The Get Up Kids, all dressed quite well in that emo dreamboat sort of way, looked like very nice boys (except the one who hates me; he looked as though he was in a bad mood). One of them wore a Nike stocking cap and we all remarked after the show that the hat was somehow odd. Not good, not bad. Just odd.

Their album, Four Minute Mile, is worth far more than the eight to ten dollars you'll pay for it in your local record store (that is, if they're not out of stock). It's full of emotive songs that you can listen to hundreds of times with no problem. Words cannot effectively explain how listenable this record is (and I hear it was recorded in a day). If you do not have this, bookmark this page, go to the record shop, buy the record, and come back. It's that good.

The Get Up Kids: Don't Hate Me (from their nice Four Minute Mile album) real audio,824kb)

If I were a real rock star critic, I could tell you which song was the opener. However, I'm not, so I can't. I can, however, promise you that it wasn't "American Thighs" by AC/DC. All of the songs they played were supertight and good for dancing. Again, I embarrassed myself but I don't think anybody cared. Nike-cap was close to us, and I think he probably wanted to laugh because he avoided looking at us. The thing about the Get Up Kids is that they probably couldn't write a bad song if they tried, so the skate shop was filled with smiling kids enjoying a good show on a cold night.

After a few songs, Dave started to dance around with some funny straight edge moves. Taking it back to '88, Ariana and I joined in the fun. We fingerpointed and did the chainsaw, erupting into giggles every four seconds. Some stodgy farts gave us dirty looks, as if to say, "You are sooo juvenile. Do not make fun of cheesy straight edge moves. Stand here and do the head nod like we do. Rock and roll is a very serious thing."

And so we laughed even more, enjoying the knowledge that there's only so long you can be a kid and do things like this.