Last month, my father and I went to the The Early November concert at Irving Plaza with The Wonder Years, The Swellers, and Young Statues. We had previously seen The Early November and Young Statues at Starland Ballroom back in November, and enjoyed it so much that we both wanted to go together for this tour.
I had been chatting with Carmen Cirignano of Young Statues on Twitter for awhile before the tour and we bonded over the fact that we both attend shows with our dads. I didn’t really think much about it until Carmen gave my dad and I a shout-out on stage during their set. As if seeing my all time favorite band and one of my new favorite bands for the second time wasn’t enough… That was probably one of my greatest memories and just confirmed my suspicions that my 23rd year will be one of the best of my life. So if you’re reading this, Carmen, thank you.
My friend Ellie (who I met at the show back in November) immediately mentioned me on Twitter. I recommend you follow her on Tumblr or on Twitter simply because of her love of great music and Doctor Who.
After Young Statues’ set my dad and I retreated a little and hung out by The Early November’s and The Wonder Years’ merch tables trying to figure out where Young Statues had set up their merch. While we were listening to the next two bands play we saw Jeff Kummer (The Early November) but couldn’t muster up the courage to approach him. As if that wasn’t sad enough, Ace Enders (The Early November) walked by and our eyes met and I quickly looked away half out of shock and half out of fear. Ace is, in my opinion, one of the best musicians out there and doesn’t get half as much of the recognition that he deserves. When my dad saw him he was equally as starstruck and kept shouting at me “That was Ace! That was Ace Enders!” I’m kicking myself now for not introducing myself and asking for a photo or autograph or anything. Maybe next time I’ll man up and have the courage to talk to them. Growing up gay during my teenage years could be brutal at times and Ace’s music really helped me through that stage of life.
A little later on I spoke to one of the people running the merch tables and found out that Young Statues and The Swellers were set up downstairs, so dad and I ran down and met Carmen and talked to him for awhile. I was still a little starstruck so I definitely came off as a little awkward (okay, more than a little), and bought a t-shirt before heading back up. Carmen is a really cool guy, and Young Statues is so different from most of the music I’ve heard before. The only way I can describe their sound is that it’s both emotional and relaxing. In a way, their debut album reminds me a lot of American Football’s self-titled album.
Around this time, I met up with Toni-Lee Hannel, who I had started chatting with on The Early November’s Facebook page while waiting for the concert/album bundles to go on pre-sale. Funny story: We were standing right next to each other, not realizing, while we tweeted one another trying to figure out where the other person was. Oops.
Dad and I tried to find the best place to watch The Early November’s set, and essentially roamed around the entire venue to do so. We actually got pretty close but still comfortably far enough from the moshers (ha!). I shot so many photos and videos both with my phone and my dad’s new iPhone 4S (I’m jealous – I want Siri) that came out really well. I was lucky enough to catch Sergio Anello jump from the stage to crowd surf, and made a gif of it here:
The Early November’s new album, In Currents, comes out July 3rd.
