428 days.
428 days of not feeling like myself. 428 days of not feeling the bass in my soul. 428 days of not having stage lights illuminating my face. 428 days of not dancing around like a fool after having one too many drinks. 428 days since the last time I ran into some of my favorite people in the world. 428 since I’ve hugged said people. 428 days and that wretched streak has finally ended.
I seriously just wanted to ugly cry in the bathroom the second I walked into The Cabooze last night. The smell of The Cabooze is not a pleasant one (and it seems that even after over 400 days of being dark, they just couldn’t scrub out that stale beer smell) but it was oh so sweet last night. Even with the setup being changed a little bit what with some tables set up in front of the stage, the sight was just as familiar as the smell. The darkness had never been such a bright light in my world and as my friends and I set up at a table set off to the side of the stage, I couldn’t help but just stand there and take it all in-the smell, the sights, the sounds– I was in my happy place for the first time in 428 days. Okay, I’m done being mushy (probably not, but I’ll try). Let’s talk about the most important aspect of last night– the music.
I was a little surprised to hear that my buddy had joined a cover band. I’ll be honest, I hate cover bands. I’m such a brat and spoiled that I just don’t see the point in cover bands when I have seen the majority of the bands being covered already but, a show is a show and I needed something-anything to get my life back and this seemed like a good way to dip my toes back into the water. I knew I was in the right place when the first song of the night from Show Me Your Hits was a cover of “Boys of Summer” which I will always consider an Ataris song even though I know it’s not. Regardless, this opening track really set the tone of the night for my friends and me.
The song choice was all over the place. A few 80’s tracks, a few 90’s, and a whole lot of pop-punk, sure, I wasn’t actually seeing Fall Out Boy or anything but the mood in the room was electric as if I were seeing a huge band. Show Me Your Hits is full of super talented musicians and that was heard loud and clear as they played through multiple sets of all kinds of music. My distaste for cover bands didn’t last long as these boys pounded through song after song nearly flawlessly. It created a soundtrack that was perfect for my friends and me to sing and dance around to while having one too many drinks. Even if the band was playing an older track that I didn’t particularly enjoy, there was still a smile stretched from ear to ear just because of the whole mood in the room.
I could tell you about the judgment-filled eyes I hit the stage with when the band said they were going to play a song for all of the emo kids out there and then proceeded to play “The Middle” by Jimmy Eat World (which I wouldn’t really consider much of an emo anthem) or the slight disappointment in my head as things started to fall apart as they covered my signature Blink 182 song but honestly those moments just added to the ambiance. It had been 428 days but I instantly went into reviewer mode as I stood there with one eye on the stage, one eye on my friends, and my head in a fog of loud sounds and bright lights.
People were excited to be out. You could feel that and see it. People dancing, people smiling, people hugging- I honestly wish you all could have been in that room with me. Even if you’re like me and don’t typically think highly of cover bands, there was just something so perfect about the evening that I will never be able to put into words. After being cooped up for the past four hundred and some odd days, people were ready for a sense of normalcy and that’s exactly what you got if you stepped foot in The Cabooze last night.
Last night’s show was Show Me your Hits’ debut show and although I still stand by my dislike for cover bands, I would go see these guys any day. They don’t take themselves too seriously as a cover band, they have perfect song choice for a thirty-something like myself and they are damn good at what they do. Insider information here but these guys are working on stacking their calendar up with some amazing shows so make sure you keep an eye open on their calendar.
I wanted to write about the music. I wanted to write about how amazing the band was with a few critiques thrown in there but that’s not at all what last night was about. Last night was about breaking my heart-breaking 428-day streak. It was about seeing my buddy Jerrid behind the drumset. It was about hearing my friend Dane say that I was banned. It was about seeing my friends dancing around while smiling. It was about feeling that music in my heart and soul and feeling that familiar ringing in my ears. It was about getting back to a sense of normalcy and about getting my life and feeling a bit more like me.
428 days.
428 days of not feeling like me.
Day 429 and I finally feel alive again.
Line Up:
Venue: The Cabooze
Sausage Fest Meter- 7 out of 10
Smell-O-Meter – The sweet smell of The Cabooze
Average Age of the Crowd- 30
Crowd Surfers- None
Dance-ability- 10 out of 10
Stage Divers- None
Broken Bones- None
Spotted Flying Through The Air- Nothing
Fights- None Witnessed
Pukers- None Witnessed
Passed Out People- None Witnessed
Idiots Taken Out By Security- None Witnessed
How Many Times I’ve Seen These Bands Before (or at least how many times I can remember)-
Show Me Your Hits- 0
Celebrity Sightings- None
Overall Score- 10 out of 10
Show on Deck- Nato Coles & The Blue Diamond/ The Right Here/ Foxgloves/ Lutheran Heat
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