Come As You Aren't: Halloween '14

American Authors at Mill City Nights, 10/31/14  ©Allie Morris  (please excuse the shotty quality, there was only so much I could accomplish with an iPhone 4 in a concert setting). 

I've never been one to throw together extravagant plans for Halloween. All the excitement I used to harbor for the holiday vacated once I outgrew trick-or-treating and more often then not I'd been required to rise before the sun for school the next day. This year was different though. Not only did Halloween fall on a Friday but it also fell on the last day of my high school's first semester, meaning I had the following Monday and Tuesday off. Halloween on a Friday, semester's end and start of a long weekend? There was no way I was staying in.

That's how me and my close friend Georgia, found ourselves in downtown Minneapolis on the 31st. We strolled down the streets clad in dark colors and leather jackets, spotting a few costumes sprinkling the sidewalks as we stopped for a bite of Italian. The restaurant had been quiet, something I wasn't quite expecting on Halloween night, but it allowed us to eat quickly before meandering a few blocks to the venue where we had tickets to see American Authors perform.

The concert had been a last minute decision, both of us a bit familiar with the band but we by no means knew every lyric to every song. That turned out to be entirely alright though. The show kicked off with Oh Honey, a five person band (the lead vocals dressed as Peter Pan and Tink, while the instrumentalists donned feathers as the Lost Boys) with happy music and some serious lookers on both the drums and guitar (whom we shamelessly got a picture with once the night was done). After a short set The Mowgli's took the stage. I was familiar with this eccentric group, having seen them open at another show last year and purchasing their album at said event. The band is made up of so many members on so many instruments that the only thing you can rationally expect is an all out shit show. I can happily say that they prove you wrong. Instead of a mess you're greeted with joyful music and a fun and unique stage presence (they adapted to the title "The Gothli's" for the evening and showed up in lots of black, leather, and studs). Halloween was no exception seeing as they rocked my socks right off.

American Authors didn't fail to please either. The group showed up as Batman's enemies (two face, the penguin, the joker, and superman even) and wowed the crowd. I was expecting an alright show but the band was seriously talented and it was clear that they were having just as much fun on stage as I was dancing around. The crowd was a bit stiff but their self consciousness was easy to brush off and I found myself having a blast.

We left the venue very much looking forward to sitting down. The walk back to the car was worth it though. It seemed that while we were at the show the city's inhabitants finally found their way outside, decked out in some of the most ridiculous costumes I had ever seen. While most were queued up at club entrances, a few were running around the streets trick-or-treating at restaurants, something my suburban-raised-self found quite entertaining. The energy in the city was crackling, magnetic even, and had I not been underage and exhausted I would have very much liked to stay all night.

Instead we climbed the stairs to another friend's porch at around 1am, sitting down with tea all around and handfuls of leftover sweets. We talked quietly, perched criss crossed atop the kitchen counter, all of us a bit drunk off of sleep deprivation. Our adrenaline and sugar highs eventually wore off, dragging us down with them, but as they faded the feeling of absolute contentment never did.
XX Allie