olympia show

i wrote this on monday, but with all the craziness and leaving town, i didn't have a chance to post it.

so last night was the olympia show at jaxx.

we sat through quite possibly one of the worst line-ups of all time. we arrived to find out there were nine bands playing, which is about five more bands than is EVER necessary. the first three bands were your standard junior high first-band-ever type deals. moms and dads were there taking photos and hanging out by the bar while their kids muddled through their instruments that they barely know how to play. the first band can only be described as "reggae emo metal". just try to imagine the implications of combining those three genres, and then subtract any possible talent. there was a touring band from philly who thought the empty room was actually a warped tour date, shouting "WHAT'S UP VIRGINIA?!" and "Okay guys, CLAP YOUR HANDS WITH ME!" i wanted to vomit. the next band sounded like coldplay if coldplay woke up from a collective coma, forgot how to play their instruments, and then were rushed onto the stage immediately still groggy and not sure where they were.

my favorite band of the night was this college rock fratboy jam band. these guys had to have been ripping bong hits in the parking lot, then played the show, then packed up their gear to head to the Sigma Chi luau late-night style. highlights include inviting one of their dads up on stage to jam out a harmonica solo and the increasingly amazing slap bass solos every few songs. if i was in a fraternity and i wanted to have the best kegger of my entire life, this band would headline the party and play for a minimum of three hours.

the olympia set was really intense and i don't know how to describe it really. normally when we play, i get a little lost in the music and don't really pay attention to what's going on around me. i know the songs so well that it takes very little active thought and i'm moving and singing purely from muscle memory. sometimes i'll get off stage and the entire set was a blur. a lot of times too, i'm out of breath, straining my voice, and my thoughts are centered around my next opportunity to get back to my water bottle and to catch my breath. last night was different. i was overwhelmed with this clarity, this hyper-awareness of everyone on stage, of how everything sounded, of every line that i was singing. it was like everything was going in slow motion and instead of everything being blurry, i had the chance to take everything in completely. i was singing as hard as i could and i never ran out of breath. it just felt like everything was burning just a little bit brighter. i could see out in the audience the faces of the friends who had come out to see us and i could see people singing the lyrics back at me. for those thirty minutes, i wasn't at jaxx at the weirdest longest show in memory. i was on stage, feeling everything perfectly, playing the songs that i love with some of my best friends and just living in that moment.

when the next band played, i quietly watched, re-living the last thirty minutes in my head, knowing that soon i was going to walk out of that club and the night was going to end, and in less than ten hours, i was going to be exhausted, back at my temp job that i could care less about.

i said goodbye to the guys and started the drive back home to richmond. in the end, for those thirty minutes, it was one of my favorite shows.