First post!!

Hello all.  First, I'd like to welcome you to our little blog.

I had some people asking if I was going to blog about Mechanical People's first show that I had the pleasure of seeing in Baton Rouge, LA on February 1st ... and I want to share it with you but I didn't feel it right to blog on our Monkey Entourage page so I decided to make this blog that way we can share our love for them as well without overloading our fan page for 100 Monkeys.

If you've read any of the blogs on the Entourage page, you know they can be long winded.  So, you'll have to bear with me.

The road trip from Dallas to Baton Rouge is a pretty lengthy one (7.5/8 hours).  I was driving with people that I didn't know, aside from Liz but I was going for it.  To miss the awesomeness that is Jake, Anna, Ben and Ben was NOT going to happen.  We left Dallas around 8pm after getting our essentials (snacks and energy drinks) and it was a pretty funny trip talking and laughing the whole way (and stops at gas stations and buying little trinkets).  We arrived real late and checked in and tried to get some sleep but by 8am, I realized that I was too excited for the day and decided to get up and get ready.

We did some driving around - got some food and coffee.  Ran into a paparazzi guy.  Saw some "vampire" guy from the back as he was walking away.  A broken cell phone.  Chapped lips.  Laughs.

Finally we decided we'd go ahead and head back to the hotel and get ready for the show.  Once we arrived, we decided that shots were a good idea.  Unfortunately the bar did not stock Tuaca, and I was sad but on the upside... they had NEWCASTLE!!  That always means it's gonna be a good night.

The guys started showing up and kinda just stood around talking to people for a while.  I was not inebriated enough just yet, so I hung back since Graupner tends to make me forget how to form complete sentences.  I got to finally meet Tara who runs Jerad Anderson Fans, she is SO sweet.  I stood around and talked to her for a while and then I heard someone kinda squeal and I turn around and see Jackson on stage.  Now, let me preface this ... I'm a huge fan of him and all but I was kind of hoping that he wouldn't be there so that the focus could all be on Mechanical People.  I knew that there would be some Twihards there but I was hoping that it wouldn't leak so it wouldn't be overloaded.  At some points during the night, you could tell when he went outside for a smoke - as all of a sudden the crowd of 20 people was suddenly a crowd of 5.  But, I digress.

As the night went on and more drinks and shots were had - I eventually got up the guts to talk to Graupner.  And, holy crap - could this dude be ANY nicer?  Pretty sure it's impossible.  I'm a chain smoker when I drink, so I was outside for 75% of the night - in a little alcove because I was not prepared for the gale force winds this lovely evening.  Luckily, this helped with getting in some more conversation with Graupner and Johnson.  I'm not going to go into depth of what the conversations entailed - but, I'll just say that Johnson is one funny fucker!  Sarcasm will always win with me.  And, he's a winner.  :)

It was time for Mechanical People to go on.  As we found out later, Anna was stuck in NY and Jackson would be filling in for her as a one off.  There really is no word to describe how beautiful the sounds these guys make when they get together.  Jake emotes so much without vocally saying anything - just with his guitar, it gives you goose bumps.  Graupner's soulful voice makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.  Johnson makes you smile when you watch his enthusiasm on the drums.  It was a monumental night, to say the least.

After their set - I was just elated.  Not sure if it was the contact high from a certain smell that had filled the bar, but I was super relaxed and just having a great time.  I talked with La Di Da Di Scotty for what seemed like the entire night (but it was probably 5 minutes).  I remember confessing to Jake that I had stolen the 'Skyscraper' song to put on my iPod cause I just had to listen to it all the time.  He assured me that was ok, but I bought their single anyway.  :)  There were a bunch of funny pictures taken ... somehow, I was on a 'thumbs up' kick and was telling everyone THUMBS UP and a few obliged - thank you.  Yeah, a drunken good time.

Every since returning back to Earth from this night, I have been counting down the days until I can see them again.  March 26th is the only date that is solid on my calendar ... but, I'm still trying to find a way out to California for a few days in March to see them.  They're just THAT good.  I'm in love.

xoxo
Shawn