Many thanks to all of you for entering the Arctic Monkeys Contest. The inbox was flooded, and I honestly wish there were tickets for everyone: there were some really funny emails, some really sentimental ones, and nearly all reflected some serious thought. I even managed to secure one more ticket for a Second Prize. So, on to your winners.
Our Grand Prize of two tickets goes to Jennifer, who managed to make me feel like I could satisfy a fan and play cupid all in one shot. Now that's stroking my ego, and that I like.
I don't know if this is funny or just sad.
But I met a guy in Scotland this summer who lives a few hours from NYC. We hit it off, had a great weekend together and then parted ways. He is coming to NYC this weekend to see some friends for just two days so we won't get to see each other. He really want to go to the Arctic Monkeys show but alas, sold out. I said I would see if I could wrangle one but it is the final hour and it doesn't look good. So basically, I want the tickets to see what could happen between us if we saw each other again. It tough to get a date in NYC and even tougher to meet somebody who might just be the right somebody.
And there you go.
No, there you go, Jennifer. I was in a sappy mood, and your email came at just the right time. I expect a toast to VI at your wedding! I'm kidding. (No, I'm not.)
Second Prize goes to Layne's satirical take on being an indie fan, though it never belies his true appreciation for (and knowledge of) the Arctic Monkeys. It's a good one, and worth a read.
Why do I want to go to the Arctic Monkeys show tonight?
I've
been an Arctic Monkeys fan forever--and I don't just mean since a few
kids in England were trading MP3s over the Internet. I was a fan of the
Arctic Monkeys before the Internet even existed on any practical
level. My friends and I would listen to their early demos, then
painstakingly convert the sound into ones and zeros by hand into spiral
notebooks. The first Arctic Monkeys song I ever heard weighed 700 lbs
and cost $3,000 to ship from Sheffield, England. I liked them way
before I read about the band in NME. I liked the Arctic Monkeys back
when the guy that founded NME was just this dude that used to poop in
his pants every time he saw four guys with long hair and guitars.
I was an Arctic Monkeys fan before several of the band members
were even born. I have an amazing bootleg audio recording of the
drummer being conceived--got it on Limewire. In fact, I liked the
Arctic Monkeys before they evolved into modern-day human beings from
monkeys. They barely even had opposable thumbs back then, but man they
could play.
If you can believe it, I was a diehard Monkey Head when life
on earth was mostly limited to just a few monocellular organisms living
under water. They had this great song, "I Bet You Look Good on the
Ocean Floor" from their LP Whatever People Say I Am, I'm a Small Mass of Eukaryotic Cells.
I got into their music about two weeks before the creation of the
universe-- I checked out their MySpace before there was space. At that
point their existence was mostly theoretical, but you could still
totally rock out to it.
I also liked them before the Webster Hall show sold out, but I
totally flaked on tickets, so your help here would be very much
appreciated.
Congratulations Jen and Layne, and thanks to everyone for entering!
