March 31, 2015
Mely’s anxiety truly kicks in before a concert. Irrational fears occur about being late, losing a ticket, or any other crazy catastrophe, so much that she has nightmares about missing shows. They’re all somewhat believable too. That being said, she’s always one of the first in line, always up front at the barricade for all of her shows, and well-versed in concert-attending. The number of concerts she and I have been to individually should create a no-stress tone regarding our attendance. However, paranoia strikes hard when it comes to the most life-saving thing us music nerds have. Especially when this was Mely’s favorite band. And she had to be there extra early for her VIP package.
So naturally, we arrived very early. We had planned for this show long before I even arrived to Los Angeles in mid January. When Circa Survive announced their tour dates, it was very conflicting and hard for us to buy tickets and plan for a show while we kept our planners and road trip open-ended. How do you decide on a date when anything could happen and you could be in any state at any time? On top of that, originally, we were supposed to start in New Jersey with my car. It just goes to show how much plans change, as well as routes and dates.
But I suggested trying to make the Wisconsin date work for several reasons.
- I knew I wanted to be in New Jersey for Garth’s birthday on March 17, because I’d be even more of an emotional wreck if I were away from my siblings. I figured we could get to Wisconsin by the 31st since NJ on the 17th.
- Our friend Diana, from the same website we had met Ali, Brittany, Sam + more, lived in Wisconsin and would probably love going to a Circa Survive/Balance & Composure show.
- The Rave was a pretty well-known venue that all bands love playing. Since we had both heard about The Rave so many times, I was dying to see what it was really like.
These seemed like enough reasons to go, and we needed an accomplishment/thing to do in Wisconsin anyway, so this, along with my birthday, was one of the few things we actually planned in advanced. In some ways, it was nice, because our trip had been almost too leisurely without these set dates/plans. We needed a goal to be somewhere by some time, otherwise the trip would have seemed all that much more exhausting without any kind of end goal or date. Friends and family would have seemed that much further away for the both of us. It would have seemed like our beds were nowhere in sight. We essentially wouldn’t have much to look forward to without our few set plans, because the whole trip was too open-ended to the point of turning into one long, endless, staggering abyss.
So, like concerts always do, this show was here to take that pain away from us. Imagining these bands touring non-stop, constantly going through these motions that we’ve only now started doing, is mind boggling. But conditions are different. They have music with them every night. They aren’t always driving. And there’s enough of them to mix up the crew, rather than mine and Mely’s case, where we only have each other. But alas, they make it work for all of our sakes. And what a blessing concerts truly are.
While Mely did her VIP meet ‘n’ greet, I got some fine-tuned writing finished in a nearby Starbucks. With a college right up the street from The Rave, tons of students were in and out, dawning their university gear. I felt intimidated and stuck in the same seat. They all had drives, and I had my articles that made my butt and mind feel sore as I sat hours in the Starbucks. I knew in my hear I’d go back to school one day, but it was frustrating sometimes. Here I was on the most open-ended roadtrip that could end whenever we wanted (or more realistically, when we ran out of money), with my only commitment being my Paste articles, while all of these students were frantic over midterms and 5 classes. I was stressed out enough with my light load. How could I go back to school? Could I even do it? All of this in the back of my mind as I edited, re-edited, and re-evaluated my article.
Eventually, the time came for the show. I sent my article stuff and immediately found Mely, front and center. Mely told me how the band recognized her from all of the other times they’ve met and how the lead singer, Anthony Green, called her Britney Spears. We laughed about her movie, Crossroads (to which we assumed he was talking about) (which I still have not seen, but now want to just because of Green’s reference), and kept cracking jokes about how weird he is.
The opening band, Chon, was so lively, even without any lyrics in any of their songs. All of the bandmates were young and friendly. Their vibes reminded me of Phish in a way, just being a simple jam band. And the crowd for this band was better than I could have imagined in this more “alternative” scene. Everyone (with the exception of one person rudely shouting, “SING!!!!”) swayed to the music and cheered excitedly each time a song ended. I was proud that everyone could see that these kids had chops, and that they didn’t need lyrics to prove it.
Meanwhile Balance & Composure wooed the entire crowd with their heart-wrenching lyrics that took everyone back to their more emo days. It’s funny how a band’s music can make you feel like you can relate to them, even if your situations are nothing near the same. But when you simplify life’s crazy complex situations down to the most bare emotions, and then down to your core’s music and soul, you find that everyone in the room is all of the same.
And that’s what Circa Survive does too. Their show had tons of dedicated fans with their album art tattooed on their arms and legs. Their songs got everyone pumped and wild. And the crowd made the band so happy, just as any good crowd does. For a whole crowd to collectively show their appreciation truly proves that connection we all have with music in ourselves and with each other. It’s magical. It’s why Mely and I go to concerts. It’s why Mely and I are friends. I know I’ve spent a good portion of these blogs talking about the meaning of music to us, but it’s true. We wouldn’t be enjoying ourselves at this concert together if it weren’t for a different band that we used to love.
So when Anthony Green kicked out some loser giving the finger to the band, and aggressively shoving everyone around him to the side (just to prove his hatred for Anthony Green?), Green called him out on it. And the crowd collectively jeered Green on for telling him off. And when the kid still kept doing it, Green kicked him out. Because “punks” like that don’t belong in a place where music and hearts are all of the same. And in rock ‘n’ roll, there’s no time for being an asshole just to prove something. It all boils down to sensibility.
So after a good, solid show, we made way for Diana’s apartment. To no surprise at all, Diana was the sweetest. She set us up to sleep on her floor, and we chatted music and life for a couple of hours, before passing out yet again.
And the next morning, when she bought us McDonald’s breakfast, I was sad to leave her. Because we were just getting to really know each other, and really learn about this great person we’ve known online for years.
The internet and music and concerts and the people involved in all three of those will never cease to amaze me. They will always impress me time and time again. And I guess that’s why Wisconsin was so special after all. Forget its really blue lakes, free Jelly Belly factory tours, and probably outstanding summer vacation options, because we’ve got friends in great places…Although, I wouldn’t mind coming back for those things either….
One member of Chon standing on a member’s shoulders of Circa Survive.
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