TDH Tour 2023 - Pt. 2

- Continued from this blog post -

So, we had Sunday off (as did the band, for some much-needed R&R). I slept in 'til around noon, and then promptly got up and set to work on finishing a gift I'd been making for Casey. At the Lakewood show, I gave the guys all custom-made looseleaf tea that my boss at The Steeping Leaf blended for me. (We named it Sweet NaiveTea and they hated that.) (And by hate, I mean love, because everyone hates puns.)

Later in the evening I was pinged by my friend August who was driving up with his partner from several states South of me to see the Pittsburgh show with me the next day. We made plans to meet up for dinner as their route to their hotel took them right through my town. And so we did, despite that all three of us were rather sleep-deprived and delirious. It was so great to sit down with someone I've been such close friends with online for so long.

Naturally, we met at Primanti's, which I feel is a rite of passage for anyone coming to Pittsburgh for the first time. And after some good quality time and story swapping, we went our separate ways with plans to meet back up again before the show the next day. They'd be coming to VIP with me and Nic, so we were all very excited to enjoy that experience together.

I stayed up until probably 2 AM finishing my gift for Casey, mostly fueled by good food and good company still warming my bones.

The gift in question accompanied another one:

A sculpture of the archaic mask of the Guide to Botany (which I helped design), and a full sculpt of the first stage of an Amber Slug. Both of them belong to Casey's world of The Indigo Child.

With these gifts came a few in return. That is, one of which is that I can finally acknowledge that I'm one of the few people who has access to the deep lore of The Indigo Child. It's been such a wonderful experience getting to dive headfirst into the incredible world he's crafted. And I'm so honored to be trusted with such things that are worth the absolute world to me. The fact that I get to collaborate with my biggest creative inspiration is something I still can't quite get my head around, but it's awesome. There's nothing else that I can say at the moment about my involvement with Casey & his world, but I hope that these little tastes are enough for now!

But anyway!

Show 2 - Oct. 30th, 2023
-

VIP for the Pittsburgh, PA show was great. This time, most of the folks attending were good friends of mine, including no less than three Allisons, August & Aster, and some local fans I'm tickled to have gotten to know. All of whom are some of my favorite people. Please forgive my face. I am very tall and this amuses me. That's August on my right (your left), and Aly (a local friend!) on my left. In the second photo is also Brittney, Nic, and one of my best friends Ren. This was her first time experiencing TDH and I'm so glad she came out for the show with us!

I did also nab another picture with the guys again when Justin elbowed me that direction.

It was pretty rad seeing the band at a venue I've been going to shows at for most of my life. Mr. Small's has a special place in my heart and has been the host of so many core memories. I'm really glad that I've gotten to add these memories to that ever-growing list. I might be a little biased, given it's my hometown and my favorite concert venue around here. But really, it's just such a nice down-low intimate sort of event.

Mr. Small's used to be a church once upon a time, and that's glaringly obvious from the outside of the venue. But what people don't expect, I think, is that the inside reflects that too. I'm unsure of its history, but I assume that the balconies above the main floor have always been there. There's also some gorgeous stained glass windows that shine down on the audience during the daytime. On any other occasion, I'd have been sitting up in the balconies for the show. But there was no way I was going to miss out on being up by the stage for my favorite band. The cool thing about this venue, too, is that they had us VIPs hang out in the downstairs café after the meet & greet, and we were brought right up for early entry from inside so that we didn't have to brave the frigid cold outside.

Pittsburgh's show was by and far my favorite of the three I saw.

The crowd was great, the band's banter with said crowd was on point, and the vibes of the evening were just all-around thrumming with excitement and a resounding sense of community and fan-family. Notably, August's partner Aster gave Casey a clown nose during VIP, which he was re-gifted during the show and he wore it for the first half of one of the more solemn songs of the set.

I also noticed that a staple question from the crowd during almost every show was some rendition of "what are you drinking?" Which, during this show, and Casey's cheeky admission that it was "tea", my friend Ren shouted "Tea Supremacy!" which became a running gag after the fact. And you know, I'm biased, but she's right. Tea Supremacy.

As is also custom, Rob asked the crowd if it was anyone's first time seeing the band live. And, because I'm an asshole, I threw my hands up all cheeky-like. To which Max very loudly accused me of being a liar. So, mission accomplished there.

I want to take a moment to note...

All Get Out and Delta Sleep, who are both the openers on this tour, are just phenomenal live. They killed every show, and it was clear the crowd loved them too. I lean a little more towards AGO than Delta Sleep, but frankly I thoroughly enjoyed them both every time.

So! Another show was in the books. We stuck around after to hang out with Casey, Big Nick, and my friends, and then hauled ourselves home yet again. I don't think I got to sleep until 3 AM that night, as high and excited as I was from an incredible evening. Fortunately, this particular drive home was only a blessed 40 minutes and the shortest yet.

This leaves one more show to cover, and one more blog post!

Continued in Pt. 3...

(Photo credit to their videographer Justin / @jablesjehu)