Day 8

"being grown up isnt half as fun as growing up. these are the best days of our lives. the only thing that matters is just following your heart and eventually you will finally get it right."

in 2002, right before thanksgiving, i went to see the ataris at peabody's in virginia beach. before the ataris played, sugarcult, rufio and autopilot off graced the stage. it was an amazing lineup and other than sugarcult throwing dollars bills into the audience in an effort to compensate for the singer losing his voice mid-set, it was a great show(they had their merch guy try and sing the remainder of the songs... it was bad).

the ataris closed out the show and played a killer set. the night could have ended before their last song and it would have been one of the best shows i had seen. then right before the ataris played their last song, kris roe(lead singer) announced that one person from the audience could come up to the stage and sing "san dimas high school football rules" with them. weird name for a song but it was/is classic. i once sang it over the phone to a girl i liked completely by memory, including instrumental sections, trying to convince her to break up with her boyfriend and date me. (10th grade was a tough year... ok!?)

from the second row of the pit, i lifted myself over the people in front of me and fell over the barrier gates. after tumbling down into no man's land(between the dividers and the stage), i jumped up onto the stage ready to make my singing debut.

but before i could grab the mic, a bouncer grabs me and begins to take me off the stage. probably to throw me out of the club. out of nowhere, kris roe grabs the bouncer, stops him from trashing me, walks me to the front of the stage and hands me his mic. for one song, i was the lead singer of the ataris. for two and a half minutes, i was a rockstar singing my heart out to 3,000 people i didnt know. it was one of the best experiences of my life.

my exit off the stage was abrupt and full of adrenaline. like a graceful swan, i dove off the stage landing directly at my fraternity brother's face(sorry again, jay).

after the show, i stuck around and talked with kris roe for 20 minutes. just an awesome dude from the midwest who is super chill and super talented. he signed my ticket stub and it currently resides showcased on my wall. good times.