Tell me what you have and that's when I'll know if you have anything to start with...

once in a blue moon, you get to a show just early enough to catch the opening band, and you fall in love. you've probably never heard of them. maybe they're local. maybe they're not. but something about the newness of the sound, the way it catches your ear and pulls you through, it sticks. and it leaves you wanting more.

this is my memory of mates of state. years ago, at slim's one night, we were introduced to their discordant, sing-at-the-top-of-your-lungs harmonizing. it didn't hurt that, together, they're two pretty hot individuals. that week, i found a song i loved and put in on a mix. (don't ask me the name. such things have fallen out of my head). i've been singing at the top of my lungs to their complicated, beautiful melodies ever since. perhaps our collective memory can recall some details from the past--who we were there to see in the first place, who was actually with us and what the hell the name of that song is...

tonight, emalie and i made it to the independent to catch the first of two nights they'll be playing. we made it just in time to catch one of the two opening bands, black kids. can't say i fell in love in quite the romantic way i remember swooning over MoS, but they were pretty damn great. big sound, great set, jump around and have fun with lotsa instruments kinda music. after the set, some guy standing next to me asked if I'd come to see Mates of State. yeah, i said. well, what kind of music do they play. hmm, i said. well. it's kind of hard to describe. see, there's this couple, and she plays the keyboard and he plays the drums and they do this amazing harmony thing that's sometimes really discordant and strange but its beautiful and... you're gonna tell me the whole story aren't you, he asked. yeah. yeah i am. i guess i can't do it any other way. welcome to being me:)

two or three songs into MoS's set, i thought to myself, THIS, this is why I: a) love the city I live in and b) love that i'm alive and get to experience such things as the show that's happening in front of me. just as i was waxing nostalgic for the days of slim's and beer and dolores park on a friday so long ago, they yell out to a girl in the crowd and bring her up on stage to dance with them for their next number. "we met her outside, and she's awesome," they said. suddenly, there's some other guy on stage, and as the girl moves to the far left, he leans into the mic and, in only the way that can happen in my romantic, school-girl crush vision of this band, he proposes to this girl. "this city is so cliche," he begins. "i knew from the moment i met you..." and thrusts the box with ring in to the air. the crowd, all crushed out, just like me, goes totally wild. she, thankfully, says yes, though is rather baffled and dazed by the whole shebang. they kiss, jump into each other's arms and the band bursts into one of its hot, hot dancy numbers.

now, i'm not here to tell you MoS is the BEST band EVAH. i am here to tell you, though, that what they do is pretty damn great. they're good. talented, creative, energetic, unique and passionate. they sing about calling people on their bullshit, lying to the ones you love, doing it all over again, and making up in the end, after all. they hold a pretty special place in my heart and, every time i see them on stage, i think about the rush of love at first sight.

dear mates of state, thanks for coming back to the bay that was once your home.