Day Two

We woke up early this morning and started our familiar routine of getting ready in a Wal-Mart bathroom. It was kind of fun to get back to it, but at the same time we were so tired and anxious. The weather wasn’t the greatest—Very foggy as we drove through the Pennsylvania mountains. We eventually made it to Poughkeepsie, though. About a half an hour out we both got that familiar feeling in our chests—complete nervousness. We didn’t know what to expect with this show. We haven’t seen SP in so long. Thankfully, when we arrived no one else was in line, so that eased some tension immediately. We got in line around 1:30, which is late for us but it only meant the wait was shorter. After only a few minutes the lead singer of SP walked off the bus looking especially tired and grouchy. He stood there and smoked a cigarette for a bit before kind of stumbling over to us to say hi. It was very awkward, as we didn’t know how to act and he had obviously just stumbled out of bed. He said it had been awhile, it was good to see us, and walked off. We were happy that he remembered who we were and where we were from and how long it had been since we had seen them last, but at the same time there was a forced niceness that turned both of us off a little. It wasn’t that bad, but it was just different. That was that for most of the day.

Around 4pm I took off to find a bathroom. I ended up buying a sprite in this weird Chinese restaurant just so I could use the bathroom.  As I was peeing I got a phone call from J telling me to get back to the venue immediately with no explanation. I probably looked like an idiot trying to cross the street with my sprite in one hand and trying to make sure I got my shorts back up and my shirt down with the other hand. When I got back the line was gone and Jen was waiting for me at the door to the venue. The radio station had a meet and greet after sound check and invited us in. It was extremely awkward. We are in this position where we have seen them so many times that it is hard to be too “fan-girl” but it looks bitchy when we are nonchalant about the whole thing. I mean, most of the people in there were freaking out because they were so excited about meeting them, but J and I were just there like it’s another regular day. I know that sounds kind of mean but that is kind of how it is right now. The band was having technical difficulties and you could tell the lead singer was just bursting at the seams with anger. But J and I knew that he couldn’t let it out in front of the radio station winners. It was funny because we could read his face so well but no one else seemed to catch on.  

The rest of the day was uneventful. We finally got into the venue at 7pm. We got front row center. There was a local opening band and then Ten Years, who we’ve seen a lot. They were really great, but we were so nervous for SP that we didn’t enjoy it as much as we normally would have. We didn’t know what to expect with SP’s new music so we couldn’t anticipate anything. It was scary. They came on and it was a typical SP show. High Energy, moshing…whatnot. We decided to just go with the flow and let loose. We had the most fun we’ve probably ever had at an SP show because we decided to just not give a shit for once. Honestly, we just didn’t worry about looking too cool. We were sweaty and stupid and just playing around. Towards the end of the show Shim started to play around with us A LOT on stage. It was almost embarrassing because people were noticing.  It was so weird. I don’t know if he genuinely thought we were funny or amusing because we usually don’t act like that or if he was like mocking us. He usually does some little things to bother us because we don’t smile enough, but it was like our unusual playfulness made him all weird. We didn’t know how to respond. But It made the whole show enjoyable. We rated it an 8/10 overall experience.

We didn’t stay for the meet and greet after the show (a pact we made a long time ago) and we don’t regret a thing. As for our feelings towards the band………We aren’t quite sure. We definitely weren’t anticipating feeling so excited about them again and eager to see them again soon, but at the same time it’s not as intense. Things are still different. Mainly, the music and the vibe is different. They have changed as people and it shows during their live show. They are more into fashion and looking good. They don’t rock out as hard or sweat as much. That makes it hard to get into it as much as we had before. However, we are planning on sticking with their concerts whenever we can. We aren’t going to fall in love with their new album or make a point to change our schedules around to make it to every concert possible, but as of right now, we will plan on seeing them again in the future when we can. If not, we aren’t going to die over it. We still have two shows though and things might change even more. But right now we are just a little more confused than when we started this trip.

A&J