take the sadness out of saturday night

Take a good look at this obnoxious picture. These are the #schoolbusfires in a nutshell (although missing many members due to distance). Some may remember the namesake from the pandemic-era twitch stream days, but this is a group of friends that came together because of the Monolith all those years ago, primarily playing GTA Online and various Halos, but have since become a critical part of each other's lives. Sometimes I will share the ongoing bits or memes of the week with my girlfriend or the gang and they'll be astounded at the absurdity. I love them for it. 

I suppose this is just another one of those bits. 

We've kind of made it an annual tradition to go to a concert in the summer together. In the twelve years we've known each other, we've seen Twenty One Pilots, Decemberists, AWOLNATION, Lumineers, CHVRCHES, Misterwives, the Killers, Creed (yeah...), the National, Walk the Moon, and a handful of others... and somehow, multiple times, we've seen Bleachers. 

Around the same time as SBF's formation, I was gifted Bleacher's first album, STRANGE DESIRE, because I was over the moon for their first single I WANNA GET BETTER. I think everyone was that year. But damn did that pop hit just strike me differently, finding me in the darkest depths of the dark days. Since then, I've been a day one album kind of guy for anything they put out, and I've been loving it all the while. Even during the pandemic, I paid for the livestream event they did (because the world ended and all concerts, etc. were canceled that year) and though the memory is soured by my partner at the time (who ultimately shit on many things I liked and harshly judged me for the types of media I got hyped for: "...if I knew this was what you liked, I never would have talked to you..." - woof), it was still a key moment of lightness in that weird period. The Decemberists and Pilots had similar projects around that time that I also enjoyed. 

All of that is to say, I still never really thought that Bleachers were in my pantheon of "top tens," or whatever, but I had the realization this year that they absolutely are. Maybe even top five. The proof is in the pudding. 

So, when we started making plans to see them this year (I think I'm on my fourth or fifth show now), we wanted to contribute to the tradition and Make It A Bit. Not for Bleachers, but for the ongoing strength of the friendships in SBF. One of the boys sent a picture of the god-awful suits you see above and we were immediately all in. An old friend once joked that I had "trickster god energy," and I initially resisted the thought, but likewise think I must have some carney blood in my lineage somewhere, because it's true. Anything for The Bit. This sort of chaotic meme magic hit a high water mark the night of this concert. 

Plenty of people, some already drunk before the sun had even set, were in love with the garish suits and asked to take pictures. Plenty of others asked what the deal was, and we would only shrug. I recall perfectly the dumbfounded look a middle-aged dad wore when he saw me and one of the suits together, laughing that there were two of us... only for our third to come bumbling over. It was like he saw God. 

But then something that only happens to us when we're doing something particularly charged with meme magic occurred... as we were leaving the rows of concessions and intended on making our way to our seats, a woman sitting behind the wine stands stopped us, also gawking and laughing at the loud three-piece suits. She asked what the deal was and again, we shrugged and said, "Well, it's for the bit." No real reason. Then it was our turn to drop jaws. 

"Can I take a picture?" she said. "He'll love this."

We kind of just paused, unsure what she meant, but then obliged, as was our standard operating procedure that night. After we posed, she looked at the picture on her phone and offhandedly said, "That's awesome. Oh, I'm Jack's mom."

The front man of the band! How in the hell did we manage that. I didn't know how to react, but just grabbed my friends and laughed. We said we loved the band and it was nice meeting her, but then resumed our walk to the seats. What else was there to really say or do? I'm only left wondering what his reaction was if he ever did see our suits. How chaotic, how perfectly encapsulating of our nonsense. 

So, there's some levity to meditate on as we approach the end of summer. My birthday is on the 17th - and in my mind, that officially kicks off the Halloween season. Too soon? Don't care. Get ready for spooky. Thinking of doing a horror-movie-a-day marathon from the 18th until Halloween this year... have to ensure that Shudder subscription is active. I'm ready. 

Hope everyone is doing some good and being some weird. Really looking forward to a few trips and some incredibly exciting projects in the coming months and year. I'll see you soon.

We had to board up all the windows and shoot out the drones,
We took that sadness right from Saturday night- 
Now only my people can see me,
Only my people come in.
Everybody outside talking like they know,
But no, they don't know- 

~ dirty wedding dress, bleachers