Halloween 2007 - when I first met Shiny Toy Guns

Okay, I spent a good while last night reading about how Alli met Chad and the group on the New Year's concert. (Yes, I AM very jealous, Alli) It was a cool story, and I SO wish I had been there. But, it made me want to share the time when I first met the members of Shiny Toy Guns. I have talked with and visited them mulitiple times since then, but that first time always stays with you.... It was the thrid concert of theirs I had been to. It was Halloween 2007.... gosh, it seems like such a long time ago.....

This was taken from an internet blog I did the morning after the show-
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Ok, so I guess I just about had the best Halloween I could have ever hoped for. In fact, the room for improvement was there, but very slight, and unrealistic. So... here's the story...... I have to write it all down while it's fresh in my mind.

So, I get dressed up for the concert starting at 4 PM. The club doors open at 7 PM and Shinys don't play until 10:30. But, I am ready to be there in the best spot, up front, stage right, hours ahead of time. I wear my goth punk outfit that I wore to the Murder Mystery Night I do a little less bizarre makeup, and more quiet gothic beauty eyeshadow. Anyway, I was nervous and running behind.

My camera's battery was almost dead, and I still haven't found the charger today, so needless to say, it wasn't juiced up well for the concert. (One of my "slight wishful improvements" on the night.....) I spend a quick ten minutes making the poster I put in the last blog so I have something for Mikey to sign that I don't have to buy at the merchandise table, as I only have $6 and they won't likely have anything that cheap.

I drive down. I get there at 7:05, freaking out that people will already be taking my spot. The club is dead. Phew!, I think to myself. I even had time to go to the bathroom! The venue was TINY. Much more intimate than I had imagined, so I was all excited. I took a seat in the balcony row, just above and to the left of where Mikey would be playing. I parked my camera and my poster and my butt, and waited, listening to horrible 93.3 top 40s dance hits.

The place started to fill up as time wore on. There was a $1000 costume contest, so there were a lot of really neat getups to see. A young couple came and took up residence next to my spot and we talked about Shiny Toy Guns. They had never seen them before.

Well, as it got closer to 10:30, the crew started to come out and set up the stage. The DJs in the club played the Thriller video and did the whole dance, which was cool.

Well, pretty soon, I start seeing a suspicious looking character in prison garb with a skeleton painted face sitting at Mikey's drums. I peek over, as he is only a few feet from me. I gasped. It was Mikey! He sat and fiddled with his drum set for a good 15 minutes making sure everything was how he wanted it. I tried not to stare, but let me tell you it was nearly impossible. I didn't yell, because I know he was really concentrating on getting everything working right, and I wanted to respect that. I wanted to yell though... "Hey Mikey! It's your biggest fan! Woohoo! Right here, the Kansas City Kitty!" Heh heh.. but I didn't.

Well, in due time, they finally announce the Shiny Toy Guns, and Mikey and Chad come out onto stage. Chad is dressed like Nacho Libre, and starts to sing a song from the movie. Everyone cheered and laughed. It was pretty funny. I took out the camera and took some pics, especially since the lights were up and I knew they would come out. I was VERY upset though... four shots into it, the camera gave me the "I am about to DIE" red light. I shut it up, hoping I might get a chance for a Mikey and Kitty photo after the show at the meet-and-greet that was supposed to happen at the merchandise table.

Then Carah and Jeremy came out. Carah was Carmen Miranda, and Jeremy was a spartan (complete with fake muscles and a full helmet and cape.) They were so close to us!! Carah reached out several times and touched people as they performed. I got a really good view of Mikey playing, and he smiled at me twice when I cheered or waved. I was living on top of the world. And since it was a show just for them, they played more than three songs. Heh heh. They played for about an hour and a half. I got to hear "Rainy Monday", "Chemistry of a Car Crash" and "Don't Cry", which all made me happy. They even did the Depeche Mode cover.

There were a lot of technical difficulties, and I learned that this was the first time America's Pub had hosted a live (non-cover) band. That was pretty cool. They had all their lights and stuff, so the show was really well done for such a weird location.

The guy (part one of the young couple that stood next to me) said he heard that Jeremy was going to DJ at another club after the show, and that he thought it was really weird that STG was spending Halloween in KC of all places. I said I thought so too, but was VERY happy. Especially for a $6 cover charge.

Well, the show ended, and I was nearly deaf. But happy. Now it was time to go wait by the merchandise table to get my autograph and meet the elusive drummer that I had built such a crush on. Well, it didn't quite go that way..... I asked the girls at the merchandise desk, and they said STG wasn't coming out. I went and asked a bouncer and he found out the same thing... no autographs or meet and greet!! I could understand, as there was no way to avoid just taking the band through the crowd, but I was heartily disappointed. I bought $2 worth of souvenirs (2 buttons -- black and white each of STG logo, and a sticker.) I pinned the buttons on my outfit, as it was black and white (heh! Mikey and I matched AGAIN!) Then I stood and talked with the girls at the table, hoping maybe they would have the inside scoop, and desperately hoping STG really WAS coming out. Then one of the girls says, "You should just go out to the tour bus. They're probably just out there smoking, if you want an autograph." I was a little skeptical that they would appreciate being stalked, but she assured me it was ok.

I walked outside. Oh my GOD it was cold.... I turned around to the side of the building, and there was the bus, parked just in front of a blazer/explorer vehicle. And walking up the sidewalk is Jeremy. Not wanting to pass up an opportunity to compliment my new favored band, I say, "Hey Jeremy, you guys were great tonight!" He smiled, underneath sweaty black bangs. "Thanks!" Then he just walked right up and gave me the nicest warm hug. I could tell it was genuine and I was actually touched. I stood there for a bit, looking around for Mikey, but didn't see any of the other band members. I decided to go back inside in case they had sneaked off to the merchandise desk after all.

I walked in the club... oh yeah, warmth again. I was so cold outside with no coat! The girls at the merchandise table had pretty much broken down everything. All the items and equipment were put away, and they were just starting to wheel it out the back door of the club to the tour bus. I was so sad....

Then, just walking around in my disappointment, I almost ran RIGHT INTO MIKEY! He was talking to one of the merchandise girls. He must have bought something or needed cash, because she was giving him change. I stood there like a thing struck dumb. Then I did it.

"Mikey!" He turned. And smiled the biggest smile. Without a moment's hesitation he just swept up and embraced me in the best hug from a stranger that I will probably ever get. It happened so fast I almost fainted. What?! Mikey just hugged me?? He said hello and I think he asked me how I liked the show. I said it was great, then fell into stupid groupie routine..."You don't happen to have a pen on you, do you?" He kind of half frowned. "No......" (In my defense, he did look genuinely apologetic.) I pulled my poster out of my bag and with the shakiest fingers ever, pulled off the rubber band. I unrolled it and showed it to Mikey. He immediately was like, "WOW." I said they were shots from the Saint Charles concert. "These are great! Did you make this?" I said yes. "That's a really good one!" he said, pointing to one of the shots. "You should see some of the other ones I have!" I grabbed the single shot of him I had with me and showed him. "You were hiding from me, and this is one of the only shots of you I got!" He smiled, interested, "it's a really good shot though." Then he perked up all of sudden. "Let's go find a marker!!" He grabbed my arm (nicely!) and said, "Come with me." He led me through the club and backstage. I was awestruck and a little giddy. The bouncer that I had talked to earlier just kind of smiled at me as I went past. A couple of the girls in the road crew gave me some disapproving looks, but I didn't care.

Out back of the club, Mikey found someone who had a sharpie. "Would you like me sign this?" he asked, as he is still carrying my poster around. "I would LOVE for you to sign it!" He carefully signed his name over one of the shots of him. Then (just like an excited kid) he says, "We have to get everybody to sign it!" I was so enamored. He had this attitude like, why would I want the DRUMMER'S signature when I could get the front runners? I was not brave enough (or cognizant enough at the time) to say, you silly I came to see you! But, we went down the stairs and around by the blazer. Mikey knocks on the window, and Jeremy rolls it down from the other side. "Hey Jeremy, look at what she made! Sign this for me." Jeremy jokes back, "Is is M I K EY ?" Mikey looks at me, playing... "He thinks it is for me." Jeremy cool and collected says, "Here you go. Thanks so much for coming out to see us!" Mikey takes the poster back and grins, "You guys were great! Thanks!"

"Come on," Mikey says. "We have to get everybody!. The next thing I know, he is walking me towards the tour bus. He is looking down at the poster happily. "You should send me some of these." I tell him that I comment on his myspace fan page all the time. He sighs, embarrassed. "You know, I have never checked that. Isn't that awful?" I put a hand on his shoulder and tell him that he should definitely check it out sometime.

Then before I know it, he's opening the door to the tour bus, and letting me on with him.... I was so surprised that I not only almost forgot to shut the door behind me, but I almost tripped up the stairs. There they were, Shiny Toy Guns... in the flesh... coolers in the aisles, and Carah relaxed on a bench seat. She had her little puggle dog with her. He was just a baby at the time! Some of the road crew were there, talking. Mikey holds up the poster. "Hey, Chad, sign this! She made this of us, check it out." Chad chiding, asks who to make it out to - Mikey ? Mikey grins at me, "Didn't Jeremy just say that?" I agreed and said they must have been on the same wavelength that night. "Pass it to Carah. Tell her to sign it. It's for me."

As they are signing, Mikey turns to me. "Jeremy is DJing at another club tonight. We're all going. You should come." I, acting ignorant, say I didn't know. And where is this club? "Just go knock on the window of Jeremy's car and ask him." Chad and Carah pass the poster back to Mikey and he passes it to me. "Jeremy is DJing tonight, right guys?" Then they all ask if he is going. "Yeah. But I have to change out of these clothes and wash this junk off my face first before I do anything." He turns to me. "You really SHOULD come tonight.... I am going to go take a shower."

Shaking and nearly in complete disbelief, I walked to my car. I sat there for a good 20 minutes (called my sister) and debated whether to go to this club. It was already 12:40AM. I had school at 7 in the morning. Then I realized, how often does something like this happen? It's like a gosh darned movie! If Mikey was at that club, and I could mingle with him and the band, wouldn't it be worth staying up late? Heh heh... It was about this time that I realized that in the excitement and craziness of the whole movie sequence, I had completely forgotten to try and see if I could squeeze one photo out of my camera's battery -of Mikey and me. ("Slight improvement" number 2 for the night.)

I made up my mind, put the address to the club in my GPS locator, and drove off. I got to the block where it was supposed to be, and parked. I walked for about ten minutes, not finding the club and getting frustrated. Then I saw a security person and stopped him. I asked him where the club was, and he more than nicely escorted me to the front door, which was about 60 feet farther than I had looked. Heh heh.

It was a club where they had a guest list, and a guest limit, and the doors were closed and roped off. I was thinking, how am I going to get in? Tell them Shiny Toy Guns invited me??? Like they would believe me!! Two drunk girls jumped the rope and caused a big scene trying to get in (again, just like a movie). Of course, they didn't get in, and a guy behind them (in a very expensive suit) shook hands with one of the door bouncers and was let in easily. They obviously knew each other from previous visits. The security guy that showed me where the club was spoke up. "Would you be so nice as to let this young lady in? She is very well behaved." The guy looked over at the drunk girls, still trying to get in, and then to me. "You want in?" I nodded and said yes, and he let me in!!! I threw a big smile and thank you to the security guard. And I went in.

Wow. It was like something straight out of a music video (an artsy one -- not current MTV style.) There was a digital photo on the wall of a girl overlooking burning candles. The candles moved, along with their reflections, but she stayed still. There were chandeliers in glass boxes, and a combination of gothic and new wave decor. Everywhere people just looked and smelled of money, and I immediately felt more than a little out of place. But then I saw Jeremy in the DJ booth, and felt better. I walked over towards the booth and took in the sights of all the people. The club wasn't that big. I don't think it could accommodate more than 50 people very comfortably. No wonder it was so exclusive. The whole Shiny Toy Guns group and crew (without Mikey or Carah!) were sitting on a couch and talking, dancing and enjoying themselves.

I really enjoyed the music. Jeremy spun some Depeche Mode and STG music, and lots of other stuff I liked. I danced with the STG group and by myself, and enjoyed a club experience that I might never get again. I got hit on by three guys that I would never be interested in (and whom were more than a little drunk) and I waited and waited for Mikey, who never came. ("Slight improvement" number 3). I guess I don't blame him. It was probably close to 2 AM before he would have been showered and cleaned of all his Halloween makeup. And the club closed at 3 AM and I am sure he would have to have taken a cab, since the tour bus wasn't likely to park on the street outside the club.

When the club closed down, I tracked down Jeremy and asked if he would please tell Mikey that I said Thank You. He said he would, and then we all went our separate ways.

All in all, it was a dream night. I got the whole STG autographs. I got a hug from Jeremy and MIKEY. I got to go backstage, with Mikey's insistence, and got to see the STG tour bus. I learned that Mikey was MUCH more attractive close up and in the flesh, and that he is absolutely warm and genuine and much more ... down to earth than I expected. I figured if I got my autograph and met the band, my Mikey-crush would be resolved, and I would feel fulfilled. I think the crush is only worse now. But, realistically, even though the camera died (#1), I forgot to try and get a photo of Mikey and me (#2) and Mikey never came to the night club (#3), I got more than I could have hoped for. I keep trying to recreate the whole "hug" moment in my mind... to burn it there forever. Even if I never see him again (concert or up close), how many people meet (and get a hug from!!) their celebrity crushes? I lived a dream. I really really did. And you know the weirdest part?..... Mikey really acted like that imaginary drummer that played for STG in that dream I had where we had an instant connection...
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It's funny... reading that over now, it sounds like I was 16 years old or something, not 30-something. I was so excited !! And it's absolutely fantastic that I have seen them so many times since. I feel so incredibly lucky...

BUT - even so... Alli, next time you get to go spend the evening in close quarters with the Shinys and my Mikey, I had better be there too!!

- The Felinist