Black Cards Weekend Recap
Wednesday
Started my day in Chicago, went to school, made buttons for the ICH meetup on Friday.
Hopped on the el to Midway and got on a plane. Anonimod and her mom picked me up from the airport, took me back to their house, and fed me. Because Anonimod's mom is good people.
There was a lot of "OMG I can't believe you're here!" and "I know I can’t believe I'm here either!" while I put pinbacks in the buttons and assembled the prize packs I was going to give away at the meetup. Went to sleep in Long Island. (Because being in more than one state in one day has become strangely normal for me when dealing with things involving Pete.)
Thursday
Went to school with Anonimod. Finished putting the pinbacks in the buttons while she went and learned stuff about music. Took various forms of transit to get to the train station where we would be collected by Irresponsible Mod.
Once off the train, we found Irresponsible Mod's car and promptly plastered ourselves to her windows. She locked the door and pretended she didn't love us. But of course, this is a lie. We started our journey to CT and collected Hannah, the final member of our crew, and then made our way to Hartford.
Guys, the Webster Underground is tiny. Like, for real. And when we got there it was only like, half full.
And apparently they have changed their security policy since the last time I went there because not did they make me take my camera back to the car, they also searched every single teeny tiny pocket of my purse. WHATEVER, I DIDN'T LET THEM RUIN MY BLACK CARDS HIGH.
Queens Killing Kings were playing when we got inside and they were pretty good. Hey Champ was next and I didn't really pay too much attention to them, to be honest, because I was visiting with Allie and the other ICHers up front and handing out buttons.
I don't know how many of you guys have been to small shows like this one, but this was one of those venues where there is no back stage or side stage. So the bands have to load out through the crowd and whatnot. There was a lot of shuffling to avoid getting hit by a drum or whatnot so I just hung in the back until it was Black Cards time.
When it was time for Black Cards to come on stage they did this thing where they dropped the lights and then everyone sort of ran on stage like they had appeared from out of nowhere. (Though I suspect it was from the bar.)
During the first couple of songs Pete talked about how he didn't know if he was ever going to make music again. And that he had spent a lot of years writing sad music for people who wanted to sit in their rooms and be sad. But he now he was done being the sad guy and he wanted to be the awesome guy instead. And, "We're all awesome guys." ♥
And then in the middle of the set, this happened:
Pete: So how many of you are from Ice Cream Headaches?
Ichers¹: *cheer*
Insomnia Mod: *stares in shock*
Irresponsible Mod: *tries to hide behind Hannah*
Pete: Yeah, I'm on there all the time, I'm the anon who never capitalizes anything.²
Ichers: *cheer some more*
Pete: Yeah, meetup! I made it! \o/
(Yes, he actually did victory arms. Be more endearing, Peter, I dare you.)
The rest of the set was largely without incident. I don't know what else to say about it. They were great and incredibly together for this being their first real show. And the crowd was definitely into it. The Bang Bang cover at the end was both unexpected and awesome. And then Pete said they were going to hang out after the show if anyone wanted to come say hi.
The crowd to get to Pete was pretty massive so Allie & I found Bebe and I told her we had presents. Allie made her a hairclip with feathers and her reaction was pretty much, "Ooh, can I put it in my hair?" *turns it over* "I can put it in my hair!" And then I gave her an ICH button and told her what it was. She said something like, "Ice Cream Headaches, I love that name!" I did not tell her to thank Pete because it was his lyric, I just thought it. And then she hugged both of us at the same time. Because she is precious.
I gave Pete a plush toy that I had made for Bronx and an ICH button.
Bob was trying to hurry him along so I didn't say much else. But then when it was her turn, gotconfetti said we were from ICH and we got some pictures.
And then we took some group ICH pictures and convinced gotconfetti to come to the Rhode Island show.
¹Who made up at least half of the crowd.
²I have no idea if this is actually what he said. I only really caught part of it. My brain was still in the process of trying to not leak out my ears at this point.
Friday
Meetup Day! The meetup was awesome. Everyone found the Cheesecake Factory and we didn't have to wait forever for a table and it was great. They put us way in the back far away from the normal people. The food was delicious and the portions were ginormous. Good job dealing with us, Cheesecake Factory. You get a gold star.
I drew names out of a hat to pick the winners of the prize packs. (Literally. I stole Allie's.) And then I gave out some FOB & Black Cards buttons to everyone else. And then we made our way to the venue. Some of us got less lost then others, but you know, it all turned out okay in the end.
The pre-show and between set music was A+. First it was an 80's dance party, and then it was all Decaydance all the time. Good job, Club Hell. I commend you.
Show was just as good if not better than the previous night. And it took me all of thirty seconds to realize that Pete was wearing the ICH button I'd given him on his jacket. (I texted Irresponsible Mod, who was several feet back, and commenced with the rocking out.)
The girls who had won tickets from facebook were standing near me and one of them had their dad with them. In the middle of the show Pete told a story about how he used to be so embarrassed when his dad came to his shows at the Fireside Bowl straight from work, still wearing his tie. But now he realizes how awesome it was that his dad was into his music and then he did a "dad-to-dad" air high five.
They played an extra song called "Fool's Gold" before going into Bang Bang/Club Called Heaven. I got the impression that Pete really liked being able to something off the cuff like throw and extra song into the set if he felt like it. You could tell that the band was having a great time.
After the show, the techs balled up the left over setlists and threw them out onto the floor. I managed to snatch one up and I had Pete sign it.
Yup, it says, "ICH YOU."
Also our conversation went something like:
Insomnia Mod: I'm glad you like the button.
Pete: I do. I wore it on stage!
Insomnia Mod: I know, I saw.
Then I talked to him about ICH being able to take photos at future shows. So, there's that.
b_dsaint didn't have anything else to get signed so she got her prize pack from the meetup signed. This is what happened:
Thanks, Pete. Because you know, I might have forgotten otherwise.
And then we all got together and took a group photo with Pete. Well, actually Korean Tom Cruise took the photo. But whatever.
I think someone else has a version where Pete is making a goofball face instead of the slightly terrified one he's making in this picture but I can't find it. Email it to us and I'll edit it in.
Saturday
Drove to Poughkeepsie. Had slight difficulty figuring out how the hell to get into the parking lot behind the venue, but we were eventually successful after a trip around the block. Venue lied about when doors were. We stood in line for a very long time. Much huddling for warmth was done.
But on the plus side, Allie and I got to talk with Sajeeb from Fall Out Boy Everyday and that was awesome. And through the magic of twitter, I found Logan (aka Creator Mod) while waiting for Hey Champ to come on stage.
We got another shoutout, from Bebe this time. This exchange happened right before they played "Gotta Be."
Someone from the crowd: Bebe, I love you!
Bebe: Is that Ice Cream Headaches? You're supposed to love Pete more.
Pete: Nah, it's gone fucking meta. Bebe is so meta right now. She's talking about Ice Cream Headaches while they're filming it, it's fucking bizarre. Someone's head is exploding, somewhere on the internet.
We met up with Logan while waiting to talk to Pete and there were hugs and introductions all around. An alright dude, that Creator Mod. We had wanted to get a photo with all three of us and Pete, but he disappeared before we managed it. So instead you just get this picture. Proof that we are not Pete:
I told Pete that when they come to Chicago they should play Lincoln Hall because it is the best venue and the sound there is awesome. I overheard someone Pete if he was a Draculoid or a Killjoy and he said he's a Killjoy but he hasn't gotten his costume yet. Post pictures when you get it, Pete!
And then Irresponsible Mod modded Spencer (and about half the crowd) because she is a troll. I wasn't exactly paying attention, but apparently Pete incited this? Somehow I'm not surprised. She changed the password like two minutes later in the back of the club from her phone. Sorry Spencer, you'll always be a mod in our hearts.
Apparently Bebe saw the group photo ICH took with Pete and wanted one of her own:
Mods with Bebe!
The security was about to kick us out and people needed to get home, so there were lots of hugging and crying as we all said our goodbyes. &ICHERS;
On the drive home, Anonimod stupidly said: "I can't believe I got through this whole weekend without being modded."
So Irresponsible Mod told her the new password. Because really, you were just asking for it at that point, Anonimod.