for the record.

10.23.03 The Night Spot Killington VT Intimate show with Averi 8:00pm no cover 21+

there.

so it has been officially decided, after far too many incidents that have offered evidence to support it, that the adventures (or should i say misadventures?) that inevitably find elizabeth and me are not the result of our seeking them out. it's exactly what i said - they find us. and don't get me wrong - i'm not complaining. they create hilarious moments and fun stories that are reminisced countless times following.

last night provided yet another example of such amusement. it seemed quite simple. averi was playing at the night spot - a venue neither of us had visited before, but only twenty minutes from home. averi playing right by us? of course we were going. i was a bit puzzled by the "intimate evening" aspect of the concert listing, but figured it was because the guys were playing in a small venue away from the majority of averi's fan base at killington, where there aren't a ton of people at this time of year, as the mountains haven't officially opening up to skiiers yet.

so we pile into red and head up the mountain, where there's already some natural accumulation of the dreaded white stuff - ACK. we find the venue and pull into the parking lot a bit early, but not too bad.

beth notices the marquee first.

"vickie, look at the sign. i think this is a birthday party."

oh no. "i don't want to look at it."

"no, look! it's a birthday party!"

"I DON'T WANT TO LOOK! NO!"

sure enough, the marquee says something about joining miranda for her 21st birthday - and, in smaller letters, "live w/ averi."

oh shit. we can already tell that the evening is taking an interesting turn, more so than we already expected, as we were seeing averi for the first time in awhile outside of boston. supressing our laughter, we walk into the venue and see balloons, streamers - birthday party stuff. and no one around.

(side note: the night spot looks like a cool place - it reminded me a lot of buffalo billiards, without, well, front page above it and all.)

as we stand there, feeling out of place and trying not to burst into laughter on the spot, a man walks up to us with a smile.

"hi! are you here for the party?"

oh good lord. it's a birthday party.

i, of course, being naturally witty and quick on my feet, reply with my usual sparkling conversation skills.

"um ... not really ... we're here for the concert?"

he gives us a quizzical look and shrugs his shoulders, telling us that the band is out that way (pointing off into the distance) and smiling. we can see chad and mike setting up some equipment at the stage.

did we mention there was NO ONE ELSE THERE?

now, were some of the variables here, well, varied, our resulting course of action would be entirely different from the one we ultimately select. had the band not been averi, we would have reveled in the fact that we had inadvertantly crashed a birthday party and would have rocked out to the musical entertainment, ringing in miranda's 21st with the best of them.

but the particulars in this equation were 1) we knew the band 2) the band knew us 3) there was no one else there at the moment 4) it was a birthday party and 5) the venue probably just couldn't make it a private party, but the only people who would really be there were people who, well, knew miranda.

we weren't feeling down with looking stupid, so we contemplated what to do for a bit before casually turning around, quickly walking out of the venue and dashing to the car, where we jumped inside, closed the doors and prompty burst into hysterical laughter.

with that, we left. now, it very well could have been a coincidence or something - it could have been an open concert and all. but frankly, we weren't going to find out and face the possibility of discovering that it really was a party. with the agreement that we would see averi again soon somewhere else - non-birthday party type of gig - i started up the car and we headed back down the mountain and to fair haven, laughing the whole way and honoring our new friend miranda with renditions of many a birthday song.

so happy 21st miranda - hope you're not feeling too hungover today! the birthday girl has great taste in music, that's at least a certainty. hey, my birthday is in a little over a week - if anyone wants to book averi to help celebrate my 23rd, go nuts! ;-)

i tell you - the situations find us. not the other way around. we just welcome them upon realization. bwahaha.