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The drive is different when there are four in the Prius, in an interesting social way. It was a great time, discussing various subjects of interest to all four of us, namely subjects with names like Mike, Tony, Jason, and songs. The time didn't fly by, but neither did it drag, and it was fun enough, and we were at the Mercury Lounge looking for a garage by 5:30.
We found one very, very close, and retreated to the Indian restaurant I stalled in on Wednesday, similarly waiting for a show. Jo and her friend Kelley had never had Indian, which surprised me; I don't think I'd met anyone who hadn't had Indian before. They liked it, though, and the place had a buffet and a bathroom, so we were set for the wait.
We walked down the next block to the Mercury Lounge door with 20 minutes to spare before the doors opened. We settled into a loose line in front of the door, and no one else showed up for quite awhile. The bouncer smiled and told us not to sneak in while he went away and came back on some important errand, and eventually we were let into the club and waited while the lovely bartender watched through the doorway to the stage to see if the openers were done with their soundcheck, which they eventually were, so she let us into the stage area.
All four of us made a casual but determined beeline to our spot house left close up against the stage, and stood chatting and leaning and sitting on the edge of the stage for the half-hour before the openers got up onstage and started. They were playing to a very thin 7:30 crowd, and admittedly we weren't very loud in our responsiveness, but we gave back their earnest energy, and they were friendly and we were friendly and their set was great. Their name is River City Extension: they're an awesome, 8-piece band and nearly everyone was a multi-instrumentalist; one girl played cello, trumpet, and bass, and one guy played guitar and dumbek at the same time. Their frontman, who did most of the singing, mostly just played guitar (though he did pick up sticks and hit a beat on one of the drummer's floor toms at a point where everybody had something to hit as hard as they could). They all had a great, playful rapport onstage and were obviously having fun playing the heck out of their songs (which were, by and large, quite good), even though none of us knew any of them. They cemented the developing crowd bond by jumping offstage for their last song and playing acoustic and singing and dancing in the crowd.
Our posse was all agreed they were great. So we sent Julie out to the merch table to buy us a copies of their album while the rest of us saved our spot. Because we weren't giving it up, though there were two more bands before our boys came on.
The second opener, Blackbells, were a little more timid with the still-tiny crowd, and had less energy to spare being just a guitar trio. They were much more introverted, though their lead singer could wail and their lead guitar could shred, and they didn't make as much of an impression after the fairly conspicuous River City Extension. However, the lack of load-out after Blackbells' set was confusing until it became clear that they were also members of the third opener, Reckless Sons, adding just another lead singer (the Blackbells' singer Ben also plays guitar, while the new one played... himself) and a bass player. The lead singer was very pretty, and tried very hard to work the crowd, with all kinds of mic-stand acrobatics to the point where I worried he'd hit somebody's headstock (or face). He also did some knee-dives, which looked painful, especially with his skintight jeans. In any case, their music was even less memorable than Blackbells', if higher-energy, and it was with hysterical fervor that the entire crowd (which had grown steadily and substantially) welcomed our boys onstage.
Tony commented on the rowdy crowd, that he loved it, and saw and smiled at me right before they started 1985. Which, I love it when they use that song to open. Non Believer was next, and the eye-contact highlight of the show for me, when he looked very deliberately at me right before the line "all upon the things" and grinned hugely while he sang it, because we'd talked at some length on Friday about whether he prefers "upon" or "around", since he always does "around" live and it's "upon" on the record so I didn't know which one he'd want on the sheet. He'd said that they did both in the studio and "upon" was on a better take, but he doesn't remember to say that unless he's thinking about it really hard. So, there he was, thinking about it and grinning at me. Mike held up his end of the last chorus really well, and I looked at him at the ends of the repeats to verify another of Tony's corrections from Friday night. Lo, it was true; looking at Mike singing, the second run of days of the week ending in "soldier" rather than "Sunday" was obvious.
14 Arms was next, and I can hardly even remember it, I was that into it as it was happening. I started to take video of it and gave up, because I just had to jump and sing as loud as I could. I always shut up for the scream at the end of the chorus, though, because a) I can't pull it off, and b) I just gotta get the most out of watching Tony do it.
Soon after the especially hot rendition of You Got Me, possibly during the following 2nd Rate Citizen, a pushy drunk chick rammed into me and started dancing continuously on top of me, trying to push me sideways so she could get in front of me. I'm pretty solid, and I was rocking out solidly in the same place right at the keyboard, where I'd been since 7:00, so I ignored her and kept on doing what I'd been doing. Since she was on top of me, she got some shoulder to the face and elbows to the ribs, shot me dirty looks, and asked why I was elbowing her. I continued to ignore her, so she then whined at me, "just so you know, it's my birthday, so you shouldn't". She shouldered her way in front of Julie to my right, basically under the piano, and proceeded to spend several songs texting on her iPhone, oblivious to the stage, then left.
Meanwhile, magic was going on onstage. Right before It's Only Wednesday, Tony mentioned he was grateful we had all chosen them over the Lost series finale. The room really was packed, and he made a crack that he might do some crowd-surfing tonight. Naturally, the crowd was all for it. They offered, competing, and he grinned and made sure, "You got me? Over there? All right." And then, of course, they played the song. Another set consistency I like, besides starting with 1985, is following It's Only Wednesday with Come Away. It's a reassuring similarity to the album. And I think he might have heard me blasting the harmony, because he certainly saw me singing. I made sure to record Raincoat, since it's one of the ones I'm thinking about writing down next, and I can live with myself if I don't jump too hard.
My Love, on the other hand, I didn't even try. That prechorus, you just gotta jump. And, naturally, Hey Bulldog (which he introduced charmingly). Before Carry On, he asked if we were ready to jump around a little, which I daresay we were. As well as during Saving Grace (in which I also sang the harmony they don't do live, because it's my favorite on the album).
Tony grinned huge, looked at us, and yelled "yeah!" when the four of us right under his nose did the Mountain Man clap in the break between the first two verses. That was another warm fuzzy rockin' moment. That, and the fact that the crowd was so familiar with the music that he'd only had to sing the audience-participation lick twice (it would have been once, but he started it in the wrong key, got a funny look when we repeated it back, and did it again in the right one with a grin), made for a great energy loop through those of us who were really invested.
I have to admit that as quiet in a crowd as I usually am, I was leading the cheers to get the boys back onstage for the encore. I would've liked to hear All Along, but, as we discussed with both Tony and Jason after the show, War Pigs is better-known and they want to keep the interest up. Tony invited us with one hand to jump during the clav solo, and grinned when we (I) started to jump as high as he was, which is as high as I can jump. Eventually, though, the show had to be actually over, and the crowd thinned and the wait started for the post-show loitering.
Turns out Jo knew Austin, the drummer who played with Blackbells (and Reckless Sons) from another band, so she snagged him into a chat. Ben, the Blackbells' frontman, joined our circle and was super friendly and admired our fan dedication. They both expressed their excitement to play with Crash Kings in Austin, and enthused about how honored they were tonight already not just to see them live (they were impressed with our live CK show totals), but to open for them. They seemed to really want to talk to us, and Ben decided he'd go get their cd and give us each one.
The wait wasn't long for a decent conversation with Tony as he came through the dispersing crowd to talk to us, addressing us "ladies" again, and thanking us for coming out, especially so far. We assured him we'd make it to any show of theirs we possibly could, and expressed our various intense regrets at our individual reasons for having to miss the DC show the 25th. I gave him the corrected versions of the three transcriptions I gave him Friday, so he'd have them, no need to discuss. I didn't want to monopolize his time, so I told him great show and said maybe I'd make it for the Missouri shows, and the rest of the talk was among all four of us with him, this and that. He went to the bar to meet some friends who were waiting to hang out with him, and we drifted in that direction to see if Ben was serious about the cds.
He was, and we talked to him again at the bar by the door. I was sort of passively looking for the River City Extension frontman, who was sweet and backed up his onstage claim that he'd email the new song to anyone who wanted it since it's not on the album.
As we moved about in excited solidarity, Julie considered that it was finally time, at this her tenth show, for a hug from Mike. So we went over to where he was, and he's a good hugger (we all got one). Conversation with Mike however, after a little while, is sparse and slightly awkward; the poor guy seems pretty shy.
On the other hand, conversation with Jason is not. He came back up to the bar and greeted us enthusiastically after Jo and Kelley had gone to take some pictures with him, (from what I hear they're spectacular). The four of us chatted easily with him for at least half an hour about life, music, pedals, drums, how his finger's healing, playing It's Only Wednesday on the piano (he plays, but can't do it, and is impressed that I can), Houston and the Vietnamese sandwich shop by the George R. Brown, my newest bead-altered Crash Kings shirt (it was dark, so he shone his phone on it to see what I'd done with it as I held it out for him), how music is magical... I explained my ambitions of learning to do delay/self-harmonizing with pedals or software over the summer, and he gave me some recommendations. He's so sweet, humble, and just all-around genuine; I was sorry for more social reasons than just band-related ones when the crew asked for all hands on deck to move the piano and he had to go help.
We waited around some more talking at the bar, Jo and Kelley holding the door for the loadout, and it got to be quite late. We were all ready to go, but there was one more thing we agreed needed to be done before we split.
Tony went by with a relatively light load and I stopped him to ask the question burning all of our minds, that neither of the other two had been able to answer (and recommended asking him): what is It's Only Wednesday actually about? Mike said Tony had told him at one point but he forgot. Jason said it's about a girl, possibly something to do with one time Tony was in New Zealand. Tony wilted a little when we asked him the question. It was apparently a taxing one, which he didn't necessarily remember the answer to anyway, since he wrote it a long time ago, and he was naturally quite tired by this point (1:30ish). He accepted the hypotheses Mike and Jason had mentioned as at least partially true, and added that it's also very open to interpretation, as there's also some dream imagery in there and he writes the words more to flow and rock than to make concrete sense. I'm not sure I buy it totally, but it was a good out if he really didn't want to tell us what it was about. He didn't seem especially anxious to go put the stuff he was holding in the van, like he was having a decent time talking to us.
When he did, though, we all exchanged resolute and slightly sorry looks and meandered purposefully towards the door. Ol' Blue and the White Knight were right out the front door, and the boys saw us and asked if we were leaving. Sadly, we were; Tony said bye to me and I told him with a grin "see you next time, whenever that is," Jason said bye and gave more hugs to those who weren't already halfway down the block (I'd kept walking, assuming they were busy loading), and Mike... waved.
The drive home was a little closer to grueling, coming as it did at the end of a three-day junction of awesomeness. Discussing the events of said three days helped stave off the downer, as did listening. This trip we had a playlist including the album and live rips of all three of their originals that aren't on it, plus a rip of their Hey Bulldog video. It comes out to an hour, which is a much more satisfying chunk of time than the little half-hour the album fills. Jo and Kelley dozed in the backseat after about 4, and Julie and I watched the sun rise on a day without a Crash Kings concert. Home by 6:30, I couldn't even sleep for very long.
I don't know how long it'll be till the next one if I don't get to go to the MO shows, but these guys have manifested the truth of what I want to do with my life, and I can't get enough of it. I'll be working hard when I get home; the example they set is nothing short of stellar, and makes me want to give back as much as I can both to them, which is why I do the transcriptions and the roadtrips, and to the world, which is made... more, somehow, by music like theirs being in it.
We found one very, very close, and retreated to the Indian restaurant I stalled in on Wednesday, similarly waiting for a show. Jo and her friend Kelley had never had Indian, which surprised me; I don't think I'd met anyone who hadn't had Indian before. They liked it, though, and the place had a buffet and a bathroom, so we were set for the wait.
We walked down the next block to the Mercury Lounge door with 20 minutes to spare before the doors opened. We settled into a loose line in front of the door, and no one else showed up for quite awhile. The bouncer smiled and told us not to sneak in while he went away and came back on some important errand, and eventually we were let into the club and waited while the lovely bartender watched through the doorway to the stage to see if the openers were done with their soundcheck, which they eventually were, so she let us into the stage area.
All four of us made a casual but determined beeline to our spot house left close up against the stage, and stood chatting and leaning and sitting on the edge of the stage for the half-hour before the openers got up onstage and started. They were playing to a very thin 7:30 crowd, and admittedly we weren't very loud in our responsiveness, but we gave back their earnest energy, and they were friendly and we were friendly and their set was great. Their name is River City Extension: they're an awesome, 8-piece band and nearly everyone was a multi-instrumentalist; one girl played cello, trumpet, and bass, and one guy played guitar and dumbek at the same time. Their frontman, who did most of the singing, mostly just played guitar (though he did pick up sticks and hit a beat on one of the drummer's floor toms at a point where everybody had something to hit as hard as they could). They all had a great, playful rapport onstage and were obviously having fun playing the heck out of their songs (which were, by and large, quite good), even though none of us knew any of them. They cemented the developing crowd bond by jumping offstage for their last song and playing acoustic and singing and dancing in the crowd.
Our posse was all agreed they were great. So we sent Julie out to the merch table to buy us a copies of their album while the rest of us saved our spot. Because we weren't giving it up, though there were two more bands before our boys came on.
The second opener, Blackbells, were a little more timid with the still-tiny crowd, and had less energy to spare being just a guitar trio. They were much more introverted, though their lead singer could wail and their lead guitar could shred, and they didn't make as much of an impression after the fairly conspicuous River City Extension. However, the lack of load-out after Blackbells' set was confusing until it became clear that they were also members of the third opener, Reckless Sons, adding just another lead singer (the Blackbells' singer Ben also plays guitar, while the new one played... himself) and a bass player. The lead singer was very pretty, and tried very hard to work the crowd, with all kinds of mic-stand acrobatics to the point where I worried he'd hit somebody's headstock (or face). He also did some knee-dives, which looked painful, especially with his skintight jeans. In any case, their music was even less memorable than Blackbells', if higher-energy, and it was with hysterical fervor that the entire crowd (which had grown steadily and substantially) welcomed our boys onstage.
Tony commented on the rowdy crowd, that he loved it, and saw and smiled at me right before they started 1985. Which, I love it when they use that song to open. Non Believer was next, and the eye-contact highlight of the show for me, when he looked very deliberately at me right before the line "all upon the things" and grinned hugely while he sang it, because we'd talked at some length on Friday about whether he prefers "upon" or "around", since he always does "around" live and it's "upon" on the record so I didn't know which one he'd want on the sheet. He'd said that they did both in the studio and "upon" was on a better take, but he doesn't remember to say that unless he's thinking about it really hard. So, there he was, thinking about it and grinning at me. Mike held up his end of the last chorus really well, and I looked at him at the ends of the repeats to verify another of Tony's corrections from Friday night. Lo, it was true; looking at Mike singing, the second run of days of the week ending in "soldier" rather than "Sunday" was obvious.
14 Arms was next, and I can hardly even remember it, I was that into it as it was happening. I started to take video of it and gave up, because I just had to jump and sing as loud as I could. I always shut up for the scream at the end of the chorus, though, because a) I can't pull it off, and b) I just gotta get the most out of watching Tony do it.
Soon after the especially hot rendition of You Got Me, possibly during the following 2nd Rate Citizen, a pushy drunk chick rammed into me and started dancing continuously on top of me, trying to push me sideways so she could get in front of me. I'm pretty solid, and I was rocking out solidly in the same place right at the keyboard, where I'd been since 7:00, so I ignored her and kept on doing what I'd been doing. Since she was on top of me, she got some shoulder to the face and elbows to the ribs, shot me dirty looks, and asked why I was elbowing her. I continued to ignore her, so she then whined at me, "just so you know, it's my birthday, so you shouldn't". She shouldered her way in front of Julie to my right, basically under the piano, and proceeded to spend several songs texting on her iPhone, oblivious to the stage, then left.
Meanwhile, magic was going on onstage. Right before It's Only Wednesday, Tony mentioned he was grateful we had all chosen them over the Lost series finale. The room really was packed, and he made a crack that he might do some crowd-surfing tonight. Naturally, the crowd was all for it. They offered, competing, and he grinned and made sure, "You got me? Over there? All right." And then, of course, they played the song. Another set consistency I like, besides starting with 1985, is following It's Only Wednesday with Come Away. It's a reassuring similarity to the album. And I think he might have heard me blasting the harmony, because he certainly saw me singing. I made sure to record Raincoat, since it's one of the ones I'm thinking about writing down next, and I can live with myself if I don't jump too hard.
My Love, on the other hand, I didn't even try. That prechorus, you just gotta jump. And, naturally, Hey Bulldog (which he introduced charmingly). Before Carry On, he asked if we were ready to jump around a little, which I daresay we were. As well as during Saving Grace (in which I also sang the harmony they don't do live, because it's my favorite on the album).
Tony grinned huge, looked at us, and yelled "yeah!" when the four of us right under his nose did the Mountain Man clap in the break between the first two verses. That was another warm fuzzy rockin' moment. That, and the fact that the crowd was so familiar with the music that he'd only had to sing the audience-participation lick twice (it would have been once, but he started it in the wrong key, got a funny look when we repeated it back, and did it again in the right one with a grin), made for a great energy loop through those of us who were really invested.
I have to admit that as quiet in a crowd as I usually am, I was leading the cheers to get the boys back onstage for the encore. I would've liked to hear All Along, but, as we discussed with both Tony and Jason after the show, War Pigs is better-known and they want to keep the interest up. Tony invited us with one hand to jump during the clav solo, and grinned when we (I) started to jump as high as he was, which is as high as I can jump. Eventually, though, the show had to be actually over, and the crowd thinned and the wait started for the post-show loitering.
Turns out Jo knew Austin, the drummer who played with Blackbells (and Reckless Sons) from another band, so she snagged him into a chat. Ben, the Blackbells' frontman, joined our circle and was super friendly and admired our fan dedication. They both expressed their excitement to play with Crash Kings in Austin, and enthused about how honored they were tonight already not just to see them live (they were impressed with our live CK show totals), but to open for them. They seemed to really want to talk to us, and Ben decided he'd go get their cd and give us each one.
The wait wasn't long for a decent conversation with Tony as he came through the dispersing crowd to talk to us, addressing us "ladies" again, and thanking us for coming out, especially so far. We assured him we'd make it to any show of theirs we possibly could, and expressed our various intense regrets at our individual reasons for having to miss the DC show the 25th. I gave him the corrected versions of the three transcriptions I gave him Friday, so he'd have them, no need to discuss. I didn't want to monopolize his time, so I told him great show and said maybe I'd make it for the Missouri shows, and the rest of the talk was among all four of us with him, this and that. He went to the bar to meet some friends who were waiting to hang out with him, and we drifted in that direction to see if Ben was serious about the cds.
He was, and we talked to him again at the bar by the door. I was sort of passively looking for the River City Extension frontman, who was sweet and backed up his onstage claim that he'd email the new song to anyone who wanted it since it's not on the album.
As we moved about in excited solidarity, Julie considered that it was finally time, at this her tenth show, for a hug from Mike. So we went over to where he was, and he's a good hugger (we all got one). Conversation with Mike however, after a little while, is sparse and slightly awkward; the poor guy seems pretty shy.
On the other hand, conversation with Jason is not. He came back up to the bar and greeted us enthusiastically after Jo and Kelley had gone to take some pictures with him, (from what I hear they're spectacular). The four of us chatted easily with him for at least half an hour about life, music, pedals, drums, how his finger's healing, playing It's Only Wednesday on the piano (he plays, but can't do it, and is impressed that I can), Houston and the Vietnamese sandwich shop by the George R. Brown, my newest bead-altered Crash Kings shirt (it was dark, so he shone his phone on it to see what I'd done with it as I held it out for him), how music is magical... I explained my ambitions of learning to do delay/self-harmonizing with pedals or software over the summer, and he gave me some recommendations. He's so sweet, humble, and just all-around genuine; I was sorry for more social reasons than just band-related ones when the crew asked for all hands on deck to move the piano and he had to go help.
We waited around some more talking at the bar, Jo and Kelley holding the door for the loadout, and it got to be quite late. We were all ready to go, but there was one more thing we agreed needed to be done before we split.
Tony went by with a relatively light load and I stopped him to ask the question burning all of our minds, that neither of the other two had been able to answer (and recommended asking him): what is It's Only Wednesday actually about? Mike said Tony had told him at one point but he forgot. Jason said it's about a girl, possibly something to do with one time Tony was in New Zealand. Tony wilted a little when we asked him the question. It was apparently a taxing one, which he didn't necessarily remember the answer to anyway, since he wrote it a long time ago, and he was naturally quite tired by this point (1:30ish). He accepted the hypotheses Mike and Jason had mentioned as at least partially true, and added that it's also very open to interpretation, as there's also some dream imagery in there and he writes the words more to flow and rock than to make concrete sense. I'm not sure I buy it totally, but it was a good out if he really didn't want to tell us what it was about. He didn't seem especially anxious to go put the stuff he was holding in the van, like he was having a decent time talking to us.
When he did, though, we all exchanged resolute and slightly sorry looks and meandered purposefully towards the door. Ol' Blue and the White Knight were right out the front door, and the boys saw us and asked if we were leaving. Sadly, we were; Tony said bye to me and I told him with a grin "see you next time, whenever that is," Jason said bye and gave more hugs to those who weren't already halfway down the block (I'd kept walking, assuming they were busy loading), and Mike... waved.
The drive home was a little closer to grueling, coming as it did at the end of a three-day junction of awesomeness. Discussing the events of said three days helped stave off the downer, as did listening. This trip we had a playlist including the album and live rips of all three of their originals that aren't on it, plus a rip of their Hey Bulldog video. It comes out to an hour, which is a much more satisfying chunk of time than the little half-hour the album fills. Jo and Kelley dozed in the backseat after about 4, and Julie and I watched the sun rise on a day without a Crash Kings concert. Home by 6:30, I couldn't even sleep for very long.
I don't know how long it'll be till the next one if I don't get to go to the MO shows, but these guys have manifested the truth of what I want to do with my life, and I can't get enough of it. I'll be working hard when I get home; the example they set is nothing short of stellar, and makes me want to give back as much as I can both to them, which is why I do the transcriptions and the roadtrips, and to the world, which is made... more, somehow, by music like theirs being in it.
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