January 22nd @ Mercury Lounge

I was very tired when I wrote this last night... so I just added a few things...

I don't know how many of you know this, but John and I moved to Philly. (Well... close to Philly.) He's going to school and I'm doing my acupuncture thing and Kevin's actually touring Europe right now with some Jazz dudes. So when we found out a couple of weeks ago that we were playing with The Queers at Mercury Lounge we found ourselves a Philly band!

John and I drove up last night to watch Trailer Park Boys (which is a whole nother story) and Karl and Rob drove in today. We actually rehearsed before hand at our old rehearsal space in the Lower East Side, (made famous by an episode of "Cheaters,") then moseyed on over to San Loco for some very tasty and well deserved bean burritos. Then off to Mercury Lounge we went!

I gotta tell you, it was such an honor to play tonight with both The Apers and The Queers. They were FANTASTIC. We were on first, but that didn't stop us from rocking everyone's face off. The sound at Mercury is awesome and it was so nice not to hear "we couldn't hear your vocals" all night after the show. Thank you Mercury sound guys! I screamed so loud I almost lost my voice, John rocked so hard he almost burst into flames, Rob played so fast that he almost tore people's faces off, and Karl hit the drums so hard he almost broke his foot.

It was an old school set with lots of goodies that we haven't played in a while, Stuck in My Head for one, and I gotta tell you it felt so good to play around so many wonderful people. Whenever I hang out with the pop punk kids in NYC I remember what it is I love about music- the fun, the energy, the excitement- and just the general good time that everyone seems to have. It's not about being too cool, or too hip, or too whatever, it's just about having fun and that's what we all did.

Afterward Mark and Jacob and Andy and I all danced to The Apers (who are ADORABLE btw) and the room was so packed when The Queers were on that we couldn't see the stage. Everyone was so sweet and so fun and so talented. It was just such an honor, like I said. I'm sorry, I'm just still in awe and can't stop smiling. :)

Moments of note: not one but TWO people got bounced while I was up front by the merch table- one girl presumably for filming when they tell you it's $250 to film. I'm guessing she didn't pay, but I can't confirm that. All I know is that she crashed into me as the bouncer grabbed her to throw her out and then was shouting that she wanted to talk to a manager, and that she was going back inside, and who knows what, all the way up until the police showed up. The other guy that got bounced was just for dancing a little too hard. No one likes a fist in their face... at least not in hip trendy Bowery Presents clubs... And the other sweet thing that happened was that Kevin from The Apers sang me a song. I was honored. Even though he was making fun of me (or so he said) it was so sweet and I appreciated every bit of it!

Thank you so much for coming out, to all our new friends and old, we had a BLAST and hope you did too. I don't think I've had that much fun on stage since... well... also in a long time I guess. And thank you for filling my head with nice new associations for Mercury Lounge, instead of the sad, stale, old ones I had before.

Until next time!

Set List:
-Without You
-This Happens
-Consider Me Gone
-Stuck In My Head
-Aloof
-Sunshine (Screeching Weasel)
-Dance With Me
-Who We Are
-Try So Hard