"I'm spinning round the room in awe" ryan adams

Monday, March 21, 2005

DC - DE LDE Roadtrip

“Hold on…hold on to yourself
for this is gonna hurt like hell…”

The above Sarah McLachlan quote pretty much sums up this past weekend. The song has been in my head since Phil and I were discussing it last weekend in Vermont. I’m in my bed in Hoboken wearing my Delaware sweatshirt, my candles lit, tea beside me, Flaming Lips on iTunes, and staring at the only poster on my wall – an Omnisoul poster, and I want to go back home. I will try to be brief, yet entertaining – but I am sure that you know that I have troubles with being concise…

I got up super early on Friday so I could pack and get to work early since I was leaving early. Early mornings and I don’t get along too well, but at least Starbucks assisted me. Got to work and started the countdown till when my train left at 7. I was completely stoked for the weekend – to film, to see old and new friends, to see LDE rock out, to go home, to get away. I was completely giddy and it was a wonder I got anything done. Laura and Danielle, in the office, said that my excitement was oozing out of me and they hadn’t seen me like this before. Haha so funny. Danielle went out to Starbucks for Randy and brought us soy mochas. Yay caffeine. Finally 6:30 and I sprinted to Penn Station – passing a brawl in Herald Square and a video shoot on 34th – stupid tourists, out of my way – I have a train to catch!

I find my train and a window seat. I can’t sit still for fifteen minutes, let alone three hours. I was torn between my book (High Fidelity by Nick Hornby), my iPod, or my cell phone. Cell phone won out and I chatted with Jen (she decided to come out and meet me at Union Station – yay!), my mom, then Maryellen till Philadelphia. From Philly to Baltimore I alternated between flipping pages of a book reminiscent of my life and gazing out the window at the familiar scenery that I knew all to well from constant treks on 95 north and southbound. I talked to Dave around Baltimore then put on my headphones to calm down for my final twenty minutes.

I arrived shortly before 10 and called Jen. We found out other in the station and ran towards each other and hugged – people stared. Found Dave and off we went to the 9:30 Club to Center Stage it!! We pull up to the club and there was a line out the door. Absolutely fabulous! We get inside and immediately find the CS crew. I don’t think the bouncer guy appreciated our squeals. We then hit up the bar and had beer in hand. I had my phone dangling from the wrist that was also holding my cup. Jay was calling me so as I tried to grab my phone, the rope thingy got stuck on my clippy and I ended up spilling my beer then almost slipping on it. That was when I was cut off – but it wasn’t my fault!! Avi and I go to the green room and catch the last part of the CS interview. Aw – Marissa had her rockstar clip board!

I grabbed a camera and went on stage trying to make a spot for myself amidst cables. Avi tried to pull down my pants while I was on stage. I wasn’t laughing. Instead I filmed some older couple in the front who were making out. The show was the best I have ever seen LDE perform. And I have seen them play a lot! And I didn’t even see the whole show since I was paying attention to my shots. The set flew by and there wasn’t one song that didn’t stand out. The energy, presence, and passion definitely went to eleven. “Until I’m With You”, “Over and Over”, “Our Countries”, “Meet Me in London”, and “With a Little Help From My Friends” were stand out tracks. Avi and I got our dance on to London and sang loudly during the encore. While filming it was incredible to see the crowds’ reactions and just how much fun the guys had on stage. They need to play venues like this more often. Shows like this make me proud of them.

After the show I quickly took Jen around to meet the LDE guys before she caught her train home. The Kominski’s were hosting an after party so I rode with Avi to good old Silver Spring, MD (hey, remember that time where we all were going to move to Silver Spring MD and we called it “the happiest place on earth”?!?! yay college). The cars that passed us gave us, or me, funny looks because I was wearing a Dunkin Donuts knit hat. Fuck them. We stopped at a McDonalds, but apparently they don’t stock food at 3 am. Fuck them too. 7-11 it was for a healthy meal of all peanut butter reese cups and chocolate milk.

We get to Amy’s and hang out with friends and the band. Rusty took me to the backyard and we saw a deer. Phil, Judy, and Angela played Twister so I was beer bitch feeding Phil his beer whenever they spun green. I think I walked in on the wrong part of the game. Avi and I both were wearing polka dotted underwear. I stayed up talking with Rusty till about 5:30 am about the show, my future, their future, music trends…then called it a night and said goodnight to the girls who noticed that the sun was about to rise. Thank you to Amy for letting us shower and crash – it was greatly appreciated!! Chris and I were going to go out for coffee during the day, but he over slept. The girls decided to go to DC for the day, so sightseeing it was! Judy, Angela, Anna, and I followed Amy out and were welcomed with bagels and coffee while the normal people got lunch at this normal lunch hour. Since we were tourists for the day, we took silly pictures inside Panera. We had good conversation then headed to Laurel to pick up Rusty. We totally got lost, but that’s ok because we listened to Honestly like a million times and totally sang out loud and off key. We passed the Target five times, but that’s only because we love Target…we totally knew where we were going. Angela got a picture of a cool sign in Rusty’s neighborhood. It said humps and that Jack Johnson was some city executive. I’ll be sure to post. We got to Rusty’s where we stopped for a bathroom break and a piano lesson. Onwards to DC!

We took the scenic route via Michigan car in the district (ya like that Jen? I didn’t say “city”) and then parked and walked around the White House and towards the Washington Monument. It was a gorgeous day to be walking around being tourists. We tried to find cheesy DC shirts to sport, but none were gaudy enough. A coffee stop for the road then we headed to Delaware. As we were leaving DC, we totally called LDE’s next cover song. It’s an R. Kelly song. We were rolling on the ground of the car from laughter of the lyrics and it could so easily be covered. And Doug can even bust out the flute for it. The lyrics were ridiculous and can be found here: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/rkelly/snakeremix.html

We spent the time from DC to B’more talking and laughing and singing till we spotted to LDE van ahead of us. Go go Michigan car! We caught up to them in the tunnel. Johnny, Phil, and Rusty were on those walkie talkie thingies and proceeded just to make random noises at each other. Apparently Chris mooned us, but they have tinted windows, so we didn’t see. We did, however, see Johnny bare his ass then stick it and shake it out the window. We all convened at the rest stop so Rusty could get back in the van, then Phil climbed into the back of our car, and Chris on my lap as we drove to the other end of the rest stop to drop the guys off at the Starbucks…can you not tell that we all have serious caffeine addictions? We got the pleasure of seeing Chris moon us yet again as he got out of the car. Fifteen minutes later we were in Newark.

YAY HOME!!! I took the girls to Rainbow first and said hello to Stef and Max. Oh happiness, it was home! I dropped off some CDs and then we headed over to Grottos so they could enjoy some “fine Delaware eatin”. I found a random outlet near the games in Grottos and charged my phone, all while yelling at the kids who were near my phone. Chris Morita, Maryann, Mel, and Andrew met us at Grottos where we downed iced tea, pizza, and $2 beers. Again we took fun touristy pictures to document the roadtrip. We chatted nonstop then headed back to Rainbow to do some shopping until Max kicked us out. I love how certain decorations are the bathroom wall still ;-). The girls were craving ice cream, so we walked down Main Street and stopped at Café Gelato where we sampled almost every flavor. Headed back to the car then to 7-11 to stock up on water, gum, and gas then we caravanned to Wilmington.

We all convened in the parking lot and devised a game plan to sneaking Mel in. We are so stealth. Got in and the first person I saw was Nate. So I ran up and hugged him and I am sure we were loud, but oh well, Nate’s my boy ;-) haha. Chris and I snuck into the bathroom and had hot wild sex against the dirty walls. Oh no, we didn’t. I just did his rockstar hair. I have to admit, it was the best rockstar hair ever and it didn’t fall flat during the first note. I have the touch. Doug, Phil, and I talked about how we (Phil and I) were “karmalized” (since we were both out of it and that will bounce off each other while they were playing and I was watching) not be confused with “carmalized”.

The guys took the stage and Tim Farrow came through the door. Holy hell, Tim Farrow! Tim’s about to leave for Iraq – we were great friends in high school, kinda lost touch, then saw each other around the holidays right before I left for NYC. We’ve communicated through texting during the past few months, and it was really cool to see him at the Logan House. He says he met the “love of his life”, Jill, who I also met last night. Kid’s got it rough, as long as I’ve known him his heart as always been true. Good luck overseas and stay strong.

I also ran into some college friends who I hadn’t seen in a while. Dan Lyons also met up with us, QSJ flyers in hand. Oh so sad – memories!! Just like old times. I miss this so freaking much – I was so damn happy to be back at the Logan House and to be around so many awesome friends, old and new. I know coming back home was going to be great, but I didn’t realize I much I missed it. I started tearing up, especially while talking to Tim. Makes me wonder if leaving everything I never knew I always wanted was worth the adventure of isolation. That is a whole new blog altogether, but being there for those short hours and standing outside with Nate on the balcony and him looking at me just saying “I miss you,” made me reevaluate everything. I walked back into the club, looked at LDE to my left, and my friends right in front of me inside a room with so many memories and it made me want to come home. I want to be like Jim, manage bands and base myself where they are or nearby.

I grabbed my drink and stood in the front with Morita and Maryann and took even more silly pictures – for now we will live in the moment and celebrate we will for life is short but sweet for certain. Phil told me that he would bare my children if I got him the wussiest drink ever. So I did, it was pink and had lots of garnishes. I guess Donnie saw that as an open invitation for me to grab him a drink, so he asked for a random shot. I got him Jager. When did I become beer bitch?! Speaking of which, Phil introduced me to people during the set break and said that I was a street team member. When the hell did that happen!?!? Does he not realize that I don’t DO street teams?!?!? I’ll correct him later. There’s always some dancing freaks at the Logan House. This time it was some guy who thought it was 1993 and certainly gave Napoleon a run for his money. He even did the cabbage patch and thought he was hot shit. I really had to go to the bathroom but couldn’t leave because I was afraid of missing something. I honestly thought I was going to die from laughter. Morita and Maryann named him “break dancing Mike”. Yeah, he totally break danced.

After the show we hung out as usual. I swear that sound guy hates us. I shared my idea of rock star porn with Chris and we decided to make a venture of it. He said I could film and produce it and he would provide the sound track while we starred in it. He said I could direct, but I will leave that feat up to him since I didn’t know what half the positions were from diner discussions the other night. It was also decided that I could just go on the road with them and be a personal groomer since I am the best at rockstar hair. A stylist is very important! We said our goodbyes and I didn’t want to go. I think Johnny accused me of being drunk, but I wasn’t – just elated and tired, a dangerous combination. I’m even too tired now to remember much that happened past 1 pm…I think mentally I was already asleep! We emerged into the rain where I complained that I wanted to stay and didn’t want to go back to Hoboken. Playing in the rain is worth catching cold…

I rode with Maryann, Mel, and Andrew back to Newark where we totally stayed up even longer and talked. I slept on the tiniest most uncomfortable couch ever, but it was the best sleep I had gotten in days. In the morning we went to Newark Bagels for breakfast then shopped on Main Street. My mom picked me up in the afternoon and now here I am back in Hoboken. My bags are still packed on my floor and now I am onto Spoon on iTunes.

“Hold on…hold on to yourselfyou know that only time will tell
what is it in me that refuses to believe
this isn't easier than the real thing…”