Sketchism

So the concert was a blast. Everything seemed to line up the way I was hoping for. My art history class was finished a full hour early on Thursday evening, which gave me a head start on arriving in the broward area for the concert. But before I could go and start frantically moshing away, I had to make sure to pick up my buddy Justin who lives 5 minutes from the venue. After driving a good 45 minutes in the sizzling traffic with a broken air conditioner, I finally arrived at Justin’s where my dinner awaited me. I scarfed down 2 home-made burgers and a few cold glasses of water and we were out the door. I was so excited!

We arrived 5 minutes later, eager to hear the music surround us. We stepped into the freezing auditorium (yes!) and there were my fellow Roper fans. Not one recognizable face, but hey I’m there for the music anyways. To my right was the souvenier booth filled with stickers and t-shirts and cds and posters. Cha-ching, out went my wallet. I’ll have that shirt, thank you very much, oh and please hand me some of those awesome stickers, and throw in a bottle of water while you’re at it , I’m absolutely parched. One of the booth attendants was the lead guitarist with the really cool beard. I proceeded to ask him how the tour was going so far and how were they getting used to playing together, being a new band and all. He said they were enjoying it very much, still exhausted from all the practicing they did before they left Colorado a week before. Awesome, nice to meet ya, man.

Two opening bands performed, making me want to hear the familiar tunes of Roper even more. An hour passed and as I was walking back into the auditorium from talking on the cell-phone with my brother, I saw the legend himself, Reese. Excited, I went inside eager to see them begin their set of music. The second band was already packing their stuff up and Roper was beginning to connect their amps and guitars up. Reese brought his mono-synth board to the front and played with a bit. A few sound checks followed, turn my mic up a little, can ya lower the bass just a tad bit, thanks. A young man with a blue shirt gets on stage…

“Flamingo Road Church welcome for the very first time in Ft. Lauderdale the great Roper”

The audience went simply wild, including myself. I was in the front row, staring at the guitar strings of the bearded fellow I met just minutes before, shoulder to shoulder with other fans of the new tunes. Reese began singing and the party started. The crazy kids behind me began their mosh/skanking circle but I could care less. I knew the new lyrics, so I sang along, watching every step of the band members, every stroke of a key, every thump of the drums and crash of the cymbals.

After a good hour and a half of jamming out and skanking it was all finally over. Or so I thought. The music was done, their instruments now beginning to unplug and return to their sticker-infested cases. I struck up conversations with all the members except the drummer man. After talking to the band, I set out to meet the road manager, whom I had been in contact weeks and days before to promote their album online. When someone pointed her out to me, I came up and introduced myself and she was excited to meet me. She thanked me for helping them out and the conversation went on. She told me about the tour, the struggles so far, the perks, the fun members. Then she offered me a free t-shirt for helping out. Thanks!

The time flew by and it was time to go. I was the happiest 19-year old in Broward county. I would flaunt my t-shirts in the following days and retell the story to my close buddies and brother. “There I was…”

All the music got me excited to learn about more bands. And since payday was just a few days away, I proceeded to purchase 6 other albums, 2 as gifts to birthday pals. It’s been a good weekend. I’m enjoying the sounds of Keane, Mute Math, Blindside, the Supertones, and Chevelle these days. It will be cool to catch their concerts one day. And then I’ll have stories from those experiences.