CRASH KINGS YEAAHHHH!!!!!

is it possible to be too excited to blog? yes, it appears it is. but, for an entire week? well, i suppose so.

why is this week so exciting, you ask? you may refer to the post below this one, if necessary. not only did Kara and i drive to Boston last weekend to see Crash Kings, but we met them afterwards, stole their set list and had them sign it.

this past thursday night, we found ourselves in Providence, about to see them again. after a brief (but super stressful) time when kara said, "actually, i don't think i want to go," we drove over to The Colosseum, in the "nightclub" district of the city, where they were performing.

now, not only was i excited to see them, but i was excited to get to The Colosseum, because they have the absolute WORST website ever. it's the most confusing piece of crap on the web. and no, i don't feel bad at all saying that. seriously - Colosseum people - you need to fix the site. stop being cool and start being useful.

anyways. we get to the show and show ID. i was worried about the show turning out to be 21+, but since there is absolutely NO useful information on the website, i figured it was probably 18+. it was. and i got a bracelet showing i was over 21. then we pay the entering price.

95 CENTS. yes. the show did, in fact, cost us only 95 cents each. we win again.

walked into this place, and there's like neon lights shooting through the floor, a video screen with colorful stars, and very loud music playing.

Kara was VERY FIRM in telling me that SHE DID NOT WANT TO SEE the opening band, Violent Soho. we once again tried listening to their music on their myspace, and couldn't get through one song. it's like, heavy metal screaming music. at first, i felt bad about not seeing them, because they're just some kids from Queensland trying to make it in the music business. AND, we had never heard of Crash Kings until we heard them as an opening band, and they are so fantastic.

but, once we got there, and saw that there were very little people there, i didn't feel so bad. we got to the place around 9:25pm, and they were already all through their set, and had already cleared all their instruments off. Mike was on stage setting up his amps. and Tony's stuff was pretty much all set up. so, i have no idea how long Violent Soho played for, but it must not have been long.

anyways, then i look around the room and see a gorgeous guy with a scruffy face and wearing a red plaid shirt. that was exciting. and it wasn't Tony. just a random hottie.

i look around some more, and eventually see Tony hanging out at one of the tables with some other people, drinking. AND. he was wearing his glasses. oh boy, was this exciting for me. i pretty much died right there. he has these gorgeous glasses he wears sometimes.




ooohhh look at that face. that's him wearing glasses. i know, it's too much hott to handle. we didn't take that picture, i found that on their facebook.

and, um, also while looking for pictures on their facebook, i found pictures of Tony wearing a headband. now, for those of you who don't know - boys wearing headbands are one of my weak points. for instance, when Zac Efron comes out of the gym with his hair pulled back with a headband, i go crazy.

i was not expecting to find these pictures of Tony wearing a headband. but i'm glad the only other person with me is Ruby, because i am pretty freaking excited about this.

are you ready? i'm going to show you one. prepare yourself for HOTT.




WHOA. oh boy. i am lucky i haven't found a picture of him wearing both the headband and the glasses. because i would lose all control.

anyways.

wow, he's beautiful.

ok, anyways. again, he was just hanging out in the middle of the crowd and nobody seemed to notice that it was him. except me and kara. kara was keeping it calm. but, i might have been getting a little crazed.

then i said, "should we get drinks?" kara said she would get a sprite if i wanted to get her a drink.

i decided i would get a vodka cranberry. why the heck not?! i was at a freaking nightclub about to see a rock concert.

immediately after i started drinking the drink, i didn't want it. it wasn't very good. and the cup was so cold that it hurt my hands to hold it. it was a bad experience. i couldn't stand drinking that drink. and there were no trash cans anywhere to throw it away. what's with bars and nightclubs not having trash cans? after kara was done with her sprite, we went over and put our cups on the bar. i couldn't finish the drink. yuck.

so then, we find a good spot in the middle of the floor with neon lights shooting through it. there's aren't very many people, so we're pretty close to the front. it's a much bigger stage than in Boston.

and then a person from the sponsoring radio station comes out to introduce them!

AND THEN Jason comes out on drums!!! AND THEN Mike comes out on bass!!!! AND THEN Tony comes out on the keys!!!




Tony looks kind of like a vampire in this picture. still a hottie. see the video screen with stars to the far left? he was wearing a shirt with the periodic table on it. this made me happy.




Mike! on bass! with the orange amp. funny story - on our way to the concert, we were listening to 95.5 WBRU, the station sponsoring, and we heard an advertisement for a guitar store, and they said they sold Orange amps. great!




Mike with a little bit of Jason.

ok, Jason totally ROCKS on the drums. we really got a great view of him this time. it's super cool because he plays in his socks! or, bare feet, we couldn't tell.




Kara and i knew the words to every single song. YEP. it was a proud night. listening to their CD for over a month straight had definitely paid off. there were some people who knew the words to 'It's Only Wednesday,' which is the one from Zombieland, which Tony said he had finally seen. it came out on dvd this past Tuesday. kara was like,

KARA: I can't believe he knew the song was in the movie and didn't go see it in theaters!


and people also knew the words to 'Mountain Man,' which is the song they play on the radio.

but, since nobody really knew the words, nobody was really dancing and rocking out. DON'T WORRY - i was. and kara was for the most part.



Mike getting hott and sweaty! it was strange - Mike and Jason were totally drenched with sweat and hottness by the end of the show, but Tony was not. like, not even a little sweat on his shirt. i thought that was odd. you would at least think his arms would get sweaty, right? but, nope.





they played the same set as they did in Boston on sunday night. i was hoping they would switch it up a little, but it was fine.

AND, during the song 'Raincoat,' Tony TOTALLY looked at me, saw that i was singing/rocking out, and he smiled. oooo if you could only see him smile. he has one of those smiles that lights up his whole face.

wait! you can see him smile! go back and look at that picture of him with glasses!!!! yes. whole face lighting up.

and, remember how in Boston there was that gorgeous brother moment where Tony and Mike looked at each other and smiled? YEAH. there were MANY MORE during this show - and it was great. even Kara noticed that there were more.

Mike is so pretty. he looks so soft. i love it. and he has great stage presence. he's funny.

SO, during their last song, 'Mountain Man,' the crowd REALLY started to get crazy. i think because it was almost time for the place to turn into a nightclub. so the kids there started to get drunker and skankier. and, the crowd just went WILD. and then they ended and these two guys in back of us started SCREAMING, "EN-CORE, EN-CORE, EN-CORE!!!!!!!" and then the whole crowd was screaming it.

so, the guys met up for about two seconds in the back of the stage and then resumed their places.


TONY: So, we just had a band meeting. And, we don't do encores for every show. It really depends on the crowd. But, you guys asked for it. So, we're gonna play this one more song that we were fortunate enough to play with Chris Cornell when we toured with him. It's a cover song. Sing along if you know it...


and then they started playing Black Sabbath's song 'War Pigs,' which i had heard they do an amazing cover of, but had never heard them do it.

BUT HOLY MAN. they KILLED on that song. it was soooo crazy insane. and the people in the crowd ALLLLL knew the lyrics and EVERYBODY WAS ROCKING.

and then there was this part towards the end of the song where the band just totally jams the hell out of the song, and Tony went absolutely crazy. i wish wish wish i had gotten it on video, but i couldn't take my eyes off of him because it was so awesome to watch.

he is jumping off the ground, like a hardcore rocker. he's headbanging. his hair is just everywhere. all while he's rocking on the clav. it was the best thing ever happening in the world at the moment.

how does he rock on the clav so hard and still play the right notes?! i have no idea. he was getting air in those jumps. like, high off the ground. all while headbanging. oh man, it was so freaking crazy.

and i never thought i would ever go to a concert where this was happening. i mean, Phantom Planet gets loud and rocks out at some points. but, this was just so hardcore. so awesome.


NOW. you may not believe this - but it gets even better. EVEN BETTER.

so, the show ends. people are crazy. i'm in such a daze, i have no idea what's going on. then i hear kara scream,

KARA: He threw the pick!!!
JULIE: What?
KARA: Mike threw his pick and I didn't see anyone get it...
JULIE: FIND IT!!!!!!!!

and, you might not know this about kara, but she has a secret ability to find guitar picks. after the Rooney show, we were waiting in the merch line and a girl said,

GIRL: Oh no! I dropped the guitar pick!
GIRL'S FRIEND: Where?!
GIRL: I don't know!!! I can't find it!!!!
KARA: (looks down for one second) There it is.
GIRL: Oh my God thank you SO MUCH!!!!

kara was being a good citizen by using her ability to help others. i probably would have pretended not to see it, but really did, and then stole it. but hey, that's just me.

anyways, Kara knew the exact spot where Mike's guitar pick had fallen and her eyes fixed right on that spot. finally, enough people moved away, and there it lay, that beautiful guitar pick that Mike had been holding all night in his hott and sweaty hands.

Kara picked it up off the ground. you could almost hear symphonies playing in the background. angels began singing sweet harmonies of joy. she moved in slow motion as she turned to me, holding out the pick.

KARA: Happy Birthday.

she said, and handed it to me. it was one of the greatest moments of my life.

once we got into a more well-lit area, we were able to examine the pick more. MUCH TO MY SURPRISE, it looks like Mike and I are meant to be together.

LOOK at this pick:



IT HAS BUCK ON IT. it is a Buck pick. for those of you who don't know, yes, i still sleep with a stuffed animal. am i ashamed of this? heck no. what is the stuffed animal, you ask? it is a turtle named Buck. and he has slept with me every single night (save for one) since i was in.... 9th grade? 8th grade? 7th grade? and Buck is the best. he's been to Ireland. Canada (multiple times). Boston. Providence. Newport. Florida (where he came from). Savannah. D.C. NYC. he comes with me wherever i am sleeping.

and, you should know, that every time i see a turtle, i say, "it's Buck!"

so, to see Buck on the guitar pick that Mike had, was a pretty freaking big deal.




can you see how the tip is frayed? HARDCORE playing. i don't know which songs he uses a pick for.

but there it is. Mike's guitar pick. i love it. i basically have not let it out of my sight since getting it. i'm so worried that Ruby Tuesday will think it's a new toy.

and i asked Kara on our drive home,

JULIE: Do you think getting the guitar pick at a concert is the same thing as catching the bouquet at a wedding?
KARA: Oh, definitely!
JULIE: Ok, good.
KARA: Yeah, it definitely means you're gonna marry Mike. Then, you'll be Tony's sister-in-law, and you can probably have an affair with him at some point.
JULIE: Wow, I'm gonna have a good life.

yep. pretty exciting stuff.

i'm not sure what to do with the guitar pick. if i should put it in a frame with the signed set list? if i should sleep with it under my pillow? turn it into a piece of jewelry?

anyways. now i'm going to post videos. i was on a strict video mission to get all my favorite parts of all my favorite songs on video.

you can watch them if you want, but i am mainly posting them so Kara can see. it's funny, because the way the lights were, Mike is pretty much a different color in each video he's in. in one he's blue, another yellow, and another red. it's quite amusing, in my opinion.

so, i've uploaded all the videos to YOUTUBE so you can watch them there in better quality and in a bigger window.



14 ARMS - one of my favorite songs. i got the second verse on video because it's my favorite, for some reason.



NON BELIEVER - i really wanted to get Tony on video singing the lyric, "i would love you Monday through 'til Sunday" and i did! ALSO - in the end when there's a shot of Mike, i believe i got one half of a "Tony and Mike smile at each other" moment.



IT'S ONLY WEDNESDAY - got the chorus. loves it.



COME AWAY - my favorite song. the most beautiful song about winter ever. Tony said before they started playing it that he wrote it about when they used to go skiing up at Killington. then people in the crowd started screaming and Tony was like, "yeah!! go Killington!!!"

this song should be the theme of the winter olympics.



CARRY ON - yep. the song that i wanted them to play twice in Boston, and Tony totally laughed at me. whatevs. i got my favorite part on video. i decided that it might just be my favorite part of the whole Crash Kings experience. it comes at about 20 seconds into the video. it's like the headband picture, only in audio form. YEAH.

i actually think Tony has a really great singing voice.



SAVING GRACE - again, i really wanted to get Tony on video singing the lyrics, "stay with me late into this night, and lay with me and i'll promise to make you feel....whoooo!!!!"



ALL ALONG - another new song. so freaking good. the song gets really loud and rocking, but the beginning is sweet and pretty and that's what i got. it's just Tony and piano.



and actually, i found another person had uploaded videos from the providence show and they had a waaaayy better view than me! and, they got a totally, totally, super hott video of Tony in one of his 'rocking out on the clav' moments during 'All Along.' i kind of can't stop watching this video. it's sooo freaking good. and you wouldn't believe it's the same song of the video i posted, because it totally sounds different. please watch. you will be amazed.

you should really watch that video. there's a part close to the beginning where Tony knocks the microphone out of the way with his shoulder so he can rock out more, and for some reason, it reminds me of a lion. i have absolutely no idea why. like, the motion of his shoulder hitting the microphone looks like something a lion would do. i can't explain any more. i have no reasons.



MY LOVE - on Sunday Tony said that he wrote this song about coming home. meaning, coming home to Boston. but, man it's romantic. he must really love Boston. again, i had to get him on video singing the lyrics, "all the little pieces of the world come together so well....you're taking me home." so, so pretty. (both the song and the man.)



MOUNTAIN MAN - i only got a small piece. the chorus, mainly. this is a really good song. i watched an interview with the band and Mike said that Budweiser was thinking of using this song in one of their commercials, but decided not to because the lyric, "she's drunk by the daytime" goes against their, 'drink responsibly' motto. i'm glad about this. they're not singing about getting drunk on beer anyways. it's about being drunk on sunshine. way more cooler.



AND THAT'S IT!!!!! whoa, that's a lot of videos.

what a great week of Crash Kings!!!! i could seriously see them in concert every night of the week. i decided that they need to go on tour with Rooney and Hanson. hott, right?!

or, they should tour with Hanson and the Jonas Brothers. call it the BRO TOUR. and.... Oasis? were they brothers too? and Robert and Jason Schwartzman can be special guests.

man, brother bands are so great.

once they finish up this headlining tour in a few weeks, they are immediately going back on tour with the band JET. they sing that slow song, "oooohhhh look what you've done you've made a fool of something something something...." and that fast song, "1 2 3 take my hand and come with me because you look so fine that i really wanna make you mine!"

and they're coming BACK to boston on 9 March! and playing at The Paradise, which is pretty much right down the street from where we were last Sunday. it's where i first saw Rooney. great little club. i'm not planning on being able to go, because we have a baby that is due right around then. but, they have a very long list of tour dates in other cities and if they are playing in a city near you, i would strongly encourage you to consider going.

now that i'm part of the Crash Queens, i have a responsibility to promote this band to the max. because i haven't been talking about them enough for the past two months.

alright. i thought i had more to say, but now i can't really think of it. lucky you, right?

so, have a great rest of the weekend. now that all the excitement in my life is over, i can go back to normal blogging and focusing on the fact that it is my birthday month.

i might update you later. maybe not. i think this is a pretty good entry. i really hope you're listening to Crash Kings music after you read all this stuff. because they're seriously good and seriously cool. and, in total honesty, every single song on their CD is awesome. like, there's no songs where i'm like, "oo i'm gonna skip this one." for realz. it's all good.

ok. now i have to go to work!!!!

talk to you soon, friends. have a lovely evening!!


<3,
Julie