i just saw Wounds, the band you don't know you love yet, 3x in ONE WEEK. and it was the best 3 shows of my life.
Right now, Wounds is the opening band for HIM's Love Metal Archives Tour along with Motionless in White. I went to all but one show on this leg of the tour. In case you're wondering, the one i missed was in New Jersey.
as everyone who knows me already knows, i am a die-hard HIM fan, Saturday was my 7th HIM show, and i saw all 7 gigs within the last year and a half. I credit HIM for helping me discover many bands through the years, mainly through internet radio. After starting to see them live, i discovered even more. So, along with HIM, i've seen a few bands with them. another band HIM toured with called Airbourne during Rock Allegiance in 2013 (my first HIM show) grew on me, but not like Wounds did.
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I go to live shows with a strategy. If i haven't heard of a band on the roster, i don't listen to them prior to the show. I had obviously heard of HIM, I knew about Motionless In White, but before buying presales i'd never heard of Wounds.
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The first show of the tour was at Webster Hall in New York City, i was one of the first 6 people in line and got there about 1pm. I was just in time to spot Wounds loading in. Having no clue who they were, i didn't recognize most of them, although they do all have very familiar faces. The one i did recognize was their bassist (Steve Lucarelli) and it turns out the reason that was is because he's a model. Being a HIM fan, you hear all kinds of dirty things about Ville Valo, but i've got to say...i have NEVER heard more vulgar comments out of women than the ones about Steve. I wasn't sure who these guys were, i assumed it was Wounds because they look like musicians (as opposed to looking like roadies) but better safe than sorry.
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When the time arrived to finally enter the venue, i was front and center and completely stoked for the first band to play, because it's the first show and i'd never heard them so no matter what it was going to be something new and surprising for me.
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Wounds' sound is nostalgic (something i love in bands) they reminded me of some of the music i used to listen to when i first got into alternative music, kind of a post-hardcore really punk kind of sound. They didn't have a huge fan base, but they brought the house down. they're all energetic preformers, their music has this awesome "Do I Look Like I Give a Fuck?" vibe about it and its pretty punk rock, it also turns out that they're super nice guys!
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After the whole show was over, i knew i wanted to get a shirt from their merch table. Turns out the band was all there, Steve was running the table and the rest of the band was hanging around and people were taking pictures with them. i got a little shy to talk to them because i just think they're so cool...and it takes a certain level of me-thinking-you're-cool-ness to make me shy.
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The first one i talked to was James, the guitarist. He looked a little sad and it turns out it's because he misses his girlfriend (AWWWW!♥) and he's the only member of the band that doesn't drink. I asked why and guessed maybe he was too young (he's very tall but has a baby face, wouldn't have guessed him to be any younger than 20) he said "No, too old." and said he was 23, i thought it was peculiar and it definately had me curious. i found out the real reason why a few days later at the show in Maryland, and was absolutely stunned.
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Next i met his brother Aidan, the frontman and Craig (drummer) and i pretty much ranted about how awesome they were. I said i'd see them all tomorrow in Boston, and they said if i learned their song "Dead Dead Fucking Dead" i could sing with them on stage. I could feel my face turning red and i vaguely remember smacking myself. Last, i finally met Steve when i was buying a shirt, i couldn't decide which one to get so i asked them, and they said the "No Hope No Future" tee, because it matched my hair, and that they couldn't forget me because of my hair. Long story short, I listened to that song my whole bus ride to Boston.
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I arrived in Boston around 8am and was at House of Blues by 9. I saw a pub door open and close and hoped maybe i'd seen them, so i walked over there. Me and fellow concert goer John (another die hard HIM fan) were greeted by HIM's tour manager/drum tech McFuck who gave us coffee off HIM's bus. I was completely enthralled by that. But i still had my eyes peeled down the street, because i wanted to greet Wounds when they arrived...and i did!
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When i got to them they greeted me with hugs and i opened my jacket to show them i was wearing their shirt. House of Blues rules suck, so i didn't get to sing on stage, but i was front and center again and they put on a phenomenal show. i caught up with Craig afterward but since my bus was leaving pretty early i didn't really get to say goodbye and kinda rushed out. yet again, another long bus-ride filled with Wounds' music, i listened to Motionless in White that night too since the last show was coming up and i wanted to have the fullest fun i could, and my favorite fun in concerts is singing along and dancing and what not...and i definately wanted to go all out for Wounds.
Something i will say as a passionate music fan; the best way to show your appreciation to the bands you love is to give them a positive reaction. I've preformed in a band no more than twice, but i used to do musicals and dance as a kid, and there is nothing more unsettling than a blank-faced, silent crowd that looks like they'd rather be dead than be there watching you. If you like a band, rock out with them. I can't tell you how many times i've been to concerts and got stuck next to some ungrateful, boring fuck that didn't even smile the whole concert. If you plan on being that person, don't buy pit tickets and stay the fuck away from the barricade. Most venues have seats, go sit in them. The band CAN see you and you're probably sucking the life out of them! Yeah, i get it, you paid a lot of money to be here, me too! but you know who payed more than you did? THE BAND. The number of bands who break even on tour are pretty low, so the amount that make a profit is surely lower. So, you may have payed 15-60 bucks to see this band play, and they're paying THOUSANDS to play for YOU, and you're just going to stand there? I will never be one of those people, and i don't know how others can be.
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I got my first hotel room ever in Silver Spring, Maryland and i had it for roughly a day, the whole day was spent listening to a little of all 3 bands, mainly Wounds, chain-smoking and singing in the bathroom (the acoustics in there were amazing ha) i was so impatient...i'm an insomniac so i hadn't actually slept since i left Ohio, but barely slept at the hotel. around 5am, i fell asleep for 3 hours, woke up and headed to the Fillmore.
I got there about 9am, met up with a few other HIM fans there. very awesome & kind people, they ordered a pizza to the venue and we all exchanged stories, it was so great! HIM won a Golden God award for "Most Dedicated Fans" and if you go to a show, you'll quickly find out why. They're my all time favorite band so I was stoked to see them again, Motionless In White was a great show too, but that night especially my heart was in two bands and the other was Wounds.
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While in line someone actually had some Jameson and i got to try it, i had to tell them right after and they thought it was awesome. during the show I sang along to every song, banged my head, danced and screamed their whole set. There's no better way to show your love for a band...
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I've shown my love for HIM in full effect since i was 14, but my heart is as big as my hair (which is usually pretty huge.) It's so rare that i actually get into a new band, i've been listening to almost all of the same music since about 2005, and in 2005 i was only 12. It's not that i don't like change, it's that when i love something i stick to it. my favorite way of finding new music is through concerts, and WOUNDS stuck to me like super glue.
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If you want a clue of how insanely hard i fell for this band, here's a comparison for you...I didn't reach for anything from the other 2 bands, i didn't try to meet the other two bands even after Motionless In White dedicated a song to me and John (fellow fan from Cincinnati) after recognizing us which i would like to thank them for that, i didn't try to hang out at HIM's tour bus or meet them, i didn't buy any HIM merch, i didn't buy MIW merch, I didn't buy their CD. I bought a Wounds shirt after the first show, their album at the 3rd and they offered to sign it for me.
after the show, most of the people i knew left to go stalk HIM, i stayed and waited in line to see Wounds at the merch table. When i got to them, they said i didn't even have to wait because they love me that much. I'm an awfully bashful person so my face probably turned a few colors at that moment haha
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We hung out for about 2 hours...literally until the last second, i was the last non-band/non-employee in the venue. James was a little disappointed because some guy in the back referred to him as a "young lady" haha he's a really tall guy, i don't know how that happened! we talked about a bunch of random things. Steve was sad and thought i was ignoring him but i wasn't! Little did he know, i had his blood in my pocket haha.
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i learned something really deep and interesting about the band straight from James. It's probably on the internet somewhere, but reading it in some zine is not the same as hearing it in person with your own ears.
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James is the one on the album cover, shock #1. He even showed me the scar on him. I was like WTF happened?! He said he fell off a 4 story building and was in a coma, he has a metal plate in his head (he let me touch it, feels like a little devil horn), they had to reconstruct his face, is blind in one eye, he has no spleen and that his nipples fell off, which is why he doesn't drink. shock #2 pretty sure his nipples didn't fall off but he swears he has stick-on nipples hahaha shock #3 and they (he and Aidan) lost their dad around the same time he was recovering...shock #3. They had a working title for everything prior to the events, shock #4. These guys have literally been through hell and back, listening to the album was a totally different experience for me after hearing that. just, WOW.
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he made jokes about his injuries, like calling himself a cyborg/alien/cyclops hybrid and that one of his eyes sees the present while the other sees the future. I told him it's all good because i'm a fairy haha. So now i refer to him as "Future Man." There was a lady in line at the Boston show who said Chris Motionless looked like Celine Dion and i told him and he was like "how am i supposed to take him seriously now?!" shits & giggles for sure.
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it was 1 am when i finally left. I had to stop myself from getting teary, but i cried a little in the hotel room haha. My phone was dead so Craig and James took pictures with me, 10 i believe (Craig counted them), before i finally left. I think we were all sad at that point honestly. They gave me a shirt right off the rack, and Aidan said i need a Wounds tattoo...and he's right, so that's happening. They said they love me and that i'm part of the family now, and if they come to my city i get in free. FUCKING RAD, RIGHT? and i've already got the hook up for some free Chipotle. when i said i worked there they were like "you just keep getting better!" haha
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i tipped them all the cash i had on me and we wished eachother a safe trip, they had a 3 day drive (they literally came in a van!) and i had a day-long bus ride ahead. looks like we all arived safe and sound. i left with a little collection of things. 2 shirts(1 bought 1 given), 2 drumsticks (1 signed),
a signed CD and 2 setlists, one is handwritten that James handed to me from the stage in Boston, the second one i have (which is covered in Steve's blood) was caught by the girl next to me in Silver Spring, she said she could tell i loved them and just gave it to me.
(all those dots are blood...bad ass.)
They said we're personal friends now and that i'm not creepy for hanging around, which felt good to know that. I'm not a super outwardly social person, so knowing i have a few friends that i admire so greatly and just made a huge impact on me really meant a lot! i don't know big enough words to describe my happiness just in the time we hung out after the shows, they really are some of my favorite people on the planet and i CANT WAIT to see them again. they said they're touring again in February and that's my birthday month, so i've gotta see them!
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i had to tell you all about one of my new favorite bands, a definite must-see live show, and some of the coolest, nicest dudes i've met in forever. See them play and buy their album, you wont regret it!
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don't just sit back in silence...SAY something!
being shy gets you nowhere in life.