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I Was Always on the Out/ Now I'm on the Inside

Who: moe.
When: October 27, 2004 & October 28, 2004
Where: Riviera Theater/ Tonawanda, NY & State Theater/ Ithaca, NY
With: Ben & Mike? One or the other? Both? Jenn in Tonawanda, maybe?
Of Note: Occasionally, I like to pretend that maybe, just a little, I'm kind of a bad-ass. I'm not.




This is a tale of two moe. shows.  October 2004 was interesting. It was my first semester of MBA school; I had just started my first marketing internship. I was over my undergraduate graduation nervous breakdown and hell-bent on making sure I wasn't in the same unemployable boat when I finished MBA school. Being in classes felt good. When moe. announced fall tour dates, I was all over it.

I remember thinking it was kind of a weird venue - Riviera is a theater where you would see like, a community production of Nunsense or something. It had been a while since I'd seen moe., the previous year's fall tour, I believe. I remember that it felt good just to be there, like it was where I was supposed to be.

The setlist that night was amazing - it hit so many of the songs I absolutely love and not many that I don't. From the opener of 'Okayalright' through the closing encore of 'TGORM', it was full of my favorites. 'Buster', 'Mexico', 'Hi & Lo', 'Timmy Tucker', 'The Faker'.... The crowd was dance-y and excited, the band was having a great time, I was slowly but surely figuring my life out, and it was a good night. (You can listen to the set here.)

The next day, during a break between classes, I looked it up and moe. was playing that night in Ithaca. There were still tickets. The night before had been so good and the draw of going again was strong.

During the first semester of MBA school, they put you in groups of 5. You have your four (five?) core classes with that group and have to do all your group projects with them. Those who ended up in a sub-par group had a substantially more difficult first semester than those who ended up in a super-star group. My group? My group was amazing. Now, I don't like to brag, but I was probably the best person ever to be on a group project team with. (Prior classmates care to chime in here?) I'm neurotic, committed to excellence, and willing to pick up whatever slack others left. That first semester, though, I was in a group with four other people who were a lot like me. CTG5 - this is a shout out to you!

As I mentioned, that fall, I started my first marketing internship. I was only a few weeks in and was still working out some scheduling kinks. As I sat in Jacobs between classes, I noticed that I had double booked myself that afternoon. I was supposed to be in two places at once - in a school group meeting and at my internship. I looked at the ticketmaster site again. I made an executive decision.

I emailed my group and told them I was a moron, had double booked, and was supposed to be at work that afternoon (technically, true). Then, I emailed work and told them that I was a moron, had double booked, and was supposed to be at school that afternoon (again, technically, true). I bought a ticket to the concert in Ithaca and off I went. I felt like a bad-ass. It's one of the only times I've ever thrown that much caution to the wind and been irresponsible.

The second night was almost as good, though contained fewer "ahhh!thisismyveryfavorite" songs. I remember being really excited about 'Captain America' (always!) and 'Stranger than Fiction'. I think the concert felt extra special because it was impulsive and because I felt like I was getting away with something. Plus, State Theater is such a fun venue and there aren't many better places to see a jam show than Ithaca. I spent Thursday night in Corning, at my mom's. That week-end I went out for Halloween dressed as the Curse of the Bambino and almost got into fights with a whole lot of assholes dressed like Johnny Damon.

Sometimes, I really miss MBA school.

Comments

  1. Yeah I think that was me ! I remember going and I remember being sick . But I wanted to go because I had never seen now b4. They were great ... But man I suck how many times have I been sick at concerts ! ?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well, again, your illness must not have effected me much; I don't remember it! But man, I suck...how many times have you been sick and I haven't let it impact me at all? :-P

    ReplyDelete

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