Cheeto Dust
The Districts are a strong opener for Hippo Campus, and they make quite the impression. They’re sound makes you want to get in your car and drive to the mountains. We were introduced to them on October 15, at the Orange Peel in Asheville, NC.
Before the concert, we weren’t sure who was opening for Hippo Campus. Most people don’t really care about the opener, but we take it as an opportunity to listen to new music. We never expected to love the band this much, though.
When they first started their set, there was a couple in front of us that were solely there for The Districts. So, we thought they must be good enough to have a fan base all the way in North Carolina. We were surprised when everyone in the venue was dancing and jumping up and down during their set. They truly put their heart and soul into their performance, and shows when everyone next to you is in awe of their music.
After the show, we walked over to the merch table to get some HC memorabilia. We saw a small table for The Districts and headed over there to check them out. A tall guy was standing behind the table. I (Jen) saw a small orange vinyl signed with silver sharpie. I contemplated before looking up at the guy and asking how much it was.
He laughed and stated, “Ten dollars! But I won’t sell you that one because I was eating Cheetos earlier, and got the Cheeto dust on it.”
For some reason that was all the more reason to purchase one. So, I left happily with a t-shirt and the vinyl.
Brown Paper Bag Set Lists
Fast forward two weeks, and we were on our way to the Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro, North Carolina. We had spent the majority of those two weeks learning more and more about The Districts, and falling in love with their music.
We knew Long Distance and Ordinary Day by heart, and we were determined to shout the lyrics out while they were performing.
When we arrived in Carrboro, we were looking for parking when we saw Rob, Pat, and Braden casually walking down the street. We waved to them, Rob looked confused that we knew who he was. Which, obviously made us feel connected to them. I (Jen) waved to Rob again, when were sitting down to with the rest of the VIP people.
Again, they played an incredible show. Us and the people around us were rocking out to their set. The guy next to us leaned over and told us that he loved their sound, and how cool he thought their performance was. After, their performance, their lead guitarist handed me (Jen) a set list that was written on a torn up piece of a brown paper bag. The keyboard player hopped off the stage to hand Britt a set list too. We then proceeded to tell him how much we loved his black and white checkered pants. We knew that after the show we wanted to meet them in and get to know them. So, we did just that.
We walked passed the Hippo Campus merch and made our way over to the same guy we met in Asheville. He greeted us, and Britt asked for the same vinyl I had purchased last time. We then asked if he remembered telling us that he got Cheeto dust on the vinyl.
His eyes widened and laughed, “I was just thinking about the other day! That was such a funny joke, well not joke but story”. We laughed with him, and then they asked where we were from. We explained that we had driven four hours to see them this time, but only an hour to see them in Asheville.
He was shocked that we had traveled so far to see them again, and then introduced him self by shaking my (Jen’s) hand. “I’m Keondre, by the way,” he said with a smile.
We introduced ourselves, and then Keondre gestured to some people next to us, “We have two show comers, guys”. We look next to us, and their lead guitarist and bass player are standing in the corner. They turn to us in shock, and we explain again where we’re from and how far we had traveled to see them both times. They seemed like they were in awe of how dedicated we were. They introduced themselves as Pat and Connor.
They were more than happy to take pictures with us, and hold a long conversation about the small 15 person van they travel in. We explained to them how much we enjoyed their set, and how awesome their music is. Pat, Connor, and Keondre tried to persuade us to go to their show that they were playing again at the same venue.
We walked outside with a feeling of fulfillment. We had just had full on conversations with both bands that day, and we could not have been happier. I think the realization of them just being human beings hit us as we were holding these long conversations with them.
We headed around the the front of Cat’s Cradle where a crowd waited for Hippo Campus to come outside. But, we weren’t waiting for them, mainly because we had already gotten the chance to meet them. We were waiting for the rest of The Districts to come outside so that we could meet the rest of the band members. This was probably the best decision we have ever made, because sure enough we waved to Keondre and motioned for him to bring the rest of them to us.
A big shout out to Keondre, for being the sweetest soul and rounding them all up to introduce us. They all made their way over to where we were standing. They were quick to tell us that Keondre had told them how far we had traveled and that we saw them in Asheville too. We shook Rob and Braden’s hands and introduced ourselves to them. We got a picture and then talked with them about their January tour in the Northeast.
We said our goodbyes and turned away to walk back to the parking garage where we had parked. As we past the crowd of people, they stared at us as if we had just done something insane.
What’s so crazy to us is that, people see these bands as props or untouchable. But, the truth is most of them just want to be treated like people. And if you allow yourself to break from that stigma, you end up meeting really cool people, who just so happen to make cool ass music.
Late Night Korean BBQ
We spent Halloween listening to their music and crying because we weren’t able to go to the second show. We obviously wanted to see Hippo Campus again but we really wanted to hangout with The Districts and see them live again.
The next night we were both at our houses, separated for the first time in a week. I (Jen) was on Instagram when I saw on their band’s food account (@thefinediningdistricts), that they were looking for places to eat… in our freaking town. Out of all the places they could have stopped, they stopped in our town to eat. I slid over to the next story and saw that they were at the Korean Barbecue place next to where we had gotten out tattoos.
I (Jen) immediately called Britt to tell her the news. We were both in shock, and I tried convincing her for an hour to get up and go meet up with them, but at this point we were both in bed. I had my acne cream on my face with wet pig tail braids, soaking the top of my sleep shirt, and Britt had her retainer in. Both of us agreed we were in no shape to get in a car and drive to this place to meet them. What would we even say? How weird would that seem if we just showed up?
We still kind of regret not getting up and going, but if we did we wouldn’t have gotten the idea to start this blog. 
As always, stay groovy! Catch ya later!
All the love, Britt and Jen
Hypnotic Bolt 