My heart is still fluttering from the remains of adrenaline and anxiety as I type. I know I bang on about this band in pretty much every blog I write so it seems but they're a band very close to my heart. They wormed their way in as supports at an MCR show many many years ago now and through a breakup and a reunion they stayed there. They were the very first band I ever heard live. They killed off the baby hair cells in my ears, bless them.
I met them once before when I was 17. They were playing on a very hot day at a gig so far out of town it must have had them questioning how they got themselves caught up in it to begin with. They were pleasant. I remember asking about their DVD which had been soon to be released.
I met them again tonight, 7 years later. My town was the last town on their tour. I'm happy I finally got what I had to say off my chest.
You see, when they came through with their last tour Matt did a radio interview with a local radio station and they discussed the fact that his lyrics weren't political, or social. And Matt replied that he was selfish. That he wrote about himself.
And I got to tell him tonight that I thought he was wrong. Because to release songs like Last Words, basically a suicide note, you need a lot of guts. That shit's not easy to write, let alone to release on a record and sing live to your fans every show. But not just that song. Every song. Any song. They're all from some place inside that I think can be difficult to let others into.
And I'll never forget the smile that crept onto his lips through all that hair in his face as I tried to hopefully explain what I meant. I'm sure he remembered saying what he did in an interview. And I hope it meant something for someone to think that what he does is important. It's worthwhile.
"I'd probably be dead if it wasn't for this band," he'd said, and now every sad song is just that little bit sadder.
I'm still way chuffed about this, guys. Like, I realise I'd met them before but I was such a kid back then. I was still discovering who I was and I met them with my bf at the time who was suffocating me that night, worried I'd run off with Matthew (honey please, one can only wish ;) ) And I hadn't really anything to say to them. This time was different. I had so much I wanted to say but managed I think to get the most important thing out. Matthew said it was nice to meet me and smiled when I told him I was anxious haha, shaking so bad I could hardly form coherent sentences. But then I knew he understood that so it didn't feel stupid admitting it. It felt very human.
I'm so happy I got to have this experience meeting them. Like, a genuinely happy one where they wanted to say hello to fans. It meant a lot.
You can check out a song from their new album here: