Never A Silent Night

#46. Go to 50 concerts of 50 different bands/musicians (3/50)

Concert Number 3:

02/17/2015 At The Showbox Market (Seattle, WA)

Motion City Soundtrack w/Special Guest William Beckett

Aww yes, Motion City Soundtrack. Motion City Soundtrack is one of my favorite live bands. I know I have a lot of “favorite bands” but really, I listen to great music and there is so much out there that it can’t be helped. I found out that MCS was doing a Commit This to Memory  anniversary tour and the venue just so happened to be The Showbox Market where I get one free pair of tickets/month. I knew my friend Allison would be down for the show so I told her I would request tickets. (If you haven’t noticed by now, we go to a lot of shows together. She is definitely one of my top concert buddies and hang out friends.) Thanks to my awesome and completely badass contact Whitey, tickets were granted and we were set.

A couple of years ago, Allison had done this great drawing symbolizing each of the members of MCS with their hair style (facial and on top of their head) and printed it as a poster. She was even able to get most of the guys to sign the poster at El Corazon. Unfortunately some of the guys were unavailable, so she was two signatures short coming up to this show. Well it turned out as luck would have it, Matt and Jesse were going to be hanging out across the street from the Showbox before the show and invited fans to stop by and drink and hang with them. Jesse was one of the missing signatures she needed so we decided to stop by.

We weren’t sure what to expect. Would they be be sitting at a table facing us, would they be in the middle, would there be a line, did we need passes/tickets/something? None of the above, it was actually a very very informal thing. Everyone was just in an open room off to the side of the bar. You walk in, grab a drink at the bar and sit wherever and hang. If you wanted to talk to one of the guys, you just went over and did so when there was an opening. Initiative was definitely required and for an introvert…it was kind of nightmare situation. Good thing I have always had a “sink or swim” attitude in my back pocket when it comes to social events.

A nice guy offered us some open space next to him and someone else (i think they may have been MCS’s manager or in somewhat attached to the event) suggested we grab some chairs and move them to that spot. So we grabbed some chairs and awkwardly sat there until Allison went to go grab us some drinks. The guy next to me seemed nice and started talking. I didn’t get his name but he kind of explained what was going on and when the person talking to Matt left, he told me that was my chance. So I moved over a bit and said hello.

I ended up talking to Matt for awhile. We have a mutual friend named Patrick and we ended up spending most of the conversation talking about how awesome Patrick is and how we both missed him. Next thing we know, they are letting the group know that the guys would be posing for pictures with everyone if people wanted. We take a quick photo and then head back to our seats. I strike up a conversation with the guy sitting next to us (different guy than previously mentioned). I had seen him holding a shirt while talking to the guys right before photo op time so I asked him if he got it signed and the conversation was started. We talked for a bit. Turns out he’s a big MCS fan but never met them before.

After the photo session concluded, Jesse came over and said “I know you must be tired of hearing this but, what did you do?” as he pointed to my boot cast. I told him it was ninjas. He laughed and said “Of course, I should have known.” We ended up talking to him and the guy next to us about music, beer (Matt and Jesse are in to craft beers and try to hit a brewery at every tour stop), tattoos, art, and his move to CA. It started to get late and the guy next to us had already left, so we said goodbye to Jesse and made our way to the show. Their show. hahaha

We missed the first band, but go there in time for William Beckett. I had loved Academy Is and was bummed when they broke up. Allison hadn’t been able to eat so we went into the bar so she could get good. But once William started, I really wanted to be on the floor so I told her I was going to go down there for awhile. William played a mix of solo stuff as well as Academy Is classics. You could tell that there were Academy Is fans in the crowd because they sang along to quite a few songs. It was interesting hearing him play everything solo and acoustic, still good though.

Up next was MCS. The crowd was pumped. So pumped that I had to move from my spot because a really enthusiastic fan jumped on my boot a couple times. Thank goodness I work it. We moved to the side, which actually got us closer and a much better view. Jesse has energy, EN-ERRR-GEEE, ENERGY! He was more pumped than the crowd, and that is saying a lot. I love watching him play keys. Dancing, jumping, headstands, hes an all around bad ass. Justin was on fire as well. Vocals sharp, witty banter, great front man. Claudio was rocking those drums, Matt keeping it real on the low end with his bass and Josh killing it on guitar. When they played This is for Real I couldn’t help but join in on the dancing and jumping (on one foot). I also sang at the top of my lungs for most of their set and danced like no one was watching, and really, I dont think they were. Eveyrone was dancing and jumping. They played a mix of old and new. Highlights for me were This is for Real, The Future Freaks Me Out and Make Out Kids but everything was great. I wouldn’t pass up the chance to see them again live (like I ever do), plus I met a cute guy at the bar/show. The night was a win.

Pictures to be added.