On July 31, 2004, I was living in sleepy Columbia, MO, anticipating my senior year in college and, weighing larger on my mind, prepping for my band to break up. We played our final show that night in my basement after a Sonic Youth show let out at the Blue Note. Yes, the fragrant mixture of pooling beer, mildew and asbestos still warms my soul to the smell. We entered that basement with nothing but our gear, crumpled setlists, several bottles of hard liquor, and a floppy marital aid called the “7-Inch Ballsy” that we passed around the audience like a beach ball—but we left as champions. Champions! If only we were a little better we’d be touring the country today. Actually, we were pretty good. But we were too young ‘n’ dumb to know it.

Five years later, I’ve uploaded the DVD I made (with the help of my brother Jack and my friend Ben Santos, who let us risk his camera in the party zone) of the show to YouTube. It’s been a long time comin’, but hey … I’m lazy.The 16 videos in the playlist comprise the 17 or so songs we played that night, plus the bonus footage of us jamming before the show in the basement. All but two of the songs are classic power pop covers—The Real Kids, the Paul Collins Beat, Big Star, Cheap Trick—plus our heavy cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)”. Oh, and some band called the White Rabbits played one of its first shows after this show, but, er, we ran out of tape. You can catch them on iTunes (They know I kid!).

Missouri Sex Offenders: Live at Pannell Street

Download the concert in MP3 (ZIP, 320 kpbs)

Missouri Sex Offenders on MySpace