show review: Shone at the North Star Bar in Philadelphia 4/6/13

If you haven't taken my advice yet and listened to Shone, you are a dummy, because you are missing out on some really, really good stuff. Stop being a dummy. Listen to Shone.

My ears are still ringing from tonight's concert. I think they probably will be for a few days, but I'm mostly okay with that. I realized a long time ago that I am probably going to lose my hearing due to the amount of concerts in which i attend. its cool. whatevz. 

There is really so much I want to say about Shone. I have formed friendships with people based solely on this band and it is amazing to me. I'm talking FIF level stuff here, dudes. I love having that bond with the people that I am attending shows with. I knew pretty much the entire front row before the first band took the stage, and I introduced myself to the two guys I didn't know. Its like a big ole' family, and that is really effing cool. I hope that Brian Lane and Andrew Accardi realize that they have given that to us, because that is really something special in my eyes. 

Alright, enough blubbering about my Shone family. They rock. Its cool. Onward with the story. (I am in a rambly mood tonight. This might take a while.) 

Pre-show, a bunch of us gathered in the bar and did what normal, of-age adults do in a bar...proceed to get silly with the help of some beverages. This really doesn't mean anything at all, except that it put all of us in really good moods for the show, so that was nice. And our waiter was pretty nice, which definitely helped. 

The first band that played was called Cold Fronts and I liked them. They have a very Hot Hot Heat sound about them, I think, and that is not a bad thing. I wasn't as into the second band, though. Val de Val sounded like someone put a band under water and it just wasn't the mood I wanted to be in right before seeing Shone. Their last song or two had a very BN feel to it, though, and so it wasn't as bad as the rest of the set, but i don't know that they are a band i would go out of my way to see again. 

Shone came out and played everything from their album except for "Bestial." BUT I did get the scoop on that both before and after the show, so knowing why they didn't play it (because, basically, they CANT. both Brian and Vin said it just sounds like junk when they try to play it and that they didn't want to give that to us as fans. I can respect that, for sure) I wasn't as sad about it as i was after the NYC show. These guys are just so much fun! Ugh. It kills me that so many people fell off of this bandwagon as soon as they heard that Jesse Lacey wasn't directly involved. This band has some serious talent and deserves to be respected on their own merits, not because it was believed that it was some JTL secret band shit that was going on. I dunno. I guess people will argue that they should not have let people believe that it wasn't BN from the get go, but i guess i never really did, so i didn't get that butthurt when i found out it was Brian and Andrew behind all of this madness. Like Vincent (haha. random, yeah? that's how he introduced himself tonight.) said, people are fickle and i say its their loss for jumping ship. Leaves more room for me to shake my fat ass! (seriously, try to listen to babyshakes and NOT dance. i dare you. i bet you cant.) 

after the show, Vin kind of collapsed to the ground and sat there for a bit, and somehow that turned into him giving a group of us a sermon about the band and the talent in the band (i promise he wasn't talking about himself) and on how to be nice to each other. There was more to it than just that, but i kind of feel like that was a special thing for those of us that were there and maybe i don't want to type up the minutes and cheapen the moment. It was just really awesome to spend some time having a conversation with a guy that plays in my favorite freaking band. it wasn't an awkward moment at a signing (of which i have had plenty) but this was the real deal. It was cool to get inside of his head a little bit, and it definitely made me appreciate Daisy a lot more. 

Look, I feel like I am talking a lot and not really saying anything, and its pretty effing late, so i am going to end this with a few pictures taken tonight. (okay, probably a lot of pictures. I'm in a mood. deal with it.) 

i am really in love with that last picture of vinnie. i kind of don't want to share it. 

29.

artist:hothotheat
album:elevator

on at least four separate occasions while listening to this album i actually said out loud "hot dog! why did i ever stop listening to this album?"

I'm not sure why i bought this album to begin with. I'm guessing it was because i heard the single on the radio, but it could very well be any reason under the sun. i know that i didn't listen to it for very long. something else must have caught my attention and taken over before this album had a chance to run its course.

i do remember going to see them in concert with Mandy. i know that it was warm out, and i know that it was raining. the show was at the troc in Philly. i feel like we went to see the band that was opening for them...and now that I'm thinking about it, i have a crazy feeling that it might have been eisley. i know that originally i was supposed to go with someone else, but they didn't return my calls or texts for the few days leading up to the show, so Mandy came along in his stead.

we left that show about halfway through hothotheat's set and went to the wawa across the road. (i have only ever been to one show in my life at the troc that didn't end with a trip to the wawa across the road, actually.) i had been waiting the entire set for a specific song, and it was getting close to the end, and both of us were bored and tired, so we decided just to leave. when we were walking back past the troc on the way to the train station, we could hear island of the honest man coming from the stage. that was the song i was waiting for. oh well, them's the breaks, i guess.

there were a lot of songs on elevator that i really dug. aside from island of the honest man, there are you owe me an IOU, middle of nowhere, and running out of time, just off the top of my head. the entire time i was listening to this album i was dancing in my seat and singing along with the lyrics that i still remembered. I'm glad i decided to listen to it and get out of the slump that I've been in lately. i have to remember that when i need to dance or be happy, i should pull out hothotheat's elevator album.