this is the second time i've seen them.
the first time was last january or february, sometime. so you know, i didn't see them in their "heyday" if you know what i mean. but that's ok.
because they were so fucking fantastic. i'm so happy that i even saw them at all. i didn't think i'd ever get to see them after they broke up, but now i've seen them twice, and holy shit they put on a great show.
can i tell you what this band means to me? when their first single came out, "i believe in a thing called love," i watched that video at least 8 times in a row. why? because it was the most interesting video i had seen in years. and the song rocked. i mean...it kicked my ass. i had no idea bands could still sound like this, and in fact i had to confirm they were indeed a new band. finally, a band making rock and roll music again. i was so grateful. it gave me hope that the world didn't actually suck. if a band like this exists? everything is going to be ok.
anyway. back to my special night.
my friend ryan took me for an early birthday present. he should get a proper introduction sometime because ryan is the guy that went with me to the sylvain / glen matlock show at the brighton bar and also robin zander and he is just the coolest.
anyway...ryan likes to buy me drinks. we did 2 shots each of fireball whiskey (thanks sylvain...) and he bought me several beers as well. so yeah. i'm a lightweight. but i had fun. and i was singing along with justin, like a total rock star. or possibly just an annoying person. but i felt like a rock star.
they did a bunch of stuff off of the first album because hello, it's like the greatest rock and roll album of my generation. and "one way ticket to hell" because that song is super catchy and awesome and also some new stuff from hot cakes which is actually really good too. the more i listen, the more i love it.
there is nothing quite like sweating a bunch while jumping around and singing really loud and screaming so much it hurts. if you've been there, you know what i am talking about. the darkness really brings out the best in me, and everyone else, too, from what i could see.
someone asked me about the show the next day and said "how long did they play for?" and i couldn't answer. i wasn't paying attention to the time at all. but it felt like 20 minutes. it went by so unbelievably fast, i was legitimately disappointed when it was over. which sucks, because i would have loved to watch them play all night, but it's cool, too, because it means that i was having a good time.
after the show, we went around back (at the troc) and waited to meet them, and i didn't think it was going to happen.
i was so wrong.
we met justin.
and dan.
and eddie.
(by the way: me and ed? new favorite picture. look how happy i am!)
and frankie.
in that order.
they were all really fucking cool. when we looked at the picture of us with justin (i handed the camera to him for some reason, so he had to push the button, and did a good job of cutting himself out of it), ryan said "it's just your beard in the picture!" justin said "well, that's the only part that matters, isn't it?" and stroked his beard as he said it. brilliant. and i gave frankie my band's cd, because why not? he kept saying stuff like he wasn't supposed to take music from other bands because of some legal bullshit and i was like i don't even care, if you take this it will make me so happy. so he did. and he said he would let me know what he thinks. we shall see... also the cd started to fall out of the case and we both made a grab for it, and then he said "it almost went down your cleavage" which is a pretty cool thing to have frankie say to you. if you're a girl. and you're into that kind of thing. and meeting ed was so goddamn cool. i didn't really know what to say to him, because i kind of lose my shit when i meet people i like (we know this already, right?) but especially drummers that i really admire. i completely run out of intelligent things to say, but he was super cool and took another picture besides the one i posted because he wasn't looking the first time. it's still the better of the two, in my opinion.
possibly the best birthday week thus far in my life.
