we don't need our heads 'cause our bodies are young.

Roughly a week and a half ago, I got to see my favorites, Motion City Soundtrack, along with Say Anything, Saves the Day, and A Great Big Pile of Leaves. The show was awesome, per usual. It was AGBPOL's first night on the tour.  We were a bit late getting there and missed part of their set, but what I heard was amazing.

Ok, so I've never been the type of fan to stay for the meet 'n great with the band.  First and foremost I come for the music.  There have been occasions where I have even gone to a band's show for the first time and didn't even know what the guys looked like (way different from my NSYNC days haha).  Plus, I am a completely shy and awkward human being when it comes to starting conversation with anyone I do not know.  Alisha apparently is not that way and as we were listening to the STD set, we noticed the AGBPOL guys hanging at their merch station behind us.  She insisted we go ask for a picture and practically had to drag me over to them.  Again, being the shy person I am, we took the picture and I abruptly returned to our table, not saying a word to Pete (lead singer of AGBPOL and gentleman featured above). No, "hey you guys sounded amazing...I'm glad Jesse raved about you guys nonstop"... nothing. Proud moment.  Needless to say, this is probably the first and last picture I will ever take with any member of a band whom I've gone to see live.

Surprisingly, I never really listened to STD prior to this show.  I got some of their music a few weeks before seeing them live, and I definitely think I would have dug them more during my first years of college based on where I was at in life.  You know how there is some music you only listen to when you're feeling a certain way?  Well, that's how I feel STD is, and would have had a bigger impact on me 4-5 years ago.  But still good stuff, regardless.  Say Anything and MCS really haven't made music that completely gets me on a personal level, but it's always fun and interesting; so much talent and creativity.  And even when they sing about something dark, it's usually always an upbeat tune.  I cannot wait to hear what either of these bands will do next.

John and I being total clowns.

Emil. Me. Alisha.

Even as a fan of SA, I wish they weren't the last band at the Cincy stop of this tour because I would have much rather seen a MCS encore.  But all in all, the show was a blast.  I drug along with my friend, Alisha, and her husband, Emil, who were new to all of this music (my friend John also attended, but he was already hip). The week before, I made Alisha a few MCS/STD/SA mixes so she would be familiar with it. I was surprised to see her singing along during the MCS set, so apparently she did her homework.

Her iphone takes better pictures than my camera.

Emil making fun of the way I take self-portraits.

Clearly this is not the face I make.

he's like a Wal-Mart version of you

Just bought my ticket to see these three bands:

Say Anything

Saves the Day

Motion City Soundtrack

I bought a ticket for my friend to tag along as a birthday present, so I can introduce her to some new tunes.  She went to the Paramore/Tegan&Sara/New Found Glory concert with me and is a fan of rock, so I'm sure she will like them.  I mean what's not to love?  I'm excited because I've never heard Saves the Day live and the Say Anything/Motion City boys always make me happy. I don't think I've missed a MCS concert in Cincinnati ever since I became a fan, even though I'm 25 and starting to feel out of place at shows.  I just hide out near the back with the old folks. 

And thanks to my mom generously donating her money to the casino, we are going on a semi-free cruise some time in the next year.  We'll have to pay to fly down to the port and some fees, but essentially the cruise itself is free; mostly because they expect that we'll be donating a lot of money to the casino on the ship.  My mom knows me well and responded to this assumption with "I'll donate enough for the both of us."  Gambling is not my cup of tea.  I'm looking forward to taking a vacation with just my mom and having quality girl time.  Plus, I have never been on a cruise before.

Kind of ironic that the past 3 weeks my church has been talking about the importance of playing and experiencing joy in our lives.  And in fact there are parts of God that we will not come to know unless we are in the midst of joy.  So here I am very amped about things to come that will indeed bring me joy! 

Will we be alright left alone tonight

What if there's nothing more to me?
I'm just skin and bones.
There's no mystery.
What if you're just an empty shell?
All your spare parts were used up by someone else.
What if there's no way to explain things like deja vu and acid rain?
What if we're all just empty shelves, full of someone else's thoughts?

What if there's nothing more to us?
We're just carbon-based.
We're just pixie dust.
What if life is a magic trick?
Some quick slight of hand just to make us think.
What if consciousness can't expand
And we fool ourselves with absurd demands?
What if there is no point at all?
We just grow up to fade away.

What if there's nothing more to me?
I'm just skin and bones.
What if there's nothing more to you?
What if there's nothing left for us?
Will anyone remember?
Does it all just simply turn to dust?

Will we get lost slowly drifting through these dead and lonesome heights?

Check out the interview Mr. Pierre did discussing this song.  He's a righteous dude. I would have loved to have been in on this conversation.

I wanna be the one to put it in a song

I've discovered that the wonderful voice from The Format is the very same Fun in my ears; Mr. Nate Ruess himself. No wonder I fell in love with Fun right away. I'm not always up to date on all the changes happening in the bands I've enjoyed over the year, so it's a pleasant surprise to stumble upon their new works. Actually Miss Hayley Williams had been recommending Fun several times via twitter and I finally gave them a listen, and glad I did. Paramore is actually touring with Fun this spring, but sadly no Cincy date. So check out their album Aim and Ignite:

But since I'm on the topic of music, I saw the uber fantastic Motion City on Tuesday. Their live show has never disappointed. The first time I saw them play was probably four years ago and I was actually going to see Matchbook Romance. I remember not being very impressed with MR and realizing I only enjoyed the show because I knew the lyrics. MCS rocked the house regardless that they were completely new to me. The first time I saw Jesse do a kickstand on his keyboard, I flipped out. I was genuinely impressed and became an instant fan and have followed them since. It's sorta neat to have them on twitter and see all that they are up to (same with other bands as well).

I went to the show with my friend Laura. We missed most of The Swellers, unfortunately. I enjoyed This Providence, but the crowd was kinda lame during their performance, which bugs me. I think if you're going to a show it should be because you're a music lover and you should give all the bands your undivided attention, a little r-e-s-p-e-c-t ya hear? Set Your Goals was on fire, the crowd ate them up. I didn't know the lyrics to their songs despite the fact that I own one of their albums, but they were a lot of fun to watch. And of course Motion City was fantastic. We tried to push our way to the front, which resulted in several girls being pissed as we squeezed past them. I've decided the front is not for me because people push and I hate feeling like I'm going to be knocked over and trampled.

I tried to get pictures to no avail. My camera sucked and I'm short, so many shots were just of people's arms. Laura did snatch this photo of Justin. It didn't turn out that great and I could easily google a much better shot, but this moment was mine; I was there for this.

I also scored a new MCS hoodie, which I love. The back has a thumbprint and a dinosaur in the middle. My webcam sucks, but here I am sporting it post-show.

I've gotten comments about my hair in this picture, which is funny because a group of girls were snapping pictures of my hair at the show without my knowing. They eventually asked me where I got it cut and showed me the pictures. It was funny and flattering. They actually helped pull us to the front and we became nameless friends. They were nice girls, but the guy they were with kept making one of the girls hit my butt, which was a little awkward. Haha but good times were had.

my dinosaur life

Good luck to you my little one.
The world is fierce,
But lots of fun.
Try not to lose yourself t o o d e e p
In worries, fears, and lack of sleep.
Most likely you’ll be beaten up,
Be left for dead, get drunk, and stuff.
But hopefully one ugly day
You’ll spill your guts and proudly say,
I’m sick of all this fucked up shit!
You’ll change your life
and you’ll get used to it.


You need this album, end of story.