Giving Up On Love .. Kind of.

November 19th I got to make my 17 year old self very, very happy. I saw The Ataris in concert.

Now mostly, I would like to tell you about the concert itself, and how my heart sang with pure joy getting to hear San Dimas and IOU One Galaxy live.

But also, mostly, it's a story about how I met a boy.

I had originally planned on going to this show by myself. My mother was concerned about my car making it the trip back and forth from Orlando, so to humor her I found a friend to accompany me.

This friend cancelled on me the day before. (Don't worry, he got his. The night before the concert, so the same day he bailed, his car got towed. And he had to pay 200+ to get it back)

When I go to shows I tend to wear as comfortable clothes as I can. Big ol' t-shirt. Comfy pants. Shoes I can stand in. Hair in a plain ponytail. Not this time. I wore my favorite outfit (jeans, dressy top with a short jacket) and flip flops. I had my best friend put my hair up all sassy. I wore dark makeup. I was trying something new.

So, I went to Orlando on my own. Not a big deal, I've been to Orlando several times. I've been to Downtown Disney alone (to see New Found Glory and Hello Goodbye and Saves the Day in concert! Eeee. Nearly a year later and I still lose my shit at the thought of it)
However, one thing I didn't realize about this particular trek to Orlando. I was headed to downtown Orlando. Something I didn't know until I was in downtown Orlando yelling "OH MY GOD I'M IN DOWNTOWN ORLANDO"

Side note: I realize for most, this isn't a big deal. Driving downtown in a big city ain't no thang. But to me, it is. I rarely get on the interstate, and I never drive downtown anywhere. Prior to moving to Florida, I had never been on three lane highway. So ending up in downtown Orlando was sort of a disaster.

But, I didn't get lost! This is a big deal for me. I get lost everywhere. I successfully found the parking lot. Paid to park, found a primo spot where I could just drive right out. (To be fair, there were 7 cars in the lot when I got there)
I headed off from my car in search of the club. Walked past it twice. Then, being super cool, I walked right into the place like I owned it. To realize, the doors weren't officially open yet and I needed to get the hell out of there.

So I went outside were two guys were sitting outside the door. I asked them if they were waiting for the Ataris show, which they were. So I stood next to them and did what any self respecting 20-something does when wasting time. I started tweeting.
I am famously early for shows. I tend to be 3-4 hours early. At least. Thankfully I was only an hour and a half early this time. I would've looked a damn fool.

The guys that were sitting outside were hilarious. I had them pegged at about 15, but they were definitely the high point of waiting in line.
After a while it became apparent that I was going to be standing with them a while, so I started chatting them up. Mostly because I was bored, but also because I wanted to know how old they really were.

The loud one was 16, so I wasn't far off with him. The quiet one turned out to be 23, and I felt sort of bad for thinking he was so young.
When I asked how old they thought I was, I had to laugh. The 16 year old said, "I'd say twenty-one. But judging by the outfit... eighteen."
I laughed and laughed. Then I thanked him for the compliment, but alas. I'm 25.
At this point the 23 year old stood up and started a conversation with me about music.

The three of us had a good time (Or, I had a good time with them) in line. We had witty banter about people in line with us and the cars we drive. The 23 year old turned out to be originally from New York, and when I said I was originally from Michigan we had a good time making fun of natural Floridians and their lack of grammar and spelling skills. If that wasn't enough to win me over (I love a fella with good grammar), 23 year old was the first person that when I mentioned I play the ukulele, he didn't laugh. I was crushing hardcore.

When the doors finally opened at 8:30 we headed inside. Now, normally when I go to a show I find a spot in the front of the stage and stay there for the night. However, my com padres for the evening headed up to the balcony and having nothing better to do, I tagged along.

Hanging out in the balcony is fun, as it turns out. You get a great view of the stage, the sound quality is amazing (the front row is distorted most times because it is so loud. Not to sound old.) there's good people watching. Delightful.
So upstairs we started talking about other shows we'd been to. 23 year old asked me who was playing over the PA, and I suggested some songs and albums by the band (Alkaline Trio). We all got very excited about an upcoming Jimmy Eat World concert.

Then the show began.

The first band was local, and apparently a last minute squeeze in. They had good stage presence and were alright. They were pretty much every band that plays in any hometown. They had good sound, but there wasn't any magic there. The people there to see them loved them because they knew the guys and had that sort of loyalty to them. Meh.
They got booted off the stage during their last song. The mikes got shut off. Cracked me up. My sister had texted me during the show, and I mentioned how they got booted. My sister has a kind heart and said, 'Those poor guys. I hope they don't give up on music and keep trying'.

Right towards the end of the first band's set, 23 year old asks me if I know what beer the bar has. I said I know they have a 2 for $5 deal on PBR. He asked me if I wanted to split it and I said sure. Normally, at shows I do not drink. I don't smoke. I don't even go to the bathroom. I stay right where I am and get into the music. If the band is good, I won't even text. But again, I was trying something new. So I slammed my beer (Cuz PBR is nasty and I'm not a beer drinker in the first place) and bummed a smoke off of 23 year old. Then I proceeded to be drunk for the next two bands. It. Was. Awesome.

The second band was really great. Don't Panic from Pennsylvania. Their music is super catchy, they're fun to watch. They covered "American Girl" by Tom Petty and instantly stole my heart. The lead singer was a trip to watch, he was all over the place, tapping his foot while playing guitar, mad man. Loved them. Right before they went into a song the lead singer goes, "This next song's about a girl. ... FUCK GIRLS!" Awesome.

The next band up was the lead singer of Gasoline Heart, Louis DeFabrizio, by himself. I've been following him on the ol' twitter a while. He's super funny. The videos I've seen of him performing were delightful, kind of Bruce Springsteen-y.
He was pretty much the same on stage. Really snarky, really really talented. I can't wait to see Gasoline Heart again on Dec. 10th!

Right before he finished his set, Louis made a comment about being the opening band. He had the Ataris come on stage with him for a few songs. Then he said, quite brilliantly, "I know how this is for you guys. I'm like, the guy you really like and you're having a lot of fun making out with me. But you just want to get to the point and get straight to fucking. Well, I promise you, penetration is coming".
What an awesomely honest thing to say about being the opening band.

The Ataris came out and it was just like I had hoped. They were hilarious and played almost all of my favorite songs. I screamed my guts out singing every single word.
Some drunk guy came and stood up on the balcony for a while. And every few minutes he'd lean over and say something asinine. Like "It sounds better up here, doesn't it sound better up here?". Dude, I don't know. I've been here all night. I don't know you, go away. Then my favorite, "Have you ever seen the Ataris before? But you've like, heard of them, right?". No, I have never heard of them, I'm just singing to every word. Weirdo. Stop breathing in my face.
They played all their famous songs, San Dimas High School Football Rules, Takeoffs and Landings, In This Diary, Your Boyfriend Sucks, IOU One Galaxy, Unopened Letter to the World. (To my dismay, they didn't play Looking Back on Today, which is my personal favorite Ataris song. And they didn't play Boys of Summer, which isn't really their song, but I love their version of it)

At the end of the set we headed back downstairs and maneuvered our way to the merch tables. I was really stoked to get a copy of The Ataris new 7" vinyl. I got to meet the lead singer of the Ataris, Kris Roe. And was disappointed when he was too busy trying to get some other guy to buy the 7" than talk to me when all I wanted to do was thank him for a great show.
I stopped to talk to the Don't Panic guys, who were nice enough to let me gush over how awesome they were while I bought their CD and tshirt. They were really nice, and made a point of saying they had seen me rocking out up in the balcony. Very nice fellows.

Then we were outside, me and my two homeys for the evening. We had the awkward saying goodbye, where we made vague comments of "Maybe we'll see you at another show..". There was a very High Fidelity moment where we realized we had parked in opposite directions. Never one to let a good pop culture reference pass me by, I quoted the movie and said "Ah, so it is." And off we went.

Then I heard a "Hey!" and turned around. 23 year old smiled and yelled, "Jimmy Eat World!". I grinned back and yelled, "Jimmy Eat World!". Ah, so it is.

My trek back home was mildly uneventful. I had to figure out how to find my way back to I-4. Had a serious debate with myself whether or not I should stop for some drive-thru, only to wait till I got home to eat a bologna sandwich.

It was a fantastic night. Definitely one for the record books.

A week later and I'm still thinking about the boy I met. Meeting a guy who you can hang out with for 5 hours and it not be awkward is amazing, for anyone. Most times after 5 hours with my best friends I feel like I should take off just so I don't annoy the shit out of them. But with 23 year old, I was comfortable hanging out with him, and it wasn't awkward having to bellow into his ear so he could hear me. Like we'd always been going to shows together.

Maybe I'll see him at the Jimmy Eat World concert. Or perhaps I'll run into him at the Gasoline Heart show in two weeks. Or maybe there was just one night with a really cool guy at an awesome show. And that's all it will be.

As much as I tend to prattle on about dating and love and how I'm holding out, I really mean it. But every once in a while when you meet a guy, and there is a small sense of magic, you can't help but hold out hope that it'll work out in the end.