We love a good concert. We waited all day in line for U2 (front row!), brought friends to Hartford to babysit Cool Boy while we saw Coldplay, and stayed out way late to watch The Last Royals cover U2. And then this, which earned a coveted “You guys are crazy” analysis from our friends.
On Monday, we got up at the usual too-early time to the rhythm of Cool Newbie banging on his door like a newly jailed inmate. It was a full day of child-rearing and work. Then at 8pm, we started stuffing clothes and baby monitor components into duffel bags. By 9:30, we were piled in the car with said bags, driving west. Thirteen hours later, we were in Indianapolis.
This sudden escape from NYC started with a tweet, or maybe it was a Facebook update. One of our fave bands, Eisley, posted that they were going on a little mid-summer tour. Yes, we’d just seen them in March, but they were good; I was ready for Round 2.
To my chagrin, all of the dates were in the Midwest. And then I remembered that they wouldn’t be back in NYC until 2013 to support the new album they’re currently recording. Man…
But one tour date stuck out to me: July 11, Indianapolis, IN. We have good friends there (whose couch I’m currently lounging on). I immediately confirmed our friends were going to be home that week and snapped up two tickets. (And confirmed the trip with Cool Mum after the fact. That’s a whoops.)
I wouldn’t recommend driving through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana in the dead of night, but we had a good reason: We didn’t want the Cool Bros to be strapped in their car seats for 13 straight waking hours. How much better would it be for them to sleep through most of the ride? Which they did.
I essentially sacrificed one night of sleep, but I barely felt it. A large can of mocha Starbucks frappa-something with a double shot of espresso kept me going. (I’m not a coffee drinker, but the stuff worked.) And then breakfast at Chick Fil-A confirmed that this trip was part of God’s perfect plan.
I tweeted this to Eisley during breakfast:
Their reply:
How true. Love for good music, good performance, and those who can create both.
As a bonus, I was able to set up an interview with the band, so we chatted with them at the venue for about 20 minutes! The interview will be posted at a new blog I’m editing that launches in a couple of weeks.
After the interview, CM and I had a dinner date at a Thai place, which the band actually ate at right after we left. I was in a hurry to get back to the venue for a front row spot. At 5’5, we need front row to get a view of something other than the shoulder blades of the people ahead of us.
The show opened with the young and melodious Merriment, who dedicated their last song to “the people who drove 13 hours” to see the show. (Crazies.)
As anticipated, Eisley delivered an excellent show. (FYI, Stacy (keyboard) and Chauntelle (guitar, on the left) are pregnant!) Here’s a video of their song “Mr. Moon” off of The Valley:
This band makes marvelous music, and they’re one cool family. You should really be a fan. You might as well since we’re just gonna keep bringing ‘em up!
I feel the same way.