Still squeeful after sleep
I have a new Empires icon, which I'm really disproportionately proud of. Seriously, though, if you understood what it took for me to beat my *#&(%^ graphics program into submission...(What kind of graphics program does not have a tool to let you draw straight lines? I just...what?)
Anyway. Full recap under the cut, because last night was soawesome, mmmmm.
Here's the thing: I wasn't actually expecting to go last night. I wasn't actually expecting to know about last night. See, I'm allergic to certain kinds of wank. Not between fans, really, that's just sort of funny, but...the kind that leaves the objects of our fannish affection not talking anymore. I deservedly love Bob and Jon, and am totally open to loving Michael Guy Chislett, but then I think about Matt and Brent and Tomrad and I get all sad. This is why many fandom portrayals of Bert McCracken make me twitch. So anyway, I just sort of avoided the entire Tom Conrad situation altogether.
Therefore, when
tygrestick texted me Wednesday night, all, "I'm going to empires sunday r u?", (not an exact quote) this is the sum total of what I knew about the band:
I started out, like, 20 minutes later than I intended to, and since my commute was all two trains and a bus I was pretty worried that I was going to be late, but I caught both the red line and the bus after it by the skin of my teeth and ended up almost half an hour early. Got in, stood awkwardly around next to the sound 'booth' waiting for Lizzy, and discovered that yes, I would know Tom Conrad if he walked by me, because he walked by me. Wearing red fingerless Ryan Ross gloves! Like, two feet away from me! I don't concert-go a lot, okay, this was a very big deal.
So amidst all the wall-hugging I discovered that someone with pretty much the exact same 'awkward waiting by myself in an unfamiliar situation for someone else to show up' body language was leaning against the sound booth bar next to me, so I made a snarky comment and we introduced ourselves/bonded over our mutual wallflowerhood. I got a little suspicious when she mentioned that she was meeting an internet friend, and a little more so when she expressed jealousy over my having gotten to see Projekt Rev on MCR grounds. There was some irony about how we both tend to get lost and expected to be really late, but she somehow managed to make every right turn and find a fantastic parking space, and I actually caught my bus, so clearly fate was saying something; "I'd be very suspicious of me, if I were you," I told her.
Anyway, then Lizzy showed up, with
shoemaster who I've heard about, fangirled a little, possibly commented on? (who knows these things) but never actually met; there was some multi-party whipping out of cell phones near the merch table and the sound booth, conveniently timed, at which point it was revealed that Wallflower Melissa and person-Alison-was-coming-to-meet were of course one and the same, ie
rain206. So that was cool. But then after some coat-shuffling and drink-buying, plus Merch Guy passing out free 3-song EP's, the band began to take the stage, and we all crowded up towards stage right where Tomrad was next to the bass player, who I now know is named Alfred. And is smoking hot.
I now know all of their names! And what they play. And I care, because Empires? Is awesome. I hadn't heard them on myspace before, so I didn't know any of the songs, but I really, really liked them. Like, Cobra? Took some listening to get into, however much I love them now. Even FOB took exposure to start to enjoy. These guys, though, I really, really liked. They feel like rock, with some slight edge of pop, not the FOB breed of pop with an edge of rock. The last song they played, I was definitely singing along with the chorus by the end of it. Don't remember said chorus, but once my laptop lets me open the EP I'll probably be listening to it on my iPod unendingly.
Anyway. My impression of the band, from stage left across.
Max: Seemed...I don't know, nervous? Concentrating more on getting it right than the showmanship, definitely, I think. He was good, though. Did some of the announcing of stuff. I couldn't see too much of him, since he was on the very opposite side of the stage from me.
Sean: I like. As a front man, he's visibly passionate about the music, very clearly gets into it. Played the keyboard for a couple of songs, sang at the front of the stage with a tambourine for a song or two. I'd say he was clearly the most focused on the audience, for sure, and he drew their attention well. And he's attractive.
Ryan: I'm getting this right, right, Ryan is the drummer's name? He's the only one I didn't meet after the show. Being at the back of the stage and all, again, didn't get to see much of him, but he was good, and very energetic. He was rocking the black-vest-over-white-dressy-shirt look that reminds me a little of early (pre-cravat) Jon Walker. I was sorry I didn't get to see more of him afterwards.
Alfred: He's apparently the reason I was under the impression the band had four members when five of them played. Anyway, yum. He was standing next to Tomrad, which led to the interesting effect of every time he glanced down and to his right, presumably to read the set list or some such, it tended to be while Tom was bending over? And, yeah. That and some significant eye-contact leaves me convinced that Tom's got a new boyfriend. I'm pleased with his taste.
Tom: Oh, man, he looked happy. Maybe I avoided the Tom/TAI breakup drama, but I care that he's happy, okay, and as they were finishing the last song he just smiled, he looked so happy to be up there. For that alone I want this band to succeed, aside from the fact that it turns out I really like their music.
It was actually really interesting watching Tom, because he seemed to me simultaneously the most into the dynamic, moving performance aspect of the show, and the least concentrated on the audience. He rocked out that guitar, he moved with it, he bent backwards and came down forwards towards the edge of the stage. But easily half of the set or more he spent facing the rest of the band, sometimes inclined more than 90 degrees from the front of the stage, back towards the drummer. He was constantly looking at them, checking on them, making a ton of eye contact with Alfred, making eye contact with all of them. Checking to make sure they were okay, or still with him, or communicating, I don't know, but honestly? Whatever it is, I just kind of melt over it. Like it was Sean's job to keep track of us, but Tom was keeping track of the band, they were his focus, and for him to have that...Yeah. I'm so all over this.
Anyway. After the show,
tygrestick had to go home and write a paper or some such lameness, and
shoemaster dove back into the crowd for the next band, who I'd never actually heard of, but
rain206/Melissa and I started talking. And then the next band started and we retreated in search of someplace quieter, and then we realized that the front of the bar really, really wasn't quieter, and then we ended up outside where Empires was packing up their equipment, and we had to stand on the sidewalk and watch.
At that point, it was like, 'Am I that kind of fangirl? Oh my god, I'm such a fangirl', and then we sucked up our courage and ducked over to ask the band to sign our CD's. We got Sean first, who was adorable and awesome; "This is actually the first time I've done this," he said as I gave him my pen, and he asked our names, and was generally really nice. He's clearly super-excited about this band. He told us something that, apparently, "We're not actually supposed to let out, but I've been telling everyone," which he made us swear not to repeat until they announced it, so I won't. I inform you of this here because, a) his adorable excitement about it, and b) his stumbling, "I don't know if you write stuff on the internet, but..." request that we keep our mouths shut. To which we could only promise to stay silent, and also, think very quietly, 'oh god I read stories about your bandmate having gay sex with people you probably know online, and I think you might suspect that.' But anyway, he promised that they're going to announce it soon, so if you care, keep an eye on the Empires myspace over the next couple of weeks. It's good.
Anyway, Tom and Alfred and Max were packing stuff up behind him, and he called them over for us, and they were really, really nice. I offered them my doesn't-write-very-well pen, and Tom was all, "I actually have a marker on me somewhere," and proceeded to pat something like fifteen different pockets in his pants, shirt, and vest (I so believe that he spent months touring with Panic. He did not have this fashion sense when he was with TAI) before he admitted that no, no he did not have a marker on him anywhere. The three of them mocked Sean's handwriting on Melissa and my CD's, and Tomrad shook my hand, okay, as did Alfred and Max. And then we turned to leave, and Sean was being really sweet behind us to a couple of teenage girls who were their with one of their mother, and he hugged us before we went. Which, given that I didn't realize I cared, like, two hours earlier? Was really, really, really awesome.
Anyway, Melissa and I wandered a little, and bonded about our semi-lurkerdom, mine more extreme than hers, and our somewhat promiscuous fannish histories, and realized that we'd neither of us eaten since lunch, and sat down and had dinner. She'd never had thai food before, which given where I went to college is downright tragic, so we ate pad thai and wide rice noodles and talked for, like, two hours about fandom and music (and I rambled slightly about evolutionary biology and the mating habits of frogs and also millipedes, which didn't appear to terrify her away, god knows why) before exchanging contact info and heading out on our mutual treks home. So I have a new fandom friend now, which, given that I sometimes make as many as two friends per year, is pretty nifty.
Yeah, lecture ended 20 minutes ago and I need to get to work, but that was my Empires experience. Also, a humorous and utterly unrelated note that you might appreciate: About six rows down from me, I spent class watching two of the boy students sitting next to each other, as one of them casually draped his arm around the other one's back-of-chair/shoulders. Awwww.
Anyway. Full recap under the cut, because last night was soawesome, mmmmm.
Here's the thing: I wasn't actually expecting to go last night. I wasn't actually expecting to know about last night. See, I'm allergic to certain kinds of wank. Not between fans, really, that's just sort of funny, but...the kind that leaves the objects of our fannish affection not talking anymore. I deservedly love Bob and Jon, and am totally open to loving Michael Guy Chislett, but then I think about Matt and Brent and Tomrad and I get all sad. This is why many fandom portrayals of Bert McCracken make me twitch. So anyway, I just sort of avoided the entire Tom Conrad situation altogether.
Therefore, when
tygrestick texted me Wednesday night, all, "I'm going to empires sunday r u?", (not an exact quote) this is the sum total of what I knew about the band:
- Tom Conrad had a new, Chicago-based band.
- Nick Scimeca was not in it. This was for some unknown reason important.
- They had a myspace that I had seen,once, but not gotten a chance to listen to tracks from.
- I did not know any of the other members of the band, of which there were three, either by name or face.
- There was a very good chance that I wouldn't recognize Tom Conrad by face should I run into him on the street.
- Tomrad may or may not have commented upon, and definitely used the band's myspace to quote from, a very hot Tom/Bob Bryar fic posted on LJ, thereby proving for once and for all that yes. They really, really, really, really know.
I started out, like, 20 minutes later than I intended to, and since my commute was all two trains and a bus I was pretty worried that I was going to be late, but I caught both the red line and the bus after it by the skin of my teeth and ended up almost half an hour early. Got in, stood awkwardly around next to the sound 'booth' waiting for Lizzy, and discovered that yes, I would know Tom Conrad if he walked by me, because he walked by me. Wearing red fingerless Ryan Ross gloves! Like, two feet away from me! I don't concert-go a lot, okay, this was a very big deal.
So amidst all the wall-hugging I discovered that someone with pretty much the exact same 'awkward waiting by myself in an unfamiliar situation for someone else to show up' body language was leaning against the sound booth bar next to me, so I made a snarky comment and we introduced ourselves/bonded over our mutual wallflowerhood. I got a little suspicious when she mentioned that she was meeting an internet friend, and a little more so when she expressed jealousy over my having gotten to see Projekt Rev on MCR grounds. There was some irony about how we both tend to get lost and expected to be really late, but she somehow managed to make every right turn and find a fantastic parking space, and I actually caught my bus, so clearly fate was saying something; "I'd be very suspicious of me, if I were you," I told her.
Anyway, then Lizzy showed up, with
shoemaster who I've heard about, fangirled a little, possibly commented on? (who knows these things) but never actually met; there was some multi-party whipping out of cell phones near the merch table and the sound booth, conveniently timed, at which point it was revealed that Wallflower Melissa and person-Alison-was-coming-to-meet were of course one and the same, ie
rain206. So that was cool. But then after some coat-shuffling and drink-buying, plus Merch Guy passing out free 3-song EP's, the band began to take the stage, and we all crowded up towards stage right where Tomrad was next to the bass player, who I now know is named Alfred. And is smoking hot.
I now know all of their names! And what they play. And I care, because Empires? Is awesome. I hadn't heard them on myspace before, so I didn't know any of the songs, but I really, really liked them. Like, Cobra? Took some listening to get into, however much I love them now. Even FOB took exposure to start to enjoy. These guys, though, I really, really liked. They feel like rock, with some slight edge of pop, not the FOB breed of pop with an edge of rock. The last song they played, I was definitely singing along with the chorus by the end of it. Don't remember said chorus, but once my laptop lets me open the EP I'll probably be listening to it on my iPod unendingly.
Anyway. My impression of the band, from stage left across.
Max: Seemed...I don't know, nervous? Concentrating more on getting it right than the showmanship, definitely, I think. He was good, though. Did some of the announcing of stuff. I couldn't see too much of him, since he was on the very opposite side of the stage from me.
Sean: I like. As a front man, he's visibly passionate about the music, very clearly gets into it. Played the keyboard for a couple of songs, sang at the front of the stage with a tambourine for a song or two. I'd say he was clearly the most focused on the audience, for sure, and he drew their attention well. And he's attractive.
Ryan: I'm getting this right, right, Ryan is the drummer's name? He's the only one I didn't meet after the show. Being at the back of the stage and all, again, didn't get to see much of him, but he was good, and very energetic. He was rocking the black-vest-over-white-dressy-shirt look that reminds me a little of early (pre-cravat) Jon Walker. I was sorry I didn't get to see more of him afterwards.
Alfred: He's apparently the reason I was under the impression the band had four members when five of them played. Anyway, yum. He was standing next to Tomrad, which led to the interesting effect of every time he glanced down and to his right, presumably to read the set list or some such, it tended to be while Tom was bending over? And, yeah. That and some significant eye-contact leaves me convinced that Tom's got a new boyfriend. I'm pleased with his taste.
Tom: Oh, man, he looked happy. Maybe I avoided the Tom/TAI breakup drama, but I care that he's happy, okay, and as they were finishing the last song he just smiled, he looked so happy to be up there. For that alone I want this band to succeed, aside from the fact that it turns out I really like their music.
It was actually really interesting watching Tom, because he seemed to me simultaneously the most into the dynamic, moving performance aspect of the show, and the least concentrated on the audience. He rocked out that guitar, he moved with it, he bent backwards and came down forwards towards the edge of the stage. But easily half of the set or more he spent facing the rest of the band, sometimes inclined more than 90 degrees from the front of the stage, back towards the drummer. He was constantly looking at them, checking on them, making a ton of eye contact with Alfred, making eye contact with all of them. Checking to make sure they were okay, or still with him, or communicating, I don't know, but honestly? Whatever it is, I just kind of melt over it. Like it was Sean's job to keep track of us, but Tom was keeping track of the band, they were his focus, and for him to have that...Yeah. I'm so all over this.
Anyway. After the show,
tygrestick had to go home and write a paper or some such lameness, and
shoemaster dove back into the crowd for the next band, who I'd never actually heard of, but
rain206/Melissa and I started talking. And then the next band started and we retreated in search of someplace quieter, and then we realized that the front of the bar really, really wasn't quieter, and then we ended up outside where Empires was packing up their equipment, and we had to stand on the sidewalk and watch.
At that point, it was like, 'Am I that kind of fangirl? Oh my god, I'm such a fangirl', and then we sucked up our courage and ducked over to ask the band to sign our CD's. We got Sean first, who was adorable and awesome; "This is actually the first time I've done this," he said as I gave him my pen, and he asked our names, and was generally really nice. He's clearly super-excited about this band. He told us something that, apparently, "We're not actually supposed to let out, but I've been telling everyone," which he made us swear not to repeat until they announced it, so I won't. I inform you of this here because, a) his adorable excitement about it, and b) his stumbling, "I don't know if you write stuff on the internet, but..." request that we keep our mouths shut. To which we could only promise to stay silent, and also, think very quietly, 'oh god I read stories about your bandmate having gay sex with people you probably know online, and I think you might suspect that.' But anyway, he promised that they're going to announce it soon, so if you care, keep an eye on the Empires myspace over the next couple of weeks. It's good.
Anyway, Tom and Alfred and Max were packing stuff up behind him, and he called them over for us, and they were really, really nice. I offered them my doesn't-write-very-well pen, and Tom was all, "I actually have a marker on me somewhere," and proceeded to pat something like fifteen different pockets in his pants, shirt, and vest (I so believe that he spent months touring with Panic. He did not have this fashion sense when he was with TAI) before he admitted that no, no he did not have a marker on him anywhere. The three of them mocked Sean's handwriting on Melissa and my CD's, and Tomrad shook my hand, okay, as did Alfred and Max. And then we turned to leave, and Sean was being really sweet behind us to a couple of teenage girls who were their with one of their mother, and he hugged us before we went. Which, given that I didn't realize I cared, like, two hours earlier? Was really, really, really awesome.
Anyway, Melissa and I wandered a little, and bonded about our semi-lurkerdom, mine more extreme than hers, and our somewhat promiscuous fannish histories, and realized that we'd neither of us eaten since lunch, and sat down and had dinner. She'd never had thai food before, which given where I went to college is downright tragic, so we ate pad thai and wide rice noodles and talked for, like, two hours about fandom and music (and I rambled slightly about evolutionary biology and the mating habits of frogs and also millipedes, which didn't appear to terrify her away, god knows why) before exchanging contact info and heading out on our mutual treks home. So I have a new fandom friend now, which, given that I sometimes make as many as two friends per year, is pretty nifty.
Yeah, lecture ended 20 minutes ago and I need to get to work, but that was my Empires experience. Also, a humorous and utterly unrelated note that you might appreciate: About six rows down from me, I spent class watching two of the boy students sitting next to each other, as one of them casually draped his arm around the other one's back-of-chair/shoulders. Awwww.