Last night I ventured out to Stubb’s to see Rainer Maria, which if you’ve been reading my babbling for the past few months you might remember that they put on an awesome set at SXSW. It was also Xuan’s birthday, so a number of the dan house gang were going to the show too. Because Jason and I were both determined to eat dinner, we drove ourselves separate from the rest of the group.

Who Goes to a Show to See the Opening Act?
The crowd was much smaller than I had expected (maybe 300 people?). I had never heard of the headliner before (Copeland) but I assumed they were a pretty big group. The show turned out to be inside at Stubb’s, not outside like the NIN show a couple weeks ago, which was nice because it was hot as ass yesterday. The first opener was some guy I can’t remember. His stuff was alright, but I wasn’t reallly into it last night. Between sets, I bought some Rainer Maria cds and talked to their singer and drummer. They are both really nice people. Unfortunately the first song of the set, the guitarist broke a string. Uggghhh. It was unfortunate because opening band sets are always short anyway. They eventually got a different guitar and everything was cool. The set was once again great, but a little short. Afterward, I talked to the band some more about their future plans (new album and tour in the fall). Hopefully they’ll play a longer set next time.

How Old Am I?
Throughout the show I was throwing back the beers like crazy. I don’t know what was going on with me, but it was as if I was on a mission to get plowed. And I succeeded with horrible results. After the show, we had to make a stop by my favorite downtown bar, Mugshots. The bartenders there are supercool and the jukebox seems to be filled with CDs from my personal collection. I had a couple drinks and a birthday shot with Xuan and that was pretty much the end of good times. We left downtown to go to Anderson Mill Tavern (not my idea) and about halfway through the drive back, I knew things were going to end badly. I can’t imagine how bad I looked, but it must have been painfully obvious to Jason that I wasn’t going to make it. After a quick stop to drop off my stomach contents, I was at home and in bed before midnight. I was soooooooo glad to have driven separately with Jason, not realy a moment that I wanted to share with a large group of people. The morning was the worst though. This has been the worst hangover I’ve had in years. Absolutely horrible. I think I might have gotten alcohol poisoning or something. Seriously, there was a point when I was sitting at my desk thinking I shouldn’t move due to the queasiness. It was a struggle to make it through the workday. I’m glad that’s over.