wow.

a year ago today...

mel and i drove to portland for a howie and o.a.r. show. we were supposed to see howie opening for them the night before in seattle, but, alas, he did not show for whatever reason. so this portland show was to be my first howie experience, and i was a bit anxious.

we got to the venue and walked upstairs to find a small group of people in front of the stage while howie was soundchecking. this slow smile crept across my face...he was right there. i remember after he finished whatever song he was playing, he said something to the audience, and i responded without thinking, and he laughed and said something back.

so then he left, and mel went and set up the taping gear and a little bit later the show started. he played 2 of the three songs i wanted to hear, disco and bunnies...he wasn't originally going to play bunnies, but had enough time to add it in. i just remember being in awe, actually seeing this guy who's music i'd adored for so long. and then the short 6 song set was over, and i was dying for more. completely unsatisfied. but still giddy.

when o.a.r. came on(we'd had a blast with them the night before, so i was excited to see them again), we noticed that howie went back to the merchandise window, so we headed over to have a little chat and, um, "buy some stickers." mel dissapeared for some reason...had to go get something out of his bag or something, leaving me to approach howie on my own. i really just couldn't do it. i walked over, and then turned around and started watching the band again. he then left the venue with some girl. mel came back and almost killed me.

so we headed back up to the balcony to check on the taping gear. grabbed a wonderful seattle kind joint with coconut papers(oh, how i miss that aspect of the northwest) and moved to a different part of the balcony to smoke it. backtracking...when we had come into the venue, i was searched more than i've ever been searched anywhere. every single compartment of my purse, all of my pockets, fully pat-down...never had that happen, let alone at this venue. portland is pretty liberal when it comes to this kind of stuff. so anyway...we start smoking and realize just how dank this weed is. the stench is not going anywhere, rather it was lingering over the entire balcony. about the time when i noticed a bunch of security coming upstairs, mel put the joint out and said "hey, why don't we, uh...go downstairs now." so we non-chalantly got up and walked past security and down the stairs.

we stood at the back of the crowd, stoned off our ASSES. i was feeling a little paranoid because of what had happened upstairs, but i figured it was the weed and decided not to mention it to mel. i wanted to get away from him for just a little bit(you know, in case he was being hunted by the feds or something) so i went to the bathroom. the lights were bright. my eyes were more than red, and i could hardly keep my balance i was so stoned. when i came back out, i decided the best thing to do would be to just dance and have fun and make any prospective cops think "hey, she looks harmless. she's having fun. and clearly not smoking any weed." couldn't find mel for a while, but when i looked up at the balcony i noticed security standing around his taping gear, talking to the people who were sitting there.

anyway.

at this point, the magic that is o.a.r. started seeping into my bones and has been there ever since. the show was amazing. they got EVERYONE in this venue dancing their asses off. completely commanded the attention of the entire place. mel showed up a little while later, and we gave eachother our "wow, they're fucking good" looks, and i just kept my paranoia in the back of my mind.

we went back up the balcony a while later, and sat and watched whatever the hell was going on on stage for a while. we were in complete awe of this band, convinced that we were witnessing what is bound to be the next dmb-type phenomenon in the process. i'm still quite convinced of that. they blew my mind. marc, the lead singer, has this incredible charisma that is so hard to find...and the band was just tight. in ways that at that point in time(pre 2002 tour) dmb was not at all tight.

so anyway.

show ends, security comes up and asks mel if that was his bag. he said yes, and they proceeded to look through his taping stuff. i was still thinking maybe i'd been a little paranoid but it gave me some validation.

we went downstairs to chit chat with the guys from o.a.r., but upon getting down there discovered that howie was down there too. we went and stood near him while a bunch of giggling girls had their pictures taken with him. and then...there it was...the first moment that i met howie. he came over, and at first was a little stand-offish, as i've since learned he can be, as he's rather uncomfortable meeting new people. but then we started chatting and he warmed up right away. a few more girls came over, more giggles, more pictures. and then we heard him talking about a last minute show he was going to be doing in pullman, washington, which is about 5 hours from seattle.

now. this news hit like a bullet. all we'd wanted was a full length all howie show. not this 6 song opener shit. so mel instantly starts asking him questions. and before i know it, we're on the guest list to this invite only show in a 100 person all seated venue. so howie says he's gotta go, but he'll see us the day after tomorrow, and mel and i proceed to leave the venue. we were fighting the laughter with all we had until we were out of earshot of howie, and burst out of the venue laughing and saying "what the hell just happened??!?!"

i wasnt gonna bring up the whole weed-scare thing because i figured mel would make fun of me for being paranoid. but when we got in the car and sat there for a while, processing the events of the night, he brought it up. he'd been spooked by the security people who came upstairs, so when we got downstairs and i went to the bathroom, he went as well. he shoved his sack with a small amount of weed and another joint up into a toilet paper dispenser.

later on, he'd gone back to the bathroom to get it, and discovered that the dispenser had been ripped off of the wall.

i still thank the gods for letting us not get caught. i wouldn't have discovered my now-favorite non-dmb band, and i wouldnt have met howie.

stay tuned for the story of my first full length howie show and the debauchery that occurred afterwards. ;)