Flogging Molly?! Yeah. I think so.

Okay.

Yesterday started off with me feeling so anxious. It was raining. I had woken up later than I had planned. My day wasn't going the way I wanted to...

Then our PR event finally kicked off. Things were going pretty well.. Then all of a sudden people started coming in (expect pictures in the near future). The whole event was a super-smash! Thanks to everyone that helped out including all of the various organizations and performers. And Foxes and Lions seriously killed it! I've never seen them so stripped down before. It was very welcome deviation from their normal line-up. From what I saw everyone seemed to love the guys. The day was so good we even ended up raising over $200! Thank you so much everyone.

I then had to face that-which-I-was-dreading: Driving from Montclair down to House of Blues in AC before we had to open for Flogging Molly and Big D. Somehow I made the trip from MSU to Toms River in 45 minutes. I can NOT believe I did that (and didn't get pulled over in the process). Ended up getting to the HOB just after they had opened the doors and finally found my band. Dare I say it, I almost broke down and cried. It felt so good to finally be where I had been wanting to be the entire day.

Let me just say this of our set... I simply couldn't stop smiling. Looking out at that crowd make me feel near death from the levels of joy I was feeling. And then after: Oh. My. God. I had decided I'd go hang out in the crowd during Big D's and Flogging Molly's sets. I've never been recognized by so many people I didn't know in my whole life. I kept hearing, "WOW! THAT'S THE KEYBOARDIST FROM THE BAND THAT JUST PLAYED! GREAT JOB MAN. YOU GUYS WERE AMAZING!!!!" and other such variations. I have never tried ecstasy (nor do I ever think I will) but I'm guessing it feels something along the lines of how I felt last night.

The two bands were honestly amazing. Even from listening to them from our merch table, I couldn't fight from dancing along to the rhythms of their lives. Such a joyous night.

I even met the guitarist from one of my (all-time) favorite bands and HE told ME he loved my band. I almost ran away and cried. And even better... I get to hang out with him later on today and he's showing me their new demo's because he wants to hear the 'opinion of someone that knows their stuff'. This band is Suburban Legends and the guitarist is Brian Klemm (he's playing with Big D now too). Those guys were the first real band that I met and felt like "Hey, I could do this." I don't think I'll be telling Brian that later today. But seriously. I'm flying on Cloud 9 right now.

My body is sore. My heart is soaring.

As I finish writing this I am about to go get ready to play with Big D and Flogging Molly again at the Starland Ballroom. This time, I plan on enjoying the whole day anxiety-free.

Best,
Patrick O'Brien
River City Extension


(Oh and a very wholehearted congratulations to Sam Tacon who signed her first body part last night. It was a night of firsts for all of us.)