It was a very busy week in the world of 104 the X. It all started on Wednesday with night one of The 104 the X-Mas Bash. Coheed and Cambria, Atreyu and Meriwether were set to rock The Texas Club. Before the show, I saw Claudio Sanchez, the lead singer of Coheed, and some other members of the band standing around the parking lot talking on their cell phones and smoking cigarettes. I think I freak Claudio out a little when I passed by him with an ice chest I was carrying for somebody and yelled to him, “Hey man, thanks for coming and rocking at our show.” He stared at me wondering if I was bringing him beer, why I was there and also who the heck was I, then responded, “Thanks for having us.” I did not make it out to the show because of work but I heard great things about all of the bands that night.
The next night was night two of The X-Mas Bash at The Texas Club. On this night, it was time for Flyleaf, Shiny Toy Guns, Madina Lake and The Vanished to shine. I got out there early for the meet ‘n’ greets. Flyleaf was super nice and got excited when I mentioned something about “Passer By”, the name they had previously gone by. Madina Lake’s guys were super cool. They were fired up about life just like I usually am, so we understood each other, not to mention talked to each other with lightning speed and excitement. Finally, we met up with Shiny Toy Guns. Unfortunately, the meet ‘n’ greet with them got cut short because The Texas Club was opening their doors and we had to clear out for the onrush of fans, but I did hear that Shiny Toy Guns put on a killer show.
Flyleaf was the only band I was able to catch on Thursday. I have seen Flyleaf several times before and honestly their performance that night was the best I have ever seen from them. I especially like when lead singer Lacey Mosley sings “All Around Me” and starts spinning to help you visualize all around me.
Abita Beer was a sponsor of the X-Mas Bash and graciously gave us a keg of Christmas Ale that I did a little quality control on during and after the show. Also after the performances The Fish and I talked to Shiny Toy Guns keyboardist, Jeremy. He was a cool guy and understood radio and music very well. He was very appreciative of the crowd that night at the club. Which brings me to my next topic: Thanking you. I would like to thank everyone who came out to The 104 The X-Mas Bash. You are the greatest and we could not have done it without you. Your support is the reason why good shows continue to come to Baton Rouge.
As if two days of rocking at The X-Mas Bash were not enough, on Friday morning The Fish and I emceed a homecoming pep rally at Starkey Academy in Central. The school was rowdy and loud, especially the Pre-K though 4th graders. The best part is Starkey’s boys team won the game that night, so I felt that we had done a good job.
Finally on a more intellectual note, I finished reading “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” by Hunter S. Thompson. For a long time people have told me that I would like Thompson’s writing style and they were right. It was an extremely well written book. I suggest you read it, but let me warn you it is written for an adult crowd. I also rented the movie. Sometimes movies based on books are just that, based on the book. They end up changing up so much stuff that about the only thing that is the same as the book are the names of the characters, well not in this instance, I was very pleased to find out that it followed the book very closely.
Now it is near Christmas and I have done zero shopping, I usually knock it out in one day so if you see me at the mall running around with a crazed look in my eye, do not freak, I am just shopping.
