Today, I am mourning.

Today, I am mourning my 13 year old soul. This all backtracks to about an hour ago, when my roommate brought up the Crocodile Café in a group text message.  Being a Seattle newb, and never having heard of this venue, I googled it. And there it was.

Death Cab for Cutie, January 20

And just like that, daggers were thrown at my 8th grade soul, because the show is sold out and I have to work a night shift anyway. I know this might seem melodramatic, but I have been singing I will follow you into the dark in the shower since 2006, and I still put on Transalanticism when I’m driving alone. I don’t know, it’s just one of those bands that has stuck with my ole teenage corazon, even after I shred the DC shoes, Hollister, and puka shell necklaces.

I think we all have those bands or albums, though. Those ones that we will hear a song from randomly and be filled with all of these nostalgic feels. Those albums with which you associate the melodies with growing up.

For me, it was Death Cab for Cutie. And I actually remember being introduced to them, weird as that might be. It was the summer of 2006, and I had a new video iPod. I was loving the band Keane and their album Under the Iron Sea at the time, and besides a couple of staple hits (notably Lean like a Cholo, This is Why I’m Hot, and Lean wit it Rock wit it), it was one of the few selections of music I had actually taken the time to upload. I went with my family down to Chicago to celebrate my cousin’s graduation from high school, and he had an open house party with friends and family. I started talking with one of his good friends, and he took my iPod out of my hand and started scrolling through my music. I remember being super embarrassed, because I had like nothing on it, but he said he loved Keane too, and told me that my library would grow.

We totes hit it off after that. I want to say we played pool and I shoved some cake in his face, you know, all the weird shit you do when you’re an awkward teen, and we totally exchanged numbers on our flip phones. It was a big deal. Anyway, I remember we talked on the phone one night and he told me that I should check out Death Cab for Cutie, since I liked Keane. And just like that, Plans became the album of the rest of my summer. I’ve always associated that album with growing up and starting to embark on my long, peculiar, awkward, ongoing, and mostly great journey of personal growth. Oh, and for the record, I am still good friends with that guy.

Actually, my first couple of weeks in Seattle, back in June, I stumbled into Easy Star Records, and I found a used copy of Plans for like $5. And I’ve been listening to it like it’s 2006 all over again. So, anyway, you can imagine my heartbreak, when, here I am, almost a decade later, living in the city where one of my absolute favorite bands is from, and I can’t see them tonight. Excuse me, while I go cry like a heartbroken 14 year old.

But, that aside, I actually did get to experience some pretty nostalgic and amazing shows over the weekend. For my roommate, Sada, the String Cheese Incident was a huge part of her adolescence. She last saw them in 2007, but had followed them on tour growing up. They had a show here in Seattle, at the Paramount, and I was lucky enough to get to relive the good times with her and some of her friends from home. And good times barely encompasses how awesome it was getting string cheesy on Friday.

And Saturday, Sada and I kept our power weekend rolling, and she took me to her Amazon company party, where Weezer was playing. And Weezer is up there with Death Cab for Cutie on the nostalgia list. From listening to Island in the Sun with my brother, rocking out to Beverly Hills at awkward middle school parties, or using Troublemaker as my anthem with mah home girl Frankie in college, those guys get me. And the show was on point. I’m really loving their new song, Back to the Shack. 

An amazon prom pic

So, although I will have to keep waiting for my dream of being in a 100 foot radius of Ben Gibbard, it was still a pretty solid weekend.

Anyways, thanks for mourning with me. And cheers to our middle school spirits and the albums of our youths!