrow.
Me and Ryan were UNSTOPPABLE walking out of that place. (we left right after the chat, as we weren't crazy about Anberlin.) Like, NOTHING could bring us down. It was a pretty great feeling. Like, yeah, just hanging out with Tony and Jason. They love us. He could have cut the chat short and went off to do other things, but NO, he just wanted to talk and tell us about the new keyboard he was getting tomorrow.
It was the first post-show chat that seemed more "friendly" than "fan." We were just like friends, standing around, talking. We were all interacting with each other, laughing, chatting, hugging.
It was so amazingly awesome, I can't believe we found our way to Stephan's apartment.
We were staying with Ryan's best friend, Stephan. He lives in this super nice apartment with a totally black cat sometimes named Benjamin, sometimes names Kitty, sometimes nameless. He made us tea and we sat around talking, listening to great music, recounting our awesome night with Crash Kings.
Hard to calm down enough for sleep that night.
I slept on this great couch!! Really comfy.
We woke up the next morning and brunched at this place down the street called, Ants Pants. I had a cheddar, apple and bacon scramble. DELISH! Came with these potato homefries chips. And I got coffee, also. Great breakfast. Great conversation. Great place! The lady at the cash register told me she loved the blue in my hair.
We walked back to Stephan's apartment, hung out for a little while, and then Ryan and I left for NYC! We were driving back to Philly that night to sleep there again, so we didn't need to bring much. Nice.
So, I only had about 30 miles left on this tank of gas. So, we get out of the city and figure we'd get gas on the highway. So, we're driving, driving, driving, and there are no gas stations. Like, no signs for gas stations off of 95 north.
Then, I get down to 10 miles. 8 miles.
JULIE: Ok, I'm getting nervous.
RYAN: Me too...
No gas stations. 7 miles. No gas stations. 5 miles.
THEN - sign comes up - TWO GAS STATIONS to choose from. 2 miles away.
3 miles left on the gas tank, we pull into the Shell station. THREE MILES. It was scary times. And it cost $27 to fill the tank, which was the most it's ever cost. (small tank, great gas mileage.)
So that was a scary time with Morgan. (Remember that's my car's name?) But, she pulled through and got us there. And thanks, Ryan, for buying me gas :)
Super easy drive into the city. Except for the bummer $8 toll to go through the Lincoln Tunnel. It's a nice tunnel, I guess.
We thought we were going to get lost when we left the tunnel because you exit it and then suddenly it's like, "HOLY CRAP WE'RE IN MANHATTAN....NOW WHAT!?!!" And there are very limited directional signs.
Luckily, it's pretty easy to get back on track in NYC, and we didn't end up getting lost or needed to turn around at all. Why? Because we're made of awesome.
I had thought I had forgotten to print out directions to the parking garage, and instead printed directions to just the venue. But, we followed the directions and it led us to the parking garage I had in mind, so it was great. The Sleepy Hollow Garage. Super short walk to Irving Plaza, where the show was that night.
Now, we had arrived like, four hours before doors opened. Let me make that clear: FOUR HOURS. 4 HOURS!!! Before they were even letting anyone into the place. And there were already Anberlin fans lined up. CRAZY.
I called Joe and told him I was here!
JULIE: I'm here!
JOE: You're here? Like, here, here?!
JULIE: Yes! I'm on 17th street!!!
It was very exciting. Ryan and I walked around a lot while waiting for Joe. We made tons of block circles in every direction. We walked past the Crash Kings van, The White Knight. Then, we decided to stand in line, too.
We saw Merch Guy, who was running the merch booth last night. The merch is in this giant blue truck that says, 'Florida Moving Company' or something like that. We also saw all the members of Civil Twilight. Either their tech guy, or one of the actual members, had the same shoes as me. My Clarks. That I love.
JULIE: That guy has the same shoes as me.
RYAN: Oh yeah! I guess you really do have a talent.
(Referencing my recent blog entry where I talk about how I notice people's clothes and reference them back to where I've seen them before. Amazing ability.)
Then we saw Jason walk over to the truck,
JULIE: Jason!
JASON: (turns around) Hey guys!
RYAN AND JULIE: Hi!!
Then around 4:30, JOE SHOWED UP!!!! He just walked right over!!!! REUNION!!!!!! EXCITED HUGGING!!!!! Soooo great to see him!!! Like, it was awesome.
Ryan stayed in line reading her book, and Joe and I walked over to Union Square and sat on a bench and caught up. For two hours!!! Talking about everything! Jobs, houses, cars, boys, girls, Hampshire... it was lovely and awesome.
We people watched a lot. There were two guys playing frisbee across the path from us. People trying to give me free sneakers worth $20. Lots of film students walking by with cameras, which made Joe excited, because he is a filmmaker. Um, a FAMOUS ONE. He was assistant editor for a recent Nickelodeon documentary about Dora the Explorer. I think this is amazing.
At 6:30, we headed back to Irving Plaza. The line for the show was around the corner and down the street. HUGE LINE, guys. Anberlin seriously brings the people out. (???)
Now, it was dark and freezing and it was very hard waiting in the line. Also, they had opened this VIP/Fast pass line, or something, so even though the people ahead of us in line, plus Ryan, had been waiting like, 3 hours, the VIP fast lane people got to go in first. LAME. Lame, Irving Plaza.
Finally, we got in and BOOKED IT to the normal spot. Anberlin fans are aggressive, too. This bunch of 12 year olds pushed their way right next to me and were being super annoying.
Civil Twilight took the stage FINALLY!!!
There's this very confusing part of their set where the lead singer hands his bass over to this random guy who runs on stage. Then, he grabs the mic and does a little dancing at the front of the stage, as evidenced in this next photo:
That's the random bass player guy.
Then, the lead singer comes up to the crowd and lets the ladies fawn over him. He's leaning into the crowd, hands all over him, he's loving it, I'm just kind of annoyed at how he seems really into himself.
I hope that person wanted a close-up picture of him.
Then he came right in front of me, stood there, leaned in, and sang.
Then, he puts the mic down, and begins running through the crowd. He did this the night before, so it was no surprise to us. But, he runs right behind me and rubs up against me, not once, but TWICE. I don't know how I felt about this. (Later in the night, I noticed he was kind of staring at me from the merch booth. At one point, I actually thought he was getting ready to come over to me... but he didn't. Maybe he recognized me from the night before.)
So, the people love Civil Twilight. I was more bored during their set this night than I was the night before. And also, just annoyed with the guy. But, I did get a video of their single, 'Letters from the Sky,' which came out dark, but you can hear it.
THEN THEN THEN THEN THEN, Crash Kings came out.
"Wow, look at that guy rocking on the piano!"
Like that one.
Annoying 12 year old girls next to me went crazy. Like, I think they ACTUALLY went crazy. During '14 Arms' I can't tell you how many times I was 'hair-slapped' by the girl next to me. She was rocking and twirling and jumping with MAJOR hairography. I was kind of ready to punch her in the face, but I managed to remember that I was at a Crash Kings show, and I turned the bad energy into good energy.
Also, they changed up their set! They played 'Carry On' and '14 Arms.' I like to think they played '14 Arms' because I was bummed they didn't play it the previous night. Yep, for me. :)
Mike was very hard to photograph these two nights. I was just never at the right angle. Which distressed me, because I love taking Mike photos. He's usually rocking the bass and is all sweaty. Being sweaty should be a prerequisite for playing the bass.
Like that one, too. I did a good job taking photos of Tony, bathed in gorgeous light.
Check my vids:
- Carry On. Including super hott clav solo intro.
- 1985. Including the new clav solo. Towards the end, right after the lyric, "While quietly delivering the sound..."
- You Got Me (end jam). Including the always hott end jam of You Got Me, where Tony never fails to turn into a jazz musician. That video is a little blurry, but I think it adds to the sexy alluring nature of the song, and the man.
Before they played their last song, Tony said,
TONY: I just want to shout out to my family, who's here tonight! My cousin, who I haven't seen in five years!!
I looked up in the balcony, and there were his parents! Tony and Mike's parents, who I'm BFF with.
(If you want to read the recap of the Portsmouth, NH show where I became BFF with Tony and Mike's parents, please click here. And here, for pictures of the show.)
So now, I was thinking, "aw man, I really hope I get to say hi to their parents."
Um, show rocked. Not as hard as the night before, but COME ON. They were still the best.
After, Ryan and I headed towards the lobby-merch-area. Merch Guy was at the merch booth. Civil Twilight was at their merch booth (this was when the lead singer was making eyes at me). Lots of fans taking pictures and going crazy.
Another guy walked by me and did a triple-take. Like, looked at me, looked at me again, and then looked at me again. Why? I don't know. Maybe because of my teal hair? Maybe because I was radiating awesome? Or maybe just because I'm super hott... ha. haha.
So THEN, Tony and Mike's mom and dad come into the lobby area and immediately recognize me and get really excited that I'm there. I told them I had seen the show the night before, and was seeing them again the next night, and they were both super thrilled. We talked for a few minutes. They asked if the boys had been out yet, and me and Ryan said no, they hadn't, we were waiting for them.
Remember their cousin who Tony hadn't seen in five years? Yeah. She's this totally beautiful woman with a handsome husband. Their mom told the story of how we all met in Portsmouth at the show, and she even said my name, Julie, even though I don't remember saying it again. Did she really remember my name all the way back from the summer?? Maybe?! Or maybe I did reintroduce myself, and just have no memory, because the moment was full of awesome.
Anyways, then their dad yells,
DAD: There he is!!!!
And Tony runs in for a dad hug. Then, he exclaims,
TONY: MOM!
And hugs and kisses her. Then, him and his long-lost cousin have this big, slow-motion reunion hug. Much like Joe and I a few hours earlier. They hug for a while. Then, she introduces him to her husband. At first they shake hands and then Tony says something like,
TONY: Aw, we're family now!
And then goes in for the hug. Yep, they're just a normal family. Then, Tony starts telling his parents this story that starts with...
TONY: You'll never believe who I just saw in the dressing room....
But, I couldn't hear who he said it was. Lame, right? Yeah, I got really excited too. But, he like, leaned in and lowered his voice, like maybe it was a famous person, or something. He was totally, totally excited to see his family and it was so great.
Then, he saw us standing there too, and turned to us, with a kind of "oh wow, you guys are really here, i can't believe you come to all these shows" face. Actually, I could sum that up in one word and say it was a 'gracious' expression.
And then he made a joke, ya know, because we're close like that:
TONY: I just saw you guys last night, I never get to see these guys! .... NO, I'm totally kidding!! Thank you guys so much for coming, we love you! You guys are the best Crash Kings fans ever. Really, thank you for coming.
He always thanks us profusely.
We only talked for a short while.... Ryan asked him how the new keyboard was, Tony said it was cool, although not as exciting as he thought it would be, but that it might end up on the new record. How bummed was I about this keyboard disappointment? SO BUMMED! He had been so excited about it the night before! And now it wasn't as great as he expected it to be. Awww man. Me and Ryan were really disappointed.
Then, we asked if they were planning on dressing up for the Halloween show... Tony said he wasn't sure, as it was so last minute and they didn't have anything planned. He said that maybe the hat and the beard were enough. (He's kind of growing out a beard.) (LIKE.)
He asked us if we had seen the new Crash Kings shirt, one with their faces on it. Yes, we had seen it.
RYAN: I bought it last night!
TONY: Great! Now go do your signature thing to it!
UMMMMMMM yeah. Ryan takes Crash Kings shirts and makes them beautiful with beads. Like, beautiful. And the boys love it. Remember at the Mercury Lounge back in May when Ryan told Jason she was wearing a new shirt, and he pulls out his iPhone and uses the light to inspect it?? Yeah. That was awesome.
So, Tony knows that Ryan has a "signature thing." Awesome. So awesome.
Then I wish Tony a good night with his family, he (again graciously) thanks me. We say goodbyes, and again, all say we'd see each other tomorrow.
(I then imagine their parents talked about me all night.)
Ryan and I walked out of there AGAIN, like rockstars. It's like the feeling when you're out in public on your birthday and you're so excited that it's your birthday, but nobody else around you knows. Like, if you're in a store or something. You know? Does anyone else get this "I'm just a little bit cooler than you today" feeling? Anyone?
Well, it was LIKE THAT walking out of the theater. Like, all these normal people on the sidewalk have no idea that we were just hanging out with a totally amazing rockstar who may have turned into our friend.
Again, talking with Tony was super natural and easy. Also, he was standing to my right, and like, 6 inches away, because Anberlin had started to play and he needed to shout. In my face. That we were the best fans. I was fine with this.
We make our way to the car. Pay. $38 to the Sleepy Hollow Garage. Then, we realize that I have forgotten to print out directions from the garage back to Philadelphia. We could just retrace our tracks, but that would mean paying $8 for the Lincoln Tunnel again.
So, we turn on the GPS and wing it. It takes the GPS FOREVER to decide on the route and also get the signal. So, we just went straight for a while.
Amazingly enough, these post-show Crash Kings chats are getting more normal, therefore it is easier to focus on directions afterwards. Whereas, remember the time in New Jersey that we got TOTALLY lost because I couldn't focus on anything except Crash Kings??
Also, it's very hard to drive when 'You Got Me' is playing in the car.
ANYWAYS, we drive past The Magnolia Bakery which is very exciting to me. And we go through the Holland Tunnel - WHICH - is free. :) I had never been through that tunnel before. It's nice. It's long, like 2 miles. Crazy. And then we made our way back to Philadelphia. Actually, we got pretty lost in Philadelphia. It was weird, actually. It took us probably a half hour longer than it should have.
I think I mentioned that we got lost in the parking lot of the train station for like, 10 minutes. No, I'm actually not exaggerating. It was a very confusing parking lot and we couldn't figure out how to get out of it.
Finally - we made it back to Stephan's house. Took us a while to find a big-enough parking space, as the parking sitch in Philly is pretty ridic. Like, crazy hard to find street parking at night.
Fun night again. Hung around. Did internet things. Went to sleep early.
Woke up early. Well, at 11am. My 'Saving Grace' alarm tone went off, but I couldn't find my phone, because the cat had pushed it way under the couch. So, I had to get up, move the couch, and get the phone. Silly.
I showered and we got ready to leave. We wanted to make sure that we were there EARLY to get a good spot. And the drive to DC was a little further than the drive to NYC.
But, a pretty easy drive. We went though Delaware and Maryland. Both fine states.
Then we're in DC!!!! Now, I was NOT looking forward to driving in DC, because of what happened the last time I was there with Aliya. That link takes you to the whole blog post of our roadtrip from Florida to Western Massachusetts. The DC part is kind of in the middle. But the whole thing is pretty great, duh.
So, we find a great parking space right on the street like, 2 minutes away from the club.
AND THERE'S ALREADY A LINE.
I mean, OK, it's great that these Anberlin fans are so dedicated. Will this be me when Crash Kings turn into a super huge, famous band? Um, DUH. But, Ryan and I were talking about this, and we decided that we don't like Anberlin because we're used to such high-quality rock music, that anything less than Crash Kings is no good. It actually makes sense.
So, lots of people are dressed up in costume. Lookin' pretty crazy. I'm standing next to a person dressed as a wolf.
THEN, Civil Twilight comes out! For the third time this weekend.
Guy was like,
STEVEN: We're from South Africa so we don't have Halloween, but it seems like a really great holiday! You all look amazing. We actually sent out tech guy out to buy some costume-y things for us to wear tonight.... but he hasn't come back yet. Haha.
It was a funny story.
Part where he hands the bass over and does his own little thing. Tonight he chose to kneel.
Love that pic of the drummer.
Yep. Then, he took a sip of his water bottle, and then splashed it all over the audience. So, thanks guy, for getting water all over my face.
Tonight I was mainly bored with Civil Twilight. I think because it was hearing the same exact songs for the third time. Same show. And, it's pretty good music, but it's not really.... driving. Ya know? I think they sound A LOT like Coldplay.
So then, they start to set up things for Crash Kings.
AND THIS HAPPENS:
Craig and Jimmy come out wearing dresses and very elaborate eye make up. Craig in the lovely black and white pattern, while Jimmy chose a lovely peach colored number.
(That other guy just had a sign on his back that said, 'Jack the Rippa.' Um, lame.)
Also, please notice how high the slits on Jimmy's dress go. YEAH. yeah. YES. He looked goooood.
Setting up Jason's IHOP mat that he plays on.
Craig setting up the piano BY HIMSELF. Rocked it.
The kid next to me was like,
KID: What's going on here?
JULIE: That's a piano.
Then, when Craig set up the clavinet this kid was like,
KID: Don't tell me they're going to put that keyboard on top of the piano.... OH! Whoa. How many people are in this band?
JULIE: Three.
(then Craig soundchecked the clavinet)
KID: HOLY CRAP WHAT IS THAT THING? It sounds like a guitar!
JULIE: Um, it's a clavinet... it's basically a keyboard with guitars strings on the inside. This version that he has is modified with a whammy bar. There are only 12 in the entire world.
KID: (stares at me in awe.) (for serious.)
Then we randomly started talking about how many times these other people had seen Anberlin. One girl was like, "I've seen them twice!" So I was like,
JULIE: This is my 18th Crash Kings show!
KID: I'm sorry... what?
JULIE: This is my 18th Crash Kings show.
KID: Whoa. That takes some dedication.
GIRL NEXT TO KID: Crash Kings are so good. I'm really excited for them.
JULIE: They'll blow you away. They're amazing.
AND THEN - Jimmy came out and hung up a sign behind Jason's drum set:
They were not Crash Kings tonight - OH NO - they were Crash Queens. (ALSO - Evans! Brand of drum heads. BUT ALSO MY LAST NAME. On the Crash Queens sign. Basically means I'm soul mates with the whole band.)
If you DON'T know, there was a group of fans called Crash Queens started almost a year ago by Christina and (West Coast) Julie - super fans in California. Crash Kings know about this group, and kind of love it. Or, at least they pretend to love it. Christina made this awesome amazing bedazzled shirt for Crash Queens and the boys love it.
SO - the fact that they were "Crash Queens" on this night - was sooooo freaking perfect.
PLEASE ENJOY these next photos....
Dear Mike. He's seen here wearing a love bright red frock. He's got his chest stuffed with balloons or something. And, he's wearing a ridiculous bright red afro wig. Also he has the brightest red lipstick EVER. It's like, 'recital red.'
Oh Tony. The first show where we have a great view of his face, because his hair is pulled back into pigtails. He had on a lovely black dress with ruffles at the bottom. He was also wearing this sheer black sparkly long sleeved thing over the dress. He looked amazing.
And when they first announced, 'CRASH QUEENS,' he was totally strutting on stage holding a martini glass. He looked pretty classy. With his studded belt over his dress and black nailpolish - he was pretty fashion forward.
Jason, oh Jason. Pictures of him were a bit tricky, because he was behind the drums. He had on a trashy leopard print dress that had chains for straps. He also sported this disgusting mullet-wig. Add in his mustache and bright pink lipstick - he looked like a cheap hooker. GREAT. Ohhhh Jason looked so great.
They opened with '1985' and Tony could barely get through it because he was giggling so much. It was adorable.
NOTE: person dressed as a wolf next to me.
Tried to get a good shot of Tony's black nail polish. I was so happy he was wearing it. This photo turned out a lot sexier than I had intended. Yep, that skirt is above the knee.
Amazingly enough, it was still super sexy watching him on the clavinet.
And, he was wearing a lovely string of pearls, completing his ensemble.
During 'Raincoat,' he looked right at me while he sang the lyric, "I never thought I'd live my life without you." And it was happening and I was just thinking,
JULIE: OMG THIS IS NOT HAPPENING.
But it was. I wanted to shout back, "SAME TO YOU, BABY!" But I thought that'd be kind of a weird mood killer.
And then, as is usual, me and Ryan were the only ones to "hold out our hands" when Tony sings, "hold out your hands," and he saw us and said,
TONY: YEAHHH!! Everybody get 'em up!!
As he usually says when nobody but us does this. Everything just seemed better because he was wearing a sparkly dress and makeup at the time.
UM YES. Mike, please make that face all the time. He was totally hamming it up.
And Jason was just killing it. During 'War Pigs,' a drum stick FLEW out of his hands. He picked up another, missed like, one beat, and was RIGHT back on track. Ohhhh I love that man.
Nip slip. NIP SLIP. Yep, that happened. Tony even said,
TONY: Jason has a nipple out!
I love this picture of Tony. The skirt, the slightly puffy sleeves, the pigtails. THE LEGS.
MIKE. YES. MIKE. Yep, he made that face also. This picture half scares me, and half turns me on.
This was during 'War Pigs.' Tony was, of course, jumping whilst claving, which he normally does. Only tonight, he was wearing a dress. He had to hold his mic pack down to his butt while he was jumping. AND - Ryan got a video of this song. Which includes many upskirt shots of Tony. haha. Because, again, he was in drag.
You should really watch that video. It's a great performance. I'd say one of their best. I know this because I remember standing there, watching Tony playing the clav solo at the end (or, I should say, 'guitar solo,' I guess) and I couldn't barely rock out, because it was so mesmorizing. This happens quite frequently to me. It's like, you can't do anything else, because you have to watch him play.
Also, I'm finding I'm like a cat when watching him. Mainly on the clav. Like, my head just moves in the direction he's moving. Like, I'll lean back, head up, head down. It's very sexual.
Also, the hair came down for full rocking potential.
Aaanndddd..... I love that last picture. Click on it to make it bigger, and you'll see a better shot of the tattooed hand on Tony's heart. I mean, wait. No, the tattooed heart on Tony's hand. Haha. If he had anyone's hand tattooed on his heart - IT WOULD BE MINE.
The whole experience was amazing. What a GREAT SHOW to end the weekend. They killed it. The whole thing. Everything. Best band ever invented.
SO. Tony had said they'd be around back for pictures and to say hello. So, after grabbing some water from the bar - PITCHERS OF WATER - YES. Smart, smart thing, we headed back to wait. First we waited in this tiny hallway that led to the merch, but then heard someone say that Crash Kings were on the other side, taking pictures.
So, we followed this kid and hung around, watching them take pictures with people. Mike and Jason were TOTALLY hamming it up for everyone. It was great. They're super funny. Especially Jason.
Finally, there was a lull, and me and Ryan walked over. Seriously - they're faces LIT UP when they saw us. Tony and I immediately hugged each other, and Ryan and Jason immediately hugged.
(feel free to go back and read that line again.... 'Tony and I immediately hugged each other.')
AND IT WAS THE BEST TONY HUG I'VE EVER GOTTEN. Usually, Jason gives the best hugs. Mike never wants to hug anyone and Tony always is like, a one arm hug, or just not very into it either.
NOT TONIGHT. Nope, I got a great, two arm, wrap around, nice and tight, Tony Hug. It was great. Then we stood around telling them how great they looked.
JULIE: (to Tony) I love your pearls!
TONY: (makes 'why thank you, I know' face)
JULIE: (touching Tony's arm) Very classy...
Um, then we just had a dance party with them. Ya know, like you do. No, but seriously - they just wanted to dance with us. ESPECIALLY Jason, who was the King of air drumming and air punching. It was awesome.
Anberlin had just started playing, and we were standing in a circle, dancing together. Like you do at school dances, or something. It was, Me, to my right was Tony, then Mike, Jason, and Ryan. GREAT. YEP. SO GREAT. We danced and jumped and air drummed together. Most fun time ever.
Ryan snapped this photo gem of Jason. Yes, that's what he looked like. It was amazing.
Then, they actually turned to watch Anberlin for a sec, so me and Ryan did too. Anberlin like, wasn't really dressed up. It looked like some of them were wearing bags over their heads. Like, to maybe look creepy. After a few seconds, Tony turned around to us with an unimpressed face and yelled,
TONY: Um, we totally won the costume contest! I mean, look at us. I'M HOTT. I look hott!
Me and Ryan assured Tony that there was really never any contest, and YES, he looked hott.
Then, the bartender gave the guys each a plastic cup with a shot of something in it. Tony again, turned to us and half smiled, half made a "omg look how much alcohol is in this cup right now" face.
AND I am like, freaking out, because of all those dreams I have where I'm doing tequila shots with Tony. Well, not "all" those dreams. But, there's been two. And that's kind of weird. So, here is Tony, doing a shot right in front of me. It rocked.
Then, Tony screamed,
TONY: Actually, we were pretty drunk on stage... hope it wasn't too obvious!
ME AND RYAN: Nooo! Not at all!
TONY: Ok, good! (we all laugh)
Ohhh drunk Tony wearing a dress.
THEN. Tony gestures to my hott-pink dyed Crash Kings shirt and says,
TONY: I love this, by the way.
I take that to mean, he was staring at it all night. This was the same shirt he remarked on in Burlington, VT in August as being awesome and said he wanted to do a line of them.
Then, he moved back a little, but continued to talk to me, and I couldn't hear anything, so I moved up real close to him...
JULIE: What??
TONY: Did you see we've got a new version of this shirt? It's in black now!
Yep. He screamed all that into my ear as I was standing very close to him. Like, I don't know, 2 inches away.
Then, Tony said that he needed to go change out of these clothes. Ryan told him we were driving back to Boston tonight, and he suddenly became very serious, very sweet, and pleaded with us to have a safe trip. He loves us like that. He's always very concerned about our traveling.
Then we said goodbyes. He thanked us again and again for coming. We thanked them for being awesome. And then he was off!
In the lobby however, as we were headed out the door, we met up with Jason, who gave one of the best hugs EVER. Not just Jason Hugs, but EVER hugs. He's one of the most sincere people ever. Even when he's dressed as a trashy hooker.
Then, in our triumphant post-Crash Kings show chats, we headed out.
What an amazing weekend.
I think we had the "real life" discussion in the car that night. Like, "holy crap I can't believe this all happened in real life." It wasn't dream life, or fake life. REAL LIFE. We hung out with Tony all weekend. It was for sure the most Tony time I've ever gotten. So good.
So then we drove from Washington, DC to Boston, MA. It was a fine drive. We went over the George Washington Bridge around 12:20am, and dropped Ryan off at her house just after 3:30am. Great time.
Then, I was feeling pretty awesome, so I continued to MAINE!! Yep. Drove to Maine. Arrived home around 5:30am. Just in time to spend some time with my mom before she went to work. So great. I still couldn't sleep. Too excited. I looked at all my pictures, watched some videos, sat in amazement that earlier in the night we were in DC, dancing with Crash Kings.
It was awesome. I can't even say anything else, because there are no words.
What great guys. Great musicians. Great music. Ohhhhhhh it was so good.
Can't wait for the next Crash Kings Adventure Weekend. CAN'T WAIT.
AAAHHHHH SUCH A GREAT BAND.
SO. That was my weekend. How was your weekend? I hope everyone experienced the same type of excitement, only probably it took a different form. It was Halloween! Did you dress up? Trick or Treat? Go to a party? Carve a pumpkin? Tell me about it! Sometimes I forget that there are other people in the world besides me and Crash Kings, so I'd love to hear all your stories.
Monday, I slept from about 7am to 12:30pm. I woke up wide awake and still so freaking excited. So, I got up. Nobody was home. So, I hung around by myself. I was like, "um, where are all the rock stars??" They weren't there.
In all my rocking this weekend, I had ripped my jeans. And I don't own many pairs of jeans. And now this one had a rip. So, I got my act together and went to the mall to buy two new pairs.
I've never come off a Crash Kings Adventure Weekend with any physical damage (unless you count the fact my car died after the first one...), until now! I woke up with:
1. 3 scratches on my left hand
2. heart shaped bruise on my right arm
3. rip in my jeans
HARDCORE. I assume the heart shaped bruise is from wrapping my arms around Tony too much. Or, too tightly. His heart on his hand rubbed off onto my arm. I like that one.
Kara thought I should go to a tattoo parlor and get a tattoo of the bruise. Ha.
So, I bought some new jeans. Hung out with Kara at work. Saw Meg! Who was working that night! We gave each other big, big hugs, as I hadn't seen her in a LONG TIME. Much too long.
The rest of the night was spent hanging out with Kara and my mom. It was great. I was still really amped from the weekend. All the Crash Kings tough love.
AND NOW, I'm back at work. In Lebanon. Ruby Tuesday was sooooo happy to see me. She hasn't gotten off my lap once since I've been back. Except when she was on the floor eating crackers.
AND, something amazing just happened. I got a text message saying that River City Extension had a Twitter update! They were announcing a show in Boston with Dashboard Confessional!!! So, I immediately went to Twitter to read the whole update. They're at THE PARADISE!!!! How great is that?!?! I super freaked out for a minute.
THEN, I got a text message saying I had a Facebook update. So, I went to my Facebook page and JOE, the lead singer of River City Extension had posted a link on my wall about the show! He just wanted to let me know personally, ya know.
HOW GREAT? So great. Musicians love me. It's true. Awww, that made me really happy. That Joe posted on my wall. :) He's so great. Like, for real.
We listened to River City Extension A LOT while driving through New Jersey, because we were in NJ a lot. We also listened to them while not in NJ, but it wasn't the same effect.
That car ride from DC to MA was really fun. Me and Ryan had some good times. As always, really.
OK. So, this was a pretty epic update, no? YES! I'm really excited that I get to share all this with you. I'm still super excited about it all. And I still have a slight touch of that, "I'm just a little bit cooler than you" feeling. Because, nobody around me knows that I was hanging out with Crash Kings this weekend. But I know. And that's pretty freaking cool.
So, I'll talk to you all later, dear friends. I've got some pretty big things happening in the next couple weeks. With moving and all.
Have a great evening! I have to go out to the grocery store, because I have nothing to eat here. For serious, actually. It's like, I don't have enough of anything to make a complete meal.
We'll talk again later :) Love you all.
♡♡♡,
Julie
Also, I feel like I should mention this real quick... So, after all my semi-hating on Civil Twilight... I woke up Monday morning with one of their songs stuck in my head. And then I missed them. And so I downloaded four of the songs they played:
- Next to Me
- Soldier
- Trouble
- Letters from the Sky
and I like them all a lot. When he was singing 'Trouble' live, I couldn't figure out what he was saying, but it sounded like, "everybody's got a sunburn." This confused me. However, in listening to the song, it's quite clear that he says, "everybody's got a trouble." Makes more sense.
So, Civil Twilight, maybe not that bad after all. I appreciate them more now that they're not rubbing up against me and splashing water in my face. :)
OK! CONTINUE HAVING A GREAT DAY!!!!
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