3 concerts in one week.

I haven't even known what to do another blog post ABOUT these past few days, because the outpouring of love from my last post has been so overwhelming. I have no idea how to even thank every single one of you that left me an encouraging response, other than to just say "thank you, so much". You guys are seriously the best group of people I could have ever asked for, and I am so fortunate that complete strangers care so much. :)

As if trying to test my reserve, I happened to be going to THREE concerts this week. All of which by bands I love and would have enjoyed shouting the lyrics to their songs, but I have refined the art of mouthing words as of late. Wednesday I got to see Matt, Lauren and Justin on tour here at my college's bookstore, which was a lovely little show. Afterward we took them to "Beth's", one of Seattle's most famous diners (well known for the walls being covered in hand drawn pictures from guests). At one point in the night a confused waitress walked back to our table and said "does anyone here play.. uh.. Harry Potter music?" We cracked up and raised our hands, and she not only gave us crayon drawings of each of us, but a GIANT CINNAMON ROLL! For free!! Some fans had come in and sent them to us!

It was a delicious cinnamon roll.

We chatted and ate our entirely too-large 6 egg omelettes, and those same fans came and taped these drawings to the wall behind us when we weren't looking:

Pretty awesome. I think I am really warming up to this Unicorn Warriors thing, guys. :)

Friday I got to see Harry and the Potters in the Seattle Public Library, which I already knew was going to be an amazing show. For those who don't know, the SPL is this insanely gorgeous architectural heaven right smack in the middle of downtown. The walls are made of glass and nothing is exactly square, and it's hard to explain so just imagine a building that looks really, really cool. The last time I saw HatP there, at least 500 people showed up. This show didn't disappoint, and it really took me back to a few years ago when going to HatP shows was one of the big highlights of my summer.

Here's another reason it took me back:

I had both Eia and Brittany there with me! I don't get to see Brittany very much anymore, but it was lovely to have her at the show with me. It really made me stop and think about the fact that while Paul and Joe DeGeorge are just two goofy guys singing songs about Harry Potter, they've really made a huge impact in my life. I've been a Harry and the Potters fan since 2003 when they only had their music online, but if Brittany and I had never seen them tour through Seattle, we would have never written any silly songs about being Slytherins. If we hadn't done that, we would have never put them on myspace, proceeding to find Matt, Lauren/Nina and Alex. If we hadn't done that we would have never gone to Phoenix Rising in 2007, or any Harry Potter conferences, and if I hadn't gotten involved in the wizard rock fandom, I wouldn't have made a YouTube channel.

So I had a kind of emotional moment, looking over the sea of people, watch Paul and Joe rock it out, and thinking about the paths I've taken in the past four-five years. It's incredible. I am so excited to be sharing LeakyCon and this movie experience with all of these people. That's all I can really say without breaking down, hahha.

For old time's sake, and to be goofy, we took pictures with them:



That night I went over to my friends Tara and Alexander's place with Justin and my brother Nick, and we played 'Betrayal at House on the Hill'. When the Haunt started I ended up being the traitor, which made me nervous because I wasn't positive I had a good enough handle on the game to be trying to beat everyone else by myself. Thanks to my secret assassins, though, I was able to kill the heir to the treasure and wiiiin! I love that game.

My third and final concert this week was Sondre Lerche. He's a incredibly mind blowingly awesome musician from Norway and I've been a huge fan of his since I was in high school. For some reason or another, I have never been able to see him live, so this was a huge, huge deal for me last night. The concert was incredible.

Some times live shows involve the musicians just playing their songs for you, live. Sondre made sure every single part of his show was unique for this live performance, and I just cant even begin to explain how amazing it was. Generally he plays solo but for this tour he has a band with him, which just made his songs that much more amazing. Every single musician onstage (from the drummer to the violinist to the bassist to the backup female vocals) were just spot on, and I know I am gushing right now but I just love him so much and it was so good.

The best part was that it was my friend John Platter who showed me Sondre Lerche back when I was 15 or 16, and we both has gotten tickets to this show unbeknownst to each other. So it was great to get to experience this show with him. :)

The night ended with the most spine-tingling, chill inducing sing-along version of "Modern Nature" ever (which is my favorite song of all time), and I just closed my eyes and let the song wash through me and it was the perfect night.

So things are good. I have all sorts of fun plans going on this week, I'm gearing up mentally for my trip to Orlando soon, and the sun is out. I hope everyone else is having a nice start to their summers as well.

Flights taken: 13