Aurgh.

status check - Frustrated
background ambiance - Beth singing "The Bones Underneath"

I hate that I wind up just saying "It's good to see you" when there's so many other things I should say and don't.

But anyway. The weekend was grand. So enjoyable, actually, that I feel like I stumbled into a three-day weekend somewhere along the way. How can one actually be able to relax a bit in Manchester, Boston and Burlington during a Friday and Saturday? Perhaps the day moved into Sunday while Beth, Tom and I were laughing in the photo booth (yes, I finally reached the photo booth. Huzzah! Photos on myspace!).

Tired? Yes, my body's dragging today, after several days of what Beth referred to as our return to collegiate living (read: packing in too much into a short span of time, fatigue be damned). But worthwhile? Yep.

Granted, I've never run a soundboard for an actual concert. But I ran one for theater musicals and "Shakespeare set to rock, Puck's a rockstar" Midsummer. So I was feeling for Tides, Meet the Day and Suddenease on Friday night. The bands did the best they could, considering that their sets turned into glorified soundchecks with a few songs at the end. Beth had never seen Tides before - I told her we'd have to make the trip down for a headlining show soon.

The four of us noticed a guy standing partway across the room from us. Michelle said he looked like Oliver Hudson. Beth, Jared Leto. Nope, I thought Jeff Buckley, with just enough Lars thrown in to make me do a doubletake.

Laughing with A. was great - that alone was worth the trip.

The sound woes ended when Averi took the stage, as the band has its own sound technician. Great performance, a lot of fun. There was a group of underage fans that stood on the house left side of the crowd screaming along every single word - it added this level of adoration to the crowd that left me amazed on several occasions. Rather surreal.

But back to the performance. Everyone stepped it up. I've really been enjoying the added complexity to Matt's drum parts in the new music, while Stuart's guitar work always leaves me more impressed. Chris was doing particularly well considering the birthday celebration on hand, while Michael was the best I've seen him for about a year, in terms of both performance and health. The newly-shorn Chad did incredibly well. His voice was right on and he, like everyone else, seemed to be having a fabulous time. I don't know, it just felt good to see him laughing and enjoying the experience. And yes, I did dig the haircut.

"This Liminal Life" appears to have disappeared for the time being, much to our chagrin, but I'm enjoying the live interpretations of the new music...although there's something that just makes me grin hearing an older tune, whether it's "Flutter" or "The Bones Underneath."

It's just such a unique experience unto itself, attending an Averi show. The music, the people, the backstory all comes together to form this inexplicable thing that I'm still trying to sort through.*

But it was fun to dance around, and sing a bit...

"Don't you wish you could take a pill and get into someone else's head?"

Yes.
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*Beth walked by during the writing of this post and laughed at the grimace on my face. "Having a hard time writing?"

"Yes. Don't know what to say."

"You're thinking too much."

Exasperated laugh. "I KNOW!"