you are invited

despite having grown up in d.c., the dismemberment plan's "final" show at fort reno was both my first fort reno show, and my first time hearing the band (my teen years were punctuated by horrible choices in music -- my first c.d. was c&c music factory if that tells you anything). last nights sold out reunion show reminded me how much i love them; something i havent thought about since seeing their actual final show at the 9:30 club.

my plan for last night had been: dance rehearsal and laundry. at 10:30 am i received an email from a friend offering up a ticket to the nights sold out show to the fastest responder. i believe my exact response was "me! memememememe! pick me!" fortunately, i was not only the most enthusiastic but also the fastest.

i arrived at black cat at 930 to meet m.m. who was running a little late. the music in the club was deafening; somehow despite owning hundreds of pairs of ear plugs i, once again, found myself without any (hence why i own literally hundreds of them). since they vend in the machine for 50 cents, i needed to buy something that would give me quarters (or at least this was my logic and the only acceptable reason to ever order a pbr). i dont drink beer and it took me a good hour to knock it back - only half way through did i notice they sell earplugs upstairs at the bar meaning i could have ordered a drink that was actually drinkable. it was around the same time that i remembered m.m., l.w. and i's mutual lust for the bass player which gave me new cause for excitement.

something about dismemberment plan makes me feel like im in middle school; something more than the fact that the average age of concertgoers in the room was 17. their lyrics are dramatic, and wistful, passionate and intense. they remind me of the days when you would spend hours dissecting every word a boy said to you, interpreting every glance and feeling like the fate of your future happiness relied entirely on how he responded to your "do you like me? check yes, no or maybe" note. which for me was just last week.

m.m. and i had an amazing time dancing, laughing, singing loudly and out of tune, and watching the tweensters rush the stage before the set was even over. plus, the passing around of an R rated cake made it feel like fort reno's annual "night of a 1000 cupcakes."

in the car on the way home, m.m. reminded me that we actually have dismemberment plan to thank for our friendship. l.w. met m.m. through a "mutual friend" (a.k.a. a boy who picked them both up separately at bars) at a dismemberment plan show. it was love. the three of us (and the boy) have been friends ever since.

so to them, and to you, i say:

you are invited
by anyone to do anything
you are invited for all time
and you are so needed
by everyone to do everything
you are invited for all time

besides, how do you not love a band that does a punk cover of beyonce's irreplaceable?!