If you knew I was dying, would it change you?

Hello. Chris Tucker here with another edition of "let's bore people with mindless details about shows they don't care about and then throw in random little info and thoughts at the end of the blog to try and make it semi-interesting." Go! :]

I went to this festival like show on April 19 called LU-palooza with Rachel and Heather and a bunch of kids with names I can't remember. We went to Denny's beforehand and I ate pancakes awkwardly. Anyways, the gig was at Lindenwood University, hence the LU. A lot of local bands opened. Not much to say for them. Steve Ewing, formerly of the Urge played a set. He's black. I did not know that till that day. The major bands that played were Treaty Of Paris, Eleventyseven, Punchline, and Secondhand Serenade. Treaty were cool, and I got to hang out with them a little being as how everyone I was with are either superfans or friends with the guys. We went to Taco Bell/Pizza Hut right before their set and ran into some kids going to prom, one of whom I'd known since gradeschool. Weird.

Eleventyseven played next. I never have liked them much, save a song or two, but for Ryne, April, and Kelly's sake, I watched them. They were fun and funny as I expected they would be. But I would never listen to them otherwise. Sorry guys. I still went ahead and introduced myself to Matt Langston after because I figure I'll be seeing a lot of him in the future. I caught the end of Punchline's set, waiting till I heard the opening of "Flashlight" to make my way back to the stage. They sounded as good as ever, and were probably my favorite of all the bands that played that day. I hardly watched Secondhand Serenade because they are a bad version of Dashboard Confessional. I missed the New Pornographers' set at the Pageant that night, which was a shame, but I'm sure they'll be back soon enough, hopefully with Neko in tow.

Wednesday was the AP Tour. I got there only a short time before doors and a sizable line had already formed, but I got in front. Rachel's took the ACT that day, and got off school early and secured a spot. So. I got up front. Strangely, everyone I knew was all in close proximity to me, so I felt very accepted and cool. Haha. My friend Sarah from Alton gave me a monkey. I was grateful. Okay, so we got in, and got a good spot. Shortly thereafter, Forever The Sickest Kids began sucking. Okay, so they weren't unbearable, but they're nothing special. Sonny Moore formerly of From First To Last, was next on the bill. He was playing his stuff more toned down, but it was a nice break from the uber hyper FTSK. And he seemed sincere, so I respected the guy. The most stylish band in rock, the Matches, were next. They sounded good, and were entertaining. My favorite, The Rocket Summer played fourth. I had made my way to second row, and maintained pretty good eye contact with Bryce throughout the show. He played a short set, and wasn't feeling good, but it was a lot of fun. I decided to stay in the pit for All Time Low. That band is too generic to even hate. But they're young, energetic, charismatic, and fun.

I finally caught up with Hope after the show and we walked around, eventually meeting Sonny Moore, Shawn Harris of the Matches, and ATL's Alex Gaskarth. I never did see Bryce walking around, but I was actually okay with it. It was warm enough to put down the top on the mustang, but nothing doing. Friday and Saturday is Agape Festival, where I'll be seeing my friends Emily, Victoria, Ryne, April, and Kelly. A lot of bad bands are playing, but Relient K is playing, so nothing else really matters. Sunday I'll have the pleasure of seeing Tegan and Sara, the infamous lesbian twin sister duo. That sounds redundant. Whatever. They're fantastic.

I'm just going to mention now that the title of this blog comes from a line in the song at the end of this blog. I listened to it last night and got waves of chills. It was very strange and surreal. You should listen to it for sure. I had a dream that I was riding around Missouri in a car with some kids I know, and the driver had8 beers. This morning we had an assembly about driving drunk. And drunk driving was the subject of an episode of the Simpsons tonight. Spooky. Only not really.

"There's someone out there for everyone." That's really been evident for me lately. It's almost heartwarming to see some kids who would typically be considered nerds managing to get friends, and even going on dates. I'm just happy they didn't just resign to what could have been a miserable high school experience. They went out and made a little joy in their lives and consequently, mine as well. Much like the cat who just walked across my porch. Twice. It's orange and it makes me smile. The Moon In My Basement (myspace.com/themooninmybasement)has shows coming up. One at The Red Sea, one at Cicero's, and one at The Creepy Crawl. So hooray for that I guess. I'm a little worried about it, because I'm my own worst critic and an elitist to boot, so I kind of demand perfection from myself, but regardless, it shouldn't be too bad.

One last pretty cool note, I got to ride on a Sherman tank from WWII the other day. It was on a field trip to Jefferson Barracks Cemetery to meet up with some WWII reinactors. My group was the first group to ride on the tank, and then the guy was told he wasn't supposed to give us rides. So, needless to say, we felt pretty great the rest of the trip. It feels so great riding on top of a huge tank and watching your classmates look on enviously as you salute them. Haha. This will be a story I will tell my children, and I think that is neat. Till next time.

Christopher Michael Tucker