Incredible night.
I just got back from the best show I have ever been to.
It was, in a word, incredible.
David Melillo
Hit The Lights
The Rocket Summer
Hellogoodbye
I was mainly going to see The Rocket Summer because, as anyone who knew me back in April/May knows, I was obsessed for a while. And, to this day, they're one of my favorite bands.
So I was pretty excited.
But it exceeded my expectations.
I had one of the, if not the, best nights I've had here at Syracuse.
First off was David Melillo, which is confusing because it wasn't just one guy. It was a band that was basically the love child of The Starting Line and Taking Back Sunday. They were awesome. They're just starting out and don't have an album out or anything, but I suggest you go to their purevolume and listen to the four songs that they have on there:
www.purevolume.com/davidmelillo
The next band, Hit The Lights, weren't quite as good. I mean, they were okay, but they were one of those live bands. The kind of band that's somewhat fun to watch and listen to live, but you know you wouldn't like their professionally recorded stuff.
Next, was The Rocket Summer.
Wow.
Just wow.
They put on an AWESOME show.
They shot confetti into the crowd.
They took requests.
They made us form a circle in the middle of the floor so Bryce could come down with his guitar and dance with us.
They played pretty much every song.
Except "Goodbye Waves and Driveways." And those of you that knew about my obsession back in the day know that that song was at the root of it all.
But. I met Bryce. I shook his hand. I talked to him.
You see, for the last song, he asked for requests. And I was screaming "GOODBYE WAVES AND DRIVEWAYS!!!!" But I was drowned out by all of the chants of "SHOW ME EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT!!!!" So, that's what we got.
But, when they were done playing, Bryce and the other guys were putting their equipment away and whatnot, and as Bryce walked past us (we were right in the very front, in the very center), I yelled "Goodbye Waves and Driveways!" He looked over and chuckled. I proceeded to shout it every single time he walked by until he came over and said "Hey, man. Sorry I didn't play that one. I'll fit it in next time," (he had said earlier in the show that they were coming back to Syracuse). And I made him promise and he pinky swore with Caitlin and shook my hand and was on his way.
Incredible.
Then, Hellogoodbye came on. I had only really ever heard one song of theirs ("Dear Jaimie...Sincerely Me"). It took them a while to get going, especially the lead singer. But once they did, whoa. They were so good. "Oh, It Is Love" is my new song obsession for the moment even though I could only find a crappy demo version online.
And then, it came. The highlight of my night.
The band announced that this was their last song.
And, out of nowhere, the lead singer pulled out a hot dog costume and put it on. And onstage came people dressed as a ketchup bottle, a viking, and other random things.
And their last song was a love song. And the lead singer was looking for someone to sing it to. And, being the funny man that he is, wanted that someone to be a male. And, since I was right in the front and right in the middle, he picked me.
So, out of nowhere, the lead singer of Hellogoodbye, while dressed in a hot dog costume, reached his hand out and caressed my face. Now, I was laughing pretty hard and going along with it because it was funny. And then, his hand moved to my nose. And his finger went up it. And it took a couple of seconds for my brain to register that this man dressed as a hot dog who happens to be the lead singer of a pretty big band was picking my nose while singing the finale of the show.
It was insane. I was just in shock I guess you could say. I didn't know what to do. My nose was being picked by a strange man in a hot dog costume. What would you do?
That final song was so entertaining and so much fun and I don't know if I've ever laughed or smiled or danced so much in a five minute span in my entire life.
The lights came up and the music stopped and the show was over and Caitlin, Alex, Jane and I stood there, baffled, wowed, speechless, amazed, and ridiculously entertained. And we all just broke out into laughter.
"Touchdown Turnaround" by Hellogoodbye will forever be known as the nose-picking song to me.
After the show, Caitlin and Alex wanted some Rocket Summer merchandise so we went over to the table, and there was Bryce. So we kind of chatted it up and Caitlin bought a shirt and had him sign it and we said "Great show, see you again. You promised," and walked out of the Underground and into the cold and it was snowing lightly and it was the perfect ending to a perfect night.
And tonight I realized that music is my greatest passion and I really want to pursue a career that involves it somehow. Writing for Rolling Stone is the ideal choice, of course. I don't know if it hit me as the bright lights shone in my eyes, turning the band members onstage into silhouettes. Or if it was while I was being showered with confetti. Or if it was while Bryce was rushing past me with his guitar, dancing in the circle we had just formed. Or if it was while my face was being violated by Hellogoodbye dressed as a hot dog.
I'm not sure when it hit me, but I looked around and saw all of the bopping heads and tapping feet and swinging hips and I thought to myself "This is perfect."
And I don't really know what else to say other than I can't wait until Friday night when we go see Mae. Tonight's show is going to be a tough one to beat.