Marnie Stern with Gray Young and Tera Melos - King's - 03/01/11

I have this weird habit of creating in-jokes with myself. I find something, some action or phrase, that i personally find extremely amusing and it becomes a running joke... with myself. (A good example of this is drewbombs.) I don't know why it amuses me the way it does or why i continue to carry the jokes; no one gets it or cares, least often the other people inadvertently involved. This night of shows included two such in-jokes with myself in which either the other people involved do not care or do not even know. I AM HILARIOUS TO ME.

In a frenzied "oh shit, our show's coming up!" effort to practice every moment we had free in the last week, Jay and I decided to meet up at his house for about an hour before heading out to see Gray Young and Marnie at King's. Losing track of time, as we tend to do because we are usually too busy being entirely too excited about whatever noisy mess we are making, Jay and I headed out a little too late, causing me to miss the first half of Gray Young's set. I am still extremely upset about this. and by "extremely" i mean to say, when I think about it, I get a little annoyed with myself. And by a little, I mean I AM EXTREMELY ANNOYED WITH MYSELF.

Okay kids, let's be honest.... Wait, Okay kids, *I'LL* be honest, yeah i bought the tickets to see Gray Young. of course I did! If Gray Young was opening for some so and so band, let's say someone random like Tori Amos, and the tickets were $60 a pop, I would try to publicly justify over and over again, despite the fact that there is no living artist on the planet I despise more than Tori Amos, that "I'm just willing to give her a chance, It's just an added bonus that GY is playing too!" No. That is bullshit. I paid $60 to see Gray Young, because I am an asshole. and by asshole, i mean to say, I AM THE SUPERFAN. (also I would leave before Tori Anus played because i really fuckin' hate her.)

here are the two in-jokes with myself explained; they are both in regards to GY... First is this one: For the first few shows that I saw of them, there were always these two or three guys that were always down front with me, rocking out... (James, Mike and Dana! love!) and it's become one of the things I like best about seeing them live; the Gray Young Army. I don't really know why I decided we are an "army", I have this feeling we are all really chill, nice people. Maybe it should be called "The Gray Young Caring Club". ....uhoh. see what i just did there? That made me laugh out loud. from now on, we are the Gray Young Caring Club, and that is funny as hell. I am making t-shirts. there will be kittens, maybe. (aside - I finally got me one of the super-pretty GY shirts designed by birds & arrows. oh hell yes.)

SO - yes. The other superfans. One of which, being Mike G. and there have been instances where Mike has not made it to shows. and I have started this in-joke with myself of judging him for missing shows. So there are now a series of pictures of me "judging" Mike;

ps, I am beautiful

ending in the epic photo taken this night entitled "Haaaay! I didn't have to judge you!"

The second in-joke i have with myself began after the first review of GY whereupon i gushed and conveniently forgot that people have the internet and read what i had to say. I may have let it slip about having a secret soulmate bond with Chas. oh hey, guess what? it got read. and in an effort to downplay any sort of "oh that girl is insane" assumptions, I have therefore turned this awkwardness into a game/in-joke. I still have not spoken to him and now i *will* not, despite the fact that I literally see him everywhere I go. One particularly amusing/pathetic exchange happened at LBLB a few weeks ago in which I was outside drinking/smoking and decided to go back in through the exit, just as he was walking out. we did the whole "oh you're going left? I'm going right. Oh, you went right, I'll go left. Are we dancing? This is fucking stupid and my face is going to melt off Indiana Jones Nazi Style because I am so embarrassed" thing... to which my only possible response could be to turn completely around, go the other way, and announce "GUESS I'M NOT GOING *THAT* WAY!" in an effort to save face, but resulting in me only further embarrassing myself.

In keeping with this theme of hilarity, the afternoon before the show at King's, this happened:

I am entirely open to the possibility that the traits in myself that I consider endearingly quirky may be construed by others as "batshit crazy," I've accepted this. Part of me really wonders if this guy thinks I'm out of my mind, or finds this whole game extremely hilarious as well. It is pointless to speculate because i will never speak to him to find out. The set, what i saw of it (GOD DAMMIT), was stellar, of course. I am almost too mad at myself to continue.

Tera Melos, i had done no real research on and knew nothing about, i decided to let it be a surprise. however, there was some Super Double Ultra Mega Superfans in attendance:

Not even joking.

These guys drove in from, I want to say Greensboro, to see the band. Their enthusiasm manipulated me into being really excited for Tera Melos to play. and when they did, I was a little confused, by no fault but my own, to find them a little more tame than I expected. I don't know how i had convinced myself that by attracting Pokemon Superfans, this band was going to be ballistically exciting, but they were just... cool? I don't mean that in any way to be negative. I mean it in the psychedelic rock I wasn't quite expecting but still dug on sense. They were a little math-rock, a little feedback-y, which i am always down with. I remember thinking they were like if Trans Am multiplied themselves and dropped acid. If they come back around, I'll most likely see them again without any preconceived notions.

At some point between Tera Melos and Marnie, Jay and I decided Jager was a really good idea. JAGER IS NEVER A GOOD IDEA. especially on a weeknight. I am 99% convinced Jagermeister makes the majority of their money on people who are already wasted somehow convincing themselves it's a good idea. sober people don't drink jager. I dare you to challenge this idea.

These are the kind of pictures that happen in response to jager shots.

poor our faces :(

And then what happened? MARNIE STERN BECAME THE GREATEST THING I'D EVER SEEN BECAUSE I WAS DRUNK!!!!11!!1

I did realized, however, that i did know and own many more Marnie Stern songs than I thought I did. I kept hearing myself say out loud to no one in particular, like they could hear me anyway, "Ohhh! I know this song!"

It feels like I blinked and this amazing night was over. I gotta stop blinking.