Worlds Colliding

So last night I went out with my buddy from work in celebration of Fat Tuesday. Well, what was supposed to be only 2 drinks turned into more, and a nice time was being had by all. Until "Mr.Man" showed up and started talking about work. So then I found myself unwillingly sucked in to a conversation about market strength, performance bonuses and the changing culture of our workplace. I had to listen to this for almost an hour before I could start walking backwards out the door, coat in hand. "Bye!" "C ya!" "Get me the hell outta here!"

Meanwhile...Calvin was at an Ataris concert down on South Street. His friend, Sean Hanson, plays bass guitar in the band. Initially, I was going to go straight home and have a peaceful night of A.I. watching, but as I had a couple of beers in me, I no longer felt like going home. Sooo, I called Calvin to see if I could still come and he said "Sure! They'll put you on the guest list!" Guest list?? Awesome!! Well, I've never been on a band's guest list before, I feel special. I relayed this information to the cab driver, who then thought I was super cool, I'm sure.

So, I arrive down on South Street in my work attire and immediately feel ridiculous as everyone else was parading around in party clothes and beads, etc. due to the aforementioned Fat Tuesday celebration. Someone called their friend a loser and I immediately had to turn around to see if they meant me. I get to the door of the TLA, provide my name and was kinda nervous that they'd be like..."Ummm who?," but they said "OK, go ahead in and go up the steps to the left of the stage, the band is up there." "Neato!" I thought to myself (thankfully, I kept it from escaping).

So then much to my amazement, The Ataris, who I remember from singing a cover of "Summer of '69" at a Ravens game (or maybe Orioles? would that ever happen?) had a large following. Nice. I go up the stairs and Calvin is there and he introduces me to Sean and some other members of the band. They were all super friendly even though they were busy. We talked for a bit and then I realized how bizarre it was that just 15 minutes ago I was listening to "Mr. Man I So Suck" spout off a bunch of corporate nothingness and then "poof!" I'm backstage at a rock concert. That was my worlds colliding moment...well not exactly colliding, but really close together.

Anywho, the concert was fun and well played. I have to say that Sean Hanson (my new and only rock band friend) was the best stage performer out of all the guys. He did this cool thing by playing with his back almost to the crowd and did a lot of dancing (for lack of a better word)around with his bass. The lead singer just stood there. Which I always find annoying. Anyway, if you come across The Atari's in your town, go check them out. In another side note, Sean is the lead singer of a band called Park Ranger and I really like their music a lot. I'm adding them as a link on my page. If you check out Park Ranger's Pics, there is one of Sean and Chris Hanson, and Chris is actually Calvin's producer. Pretty cool. Nice and very talented guys, both of them. Shout out to the Hanson brothers! Thanks for putting me on your guest list Sean!