The Farewell Show

-the premier of the new independent film "rocky road". written/directed by darren was a lot better than i expected. very enjoyable. i am excited to see the finished product.
-dangerville covered "coin operated boy". it was pretty awesome. its awesome that they know i am a dorky dresden dolls fan. i have been listening to amanda palmer solo demos all week.
-brodie hubbard had the jemske boys back him up to create this weird but amazing brodie hubbard punk band. something i didn't think i would like but i totally did.
-jrc did this totally awesome performance art piece with a giant mad-lib about me going on a mission. with text taken from the new times article. it was a lot of fun.
-haunted cologne has a new direction which is much more mellow but still a lot of fun. they had a "christmas special" themed show. and in the middle of the set satan came to tempt me, but the angel of gabriel and a missionary came and saved me so it was ok.
-the black jacket was really great. john kept saying it was sloppy but it totally wasn't. they improved a song about me which was totally amazing. and so many people came up to me and wanted to know more about them.
-little jimmy was cute as always. i have only seen him read poetry one other time but both times he did a really super job! he is a very special kid.
-iji was a lot of fun. i only got to see 2 songs though because people kept talking to me. i heard the fathers day cover of "my sons a gay" it was pretty rad. they are good dudes.
-kevin patterson did a short performance of poetry and storys. including "people you shouldn't trust" which is one i always enjoy. i wish i would have become friends with him sooner because he is such a cool dude.
-red pony clock was a lot of fun too. and it was cool to hang out and talk with some of them, they are some of the nicest folks i have met. a bunch of people came for them.
-larry "wild man" fischer REALLY PLAYED! he brought the biggest crowd i think. it was my first time hearing his songs. and they were all so fun. and the more i hear about him the more into him i become. i love artists like that.
-stacey gordon + tommy cannon did an amazing funducastion performance about dinosaurs. they are such brilliant people.
-french quarter played outside by the dumpster. it was a really really really sweet set. made me get a little teary eyed. he played top of the food chain which was probably the highlight for me.
-bill binder wore a star trek uniform and made himself puke! hahahaha. it ruined some peoples nights and made other peoples nights better. it was the coolest tribute i have ever seen. "this is for you ryan.... BARF!!!!!!!!!"
-tent city played outside by the dumpster as well. they didn't have a tent or sheets. so it was tent city unveiled. it was weird. it kinda felt like they were naked. it was a really slow start. but then eventually you felt it. and it all clicked. and then it got to be really awesome and kinda loud and steph asked me to ask them to be quite because there is a house next door or something. it was really really good!
-fathers day tried to play a five minute set. and i guess we did if you didn't include the honcore. but the honcore was about another 5 minutes. and it was probably our best set ever. everyone was into us and flipping out. it was a lot of fun. it ended with a dogpile on me! totally sweet! AND MY DAD WAS THERE!!!!!!!!! woah!!!!!!!!!!
-the coitus did an ultra short set. like so short that you could miss it by going to the bathroom. it was good though and i am happy corey brought all of his stuff and did something for the show.
-8 bit porno set was weird. we tried to do a coffee house noise thing. and it didn't work out because adams instrument didn't work so he just smashed and we all went nuts for a while. the whole thing lasted maybe 6 minutes. and it was probably so confusing for people that had never seen us before.
-the children of hell were so much fun as always. they usually do something totally amazing and weird and "wtf?!" but they just played a normal set with all there discopunk jamz. until!!!!! they covered blondie!!!!!! and it was the cutest thing ever!!!!! like woah!!!! who knew the children of hell could be so adorable?!! i didnt!
-jose gonzalas did a really fun mr. rogers impersonation that made me smile real big!
-djentrification's [sound collage] was really really really sweet! alex is such an amazing artist. and really underrated. more people need to check him out.
-the nourishment took a long time setting up but it was totally worth it. they played all the hits! and had a slide show! and each member did solo stuff! and PHIL LAWRENCE EVEN SHOWED UP!!!!!! ++special appearance by wild man larry fischer!!!!!! there set blew me away. and it was the best farewell present ever!
-**THE LAST**hi my name is ryan set was good. it took a lot out of me. actually every last bit of energy i had left. i played a little game of peek-a-boo with myself then i cried about how much i love stuff. then i had a sing along with everyone with all these songs i have sang over the years. then i gave words of advice and cried some more and flipped out a little. then i sang hello, goodnight. and cried a little more.

STATS:
-number of people that payed to get in: 60 [exactly]
-number of people that got in for free: 50+
-number of fathers day 7"s sold: 6 [only a 4-5 more test press copies left!]
-number of pizzas eaten: 5
-number of hugs i received: 500+ [thats just an estimate]
-number of unexpected kisses: 3
-number of times people said "i'll miss you so much!": 100 [at least!]
-number of times a band or performer asked me when they go on: 40
-number of hours the show lasted: 9

overall the greatest farewell i could ask for. thank you everyone that came.