The Lucas Cates Band

After almost 2 years, I finally got to go to a Lucas Cates Band gig again! I left on a Thursday morning with Megan, Karen and Isaac. We drove 4 hours to Fort Wayne, ate lunch at Culvers, then arrived at Christian and Robyn's house. Robyn and I left shortly after (thank you to Christian for coming home from work early and watching all the kids so his wife and sister-in-law could be groupies) and met up with Emily and her friend Janet and drove to Fishers, Indiana to a place called Britton Tavern. We had called ahead to see if we needed a reservation since we like to be close to the band. We found out the place was practically empty and sure enough, when we got there we had our pick of the tables.  Mark and Kenny greeted us right away. We said hi and got hugs. We introduced Robyn and Janet. Then they excused themselves to go change so they didn't look like twins...they were both wearing green t-shirts. Then we saw Lucas. Same--hi, hug, I announced that I'd driven 6 hours to be there (and got a shout out for it during the show). I can't remember when we first saw Jesse but he was a friendly as always. These guys are seriously so nice.

It was so great when they started playing. I love hearing them live and watching them play. Kenny played fiddle for a few songs and he's just amazing. We were laughing about how Kenny and especially Mark looked so distracted the whole time by watching the TVs (it was a sports bar). There wasn't a huge crowd so I think they were a little disappointed in the gig. Of course, us being there redeemed it, but still... Lucas was making dumb jokes during the first set. He sat with us during their breaks. He ate our leftover food, including my fish stick. I told him he could have it if he let me photograph him eating it. He'd been in a rollerblading accident earlier in the week and was in a lot of pain from it. Emily gave him some Advil and it reminded us of the time she provided the band with bug spray at an outdoor gig. Robyn joked that we should make them a survival kit. It was so fun to sit around and talk and laugh with him. He showed us video of the puppies they'd seen at the pet store next door (they'd been hanging around all day with nothing to do).  We talked about our kids--how many we have, how old they are. He was a little floored. I even whipped out my phone and showed him pictures. I think he still can't quite figure out why we're fans and show up to so many gigs (well, not so many anymore). We talked about Mark's long hair--he's been less groomed since breaking up with his girlfriend. Lucas said no more hair gel. We found out they often don't have plans of where to stay after each gig and hope to meet someone that will offer them a place to stay. The night before they'd stayed at a nasty house so they were going to get a hotel.

We got our traditional picture afterwards. We only had the camera on my iPhone so the picture kind of stinks. Jesse tried to edit it for me but some of us still have glowing eyes. Emily and I wore our shirts and bought hats. They thanked us for coming and filling in the awkward empty space.  All in all an A+ evening. I finally got to bed well after 2am. I only managed to sleep until about 8:00, but fortunately stayed alert on my drive home and made it home safe and sound Friday evening. Totally worth it!!

Emily and I swiped these posters from the bulletin board by the bathrooms. I should have gotten it autographed! Oh well.