live fast, die young.

"I don't know if you guys know this, but you're missing the fucking Grammy Awards tonight. Well, that's cool. At least nobody's into popular music these days."
- Tim Rogner; the Collapsed

And to that I say, hell yeah.

So last night, I went to my favorite place in the world: Beat Kitchen. This venue has never done me wrong, besides being at full capacity for the White Tie Affair/Powerspace/Silent Sirens show. Grr. The guys who check bags are always there for a good laugh ("Holy crap, you've got two big ass cameras. Your shoulder must be killing you"). I stood by the stage, waiting for the show to start. Everyone else was either in the back or sitting against the walls. It's a rock show people. Get the hell up. Diana and her friend (whose name I can't remember) came by right before the Collapsed took the stage.

The thing about the Collapsed is...they're fucking awesome. The lead singer is Tim Rogner from Allister, which is one of my favorite bands; along with Lucky Boys Confusion and the Dog & Everything, they got me into local music. The sound is similar; the Collapsed has got a lot of the same pop punk sound as Allister did, so that definitely brought me back. I saw these guys play at Mojoe's a couple weeks back, and I thought they were pretty good then, but standing 100 feet away from the stage and standing by the stage are two different experiences, so I thoroughly enjoyed myself. They may not have the best stage presence at the moment, but they've got some pretty good songs. I can't wait til they record more and get an EP out or something.

Oh, Swizzle Tree. After seeing them live for the first time, I knew there was I reason I hated listening to them. Some of the songs kind of sounded like Lucky Boys...but no. I'm sorry, but I spent the first 10 minutes laughing to myself. The only people who really seemed into the set were family/friends and the two total bro-tastic fans who were trying to start a mosh pit. I was going to burst into tears in the middle of their set. There was like a family of Swizzle Tree fans there, with a little boy and girl. This drunk old guy, who I'm assuming was her dad/uncle, picked up the little girl to put her on his shoulders and he fell backwards. She started crying a little. It was so sad.

It definitely seemed to get more crowded for The Graduate, but there were actually not that many people there. This girl came in yelling "PHIL KOSCH BOUGHT ME A BEER." I had a good laugh. The Graduate put on such a great show. The last time I REALLY saw them was June 07 (I caught some of their set at Warped 07 and like a song at the show they played with Secondhand Serenade in August 08). Oh, man. It was just great. I had forgotten how much I loved them. They're working on a new album so shows are gonna be defunct for a while. I hope its worth it.

After the show, I talked to Tim. I was trying really hard not to go fan girl on him. My 13 year old self was dying inside. They had one type of merch: a shirt, and I'm pretty sure I was the only one to buy it. It's comfy. The Graduate were selling shirts for only $5, so it would've been stupid not to buy one. I got myself a nice v-neck. It's also comfy.

Of course my good friends Nickolas and Mark were there afterwards, doing what they do best. Talked to them for a bit. Met some interesting new people, who were also Jack's/Treaty fans. Holler. I then managed to drive to Taco Bell without getting lost. Woooooo. What a great night.