This was possibly one of the coolest nights of my life
My friends Kyle, Meredith and myself went to the beach to hang out and see one of the best bands most people will never get to enjoy, Jump, Little Children. I was soooo excited because this was the last night of they're Underdog Tour and I knew I wouldn't be seeing the band again for a long time. And, I was bringing two slight fans to see a show I knew they would love and would consequently plunge them into the world of Jump-dom.
We got to the hotel, unpacked and went swimming, usual beach activity. Then around 4:30 we got ready and went down to Ziggy's by the Sea. We were off to an awesome start, for as soon as we drove by we saw Matthew Bivins, one of the dynamic frontmen, standing outside the venue. Then, driving back by to find a place to park, we were able to flag down the band's cellist and one of their guitarists, Ward Williams. We asked if he knew were we could park, but he didn't really know so he just smiled goofy and looked cute.
We ended up getting there much earlier than we needed to, but it was worth it because we were able to run into several members of J,LC as well as of the opening band, Will Hoge (the leader singer of which vaguely recognized us and said hey). We also met some fellow fans and talked to them, but the whole time we really just wanted to get into the club.
At one point during our wait, the band's bassist, Jonathan Gray (or Jonny), was walking back from laying out on the beach. When he reached the corner, he looked around and saw we had already started lining up, and he was suddenly very embarrassed and asked his friends why they hadn't told him we were there. We felt bad, and looked away when he walked by so he wouldn't feel self-conscious, but later his embarrassment proved a little odd.
We were finally let in and waited the usual hour to an hour and a half for the show to start. Finally, Will Hoge took the stage and put on a rawkin' show. This band has such a wonderful fan-interaction during and after their shows, and Kyle completely fell for them. They sang they're usual set of songs, as well as a cover of "Hanky-Panky", which was awesome and Mer loved. We had a lot of fun catching their eyes and flirting (especially with Will and Tres Sasser). For some of the set, Jump's lead-singer, Jay Clifford and the drummer, Evan Bivins, sat at the back of the stage a watched, all the time looking beautiful. During the song "Rock and Roll Star", Jonny came out dressed in a red union suit and beer bottle in hand. He sat down on a stool and continued drinking until about half-way through the song, when he stood up and we guess mooned the drummer. Then, he commenced to stripping out of the union suit, which revealed the words "Heart Break Hotel" (another Will Hoge song) and an arrow leading, er, down south. As we all watched through our fingers, he stripped to nothing, except a fortunate red Speedo. But at the end of the song, when he ran offstage, he came back long enough to through the Speedo at Will and revealed a white, naked arse. Will promptly put the Speedo on his head.
Soon, the Will Hoge set was over and we waited for Jump to set up. Matt was definitely in top form, dancing all over the stage and making the naive first timers swoon (they didn't know what all would come). And they brought out water guns. We were intrigued.
The set started off as usual, with "All Those Days Are Gone" followed by their new single (request it at your favorite radio station!!)"Vertigo". But when they started playing "Underground Elite", something craaaazy happened. We saw the four members of Will Hoge standing in the back of the stage laughing ferociously as they sent out a midget stripper, dressed in a green thong, a yellow life jacket and carrying a big green rake. She commenced to take off the life jacket to show two condoms covering her nipples. GROSS. She started dancing all over each guy, the only one not pushing her away being Matt. Poor Evan was trapped behind the drum set with no where to go, and that was amusing. When the song was finally over and the midget (we later learned her name was Kimmie) thankfully left the stage, Jay went to the michrophone and said "Well, I guess this would be a good time to announce that my parents are here tonight. Mom, Dad, I love you, a-a-and I hope you still love me." It was classic.
The show continued without much incident until Jump decided to cover the Will Hoge song, "Rock and Roll Star". The only problem was, they didn't really know the words. Jonny knew the first two lines, but then that fell through. Then Ward took a stab, but he confused two different verses and even added some of his own (Come 'ere and I'll give you a dollar, er, and another! and another!). In between their stabs at the words, Matt would randomly grab the michrophone and scream into it as sometimes Will does (though it was a definitely exaggeration).
Again, we were lulled into thinking we were safe, until the forgotten water guns were brought out. Mostly, the armed people to the left of the stage were targeted, but soon our whole first row got hit. The crazy girl beside me tried to yank Matt's out of his hand, until he gave her an annoyed look.
They ended the show with "My Guitar", then played "Someone's in the Kitchen" as an encore, the audience's choice over "Ordinary Girl". But then, the show was over, and we were sad.
Mer grabbed Matt's setlist for me, which I got everyone but Jay to sign (he was busy with his parents). I also got Will Hoge poster completely autographed (it turned out that Tres remembered Mer and I from a previous show). We had to wait a long time for Matt because after the show he ran to the bathroom and stayed there for at least ten minutes. Then, when he came out, he ran to the next bathroom around the corner and we still couldn't get him. I peaked around the corner to see if he was out yet, but he was still washing his hands. However, Will thought I was trying to see them inside, so he gave this evil look and slowly shut the door. Afterwards, he came over and said "You can go in there if you want..." but I politely declined:)
Matt finally came out, and we got his signature, and I gave him a kiss, to which he replied "ooooh, thanks for coming," and I thanked him as well. After that we left because we were beat and I had to drive home the next morning. We later found out that after the show Ward and Jonny went skinny-dipping with some fans while Matt and Will danced with others, so we were a little sad. We also found out that the reason Kimmie was wearing a life jacket and carrying a rake was because Will had stolen it from a boat a few months before and the two bands had been presenting them to each other in more and more creative ways as a joke.
Whew, that was a lot. Congratulations if you made it this far. This was definitely one of the most enjoyable nights in my life.
http://www.jumplittlechildren.com
http://www.willhoge.com