NUFAN muthafuckas!!

after about 7 years or so of being a big No Use For a Name fan, i've finally downloaded their entire discography. (i know, i know... i should buy their cds, but i only ever find them for near $30 a piece, and do not have that kinda money to spend on the 5 or 6 albums that i dont already have). i'm pretty stoked, listening to them, and feeling really nostalgic, thinking back on when this was all i listened to.
I remember back when they came to Winnipeg for the first time since i'd started listening to them, they just happened to be playing an 18+ show, and i was 17, so i couldn't go. My buddy Ryan was also underage, and his brother Ray and his friend Mike made sure to let us know at every opportunity they got, how great of a show it was going to be and how we'd be missing out, taunting us by saying things like, "it's NO USE being sad guys, you can't get in anyways" and whatever else they could think of. Needless to say, we wanted to punch them, if only they weren't 8 years older than us.
I finally got my chance to see NUFAN when i was 18 or 19, i'm not quite sure, but i was the most excited person in the world for that show! Before the show, Ryan, Ray and I walked out back behind the venue to where the tour bus was and saw Rory Koff (drummer) walking out of the bus, toward the door of the venue. Ray yelled, "hey! it's Rory!" and he replied with a "hey! it is!" which we found somewhat comical.
so time for the show: i stood at the front at the stage, right underneath Tony Sly (the singer/guitarist)'s mic and bellowed out the words to every single song, not missing a word. I saw Ryan getting up to stage dive a few times. I rocked out harder than i'd ever rocked out at a show before and had the time of my life.
After the show, we stuck around inside to chat with the band a bit. Tony was surrounded by a bunch of girls, so we only got a few minutes with him and time enough to get a picture. Dave had to miss the tour due to him becoming a father recently, so we didnt' get to meet him. Matt Riddle was hanging out kinda by himself at the side of the stage, so we snuck over to say hi. We told him that we were all members on their message board (RIP haha) and he recognized us right away. we chatted for about half an hour before he suggested we take some fun pictures.
The venue we were at (the Garrick) used to be a movie theater, and there were still a ton of seats still in place, though they'd cleared the middle section for concerts. we sat down in the seats on the side and Matt said "hey! let's pretend we're in a scary movie!" so we all put on our terrified faces and someone snapped a picture. looking back at the pictures, Ryan laughed and said it looked like Matt and I were on a date since we were huddled close together. we took a bunch of pictures and then headed out to the car, but were so excited about the night, that we forgot where we were going and just aimlessly walked for about 5 minutes in the freezing Winnipeg winter until we realized we were walking in the opposite direction of where we had parked.
i've been to quite a few shows in the past few years, and this one has definitely got to be one of my most memorable. i'm so stoked to see them again, and i'm sure i'll have just as great a time! so stoked, can't wait! review to come after.