TopHouse is Top Notch
In a blog earlier this week, I mentioned that a lot of really good things had happened that day. One of the things was this: I was unable to purchase tickets for a concert I wanted to go to because the website wasn't working. After attempting to purchase tickets at several different times, via several different browsers, and on several different devices, I messaged the band through Instagram and asked if the show was sold out or if the website was just broken. About an hour later, I received a message from who I now know to be Joe, saying, "Hey! Hmm I am not sure.. but I'm just gonna add y'all to the guest list so you can get in free. 😎"
Now, friends... I have been an honorary groupie of The Fat Handsome, a band I love love LOVED in college. I have so many stories about The Fat Handsome that I could write a series of blogs about them (they even performed at my house!)... but I won't. I have also taken a band home with me (Bella's Bartok) and then proceeded to host them every time they visited the area. I have met many musicians (I once bumped into the boys of Homegrown in Wal*Mart, weirdly enough), have corresponded and spent time with Aaron Barrett of Reel Big Fish fame (I understand the fame is not Taylor-Swift level, but RBF is my favorite band so hanging with Aaron, in my opinion, is infinitely cooler than hanging with Tay-Tay), and have been on a tour bus with both Reel Big Fish and Goldfinger (which sounds much cooler than it was). Do you know what I had never done before, though? Been on a band's guest list and gotten into a show for free. Thank you, TopHouse! That was very cool.
Before I go any further, I think it's important to summarize the reasons why you should purchase all of TopHouse's music immediately:
They are seriously the nicest guys.
Of all the shows I've ever been to, their stage show is the funniest. And friends? I've seen Old Crow several times now... and Old Crow is hilarious. Truthfully, there's absolutely no reason that TopHouse shouldn't be touring with Old Crow and opening for them right now. They'd also make a great opener for Caamp and Trampled By Turtles. Gosh... Can you imagine that show? I'd travel great distances for Caamp, Trampled, and TopHouse! 🤞🏼
As musicians, they are PHENOMENAL. Seriously? Their live music sounds identical to their recorded music. It's beyond impressive.
Onward and forward. Here's a rundown of the evening:
I have an eye for musicians. I spotted William early on in the night, on the streets of DC. I said to Mary, "That guy's in the band." Then, when we got to the venue, there was Will playing hacky sack with Joe and Jesse. (Andy is also in the band, but he wasn't playing hacky sack.) I didn't know everyone's name at that point, but now I do, which is why I'm using them. Anyway, Mary and I introduced ourselves and thanked the guys for putting us on their guest list and then after talking to them for a couple minutes, we went inside.
The venue was called Pearl Street Warehouse and it was even smaller than the Chameleon Club! There was an upstairs with table and a downstairs with a few tables and a lot of room for dancing. The opening band was called Gooseberry and they were fun. The lead singer (Asa; he's a palindrome too!) was pretty amusing on stage and the bass guitarist looked like a young, semi-stoned version of my superintendent. I took a video and intend to share it with my superintendent the next time I bump into him.
Before Gooseberry played, Mary and I met up with Joe while he was in line at the bar and we talked to him about things for a little while. He likes to read, but hasn't read my book yet. This may seem like a random thing, but it's not because I actually sent TopHouse a copy of The Way Back. Joe has it on his TBR stack and has promised to get to it within about a month. He's also promised to post a selfie if he likes it; I'm hoping he does. I'm supposed to send him a message and make sure he completes this task because he did pinkie-swear it would be done... and one knows that if a pinkie-swear is broken, bad things happen. I always tell my students that if they break a pinkie-swear, their teeth will fall out, but that's a made up thing. (Joe, if you're reading this: Don't worry. I doubt you'll lose your teeth. But still... read the book. 🙃)
As fun as Gooseberry was, TopHouse's show was off-the-charts. You can just tell from their stage presence that they are humble and kind and educated and hilarious. They remind me of Flannel Lobster, which comes into play later... and is also probably the highest praise I can give a band.
Let's talk about the show, shall we?
The first thing that I loved was the way William moved. Many of you have read about my terrible terrier Arlo, yes? I mean, he gets his own blogs from time to time because he's an absolute handful. Two handfuls, really. Possibly more. Well, Arlo has this thing that he does when his back is being scratched. He likes to stand between a person's legs and lift his back legs, one at a time, like he's dancing. It's really ridiculous and it always makes me laugh. Like Arlo the Airedale, William lifts his legs while playing violin. I took a video so you could see:
Jesse gave the best introductions to the band's songs. He talked about homeschooling a lot, and his mom, and poked a lot of fun at Joe for always needing to tune his banjo. I lost count of the number of times Mary turned to me and said, "These guys are hilarious!" But they were -- and are -- and it was a little bit like attending a comedy show while also experiencing musical excellence.
Here's my favorite song that TopHouse performs. It's called "Chicago," not like the band, and I really love it:
Even if you've never listened to TopHouse before, if you own a television, you will probably recognize this next song. William's "Arlo legs" are really good here as well! (Andy gives some hilarious intros to songs too, but his are a bit more dismal. "This song's about a dead dog," he said at one point, essentially killing the vibe for about ten seconds. When he introduced this song, he described it as being about a man who died in a cabin, I believe... Andy's humor is quirky and off-the-wall.)
And here's my other favorite song, "Sirens." This one always reminds me of Sebastian and Lucy, which is also a big compliment to TopHouse because Bas and Lucy are probably two of my three favorite people to think about (Bert being the third). I mean, of all the things I think about in a day, Bas and Lucy and Bert definitely receive the most attention.
So after the show, Mary wanted to get a t-shirt and we both wanted to thank the band for putting us on the guest list and getting us in for free and for also putting on such an excellent performance. This meant we got to talk to Joe and Jesse for a bit, and we got some pictures, and while we were talking, I told them these things:
If/when Joe reads The Way Back, he will see that Flannel Lobster, my favorite band, essentially did for Jane what TopHouse did for us. Jesse appeared to love the band name Flannel Lobster (which I, in turn, loved) and wondered if maybe TopHouse is the real version of Flannel Lobster. I think this is possible. Both Joe and Bas play the guitar and the banjo. (Sebastian's banjo actually has a name, which you will learn when you purchase and read Running Through the Words on April 8.) Obviously, because I am not a musician, I have no idea what the actual melodies of Flannel Lobster's songs are, but I sure do know a lot of their lyrics and I could totally see Flannel Lobster sounding a lot like TopHouse.
If/when that one person with all the connections finally realizes my talent and decides to turn my books into a Netflix series like Daisy Jones and the Six, I promised TopHouse that I'd pay it forward by putting in the contract that they must appear in at least an episode. Wouldn't that be the coolest? I mean, they may already be HUGE by then -- they deserve to be HUGER than HUGE by then -- but I think it would be so neat to be able to pay it forward like that. Here's hoping someone with sway and followers eventually realizes my worth and helps me out!
That was the night in a nutshell. If you've never checked out the band before, get on that right away, and if they come to a town near you, buy a ticket because they're worth every cent.
Comments