last night's blue october show was an absolute triumph. amazing. anyway, here's a rundown of the evening.

andy and i left about 7, drove into dallas, found the place, waited in line. we learned firsthand that "doors open at 8" is always, always a lie. i think the line started moving around 8:15, not too bad, actually. we were in within a couple of minutes, since we were close to the beginning of the line. the gypsy tea room ballroom is a big open space with a stage, and a bar right smack dab in the middle. that was kind of annoying, you'd think they'd put it off in one corner, but there was still plenty of room. we situated ourselves not too far from the stage, but far enough to keep from being crowded while the opening bands were playing.

first up was far star, your average generic local rock band. nothing spectacular, but talented guys to be sure. then, after a lengthy setup period and sound check (i didn't know they could take that long, but whatever) tripp fontaine came out. these guys absolutely rocked. british haircuts, glam-rock pretension, some good music. the lead singer was an excellent performer, and the band was entertaining overall. good stuff.

then, after another setup and sound check (duh)... out came BLUE OCTOBER. fuckin' awesome. they played some stuff from their older album (consent to treatment) first, highlighted by an EXCELLENT version of independently happy (probably my favorite BO song ever). the thing that makes blue october so good is that they're not just generic rock. they have a fuckin electric violin. i think that ownz. anyway, after several older songs they launched into the stuff from history for sale, the cd that the show was a release party for, and which they handed out free at the door. Fuck yeah. (it's an awesome cd by the way, go out and buy it.) a lot of good moving songs. they don't sing about nothing. it's good. they played "calling you" about 2/3 of the way through their set, that song is awesome. the only thing i don't like about it is that it doesn't have that real blue october feel to it - the essence of the band is sort of missing. it's way generic. there's no violin, the lyrics don't have the feel to them that a lot of their other songs do. a lot of their songs have these lines that just kind of run on and use really big words and sound just a little off, but excellent in their own way. calling you doesn't really have that. but it's definitely got the sound to be a radio smash, and hopefully that'll get the boys' (and girl's) feet in the proverbial door. (yeah. the bassist that plays with them live is a chick. i don't think she's on the cd though. but still.)

the first song they played for the encore was "2am lovesick", which i'd almost forgotten about. i have it on my computer but i hadn't heard it in ages. it's an awesome song. "i walk like a burned-out porn star/with aching feet for a car/my buddy had a baby with a girl named Star/makes me appreciate how the little things are." a clever song. it's ancient, it's been around since like 1997. i think only a few people in the room cheered when he announced he was going to play it. i flipped out. made me feel hardkore.

there's something that i can't quite explain
i'm so in love with you
you'll never take that away
and if i said it a hundred times before
expect a thousand more
you'll never take that away

expect me to be calling you to see
if you're okay when i'm not around
asking if you love me
i love the way you make it sound
calling you to see
do i try too hard to make you smile
to make us smile

and i will keep calling you to see
if you're sleeping are you dreaming
if you're dreaming are you dreaming of me?
i can't believe you actually picked me

i thought the world had lost its sway (it's so hard sometimes)
then i fell in love with you (then came you)
and you took that away (it's not so difficult
the world is not so difficult)

you take away the old, show me the new
i feel like i can fly when i stand next to you
so while i'm on this phone
a hundred miles from home
i'll take the words you gave
and send them back to you

i only want to see
if you're okay when i'm not around
asking if you love me
i love the way you make it sound
calling you to see
do i try too hard to make you smile
to make us smile

i will keep calling you to see
if you're sleeping are you dreaming
if you're dreaming are you dreaming of me?
i can't believe you actually picked me

...good goddamn song. i love cute love songs. well, i guess that's understandable. <3