Feels Like Home
There are very few people on the planet that I would fly 1,734 miles for, but for flor and Lostboycrow, I would do it 10 times over.
It's no secret that I have no chill when it comes to flor (sometimes I'd like to think it's a mutual lack of chill). Examples of this can be seen on every form of social media, this website, and even permanently tattooed in Zach Grace's handwriting. Since I'd last seen them in March, we've increased our mostly one-sided twitter interactions (low-key my pinned tweet is still Kyle's tweet from March) and I've upped my free-promo quota at work. In this time I also discovered the beauty that is Lostboycrow and added him to my ever-growing list of people to promo and tweet relentlessly. Oh and I met Jenna, who would also be making the journey from Texas to San Francisco.
When I'd heard they were teaming up for a tour of the west coast, I knew that I had to be there (especially since flor announced they would play the ENTIRETY of their debut album). I bought my ticket to the show, worked my ass off to get a plane ticket, then finally made my way to San Francisco for the December 6th show.
When we got to the venue, a little hole in the wall with not even a sign that said we were in the right place (thank god we recognized the band's van or we would have been in a world of hurt), we were let inside where after I raided the merch table, we scoped out where we would stand for the show. On our way up to the stage we ran into Zach and Kyle who graciously put up with my word vomit and attempts to catch them up on everything that's gone on in the past few months. They left and Jenna and I headed back to a couch set up by the merch table to wait for their set.
They opened with Get Behind This, a quintessential indie pop track that skyrocketed the energy of the room with its insanely catchy chorus and a hook that you'll still be humming long after the song's over. This song has all of the makings of a hit, the production is spot on and Zach's unique vocals stand out amongst other artists in the genre.
By the first chord I was automatically transported back into the safe space that this band created for me from the beginning. Trying to put this into words is near impossible, and I hope that no matter how big they get (I have no doubt they'll go far) that this feeling never changes. It's like the purest forms of happiness, excitement, love, and pride all rolled into one.
With each song came a new layer of excitement and a mental note of which new additions I would go to first with the release of the album. Despite it being my fourth time hearing it live, Warm Blood was one of my favorites of the night. Not even my singing along (comparable to a dying cat) could ruin the magic of my favorite flor song.
For the sake of total transparency, I have to be honest and say that even though it was only out for 4 days at the time, I had listened to their newest release, Still Standing Still, an embarrassing amount of times and subsequently lost my shit when Lostboycrow took to the stage to perform it with them.
An unexpected favorite was a new song that Zach played acoustically. I say it's one of my favorites but as I sit here I can't remember the name for the life of me (typical). Anyway, I know with absolute certainty that this will be the first song I turn to as soon as the album comes out. It was stunning and completely effortless, each note taking us deeper into the story of his design. It was the kind of song that silenced the room, everyone not daring to talk because we all knew were witnessing something truly outstanding . I was almost brought to tears with how perfect it was and I'm totally kicking myself for not remembering the name because I know it's something totally special. (kind of hard to brag about a song when the conversation goes : "oh my god the new flor song is so beautiful that I almost cried the entire time Zach was playing" "what's it called" "I have no idea") you get me?
The last song I want to mention, Eye to Eye, needs a little bit of a back story before I can go on to how great it was.
Flashback to The 1975 in Houston where Jenna and I were both talking about how excited we were to see flor and discussing which songs they were going to put on the album. I mentioned Eye to Eye and she looked at me like I was legit insane. I even sang a bit of the chorus and was adamant that it was for sure a song of theirs, but even google wasn't helpful, so I had spent weeks thinking I made up an amazing flor song and was fully prepared to tell Zach that I had written a hit for them.
So there I was, right in front of the stage, Jenna in the corner taking photos when Zach says something along the lines of "this song was only out for about a month, it's called Eye to Eye". From across the room Jenna and I started dying laughing and had the biggest dance party to the amazing song that, until that point, we both kind of thought I had made up.
Their set left me wishing I could call up Fueled by Ramen and beg for the album so I could listen to it some more, but mostly insanely proud and grateful to whatever cosmic force brought them into my life.
Lostboycrow is a new addition to my life, but is already making a huge impression. Over the past few months I've become completely infatuated. My playlists became mainly his catalogue with a few others sprinkled in, and my twitter became somewhat of a flor/lbc fan account. Not to mention, a one-sided snapchat relationship that is mainly my friends sending him shit that I would have to explain in person (it's fine.)
Needless to say, this tour was my dream scenario, and my frail little heart could barely handle the excitement when he came on stage right after flor.
Lostboycrow is one of those rare artists that sound even better live than recorded. His talents are remarkable and entirely underrated. He exudes confidence and commands a room, and will have you dancing and singing along start to finish.
For my first time seeing him live, I had no clue what to expect, but there we were, bopping away when all of a sudden this small child comes out of nowhere, clears a space in front of the stage and starts breakdancing like a scene out of some weird 2000s movie. It was surreal, like this tiny human was literally on the floor, just doing his thing, while LBC was on stage just absolutely killing it, total sensory overload (in a good way).
Hands down, my favorite part of not only his set but possibly the entire night was when he sang The Lost Boy (acoustically, maybe that's just a thing that gets me), and brought Zach up on stage to sing a harmony that killed me, brought me back to life, and then had me sobbing internally. I wanted to live in that moment forever, it was the most at peace I had ever felt. Seriously, guys, stop being so talented. It's not fair.
After the show we talked to Zach and Dylan for a bit- I don't think I got my word vomit completely under control because I mainly just found 100,000 different ways to say how proud I am of them. We talked a little more about the album and the show and they made their way outside.
Then my favorite human, personified golden retriever, and resident dad, McKinley came over and listened to me ramble about airport security woes, my shameless flor promo that should have gotten me fired from the station by now and everything in between. Again, my talk about my overflowing pride did not stop at Zach and Dylan, I had to make sure that McKinley knew that I am their biggest advocate. There's something so special about talking to your favorite band about their music, touring , and life in general and I will never forget these little moments.
*for the sake of keeping this post's length as short as possible, and the fact that I've already gotten super sappy about flor, I'm going to move on, despite the fact that I could talk about these boys for a while if you'd let me*
We moved our party outside (after venue staff had fully had it with our shit... we shut the place down and then some..... sorry bout it), and finally got the chance to meet with Lostboycrow. After I got all of the apologies about my snapchat streaks out of the way, we all got to talking and ended up staying outside in the cold for a while just getting to know each other like he hadn't just slayed our entire existence on the stage less than an hour beforehand. You'd be hard pressed to find someone as cool and down to earth as LBC. It's refreshing having a conversation with someone you've never met that makes you feel like an old friend, especially when you're an anxious mess.
At the end of it all, if there was any question about it before, these are my favorite people on the planet. It's strange how these things sort of fall into your lap, I would have never believed you if you'd said that the band that opened for Halsey in 2015 and their best friend would have completely stolen my heart a year later, but I am forever grateful that they did. These 5 people have made me feel completely special and undeniably loved and I am so proud to know them.
In the nothingness at least we're not alone, it feels like home.
love,
Marissa
(aka the girl who freaked out in an uber when most of y'all finally followed me on twitter)
