SHOW #5!!!!! I realized that when I was watching them and became very proud of myself. I believe they have become the band I have seen the second most! SO COOL!!!
#1: Crash Kings (15 times)
#2: River City Extension (5 times)
AWESOME! I don't know if everybody realizes this: but I love River City Extension. They are great as a band, and great as individual people, which makes the whole experience so amazing.
They were playing at The Space, in Hamden, CT, which was where we saw them back in August! Super cool place filled with super cool people that just hang around. We met up with Ben again! And Gonz and Holden! Did I tell you about these people we met last time?
Jo was friends with this awesome kid Ben for a while and then they both realized they were RCE fans! He's been a fan for a long time. And, he's overall an amazing human being. I met him last time at The Space, and he was there again last night.
Holden and Gonz are these two guys we met because they were handing out CD's from their band, Breakthrough Frequencies, which you all should check out!! We met up with both of them again last night! Cool kids.
Great seeing everybody again!!! For real.
Also met new people including, Cold Guy, Guy Who Bought a Basketball T-Shirt in Portsmouth, Record Pressing Guy, and Flaming Tsunamis Guy Who Took an Hour to Leave. Great people! Cold Guy was the best. And, at the end of the night we caught him playing a melodica on the stairs. He says he carries it around, "just in case." Nice.
So, it was a super cool show, because hardly anyone was there! But not in a bad way. In a 'let's all just relax and listen to great music' way. People seemed to love RCE. (Duh.)
We started out sitting on the floor in front of the stage while they opened with, 'Today, I Feel Like I'm Evolving.' I was super excited to hear that one, because it's one of my faves and I'd never heard them play it live before. But then, Joe said something like, "let's all get ready to dance and party," so we had to get up and dance.
Joe, Mike, James and Nick!!
Sam, Patrick (not Kevin but we called him that the whole night anyways...), Jenn, Joe and Mike!
Joe and Mike!! How awesome is it that I actually got some great shots of Mike?!!? SO AWESOME!! He was telling us after how excited he is to turn 21 in a few months. Yay!! I like Mike. He's super nice and I'm glad we've gotten to talk to him the last two times. Last night he was super tired, but still fun!! And - what a great drummer!!!!!
Mike, James and Nick!!!!! Bunch of great guys, right there. I'm glad I caught Nick rocking on his djembe.
Whoa! What a hottie! Such a great picture, right!? Except for that creepy mask staring at Sam.
Pat and Jenn!! Pat is so much fun to watch because he's always smiling.
Even MORE MIKE!!! It's hard to get pictures of him because Joe is usually right in front of him, so I really embraced the opportunity :)
Joe and Mike!
Before Joe started 'Friends and Family' he told the story about how he wrote this song for his future wife, to give to her on their wedding day. Sweet story, always. But, last night he said,
JOE: I wrote this next song to give to my unborn wife as a gift on our wedding day.
and there was this pause and then the whole rest of the band said,
BAND: UNBORN?!?!
JOE: ... I couldn't think of the right word! It's not that one, though...
It was funny.
Love it! Mike, James and Nick!
Now, for these next two photos, I don't want to alarm you. You'll have to prepare yourself. Prepared? Good. Because....
James is on banjo!!
And Jenn is on bass!!! Switch!!!! This was for 'Letter to Lainie,' which I hadn't heard them play since the FIRST time I saw them at The Mercury Lounge. So great. Jenn also plays trumpet! Yeah, she's kind of awesome.
Also, has that creepy cat object always been above that speaker? Hmm...
Sam, James and Kevin! I mean, Patrick! Haha.
YEP. That was the awesome show. I realized I pretty much named everyone in every single photo for you. Sorry. That's just so you get to know them by name! That way the next time YOU'RE at a River City Extension concert you can say, "Oh hey, Nick! I recognize you from Julie's blog!!" I'm sure he'd be happy to hear that. Just don't say it in a creepy way.
BUT - we missed Dan again. No awesome trumpet :( No awesome Dan :( Hopefully next time, he'll be there. But, while onstage, Joe said,
JOE: We're missing one of our members tonight. Dan. He usually plays trumpet. But, you wouldn't have known that unless I told you... which I just did...
SAM: Julie would've known!
:) Yep.
Oh, what a great show. I really like the way 'South for the Winter' is live. I really love that song in general.
Got to hang out a lot with the band after. Ya know, cause they're awesome like that. Jenn showed us her tattoos and a super cute video of Joe's cousin's dog, Boss, on her iPhone. Patrick played songs and videos for us on his laptop. James told me he'd get the band to play in my bedroom, since I had driven 4 hours to see them.
The night ended with me, Jo (who I picked up along the way! Yes, she was here the whole time!!!) and Patrick sitting on the steps of The Space, which had long been closed, listening to Suburban Legends on his laptop. Then, very slowly, the large RCE van pulls up in front of the gate. Patrick says,
PAT: Oh, I guess everyone's leaving!
He gave me and Jo a group hug. Double hug? Triple hug?? IT'S STARTING TO LOOK LIKE A TRIPLE HUG!!
Then, EVERY SINGLE BAND MEMBER jumped out of the van and we all hugged goodbye. Not collectively, though. But that would have been awesome. And I got kisses from James and Joe.
WHAT A NIGHT. Awesome band!!! AWESOME. BAND.
And then, Jo and I were off! We left right around 12:30am. I dropped her off at her house in Manchester around 3:30am. Then I got gas and a coffee and continued driving North!!! Arrived home to a very excited Ruby Tuesday at 4:38am. Nice!
Then! I couldn't sleep. I was still so excited about all the awesomeness that had occurred. Didn't get to sleep until around 6am.
And I'm still tired! Hopefully I'll get to sleep early tonight. SO - I'm gonna go. I'll update you more later!
Take care! Have a great Friday!! Talk to you soon!!!
LOVE,
Julie
AWESOME! So glad it was such a great show and a great hang afterwards! They're such chill people. I'll be there next time!
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