Remember when I said that beach recap posts would start today? Well, I can’t exactly tell you all about our trip without telling you how we spent the night before! Way back in January, I bought Josh concert tickets for his birthday and we finally spent a fabulous weekend in Atlanta in March. When I bought those tickets, there was nothing closer to us, but right after their newest album dropped a whole host of new dates were released. And guess where Houndmouth was playing?
Our plan had been to drive down to the beach on Wednesday evening, but we decided quickly that Thursday morning would work just fine. We enlisted Josh’s brother and his wife to join us (even though they had never heard of the band) and were super excited for a mid-week double-date. Josh and I debated where to eat, but ultimately decided that something quick and within walking distance was our best bet. We grabbed (THE BEST) barbecue at Saw’s in Avondale and sat outside for dinner. The venue was across the street and we had an eagle eye on the door to make sure we were first in line. Because we’re ridiculous like that.
We ended up grabbing a coffee in the next door lounge and waited (for several hours) for the doors to open. I had my back to the room and Josh almost coughed up his coffee when the incredibly beautiful, Katie Toupin just strolled right behind our table. She had a photoshoot on the street right outside our window and we debated how silly we would look if we approached her. Our decision was made for us when she was swept away backstage and Josh fussed at me for not just dragging him out the door. Fortunately, after a quick wardrobe change she was on the street again. We walked outside and waited for her to finish up before asking for a quick photo. Y’all, Josh was GIDDY. I know I shouldn’t fuel his obsession, but I kind of have a girl crush on Katie myself, so we’re even.
Let me give you a tiny bit of background information. Josh and I were joking around months before the show about how you can’t ever be the guy who wears the band t shirt to a show. “That guy” always shows up and you wonder if his musical repertoire is any larger than the one band he’s supporting. He asked me if I would make him a custom tee with some sort of reference to a lyric and if that would be socially acceptable to wear. I ended up making this shirt with a reference to his favorite song and he tweeted it to the band a few weeks before the show. He said if any of them re-tweeted, we would bring another shirt to share. Well, much to his delight, Katie tweeted the tee within a few hours and I had to have another printed. Fortunately, she did not think we were stalkers and was a great sport. She joked that they needed to be selling these at the shows. Ummm, yes.
We were first through the doors and snagged a spot front and center for the show. And as if meeting Katie wasn’t cool enough, more ridiculous things kept happening. Josh recognized some guys in the crowd from the March show and we quickly made friends. Then, they realized he was wearing the shirt and said “Oh my God, you’re that guy from Twitter!!” Our real-life friends were starting to think we were groupies. The opening band was actually fabulous, but when my brother in law didn’t hear the name of their band, I turned around and repeated it at the top of my lungs. Right as the band stopped playing and it was pin-drop quiet. I turned around to find the lead singer locking eyes with me and mocking my southern accent in the nicest way possible. He later asked for my name to introduce me to the crowd since everyone in the venue heard me speak. He and Josh had a funny exchange about how I was off-limits and then we bought them a round of drinks and got to meet them all after the show.
We had such an amazing place to stand and the show was hands down, the best small-venue show I’ve ever been to. The band was so gracious and they sang all of our favorite tunes. And in case I’m not conveying to you exactly how close I was to all of the action, here is a quick clip of Matt getting right in my face during a guitar solo. It was insanely cool.
And in true fashion, we waited long enough and yelled at their tour manager enough times, that we managed to add a second set list to our collection. We’ve nabbed one from two of the four band members, so I’m guessing that means we need to see them at least two more times (Mobile and Athens, anyone?).
Of course, I had to add two more t-shirts to my concert collection, Josh was a bad boy and grabbed the summer concert poster from the men’s bathroom and I most definitely grabbed three more koozies so that everyone in our house would stop fighting over mine!
I’m sure that we are those “middle aged people” that all of the college kids were making fun of, but we couldn’t have cared any less. We had an absolute blast and could not stop grinning from all of the funny things that happened over the course of night. We laid in bed for another hour rehashing everything and looking through all of our photos and videos one more time. It’s too bad that when 5 o’clock rolled around we were not really excited about driving to the beach on three hours of sleep. Let’s just say it wasn’t our finest hour. Fortunately, a little salty air, some yummy food and a nap were the only things on our agenda for Thursday and by Friday morning we were beach bound with our pretty girls. Beach photos to come TOMORROW!
