an evening of miles and music - updated

Six years ago a friend from high school and I had decided that February 21st was the most perfect day of the year. Everything was wonderful that day, and since then, all 21 days of each month are gauranteed to be fabulous and February 21st of each year was always looked forward to.

Green to Think, The Honorary Title, Wheat, and Hey Mercedes at the Mercury Lounge in New York City. Enough said.

I pick up Dan and we went straight for the Wawa for the usual...caffeine, cash, food, gas. That Wawa has been incident free for 213 days, whereas mine is still 69 days. I think during the ride up we both fell in and out of sleep, he was worse off though since he had to work all day and he slept sitting up. Brand New carried us into the city though we sat at the Holland Tunnel for like 25 minutes. We were just in the same area a few days before for the Marlon Spike show at the Knitting Factory, so there was no drama with the driving, for the most part.

We go down a side street and I switch with Dan so that he can parallel park my car. During which, Morita called me and passed me off to Steve so I could tell him where we were. First off, Steve should know my issue with knowing where the hell I am. I never get directions right and I never stay in one place, he should know that pinpointing where I am would not be a good idea. So he keeps asking me...no wait - he YELLED AT ME :-P...where I was, but we were parking so all I could see if a billboard and not any signs. Apparently he also put the phone down while I was talking. So I finally get out of the car and tell him where we were and he yelled at me for being at the wrong place. So we get in and drive to where we were supposed to be. So its great that they called to find out where we were because they know me and my destination issues...but NO YELLING!!

Dan drives my car to the Merc and we found a perfect **free* parking spot right out front. Chris meets us out front and we dodge traffic to get across the street to Nice Guy Eddie's for food and happy hour. Buy one drink get one free - score. Chris ordered a sandwich and it took about 40 minutes for it to arrive. It was a Cuban sandwich, so it arrived on the boat, hence the lateness. We were all throwing daggers at the waitress. She kept getting sidetracked by the table next to us who were from England or Scotland or somewhere. I kept staring at them listening to them talk, then inform Chris and Dan that if I had an accent, I would talk all the time just to hear myself. Chris asked, "like you don't already?". Hey now. Which is when he told me about how mean Steve was by putting down the phone while I was talking. Basketball was on and we were talking about St. Joe's bball. I told them that I used to play basketball and was center. They look at me as if I was crazy since I am a whopping 5'3'' - but I used to be taller then everyone else when I was younger, I just stopped growing haha.
Dan: "If Marlon Spike was a basketball team, I'd be center. Well, we'd need an extra player too."

We get the bill and pay for our food. Dan busted out his wallet, and I noticed it was in two pieces. Chris asked why he doesn't carry just half of his wallet, but Dan needs somewhere to carry his student IDs. His one is practically rubbed off and all you can see is a glowing aura. Chris said it was the man who wasn't there. It took about 5 minutes, but we completely counted the change. Off to the Merc!

The show was sold out before the doors even opened. Get inside and see everyone around the bar. So awesome to see everyone again, lets see...it was (because these names will come up again, so I will do it all at once) - Dan, Chris Morita (have to clarify since there are 80 Chris's), Jodie, Ken, Maryellen, Gilligan, Dareen, Dave, DeRose, Katie, Sarah, and Amy. Oh yeah, and mean Steve. :-) It was cute, they all said they were worried I wouldn't make it haha. I informed Steve on his meanness and he laughed and I didn't. Dan spotted that Pabst was on tap and that was the greatest thing at that moment so we took a picture to document the occassion. He couldn't drink the PBR draft, so we got other liquid fun instead.

Green to Think was about to take the stage so we all moved from the bar to the venue. I have a tendency to stand centerish leftish, usually between the singer and lead guitar during shows when I have a choice on where to stand, but Dan opted for in front of Chris the bassist. Shit -- too many Chris's. I told him that centerish rightish wasn't as exciting because Chris doesn't move, but on occassion he'll wiggle. Dan laughed and he remembered how excited Maryellen, Dareen, and I were in Philly when Chris actually got his move on.

There were some sound issues in the beginning, but by the second song, it was mostly figured out. The last show I saw them play was in Decemeber, but I don't count that since I missed some of it and I was trapped in a sea of teenagers. But the show at the Merc was awesome. Such a talented and great band. I don't get to see them perform that often and the performances I do see are either short opening acts, or at places like Desmonds, or acoustic stuff. So I guess the last full on GTT rock show that I saw was the one at Philly. Hmmm... But yeah, back to the subject. The show was energetic and the new songs sounded awesome and they keep getting better. Kenny always makes me smile because he stands up alot while he plays. (He's the drummer). Dave is rocking out with his legs spread open and I started laughing because it reminded me of the Dewey festival last April. I realized I was laughing to myself at the show and Dareen was behind me so we laughed together. Then they played Sundays, yay. So then I scamper to Maryellen. Let's see, what else was played...1-2-3, We Are Stars, Rockin', Nineteen, And You Dream, a new song (the third song on the setlist), I Don't Think She'll Ever Let Me Be, hmmmm anything else? Steve had some interesting segways between the songs. And he swore on stage when he couldn't get his guitar strap on. Hehe. Strap on. Anyways...

The Honorary Title came on next. So good. This was one show where every single band was extremely talented and each brought something unique to the stage. Dan mentioned how reminiscent they were of Bright Eyes, so I liked. I don't remember much about their set aside from the fact that I liked it because I had to pee a lot since I drank a lot of beer. I kept meeting Katie in the bathroom, so it was ok. Dan said he had to buy their CD and I agreed with him. He also got hooked up since he helped carry their keyboard off of the stage. Chris mentioned he was bloated from the Guinness and I was afraid that he ight have exploded. Maryellen and I also made fun of the woman next to has who was wearing a zebra shirt, a mini back pack, and a scrunchie. Dude.

WHEAT!! WOOOOO!!!! Have I mentioned how much I love Wheat before? I have to thank Ryan for getting me into this band a while ago. Their new CD is amazing. Everyone came back up for this portion of the night and we were all front and center. And of course Maryellen and I were the dorks who sang along to every word. So the lead singer of Wheat has a staring problem. No wait, its not a problem. But damn, he was fixated on the front for the WHOLE DAMN SHOW. We all kept hitting each other, like "is this really happening?". Not that we are new to this whole thing, but it was WHEAT! I was so into this set. Of course when they played Closer to Mercury I turn to Dave and ask if this is the song he doesn't like. Of course it gets quiet when I say that. ARGH! They also played "don't i hold you" and I was smitten.

Heeeeeeeyyyy Mercedes were the last to play and the highlight of Dan's night. Of course we didn't move and Dan, Chris, and I were right in front of the stage. Dan, Tanya, and I had listened to both of their albums on the way to NYC the Monday before and I had played "Lets Go Blue" on my radio show on Friday, and I know thats Dan's favorite song of theirs, so of course we shouted it out. Their performance was awesome. The set flew by and it was great to sing and dance to, and looking around, I think Dan and I were the most into it. We kept shouting out and they said that that was not the right answer, and they played it. Woohoo. They told Dan later that they haven't played that song in months, that rocks.

Hang out for a bit after. Steve told me to hold on because he needed his ear plugs to talk to me because I am a loud mouth. That was mean comment #496 from him that night. I am a very quiet person. I was just excited, and the venue was loud. It wasn't me at all. He also bought a kids shirt. This part gets choppy because that is how I remember it. Dan went to get a shirt as well and hands his jacket to Maryellen in which she exclaims "i'm holding marlon spike coat, i'm holding marlon spike coat!". It was humorous :-). Talking talking talking...then we leave. Next thing I know Maryellen has my keys and we leave for Hoboken with Amy and we talk about fashion in the backseat.

Go to bed sometime and wake up at 7:30 am. Ugh. Dan and I hit up the Dunkin Donuts and discover that the egg and cheese sandwich is $.99 and that was the perfect breakfast meal when you have only slept a few hours and you are about to drive some more. I got from exit 14C to 1 in an hour. I was so sleepy that I think my foot just fell on the pedal. We listened to the Postal Service and Dan mentioned how it sounded like getting coins in a video game.

I am sure I will add more later. But for now, I am tired. And cold. My heat isn't on again.