the national

last nite, jessica and justin graciously came over to watch the boys so that dave and i could go out for the evening.
we first headed to fuddruckers to meet up with our friends jeremy and sarah. we haven't seen jeremy since i was pregnant with talan and we haven't seen sarah since well before then so it was great to spend some time with them. my burger was incredible...i highly suggest the southwest burger.
after dinner, sarah headed for home while jeremy headed to the brand new crofoot ballroom in pontiac with us to see the national. we were also meeting up with our friends eric and jennie shanburn and kevin brace at the show.
the crofoot ballroom was beautiful. the only problem was it's a bit smaller then st. andrews hall and the show was sold out. with my tendency to have panic attacks when around too many people, this did not help my cause. the only problem i saw with the venue was the fact that there was no real place you could go to just get away from people and still see the show. had my panic attacks gotten too bad, i could have walked out the door to the outdoor bar area which was also really cool. i somehow was able to keep it all in check though, possibly because the show was SO GOOD.
i usually end up going to shows and remembering why i don't like people. they are rude and have no consideration for anyone else around them. these are the drivers that i hate on the road as well. i am 5 feet 4 inches tall. that's not very tall. especially when you're packed into a club with 1000 other people, most of which are taller then that. but for whatever reason, at every show, i have the total idiots come and stand right in front of me. now, when i say right in front of me, i mean DIRECTLY in front of me. there could be no space at all between me and the person i am currently behind, but in walks the group of tall, usually borks, and they somehow squeeze right in front of me.
last nite was no exception. 3 borks and one of their girlfriends were more or less standing on my toes...as well as jeremy's. they were like big dogs that don't realize how big they are. but i think it's more that they don't care how big they are. even with all the sarcastic comments i made, they didn't move. well, they did move but it was always even closer to us.
i don't understand how people don't care about their own personal space. maybe it's because i need mine to an extreme, but i just don't get how you can be jabbing someone with your elbow and they act as if they don't even feel it.
so here i'm complaining and making it sound as if i didn't have a good time, and that's not the case. last nite i kept my comments and looks to a minimum and i didn't even really do the elbow thing or throw any punches. that's something pretty big considering how many people were there.
the opening band was a band from detroit, zoos of berlin, and they weren't half bad. probably nothing i'd go out and buy but a welcome change from the countless HORRIBLE opening acts i've seen in my day.
then the national came on and they were incredible. truly. if you ever have a chance to see them, do it. i have seen many shows. shows that i'm glad i saw and would see them again. shows that weren't anything super amazing, but just good to see live. this is a show i would recommend to everyone, as long as you don't come and stand directly in front of me.
every year dave and i go to chicago for the 3 day music festival, lollapalooza. this year, the national is going to be there. one of the reasons we decided to go see them last nite was so that if they were playing at the same time as someone else we really wanted to see, we wouldn't feel bad missing them since we just saw them. well, after last nite's show, i'm not sure what i will do if they are up against someone else we really want to see. the show was so good last nite that i'm super excited to see them in an outdoor venue where it's wide open space with everyone dancing and NOT on my feet.
so the moral of the story is: if you are tall and go to a show, please be aware of others around you...you can see over top of other people, but people like me cannot. AND...go see the national if you get the chance. you will thank me.
thanks to jessica and justin for making last nite possible for us by watching the boys. especially since you had to wake up so early this morning for work, jess. seriously....you guys are the best.


jeremy, jennie, eric and dave:
the idiots. i plan on starting a website where people take pictures of idiots and post them. then people can write in like "i know that guy...and he IS an idiot!":


it was hard to get a good picture in there. these were the best. they show up better if you click on them:





dave and kevin after the show: