Now that I can think...

You know you had a damn good time at a hard rock/ heavy alternative concert when you wake up with a headache.

I had just gotten off work Saturday when I checked my phone. Three messages- one from Bobert, one from Drac, and one from Von. The first and the last were them asking if Drac and I were still interested in going to the Adair concert at Mississippi Nights. Drac's message was him saying that he missed me, and essentially that I wouldn't hear from him until after he got off work.

Dilemma: Do I stay at home and wait for him to call at eleven? Or do I go out to the concert with some friends, leaving a note for Dad to tell him to call my cell?

The decision was made with guilt in mind, but I finally coerced myself to take the aspirin Sunday in the evening as the end of my punishment. The headache sustained through church was enough to make anyone cry "Good Stepdaddy!" (Ask Drac. He knows.) I called Von from where I was, and hurriedly made my way home to change. (Pink turtlenecks aren't really what one would wear to Mississippi Nights.) As Laura had never actually driven to my house, they called back when they were closer, and I gave them better directions. They rolled onto my street just as I was putting on my shoes.

I was squeezed into the back seat with Von and Bobert, and from there we set about finding a route to Laclede's Landing. Afterhaving to stop at a bar for directions, and having to turn around at least once, We saw the great graffiti wall and knew that we were by the river. (The black water was sort of a dead giveaway too.) The absolute worst part of the night was standing outside Mississippi Nights, waiting for the doors to open. Cover was roughly two dollars more that what I had on me, so Von took care of it. (Thanks Von!) My hand was x-ed and I wandered in. Von located a table for us, and we commenced to waiting and listening to the music blaring from the speaker less than five feet away.

People filtered in little by little, and a small crowd gathered at the stage as the first house band showed up. Von pinpointed what made them so great- they were so disorganized it was funny. The lead singer was quick to point out the flaws as they cropped up, and apoligized for the quality. Oh, and broke the mic, too. They really weren't all that bad, though. "GameTime" was the second band of the evening. Personally, of the three, I liked them the best. There was more than one singer, and they actually sang verses more the screaming into the microphone. If they had an album out in St. Louis, I'd be the first to buy it. To top it off, they did a cover of the theme from "King of the Hill". I mean, who can beat that?! The third wasn't much to shout about, but the lead vocalist shouted a lot anyway. Bobert and Lonnie wanted a mosh pit to start, but every time Bobert actually drummed up the courage (motivation?) to get down there, any violence was gone. Oh, and the lead was going on about how he was planning to die just before he found out he had a gig. It became a running theme... worked well with their angst, though. My ears were so far gone after them, I didn't think I would be able to hear Adair- Boy was I wrong.

Adair was awesome. By the time that they started, the smoke from both the audience and the stage began to filter the lights into collumns of illumination. Von and Bobert made their way down to the rest of the crowd to listen up close. I sat on a wooden railing for most their act. I couldn't help but get into the music a little. Everyone did. There were people singing, people

Over the course of the evening, Von had told me a little bit of the history that she and Bobert had with Mississippi Nights. They met at an Adair concert. They finally admitted their love at an Adair concert. So the concert had a great deal of meaning for them. It also had me checking my cell every ten minutes or so... just in case Tom called. I had this innate urge to leave a message with music blaring behind my voice, saying that I wished he were there. Too bad his cell doesn't have voice messages set up.

After the concert, Von, Lonnie, Lauren, and Bobert all took me by the South Grand Coffee Co., just to kill time for a little bit and let me get a chance to see it. Von introduced me to some of her friends there, Anna, this one guy who looked like Legolas (Don't ask me why. I don't know), and at least two or three others that I couldn't remember the names of. (Since I'm awful with names to begin with, so I probably got some else's wrong again.)

I got home about one or so, and with proof that timing truly is everything, Tom called. He had apparently fallen asleep at a friend's house while watching Scarface, which was just as well.

Given the chance, I'd go see them again in a heartbeat. I'd just borrow Athene's earplugs beforehand.