Philadelphia

There’s something so enchanting about Philadelphia.  It’s a little scary for me, because of its sheer size compared to where I’m from, and because I got bike-jacked there a few years ago.  But there’s also a sense of security because Rolly lives there (he’s my big brother, you know).

On Saturday I headed down to see Saves The Day with my friend Mark.  We had a bunch of time to kill before the show, and we spent some of it driving around and walking on South Street.  I always feel like I could spend an eternity just taking it all in.  I definitely would not want to live in the city, but I so love to visit it.

We hit this one pizza place (Lorenzo’s?) and it was exactly like the soup nazi’s kitchen.  There’s a sign that says something to the effect of "toppings on slices?  don’t even think about it."  You wait in a line to order (which wasn’t too long at this particular time), tell him what you want, and within 13.82 seconds, you’re out the door.  I suppressed my laughter till we got outside to avoid hearing "NO PIZZA FOR YOU!  COME BACK, ONE YEAR!!"

The show itself was half crap and half awesome.  The crap half was the opening acts -- Boy’s Night Out and Hot Rod Circuit -- along with the inconsiderate people who go to enclosed places and fill the air with cancer.  Mark and I were both about to fall asleep during these first two bands; they were just completely blah.  They did say the F word a lot in between songs, though, so I guess that makes them cool.

But then, then.... then Saves The Day came on.  They were so super.  They opened with my favorite STD song, Holly Hox, Forget Me Nots.  They played tons of songs from the first two albums, Can’t Slow Down and Through Being Cool, and only 3 from the newest album (the 3 that I would have wanted, too), and even one from their awesome acoustic EP.  This was definitely one of the best ideas ever, playing songs from older albums instead of playing just/mostly new songs.  Bands who aren’t Saves The Day could learn a lot from Saves The Day in this respect.

Of course, there were lots of teeny-boppers there, but they weren’t obnoxious or anything, and at least they aren’t blocking your view :)  On the way out, I overheard a kid behind us say, "I’m 19 -- I feel old here."  Mark and I had a good chuckle over that.