A Recap of My Surreal Experience with Palaye Royale, The Strive, Chucky Hugh
What a month.
What a time to finally write another post.
I went to a concert the day before Halloween at Planet Trog in Whitehall. It was beautiful--I still have a sort of high from it. The venue was super-small and I met a really cute girl in line and a bunch of bands. Especially the one I wanted to see the most.
Palaye Royale was the band--brothers Remington, Sebastian, and Emerson. Self-described as a "fashion-art rock band," they seamlessly blend the style of classic rock like the Rolling Stones with the energy of more modern bands like My Chemical Romance, while donning fashions straight from the 70s and 80s.
I have an embarrassing crush on the drummer, Emerson. He was the first one to see me as he walked around the venue--he saw my Palaye Royale shirt, smiled and gave me a hug, and said, "Oh, hi there, I love your shirt!" Then he saw me again a couple minutes later and hugged me again and just shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, I've got to say it again, I just really love your shirt."
I just grinned at him. "Oh, it's okay, thank you! It's a great shirt, anyway."
"Aw, yeah, it is. I'll see you later, okay?" Emerson winked at me before he headed off, and I looked back to see Remington, the lead singer, give me a peace sign as he walked by. I just waved.
The girl I met in line, Alexis, was amazed and asked if I was friends with them--probably because of how nice and open they were with me--and I just laughed and said, "Kind of..." (Does Facebook count?)
There were a couple openers before the two main openers, The Strive and Palaye Royale, would go on before the main act, Metro Station.
I met the first one--Chucky Hugh. He's an acoustic musician from New Jersey, and he reminded me of Kellin Quinn in looks. His voice was really nice, too, and I made sure he knew that. He just smiled and said, "Aw, gee, thanks." We talked for a while--don't really remember our topics--but it was nice and chill and I really want to see him again.
I went over to Palaye Royale's merch table after that and contemplatively looked over my choices. I brought at least 40 bucks with me and I wanted to spend as much as I could to support them--especially after their awful fiasco with their van--and there were just so many things to choose from.
"Tough choices, huh?" I saw the merch girl smile at me from behind the table. For some reason, she looked familiar, but I didn't want to assume anything and easily struck up a conversation with her. She mentioned something about Sebastian, and suddenly it clicked.
"Oh my God, you're Stephanie Pearson!"
"Oh my God, you actually know who I am? Come here, girl!" She ran around the table and hugged me. I couldn't believe it--Stephanie Pearson, an adorable fashion model and Sebastian's girlfriend, was hugging me like an old friend.
We talked about the band and Oreos and Facebook before I was taken by surprise by Sebastian walking up behind me. He gave me a warm hug--sorry, Em, if you're reading this, even though you hugged me at least five times, I think Seb gives the best hugs--and seemed pleased that his girlfriend had made a friend out of a Royal Council Soldier.
I figured I'd leave the cute couple alone for a bit and come back to buy something, so I bid them farewell and went back to the front of the crowd to talk to Alexis and Ashley, my friend that came with me. I couldn't stay away from Steph and Seb for long, though, so when an opening band started playing, I actually invited her to dance with me for a bit. She happily obliged, and Sebastian just shook his head as if to say, "Man, I have the weirdest girlfriend..."
Then, running around like the crazy, overly energetic person I am, I went back to the front of the stage where the Strive was preparing for their set. Can I just say, WOW! Their energy was fantastic, I could hear both the singer, Brendan Stevens, and the instruments clearly, and I swear Brendan winked at me a few times during the show. (Haha!)
I met him afterward; he was a sweet guy and he likes Fall Out Boy--what a plus! I swear I talked to him for about an hour--my favorite interaction with him was when I mentioned that I have a thing for drummers and he waved over his drummer and told him, "Hey, you know, she's got a thing for drummers..." Hahahaha!
Then came my loves--Palaye Royale. What. A. Show. Right up against the stage, I could see the sweat trickling down Remington's neck. He was a hard one to snap a few quick pictures of--constantly jumping and moving and being a ball of energy. At least Sebastian stayed in nearly one place, strumming his guitar, doing his cute little dance moves, and flashing a few quick smiles at me singing the lyrics.
They played "Don't Feel Quite Right" first, and I nearly screamed. It was the first song that introduced me to them, so it has a special place in my heart. Plus, it's such a jammer, so easy to dance to! Then they easily transitioned into "My Youth Generation," and of course I sang all the lyrics and danced at the end. Next they played "Mr. Doctor Man," another one of my favorites, and it was absolutely surreal to be able to dance right in front of them and sing back Remington's lyrics. "All My Friends" was after that, starting off slow before going into an upbeat frenzy--watching Remington go crazy on stage definitely a highlight of the night. Then he jumped into the crowd for a little cover of "Teenagers" by My Chemical Romance--what a wild, fantastic man!
I was almost a little saddened when their set ended, but my high was so far up in the air that the sadness didn't last long. I went back to them to give them a poem I wrote for them. It was really funny how it went down. Sebastian exclaimed, "Oh, wow, cool!" and took out his marker to sign it, and I had to stop him by saying, "No, no, it's for you guys."
Emerson and Sebastian looked confused for a second, and I had to say to them, "No, I wrote that for you guys. Keep it; it's yours."
The way their faces went from confusion to utter shock was almost comical. "Oh my God, that's so sweet!" I thought Emerson was going to cry. So cute.
Then I gave them a copy of my newspaper review of their album--they signed the other copy I had. Later, before the venue closed up, Emerson said he enjoyed my review, that I was a good writer. "I like that you rated the album 9.5/10--it'd be bad if you like us too much." We both laughed. Oh, yeah--it definitely would be!
I managed to pull myself away from the boys after they gave me more hugs to go and buy The Strive's album. Brendan struck up another conversation with me, and then he convinced me to go back out and see Metro Station. He must have seen the skepticism on my face, because he then said, "I know, I know, I thought their studio stuff was all right, but trust me, when I saw them out there live, I was amazed."
"Okay, if you say so." I took his word for it, and boy, was I glad I did. Mason and Trace made the whole crowd of sixty people dance and sing the whole time. They really seemed to enjoy what they were doing; they weren't taking breaks or looking tired at all!
Of course, once Metro Station was done their awesome set, I ran straight back to Palaye Royale to talk to them some more and finally buy merch--another download of their album (in case I lose the other), a really warm scarf, and a super-cute tote bag--and snap some final pictures with them.
Sebastian was easy to find--he was always at the table; Emerson seemed to like to wander around, but it wasn't difficult to grab quite a few pictures with him. Remington was the hardest to track down, but I finally got a picture with him. He gave me a final hug, thanked me for my support, and told me to come back out when they tour in February.
"Of course!" I told him. "You guys are too amazing! Rest well, be safe, and have fun!"
"Thanks so much!" Remington smiled as much as he could with his apparent fatigue. Awww. It was my turn to give him a hug.
I bid each of the boys farewell, and they all seemed to appreciate my words. What a trio of cuties.
Let's hope that I can see them soon again. They were just too amazing for me not to miss.
(photos courtesy of my friend Ashley Goss--love you, sweetie!)
What a time to finally write another post.
Palaye Royale was the band--brothers Remington, Sebastian, and Emerson. Self-described as a "fashion-art rock band," they seamlessly blend the style of classic rock like the Rolling Stones with the energy of more modern bands like My Chemical Romance, while donning fashions straight from the 70s and 80s.
Sebastian with his signature Gretsch guitar.
I have an embarrassing crush on the drummer, Emerson. He was the first one to see me as he walked around the venue--he saw my Palaye Royale shirt, smiled and gave me a hug, and said, "Oh, hi there, I love your shirt!" Then he saw me again a couple minutes later and hugged me again and just shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, I've got to say it again, I just really love your shirt."
I just grinned at him. "Oh, it's okay, thank you! It's a great shirt, anyway."
"Aw, yeah, it is. I'll see you later, okay?" Emerson winked at me before he headed off, and I looked back to see Remington, the lead singer, give me a peace sign as he walked by. I just waved.
The girl I met in line, Alexis, was amazed and asked if I was friends with them--probably because of how nice and open they were with me--and I just laughed and said, "Kind of..." (Does Facebook count?)
There were a couple openers before the two main openers, The Strive and Palaye Royale, would go on before the main act, Metro Station.
I met the first one--Chucky Hugh. He's an acoustic musician from New Jersey, and he reminded me of Kellin Quinn in looks. His voice was really nice, too, and I made sure he knew that. He just smiled and said, "Aw, gee, thanks." We talked for a while--don't really remember our topics--but it was nice and chill and I really want to see him again.
Me and Chucky Hugh.
I went over to Palaye Royale's merch table after that and contemplatively looked over my choices. I brought at least 40 bucks with me and I wanted to spend as much as I could to support them--especially after their awful fiasco with their van--and there were just so many things to choose from.
"Tough choices, huh?" I saw the merch girl smile at me from behind the table. For some reason, she looked familiar, but I didn't want to assume anything and easily struck up a conversation with her. She mentioned something about Sebastian, and suddenly it clicked.
"Oh my God, you're Stephanie Pearson!"
"Oh my God, you actually know who I am? Come here, girl!" She ran around the table and hugged me. I couldn't believe it--Stephanie Pearson, an adorable fashion model and Sebastian's girlfriend, was hugging me like an old friend.
The cutest of them all--Stephanie Pearson.
We talked about the band and Oreos and Facebook before I was taken by surprise by Sebastian walking up behind me. He gave me a warm hug--sorry, Em, if you're reading this, even though you hugged me at least five times, I think Seb gives the best hugs--and seemed pleased that his girlfriend had made a friend out of a Royal Council Soldier.
I figured I'd leave the cute couple alone for a bit and come back to buy something, so I bid them farewell and went back to the front of the crowd to talk to Alexis and Ashley, my friend that came with me. I couldn't stay away from Steph and Seb for long, though, so when an opening band started playing, I actually invited her to dance with me for a bit. She happily obliged, and Sebastian just shook his head as if to say, "Man, I have the weirdest girlfriend..."
Then, running around like the crazy, overly energetic person I am, I went back to the front of the stage where the Strive was preparing for their set. Can I just say, WOW! Their energy was fantastic, I could hear both the singer, Brendan Stevens, and the instruments clearly, and I swear Brendan winked at me a few times during the show. (Haha!)
I met him afterward; he was a sweet guy and he likes Fall Out Boy--what a plus! I swear I talked to him for about an hour--my favorite interaction with him was when I mentioned that I have a thing for drummers and he waved over his drummer and told him, "Hey, you know, she's got a thing for drummers..." Hahahaha!
Then came my loves--Palaye Royale. What. A. Show. Right up against the stage, I could see the sweat trickling down Remington's neck. He was a hard one to snap a few quick pictures of--constantly jumping and moving and being a ball of energy. At least Sebastian stayed in nearly one place, strumming his guitar, doing his cute little dance moves, and flashing a few quick smiles at me singing the lyrics.
Remington in a rare still shot.
They played "Don't Feel Quite Right" first, and I nearly screamed. It was the first song that introduced me to them, so it has a special place in my heart. Plus, it's such a jammer, so easy to dance to! Then they easily transitioned into "My Youth Generation," and of course I sang all the lyrics and danced at the end. Next they played "Mr. Doctor Man," another one of my favorites, and it was absolutely surreal to be able to dance right in front of them and sing back Remington's lyrics. "All My Friends" was after that, starting off slow before going into an upbeat frenzy--watching Remington go crazy on stage definitely a highlight of the night. Then he jumped into the crowd for a little cover of "Teenagers" by My Chemical Romance--what a wild, fantastic man!
I was almost a little saddened when their set ended, but my high was so far up in the air that the sadness didn't last long. I went back to them to give them a poem I wrote for them. It was really funny how it went down. Sebastian exclaimed, "Oh, wow, cool!" and took out his marker to sign it, and I had to stop him by saying, "No, no, it's for you guys."
Emerson and Sebastian looked confused for a second, and I had to say to them, "No, I wrote that for you guys. Keep it; it's yours."
The way their faces went from confusion to utter shock was almost comical. "Oh my God, that's so sweet!" I thought Emerson was going to cry. So cute.
Then I gave them a copy of my newspaper review of their album--they signed the other copy I had. Later, before the venue closed up, Emerson said he enjoyed my review, that I was a good writer. "I like that you rated the album 9.5/10--it'd be bad if you like us too much." We both laughed. Oh, yeah--it definitely would be!
I managed to pull myself away from the boys after they gave me more hugs to go and buy The Strive's album. Brendan struck up another conversation with me, and then he convinced me to go back out and see Metro Station. He must have seen the skepticism on my face, because he then said, "I know, I know, I thought their studio stuff was all right, but trust me, when I saw them out there live, I was amazed."
"Okay, if you say so." I took his word for it, and boy, was I glad I did. Mason and Trace made the whole crowd of sixty people dance and sing the whole time. They really seemed to enjoy what they were doing; they weren't taking breaks or looking tired at all!
Of course, once Metro Station was done their awesome set, I ran straight back to Palaye Royale to talk to them some more and finally buy merch--another download of their album (in case I lose the other), a really warm scarf, and a super-cute tote bag--and snap some final pictures with them.
Sebastian was easy to find--he was always at the table; Emerson seemed to like to wander around, but it wasn't difficult to grab quite a few pictures with him. Remington was the hardest to track down, but I finally got a picture with him. He gave me a final hug, thanked me for my support, and told me to come back out when they tour in February.
The Gentleman: Sebastian Danzig. What a sweetheart!
The Pirate: Emerson Barrett. Stealing my heart, arrr.
The Vampire: Remington Leith. Don't worry; he doesn't bite!
"Of course!" I told him. "You guys are too amazing! Rest well, be safe, and have fun!"
"Thanks so much!" Remington smiled as much as he could with his apparent fatigue. Awww. It was my turn to give him a hug.
I bid each of the boys farewell, and they all seemed to appreciate my words. What a trio of cuties.
Let's hope that I can see them soon again. They were just too amazing for me not to miss.
(photos courtesy of my friend Ashley Goss--love you, sweetie!)
Fellow Royal Council Soldiers--let me know what you think of my little review! Always up for a conversation, too!
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