HOTTIES!
So, this past Wednesday night I met Jo (Ryan sadly (but also excitedly) is still in the UK) at Plymouth State University to see RIVER CITY EXTENSION who was playing with Manchester Orchestra.
It was about an hour drive. It's pretty easy getting to Plymouth from Lebanon. I had gone with Kara sometime last year to check it out and we ended up eating delish Chinese food and spending way too much money in a candy store. As is always the case in candy stores.
Anyways, I got there with no problems (except for the time I had to stop because some wild turkeys were crossing the road. LAME.) and met up with Jo at an Irving, because she knew where to park and everything. So, I followed her up the hill and we got great parking spaces!
The show was outdoors, in front of this place called the HUB, which I'm assuming is like, the student center. (At Hampshire College, the HUB was the 'poorly designed, always confusing, never working right' internet portal to pay your bill, fill your timecard and do other simple tasks that would take way too long because of the crap-ness of the site.) This HUB was nice. And there was a great little stage set up! Yes!
There was still some time to kill, so we walked down the hill and into the town and got sandwiches at this kind of sketch place in an alley... but the sandwiches were great! We brought them back up to the HUB (I'm always typing 'HUG' and then having to change it. Aw, but wouldn't that be a great name for a student center? The HUG.) and ate on the grass while the first band played.
A student band, maybe? Eh, I wasn't crazy about them. They were screamy and loud.
FINALLY! The crowd cleared and we made our way to the very front of the stage for RCE! YESSSSSSS omg I was so excited.
I got a hug from the stage from Joe, a high-five from Nick, a 'what up, Captain?' from James and smiles and waves from Sam, Jenn, Patrick, and Mike. BEST BAND EVER.
And I know what you're thinking!!!!! You're thinking, "wait a sec... what about Dan?!?!" Dan the super cool, amazing trumpet player who gave me a kiss on the cheek the last time we saw them!!!!! Sadly, he couldn't be there. He was in.... Colorado? He was missed.
And yes, Jo was calling Patrick 'Kevin' right from the start. It was hilars.
Sam, Patrick, Jenn!!! I'm constantly jealous of Sam's hair. Yeah, all the time.
James and Nick!!!!! Nick is super fun to watch. Especially on 'Something Salty, Something Sweet." MAN, he just goes crazy. I remember when I very first saw River City Extension at the Mercury Lounge, I was right in front of Dan, so I was watching him a lot, thinking about how awesome he was, and then would be like, "oh yeah, there's that other awesome guy at the other end of the stage!!!" Meaning, Nick.
EVERYONE in that band is just so great. I really can't say it enough.
Joe and James!!! Love it.
So, since there was no Dan, JENN totally took over his trumpet solo in 'Something Salty, Something Sweet' and KILLED IT. Yeah, she totally brought the cello rock. I was so impressed. And I told her afterward and I think she was pretty happy to hear it.
Yep, they're barefoot.
Joe, MIKE, and James!!!! I rarely get pictures of Mike - but there he is!!!! Looking great! I actually totally love this picture of him.
AAAHHHHH SO GREAT!!!! It seemed like the people loved it. Duh, right?!
So, now you all can go watch the video I got, 'Ballad of Oregon' to see how hard they rocked. It's kind of a shaky video, but it was their first song and I had to dance. Also, Joe breaks a string like, almost right off, but he's super stealth in his guitar switch. Nice.
Oh, wow. Such a great show. And we got some great hang-out time with the band after. So nice.
Joe kept asking me if they sounded okay... He said it sounded kind of weird from onstage. I assured him they sounded great. He said, "It's so great to be able to ask you about these things!" Aww.
It reminded me of when Ryan and I were talking with Tony (of Crash Kings) after their show in West Chester and we were like,
JULIE AND RYAN: Great show!
TONY: Yeah...but I messed up the lyrics...
JULIE AND RYAN: It's okay! It sounded great!
Aw, Tony.
Anyways! The great thing about chatting with RCE is that they're so nice and normal to talk with. I got to chat with Mike a bit, which was cool, because I hadn't really before.
James and I were talking and naturally the conversation evolved (or devolved...) to discussing Jersey Shore and how great the last episode was, etc, and he said that he was walking around The Shore like, last week and saw Ronnie and The Situation just out walking around!! They weren't filming, but he said they had police escorts. !!!!!! The Sitch in real life! That was a highlight of the evening. AWESOME. I pretty much immediately texted Kara about this.
I definitely like The Situation much more this season than I did in the first. He's way more funny. (but OMG JWOWW AND SAMMI GIRL FIGHT IN THE KITCHEN!!!!!!)
Anyways. Then, I was standing around with Jo and I hear, "Julie!" And I look, and it's Sam! She's sitting behind the merch table, calling me! So, duh, I go over.
SAM: So, tell me about your pastry chef sister!
JULIE: Haha...what?!
SAM: Isn't your sister a pastry chef?
JULIE: Yeah! Wait, how did you know that?!
SAM: Ohh, I'm creepy. I think you Twittered something about it, so I had to find out more. I'm obsessed with sweets.
So then I told her about Kara and the bakery and how Kara is head baker and bakes amazing things! So funny. I also immediately texted Kara about this - and she was THRILLED. She texted me back saying, "TELL THEM ALL TO COME TO THE BAKERY!!!" SO great!
And I was telling Nick how much I loved his blogging from the road and how beautiful his pictures were and he's said he's going to turn his personal blog into the official RCE blog. NICE.
But - EVERYBODY - should check out his blog (he told me to say that), because I think you'll like it. It's great photos from all over the country! Also including, the night RCE hit the deer and other tales. So great. Check it.
Ohhhh love them. A lot. And I don't even have to wait very long to see them again! We're headed to The Space in Hamden on the 15th!!! That's where we saw them a few weeks ago. Really cool, cash-only venue. I keep having to remind myself that it's cash only because I want to bring cash in case of any awesome finds in their vintage store.
ALSO, because I finally want to buy a RCE t-shirt. I want the "pirate" one. With the big X and it says R-C-E. Yep.
Also, speaking of that shirt and Nick Cucci... I was searching for RCE videos on Youtube the other day and found this one that I think you all will enjoy. The premise of the video is Joe and Mike are talking with this guy who suggests that they get rid of Nick and replace him with Wall-E, from that movie, 'Wall-E,' which everyone loved, but I couldn't even finish because I was so bored. I think this video is pretty funny.
AND EVEN MORE EXCITING!!!!! The day after we saw RCE, their song, 'Something Salty, Something Sweet' was named 'song of the day' on NPR!!!! So, DEFINITELY go check that out because it's super awesome.
GREAT TIMES with River City Extension. They're so awesome!
And then! Manchester Orchestra played! They were really good, too! I had only ever sampled songs of theirs, but really liked them! At first, I was kind of creeped out by the lead singer. But then, he began to grow on me and then I just thought he was really funny. He said he's only 23!!! I thought he was like, 35. For real. I was shocked. I turned to Jo and said, "holy crap I'm older then that guy." THAT made me feel old. Because he looked old. Plus, most everyone at the show was younger than me because it was a college show.
There he is! I don't know his name, but he was good! Good band.
WHAT A GREAT NIGHT! Then, we walked back to Jo's friend Sarah's apartment and drank cold beverages and hung around with her adorable kitty.
We didn't stay for too long, as we both had to drive back. Jo had to work in the morning. And, we're standing in the parking lot saying goodbye at our cars and then Jo says, "hey, is that them?" And, RCE is in the parking lot, getting ready to leave too. So, we walk over and get some more hugs. Say goodbye again. Joe says to let him know how many people are going to The Space and he'll try and hook us up with tickets. :)
Great. So nice.
And then! We left. Since there was hardly any civilization between Plymouth and my house, I opted to stop at the gas station where we met up, because it was still open. I got a coffee and a bottle of water and one of those cosmic brownies. You know those ones? Like, brownies with those neon colored candies on top? Yumm. I love neon colored food.
It was an easy drive home. I was soooo worried that I was going to see a deer or a moose - but I only saw a skunk. That's okay. I arrived home around 1:30. Ruby Tuesday was SO happy to see me!!!!! I love her so much.
I was pretty tired, but still excited, so I couldn't sleep. It was really nice not having to worry about work for once. I can't remember the last time I was at home but wasn't working. Hmm. I don't know!
Anyways, it was a nice night. All of it. Can't wait to see them again!!! They are great.
Hope everyone is having a great weekend! It's a holiday! Do I get a holiday off? Nope! Instead I get to work from 10pm on Sunday until like... 10am on Tuesday. I don't even want to count how many hours that is.
But! My mom is coming up tonight and I'm pretty excited :)
Talk to you all later!
☠☠☠,
Julie
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