The One Where A Foursome Does.Us.In.

We were spent.

ComicCon was exhausting, the complete opposite of what a child-free vacation with girlfriends is expected to be. Even lunch breaks were killer. Please imagine four girls toting around ten dollar (read: really fucking small) pan pizzas, trying to find an outlet for our iPhones (read: shortest fucking battery life ever), dodging the security guard (read: man who totally hated babysitting 75,000 fanatic nerds for the weekend) who kept shuffling us around thanks to fire safety rules, all just to escape Sly Stallone's panel (read: The Expendables will blow). What did I tell you? Exhausting.

We all lost a lot of sleep during our four-day ComicCon experience. I will be bold enough to speak for the whole of our group when I say that it was worth it. But the evening that really did us in? 100 Monkeys played at The House of Blues and we shut the place down. Wow. They played for four hours, taking a 30-minute breather in between sets. They played the usual instruments and the we're-so-talented-whooops!-where-did-your-panties-go instruments: drums, bass, guitar, keyboard, trumpet, mandolin, harmonica, flute, and sax. I should also mention that they all traded instruments and that they all rotated leading the vocals. There was so much fucking talent on that stage. And Uncle? Don't get us started.

The band unloaded the truck, set up the entire stage to their liking,

and looked fucking sexy doing it. It's a damn miracle that I didn't say

something really stupid as j.action walked in (considering his cozy place on my List),

but I kept my mouth closed and let my eyes take the man in.

Let's thank Anntastic for pulling it together

enough to catch him mid-stride like this. With guitar. Unf.

While their lyrics are not of the sunshine variety, their enthusiasm and realness were. They were theatrical, genuine artists AND performers, which was a breath of fresh air because (please take note of this and pass it the fuck along) not all artists are performers and not all performers are artists. 100 Monkeys are truly both. And? They mean what they say and say what they mean when they pen their lyrics. Yes, this is one of their most popular songs, but this is one of my favorite examples (perhaps because it is sadly truefuckingfax):

Ugly Girl

She was young
But she liked to act younger than she was
She was dumb
But she liked to act more dumb than she was
For such a young, dumb, impetuous thing
Says if she goes then she'll go smilling
And of course, she'll leave a beautiful corpse

The problem with you's the problem with this world
It's an ugly world and you're, you're an ugly girl

ben g. with a smile that melts, right? Guess what? His talent matches it. ---flatline---

While eating pre-show, j.rad walked past our table and straight into the bathroom.

No, I did not follow (ngl, totally crossed my mind). But you can be certain

that I went Mad-Eye Moody on that door, keeping one eye on my delicious nomz burger

and the other on that bathroom door. When he came out, I asked for a photo

(I want to say I did it politely, but I think there was also a hint of

crazy-person in my voice) and he obliged. He was lovely, very gracious, didn't seem put out at all. ::sigh::

ben j. was one helluva drummer, but stepped away when other instruments called.

He also took to the mic a few times. These guys were extremely impressive.

Oh, and Anntastic chatted up his gf for a bit (she was kind and reallyfuckingcool)

and we found out that the 100 Monkeys gang is brainy, to boot. ikr?

It's possible that I waited like a maniac for the band to take down their instruments,

clean up the stage, and wait it out in the back. When they made their way out

of the HoB and out to the van, it's also possible that I said something

like, "Great show, guys. It was... really... great," as they passed me. Another possibility?

I sounded like a creep. But j.action turned around, smirked (sorry, there's just no other word for it),

and said, "Thanks." Yes, his smirk is enough to impregnate. j/s.

Wow. uncle was the BEST. When he's on stage, there's no looking elsewhere, he's it.

You just want to listen as he plays the most flawless music, and then you want to

ask him a million questions afterward, or maybe none at all, so that you can listen to

what he has to say. He's the best.

Making time for their show was hella worth it, and it was one major highlight of the trip. I'd see them live again in an instant. And if you need another reason to give them a shot, check their involvement with the Spencer Bell Legacy Project. Aaaaaaand GO.