The Matches

HE DOES HAVE ABOUT THE EXACT SAME PAIR which is part of the reason I am getting them. e__e The other part is Raoul Duke from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas but that is semi-unrelated to The Matches (unless you're like me and you think that Shawn looks like Johnny Depp in which case it is relevant).

jack's mannequin.:

but I think she was too freaked out by his 'stache to notice anything else.

Where are you ordering those shoes from? They are stellar.

hmm, im not sure.
hopefully its doing well, its an amazing album.

yey I totally got my friend into the Matches today
now she's like "how come I haven't heard of them before? they're awesome"
xD

Oh boy do I have some stories to tell you guys.
I don't want to right now though because I'm talking to Crash about it... hehehee.

But! They did do an acoustic after the Glasshouse show on Monday. They played To Build a Mountain and Scratched Out, which was wonderful, and throughout the experience I was standing directly in front of the one and only Shawn Harris. It was divine.

... Let the story-telling begin! The majority of this is going to have been copied and pasted from my conversation with Medea so do excuse any... obscurities. Also, I let my grammarnazi behavior down when it comes to AIM so... prepare yourself for lowercase and nonsensicalities.
Oh and for future reference, Hayden = my sister's best friend who tagged along with me to the show, Lacee = fellow Matches creep who I met at a previous Matches show, Emily and Elizabeth = Matches creeps who I met on the 25th.

Monday the 24th~

The first thing that happened was almost immediately after we arrived at the venue I encountered Matt Whalen, with girlfriend in tow. I decided to let him on his way instead of pestering him, because I wouldn't want to be pestered if I was with a hawt chick. Picture of us is as follows...



Then! the Matches were doing a signing before the show started, so me and my friend Lacee lined up for the signing... we were first. 8| stoked. they signed the cover of my sketchbook, which was fabulous, and when I suggested that Shawn and Justin could draw little doodles on the cover, what else could they draw but a "doo-doo"dle. it's only logical. I... left my sketchbook at my uncle's house or I'd show you it, i guess.

Directly after the sketchbook signing, Lacee and I hung around waiting for them to finish up talking to everyone else. and, after about 4-5 minutes, they did, as the line was quite short. Hayden wanted to get a picture with Shawn, so I took it for her.



Me (as i'm taking the photo): Say "mozzarella"!
Shawn: ... Whaaat?
Me: ... It's a type of cheese!
Shawn: I know, but, I'm vegan.
Me: >__> -facepalm- I knew that, I really did.

Then Lacee, Shawn and I talked about... things I can't really remember... for awhile. I think it had something to do with Yankees in a Chip Shop but er, I just can't remember for the life of me. Then I asked him if I could perhaps trouble him for a photograph, aaand I put my arm around his waist as is my custom. I guess I leaned my head pretty far onto his chest because later, Hayden said something along the lines of "~*~*~what was thaaaat about*~*~*~" and I had no idea what the hell she was talking about.


Aww~*~*~*~~~ /coughthehappycouplecough/

We spoke to the rest of the Matches, briefly, about a minute or two a piece... they had to go do soundcheck, haha.
Then the show went underway, which was spectacular as usual. From what I recall, they played (not in order): Salty Eyes, Papercut Skins, Sunburn vs the Rhinovirus, Sick Little Suicide, Clumsy Heart, AM Tilts, Wake the Sun aaaand Their City. It was good times indeed. We had second row from the barricade despite our not entering the venue immediately.

So, after the Matches played we left the pit (with no want to see Sonny, who was on after the Matches) and because the venue allows you to go in and out whenever you please, the three of us meandered outside and we encountered Jon! Lacee and him almost had a battle, because he thought she was trying to attack him. it was like... you know that scene in the Matrix where Morpheus extends his arm and then does the "come ova here" thing with his fingers. They were both doing that from about two feet away from eachother. Verrrry hilarious.

Then! i got a picture with him, and as he had his arm around my shoulder and i had mine around his waist, Hayden's iPhone was fucking up so she couldn't take the picture right away so we were just kind of stuck there for a bit. he says, "did you guys enjoy yourselves?"' or something to that degree and i say "well, we came here just for you guys, so of course we did." at this time i would like to reference this picture -



so he looks down and me and i look up at him and he says "wow, thank you." or something like that and i'm just like -sheepish grin-. it was awkward but still gewd. then, hayden took the picture, and Jon went on his merry way to go browse the shops that were close to the venue.

so, me and Lacee and Hayden perused about looking for more Matches to converse with. we didn't encounter any more Matches for a bit, buuuut we did run into Sonny Moore... which was beyond surreal considering I love FFTL. It was like "oh hey dude who was all I listened to in 8th grade! kick-ass!" He gave me over 9000 hugs... seriously. He's so adorable, a very sweet dude. And he's my height which is even weirder. at one point i ruffled his hair and he said "you wouldn't want to mess it up!" which was... funny considering his hair is a nest. er, well we talked to him for about 10 minutes. he sang happy birthday to a girl in a Donald Duck voice which was... INSANE because he does it so well.

then we wandered around and talked to some local bands that we've met at previous Matches shows, eg, Run Doris Run... the bassist/guitarist has tattoos of pictures Shawn drew ~*just for him*~ on his outer wrists, and he was very impressed that i knew this. he was even more impressed that i had come to the show just to see the Matches, who apparently are one of his favorite bands or summat. i think he was mildly in love with me. but i think that about everyone.

so, we wandered around even more, and we ran into Caleb, one of the lead singers of Forever the Sickest Kids. He was such a sweet boy, contrary to what I've heard about members of aforementioned band... most people say they're very arrogant. He was quite the opposite, very sweet and caring, especially toward Hayden who is a big fan of them. We talked to him for SUCH. A. LONG. TIME. It must've been at the very least 30 minutes. He was amused that we weren't watching All Time Low, who were performing for the majority of our conversation. Sidenote: he liked my red hair because it matched his, haha.

errr, then we wandered back over near the Matches tourbus, and we encountered Justin! after a long night's searching we finally found Justin. we talked to him for about 15 minutes... it was a fairly long talk, I'd wager, and beyond hilarious. This is where we first met Emily and Elizabeth, I should add... they were talking to him before we added ourselves to the conversation.

so, we proceeded to tell Justin about the mortal kombat battle that took place between Jon and Lacee, to which Justin told us that Jon is actually trained in jujitsu! I had no idea, but it makes sense. Justin also said that whenever he tries to play-wrestle with Jon, as boys often do, Jon puts him in an insane head-lock and Justin can't move any part of his body. the pose he took up to demonstrate it was ridiculous.

we talked a lot about this sign:

Primarily about the implications of "art services" (as in, will they fix a painting if you fuck up on it? will they fix your car if you want them to? then paint it afterwards?)

the tour bus was parked right next to it, and Elizabeth pointed it out. after about five seconds of looking at it semi-blankly, justin puts his hands on his head in terror and screams "NOOOO...!! IT'S GOING TO SHOOT THE BUS!!!" at that point, Jon was the only one on the tour bus so i screamed "NOOO! JON!" because you know, the rabbit was going to shoot him. Justin laughed and said "oh no, we don't have to worry about him. he'll probably do some insane flips over the bus and kick the rabbit into submission. other funny things were said that I can't quite remember, and after the approximate 15 minutes were through he had to go interact with his sister and her friends who were visiting for the day.

so we said goodbye, and then Lacee, Hayden and I just kind of hung out on a planter for about five-ten minutes chit-chattin' about how great the night had been. then, Lacee's mom arrived to pick her up, and we talked to her for a few minutes.

SUDDENLY I TURN AROUND AND SEE SHAWN AND JON COMING OUT OF THE TOUR BUS HOLDING GUITARS...! I was just standing there with one arm raised in glorious joy, saying "YESSSssss!" and Shawn gave me a sly little grin. they meandered over to a planter with their guitars and sat there... the planters were tall enough that their feet barely touched the ground when they sat on them. people spread about about... 6-7 feet away from them and the planter, in a semi-circle around them in anticipation of the performance. then as they began to play To Build a Mountain, Shawn stops and says "you guys should bunch in more because it's kind of loud out here."

SO I SCOOT THE FUCK IN and i'm ~1-3 feet away from Shawn. so, i'm standing directly in front of the man, who is sitting, and i'm a foot or two away. it is hot sex indeed.

they begin to play again - and a train blows its horn (so... loud... the train-tracks are really close to the venue) and then... a train is going by in the middle of this alleged acoustic! what great timing. shawn says "uh, maybe we should wait for this train.... o__o" and everyone is like lolreallyyes (due to the WaketheSun parody of the situation, I suppose). immediately after that train is gone, a different, longer train starts to go by, but not many people noticed... i think. they just thought it was the same train.

this was confirmed when shawn said "... what the hell, train!" to which i said "i think this is a new train." shawn and jon look at me in confusion and say something i can't remember, but it had something to do with the train being naked.

Me: ... No! Not nude! New... as in fresh.
Jon: So... it's a hip-hop train? Is it funky?
Me: Yes, it's a regular MC Hammer train.
Shawn: -strikes a gangsta pose-

... OH GOD IT WAS SO FUNNY I hope someone got it on film.

finally the trains were gone, and they began their songs. they played To Build a Mountain first, which was wonnnnnderful, because that song is great. at first i was singing pretty loud along to it but after about a minute i stopped because not many people were following suit... i guess they didn't know the words because the record /technically/ came out last week and not many people downloaded the leak, or so i've gathered (i guess not many people are internetfags... bawwww).

after they were through, shawn said "shall we play another?" and Lacee said "scratched out!" to which many people clapped in agreement or otherwise expressed joy. So, they played Scratched Out and it was MOST wonderful. to this one there was much racous singing on the part of everyone and it was a hella good time, especially during the humming bits of the song because it was such a contrast to the louder parts.

It felt so great and unifying to be in this crowd of twenty or so people singing with energy the same words as you and in turn the same words as that band that you all love... very very great feeling.

after scratched out, Jon and Shawn sat on the planter for about thirty seconds whilst everyone was mulling about talking to eachother/applauding/other stuff. Lacee says to Jon "it would've been so cool if you guys played -i forget the song she requested-".

Jon: We can never please you, can we?
Me: no...! that was very pleasing. that was wonderful, majestic. truly.
Jon: -pleased look-

No one was speaking to Shawn at this point, so i took this opportunity to assault him.

Me: is that a modest mouse shirt? -raises eyebrow-
Shawn: yes! is that a... -squints- ... Oakland jacket?!
Me: indeed it is!
Shawn: ... where did you get that? -in awe-
Me: i honestly don't know, i just found it in my room one day.
Shawn: -shifty eyes- if that was any bigger i would totally trade you.
Me: i know, right... if that was any smaller. -gestures to his really sexy wool trenchcoat thing-

he laughs, i smile sheepishly as i am prone to, and then this girl says "hi shawn! can i get a picture with you?" he says "... yes! of course!" in a kind of detached manner. i am assuming it is because he loves me. then the girl says "will you take a picture of us!?!?" to me and i'm just like uhhh yeah sure. (sidenote: damn Shawn smiled in this picture and not in mine! i will assume it is because... he loves me...) as i'm taking the picture of them, i say "hahaa... say tofu!" and shawn laughs, pretty hard I will admit, and says "is that a response to the earlier comment about the mozzarella?" I just grin -sheepishly- and nod.

i mozied on over to talk to Jon with Lacee, and i think we just told him how great the show was and that we were seeing them tomorrow as well. he looked pleased. so we gave him goodbye hugs, and went over to say goodbye to shawn. we informed Shawn that we'd be seeing them tomorrow at the Henry Fonda theater, and Shawn grinned enormously and gave us both hugs. It was a sweet moment indeed.

Oh wow I had no idea that was that long. o______o

o.m.g i am soooo jealous of both you guys! and so happy for you at the same time...
if i had been able to go to the sideshow in sydney..maybe i could have had my own matches encounter...oh well...

can't wait til they tour here again!!

SO JEALOUS.
one week until mine =]]