Knuckle Puck/Real Friends, The Castle Theatre

So we start this night with a 2 hour drive to Bloomington. Not too bad but we were 5 deep in a Hyundai Elantra and I took the middle. Fast forward the boring drive through bumfuck no where Illinois, we get to Normal to get some food, off-roaded the Elantra to get some Starbucks, looked around Illinois State University, since that was nearby. We got to the venue in Bloomington, the line wasn't bad and the venue was packed. It straight up looked like it was at one point one of those new wave churches that folded and by that I mean they had railings everywhere...like EVERYWHERE. 

So Knuckle Puck comes on and plays their set. I try to go into the mosh pit (it was like 10 people on the right half of the stage) and felt like I was getting crowd crushed into the barricade (didn't realize we were like 4ft away from barricade). So I went up to crowd surf and basically just got passed to security. For the rest of their set I just chilled with the rest of the group and we just vibed. I went in the tiny pit that was next to us on the other side of the venue and went hard (bc duh its No Good of course I'm gonna go hard) and well someone decided they got a little hungry and this mf really bit me in the head! Idk what was going through that dudes mind but I saw him feeling his tooth like that shit hurted. I just stayed on the side after that weird incident (plus my friend gave me her earrings to not lose and they kept stabbing me in my pocket). No Good and But Why Do You Care are always gonna win me over. Performance wise 8/10. Pit wise 5/10. Pain level from chompers in the pit 3/10 physically, 5/10 emotionally.

Real Friends comes on and they open with I've Given Up on You which was weird, it's slow and nostalgic but I'm not trying to be emotional at the start of the set. We ended up just chilling in the back by the bar. We had a great view of them and it was a nice chill vibe with a couple drinks. They played Mess and Me First and saw that as my opportunity to go in the pit again and crowd surf. I went up for both songs and moshed. It was definitely better than it was during Knuckle Puck, but I still felt like I was packed in like a sardine. Overall I’d give their set a 7/10 (I wish they played more of their throwbacks tbh and they didn’t play Loose Ends with Joe Taylor from KP). Pit wise 6/10. 

We make the 2 hour drive back home all fine and well. We’re all queuing music on Spotify and vibing when all the sudden we hit coyote like 30 minutes away from home in bumfuck no where. Pull over on the side of the interstate and see that our car is completely fucked, coolant leaked out everywhere and we had to get a tow truck. Our friends boyfriend luckily lived like 20 minutes away so he came to pick us all up and that’s where I decide to do what I do best and completely eat shit on the side of the shoulder trying to get into this dude’s SUV and fall into a ditch on the side of the interstate and scrape the fuck out of my knee. We all did fortunately get  home safely.

I’d give the venue a 2/10. The trip to get out there easily a -5/10 for the events that unfolded (funny, but unfortunate) Overall I’d give it a 4/10 experience.