The Boys of Summer (aka I Like Like Summer)

Before last night's show, it had been almost a year since I had last seen Like Summer in concert. That show at The Quiet Storm was one of a kind. We just sat there listening as they were allowed to play well beyond their original set. They just kept on going, taking requests and playing without worry, songs they hadn't practiced in years. That was a good night for me. Just like yesterday was a good night for me.

Since their beginnings, Like Summer has been one of those bands whose history has always been intertwined with my life. There isn't a show or a song that doesn't take me back to a beautiful time in my life and I love it. There is a nostalgia in their shows that sometimes causes me to drift off and stop paying attention at times. I can't quite describe it. Their music will never get old for me. It will always take me back to the first summer after I graduated where I lived with the band on Jane Street in the South Side while they stumbled into the Pittsburgh music scene. It will take me back to the times when at any given moment you could pick up one of two or three guitars that were resting against the wall downstairs and start playing. Times of Steve and I standing in the kitchen making some milk-free dinner while we talked about who knows what. Times of private concerts in our upstairs room while Steve played through some of his new songs.

So last night when we partied at Peter's house and eventually sat down to an intimate sing along with Steve and Ben, it was just like old times listening to the songs from back when you only had to go upstairs to hang out with any of them.

Maybe I am just a groupie. I don't know. But everytime I see the Boys of Summer play, it is a good day.