This is My Life Sometimes

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Before I start, this may get confusing, so I made a quick flow chart with everyone mentioned in this post and their respective bands by year.

Now that you can kind of see how everyone knows each other, I'll begin my recap of this weekend.

As I’ve mentioned many a time before, one of the joys of my life is going to see concerts. And some of my favorite bands to see live are any of Jimmy Murn’s many projects. I first became of fan of Introversion in 2000, and my friend Theresa became a fan of The Saturdays a year later. When Jimmy created a new band a couple years ago (Jimmy Murn + The Heymakers), added Jason to the lineup this year, and scheduled a Milwaukee gig (they’re based in Madison), Theresa and I knew we wanted to go.

For some reason, we were a little nervous, which was silly because these are seriously the nicest guys. When we got to the bar where they were playing, I went up and said hi to Jimmy right away. It took him a couple seconds to figure out who I was (bangs make you incognito, Theresa and I realized), but then we had a nice little chat.

Then I went to the bar with Theresa to hang out until the show. At one point, Jason walked by, and I was like, “Do you remember me?” Since it had been so long, I wasn’t terribly surprised that he didn’t remember who I was. I looked a little different now with the bangs, makeup, and well-groomed eyebrows. He said he remembered I existed, but that’s about it. Haha. But we also had a short chat, and I introduced him to Theresa.

Jason and me

Although I look completely sloshed there, that was only after one drink. Maybe a drink and a half. Having a small dinner and low tolerance will do that to a person, heh.

Jimmy also stopped over to catch up with Theresa a little bit later.

Shortly before the show started, a guy sat next to Theresa and started talking to us. He said he was an Introversion fan back in the day, and later said he played with The Saturdays. I guess I was also guilty of not recognizing people because it took me until he said that to realize that he was Chris from I Voted for Kodos and The Saturdays. So it was fun reminiscing with him, too.

me, Chris, Theresa

When they Heymakers went on, I led the three of us to the front row. I mean, most of the crowd was sitting at tables off to the sides, so it was really the only row, but whatevs. They played music from their new CD – only one of the songs we recognized, which they dedicated to the front row (woohoo!).

Then afterwards, we went outside to hang out and take some pictures before we all headed off.

Theresa and Jimmy

Mike, Jimmy, and Jason

We convinced them to do a pyramid.

On our drive home, Theresa and I were debating whether to check out their CD release show the next night in Madison, an hour or so drive away. When I got the OK from the hubs (I love you for putting up with my craziness most of the time, dear!), we decided to go for it.

Saturday night, I met Theresa at her place and watched a video of my 18th birthday party, when Introversion played in my basement, while she finished getting ready. Then we headed to Madison.

The venue was easy to find, but the locating the door to go inside proved to be a bit more challenging. When we finally realized it was in the back of the building, we went in and found Jimmy behind the merch table. His eyes lit up, and he was shocked that we had come. He even said we made his night, aww.

Since this was a much bigger show with lots of friends and family around, Theresa and I didn’t talk to the guys much beforehand other than my getting a quick hug from Jason on his way to the stage and maybe saying hi to Mike. But that was fine; we amused ourselves at the bar again.

We hid in the crowd and enjoyed another great show and a dedication to “Rebekah and Theresa, who came all the way from Milwaukee,” or something like that. I was geeking out because it was an Introversion song, but unfortunately, Theresa didn’t recognize it. I must remember to lend her the CD next time I see her.

After the show, Jimmy invited us to a diner to grab a bite with a bunch of people. Theresa and Jimmy got to talk more there, and we all got to experience the hilarity that is Jimmy’s sister, Molly. It was a little after 3 AM when we headed home, and Jimmy felt bad that I had a long journey even after I dropped Theresa off, so he gave me a T-shirt. Woohoo! Works for me.

What I found really interesting is how Jimmy described how different each of the shows felt for him. He said at one of the two shows, he could feel all the lyrics as he was singing them; but at the other one, he was more aware of everything going on and wasn’t as connected to what he was singing. He worded it better, but it was still interesting to hear things from a musician’s point of view.

I know some of you are in the Chicago area – I highly HIGHLY recommend you check out their show tomorrow (Wednesday) night at The Live Wire Lounge. Tell ‘em I sent ya. Oh I also may have a couple Ohioans reading this. Monday, June 11 at Now That’s Class in Cleveland. They also have a few more east coast dates in June.