#mattycarroll

Still frozen, the song had come to an end as we all eagerly awaited Elly’s (Kink’s) opening call. After a few smiles, hello’s and waves were shared with the room, she says “One of my biggest fans are here tonight.. *pauses and searches the room*.. I Love La ROUX?” My lips were glued from shyness as a girl I met before the show yells and points across the room “That’s you!” pointing her manicure towards me. My friend yells and points down to me “Here she is!!” Elly looked directly at me like a cat spotting a ball of yarn. I giggled from the bright lights and eyeballs glued to me…. She smiled saying “Hello” waving as my face got hot… I’m absolutely shy. I finally speak and wave quickly (I hope she could hear my distant mouse greeting) and I say “Hello! Whooh!” and she laughed, carrying along into the next tune. Each track gave me great nostalgia. Every tune had it’s own groove, making your hips move in a completely different direction, verse to verse. I’ve never seen nor acknowledged such an iconic live band before. Songs from 2008 til 2014 were in synchronized melody and perfectly themed. From the tropical synths of emotions in ‘Quicksand’ to ‘Tropical Chancer’, a sunny Caribbean slicksters biography. ‘Bulletproof’ seeped into the night, bringing everyone back down to earth. The lyrics were the same but the sound was much different than I remember. By that meaning, it was performed in a different emotional melody, almost as if you could hear the story behind it. Appearing as a celebration, fin, a night well kept, approaching differently than the range before. The overall performance was glee! And peaceful. From one emotional swing right into the muscle bound bassline in ‘Silent Partner’. Mickey’s skull shaker gave the battle a breather with shakes of Michael Jackson’s shoes. William joined her with jolly clashes similar to tap dancing, complimenting the system 100. The set was a breath of fresh air. Overall: Prodigious *Fin The smoke cleared as quickly as the crowd. We headed our way towards the stairway, awaiting our greeting from an earlier invintation. About 10 minutes later, William scurried down the wooden stairs sporting a tangerine long sleeve, with a pleasing handshake. I awkwardly joke and say “Matty!” William says “I’m William….” I laughed a little bit #BadJoke We make our way up stairs to find everyone standing and walking around chatting. Everyone turned our way nearly saying hello in a domino effect. In order to get rid of my butterflies, I warmed up by handing out hugs lol then wishing Mickey and Matty a Happy Birthday! The room was filled with proportioned stories, questions and jokes. Mid conversation Elly told me how she came across my page and how much she and the band admired it (Thank you again) Then dear Mickey fixed me a drink (what a sweetie) as my friend made her way towards the long awaited pizza arrival with William. I kicked back and chatted with Elly, talking about music we listened to growing up, following me giving a terrible singing example of Sam Robert’s Band “We’re All In This Together” to talking about our love of cats “I miss her every time I’m away” she explained speaking of her kitty Calypso showing me a picture of the round eyed Tuxedo cat. I then showed her a photo of my Calico- Tuxedo mix cat Bella, that was lost not even a month before the concert. Elly looked at her saying “Oh my God! She’s so beautiful” which then made me think of how much I’ve missed her even more… Noticing an up close vision of her graphic shirt, which I really admired by a French designer (I’m not sure of his name) After a while Elly introduced me to Tiffany, the lead singer of Midnight Magic, who was also a flaming ginger. We talked a bit of fashion, as well as her hometown, NYC. As the night grew a bit older by the minute, we finally took photos and said our final goodbyes. Elly signed my CD “To Brionna, Thank You for all your hard work & support Lots of Love, La Rouxxx” The thought finally settled into my stomach that I wasn’t going to see them until the next tour but satisfied with their musical touch. I gave her one last squeeze (Elly, sorry if you couldn’t breathe). My friend and I sailed into the night smiling and rambling our way down the hallway. Mickey was re-entering the building and still high off of the night, I said bye to her giving her one last hug “Enjoy the night Birthday Girl.” This was absolutely one of the best nights of my life and I’ll never forget it. I’m very proud and humbled to support this band and their music of our generation. It’s so colorful and powerful to be a band that actually understands one another, support each other and produce earth shattering music. Our parents grew up listening to good music and this allows our generation to do the same. It shows that it’s okay to be different, it’s okay not to like the same music as everyone else but most of all, it’s okay to express yourself. Thank you Croux for the invite to your show and everything you have done for me. I couldn’t do it without you all or the Grouxpies/Rouxbies 😉 Happy Writing! See you on the next tour May the palm trees be with you 🌴👏 Lots of love, B 🍒

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