JohnnyoftheWell: without mewithoutYou

JohnnyoftheWell 10.20.19	tl;dr tribute list, post your favourite mwY moments (studio, live, personal, whatever)
Slex 10.20.19	My favorite band of all time, Untitled really cemented it for me It feels like somebody died lol, shit
Sinternet 10.20.19	sad times :( my best memory of them is seeing them with twiabp and delta sleep just after pale horses came out, hearing january 1979, which is like one of my top ten favourite songs ever, live was incredible
Sinternet 10.20.19	hope they get one last uk tour in and maybe if im dreaming hard enough an ep or something out, they said they've got things planned for next year
heyadam 10.20.19	sad times indeed :'( They're my favorite band of all time as well, and it really does feel like somebody died lol. There are way too many moments to list, so I'll post them as they come. But for now, the second to last time I saw them Aaron grabbed the collar of my shirt and basically headbutt me and we screamed the "I'd like to meet whoever said the words we print in red" line from Mexican War Streets together, and that's one of my favorite lines from him.
heyadam 10.20.19	but honestly one of the most transcendent moments of my life was yelling "you're everyone else!" over and over in a crowded tiny room with a bunch of strangers looking and pointing at each other.
JohnnyoftheWell 10.20.19	Oh damn, I'd love to have seen January 1979 live :[ that song is beyond words, can only imagine how huge it must be. I saw them once, but they were opening for Coheed with shit sound and a tepid crowd Damn adam, that sounds like an amazing moment - you're lucky it wasn't the stone-in-my-hand phase though, or you literally would have died
Sinternet 10.20.19	also the last chorus of red cow just hits so fucking hard
Josh D. 10.20.19	Re: your last story: one of the times I saw them at my favorite venue, I was against the railing of a second level area that overlooks the stage to their left. There are drain holes for rain at the bottom of it, which are in arms each from the stage. During a song where there was a break in singing and the band jammed a bridge or something, Aaron came over and pressed his hands against the wall and head banged a second, then looked up and reach through one of the drain holes. He grabbed the laces of my boots and yelled “is this your foot?”. When I said yes, he curled his fingers around the laces and yanked on them twice, then went back to the mic in time to start singing.
JohnnyoftheWell 10.20.19	Haha what? That's brilliant, what was the track?
Josh D. 10.20.19	I wish I could remember. The only other thing that stands out is when he walked away, the girl next to me asked "what did he say", but they were still playing, so I had to yell in her ear "is this your foot".
heyadam 10.20.19	hahaha fantastic. that's an aaron interaction if I've ever heard one
Lord(e)Po)))ts 10.21.19	one less shitty band to distract you from good music amirite
Slex 10.21.19	Hehehe
Relinquished 10.21.19	now we have meyou and nothing in between
Lord(e)Po)))ts 10.21.19	list title really should have been "ME without mewithoutYou"
oltnabrick 10.21.19	haha now THAT would be a good one!
sixdegrees 10.21.19	LOL
Lord(e)Po)))ts 10.21.19	im surrounded by idiots.
elliootsmeuth 10.21.19	I saw them live several months ago and they were as great live as I thought they'd be. Except for the encore (and the absolutely dead crowd was a bit of disappointment, but anyways). The encore was just Aaron and an acoustic playing The Fox, the Crow, and the Cookie, a song that while many love, I had never really connected with. However, it really took on a different tone live and I found myself really falling for it in a new way. Then, Aaron seamlessly transitioned into an acoustic rendition Cardiff Giant. This was one of my favorite songs from them for quite some time because of its relatively joyous sound, but hearing it in this context, it took on an incredibly bittersweet mood. I was struggling without a lot at the time, just starting college with some issues back home weighing on me and in that moment, despite everything that was going on around me and inside me, I felt like everything was going to be okay. Cheesy, I know, but that's the way that it hit me and no other piece of music has hit me that way before or since. Other little things that made it special was everyone had put down their phones. Throughout the show, people would record bits of their favorite songs, as one does at shows, but for this, there was this sweeping unspoken moment of "Hey, put your phone away you fuck." and everyone did. The other part was there was this guy that I'm 90% sure was homeless that was just going absolutely ham the entire show, but here, he just quietly whistled along. Also, I cried, which I don't think has really happened before.
JohnnyoftheWell 10.21.19	"list title really should have been "ME without mewithoutYou"" Eww no, way to overegg the pudding
Lord(e)Po)))ts 10.21.19	Simpleton
JohnnyoftheWell 10.21.19	It's not all about me tho :[
PunchforPunch 10.21.19	blame it on the weather, but I'm a mess
dedex 10.21.19	I never got to see them live, and I will never get the chance to scream "The trap I set for you seems to have caught my leg instead".
Rowan5215 10.21.19	so so bummed but great list idea and inputs. never seen them live (and if they don't come to Aus before they break up this ol' bucket list is gonna remain unfinished forever) but I have these lads to thank for pulling my head out of my self-righteous solipsistic ass midway through uni. I was one of those mega-pretentious 'just found out about philosophy' guys who went around being a douche because nOtHiNg eLsE rEaLlY eXiStS prove me wrong pleb xD ...then I heard Ten Stories, more specifically the very last verse of Aubergine. "when I saw how far I'd travelled down this solipsistic road, I climbed out to ask for directions" and so on. really gave me a slap around the head and I got a lot better at actually interacting with wider society and sparing everyone my self-serving philosophy rants. god knows how isolated I'd be if not for Weiss and co. - cheers boys
IronGiant 10.21.19	saw them in November of last year supporting [Untitled]. Was the third person in line waiting for the venue to open up, about 3 hours before doors opened. Met a friend there waiting in line whom I still talk to this day. She encouraged me to be in the front row (something that intimidated me prior) and I proceeded to have the best concert experience of my life. Screamed along to every word and had Aaron get in my face for 75% of the show yelling along with him and the crowd was a quasi religious experience. They played my favorite song by them, "A Glass Can Only Spill What it Contains", and I lost my shit, as expected. They played with passion and purpose and I am forever grateful for the lifelong friend and memories I made that night. Thank you mwY, can't wait to see you in February with Thrice!
butt. 10.21.19	I have only seen them once, and it was on Underoath's "farewell" tour. That was the first time I had heard of them and I was too immature to give them a chance since I was only there for Underoath. I thought their style was dumb and they annoyed me. In the weeks that followed, I felt like checking out some of their stuff for whatever reason. Thank god I did. Within 3 months, I was already calling Brother, Sister my favorite album of all time. It stills sits safely in my top 3.
grannypantys 10.21.19	Only saw them once. They co-headlined with the Menzingers. They killed it and then most people, including me, left once the Menzingers took the stage.
GhandhiLion 10.21.19	mew without you.
nightbringer 10.21.19	Interesting story, Rowan. Dabbling in philosophy at a young age rarely leads to virtue.
dmathias52 10.21.19	I picked up an Ethics minor for fun basically in undergrad ("fun" is used loosely") and my senior essay was on how mewithoutYou used heavier music to show ways of productively displaying positive masculinity and religion. Was the most fun I ever had writing a paper. But for an actual story: I saw them this past summer at my favorite venue, Codfish Hallow, which is an old refurbished barn two miles off of a gravel road in middle-of-nowhere Iowa. The show was incredibly powerful, I was front row, everything was incredibly intimate and powerful. Towards the end of the show, Aaron said he had a very important message to share that someone in the crowd passed on to him. He pulled out a paper plate and read this message off of it: "Fuck you Jeff". Whoever Jeff was yelled "Fuck you" back and then they immediately went into Four Word Letter (pt. 2). It was so surreal and bizarre, but fit so perfectly somehow.
Slex 10.21.19	Lmao that’s amazing God I can’t wait to see them
StarlessCore 10.21.19	Their so good live a to b anniversary show was crazy good
heyadam 10.21.19	Hahaha dmathias52 I watched that whole show on YouTube a couple nights ago - that was amazing. They sounded great even just in the video
dmathias52 10.21.19	That venue is the one thing I miss about being in Iowa. Anyone who lives in the Midwest should road trip there at least once. They get some crazy bands and it's worth the drive!
Slex 10.21.19	The venue they’re gonna be at for me is a tiny place and I’m so pumped for it to be intense af Can’t believe I won’t see my favorite band for the first time until right before they break up lol
heyadam 10.21.19	fuckin HYPED for this Brother, Sister tour though
JohnnyoftheWell 10.21.19	List updated, this reads beautifully guys :]
elliootsmeuth 10.22.19	Mine a little too long, eh?
Morningrise767 10.22.19	"Who do you think needs who more?" Fucking love that line < 3
heyadam 10.22.19	yeah this is my all time fav Sputnik list - I hope more people share their stories. It’s weird cause I know personally like one or two other mwY fans, so I’ll of my experience with them has been on my own pretty much
JohnnyoftheWell 10.22.19	Gonna add mine later today - it's not very dramatic, but v wholesome "Mine a little too long, eh?" Looks just right to me ;]
BroFro 10.22.19	I've seen mewithoutYou live more than any other band (5 times). They have been one of my favorite bands since high school, and the first time I saw them in 2010 was the first "real" concert I'd ever been to (fun side note: a solo set by David Bazan opened the show). It was intimidating, as my friend and I tried to push up as close to the stage as possible, and we were easily the youngest people there. I remember these two big, mean looking dudes (honestly looked out of place for the venue and music style) forced their way up and stood right in front of us just before mwY started. But as soon as they began playing, these guys just lost their shit, jumping around and dancing and shouting every lyric and having the most carefree and joyous experience I've ever seen. Since that concert, when I walked in as a nervous and self-conscious high schooler, I've attended hundreds of shows, and learned from these guys and mwY that venues and live music are spaces where you're completely free to be yourself: leave all self-doubt and anxiety and pretension at the door, let the music bring out any emotions it wants to, and dance and sing like you don't give a fuck who's watching. mwY played many of my favorites from Foxes and B,S that night, the most recent time I saw them they played all the favorites from Untitled, and now me and my same friend are trying to plan a Thrice/mwY tour tripleheader down the east coast in February. I guess you could say it's really come full circle
Josh D. 10.22.19	I've seen them at my favorite venue twice, which I also saw GYBE and Glassjaw at. So basically Mohawk has my best Austin concert memories.
johnnyblaze 10.23.19	Saw them about a year ago in a small club and was just floored by their performance. But my favourite memory was turning the corner to the venue and seeing an old, beater of a tour bus parked outside with the members of the band hanging out with their families inside. Turning that corner and seeing that familial sort of scene is really clear in my memory for some reason. These dudes are just so damn authentic. No gimmicky bullshit, mwY's shit is pure. Sad times indeed.
dbizzles 10.23.19	Saw them touring on It's All Crazy. Was my first time seeing them. Some of their roadies/friends were handing out vegan pastries to the crowd before the show started which was equals parts misguided (cool) and misunderstood. I did not partake, but wished I had when they played The Fox, the Crow, and the Cookie because that song is hunger-inducing.
Josh D. 10.23.19	Was it the old bus with the sort of floral design on it? They ran that on vegetable oil. I saw it out front of the venue every time I saw them.
tcat84 10.24.19	My stories aren't moving but I'll share anyway. First time I saw them was with Dredg, Blood Brothers, all opening for Coheed and Cambria. It was soon after Foxes and I felt like I was basically at the show myself at the time cause no one really cared about them and my friend was there mostly for Coheed. It was honestly overall one of the best concerts I've ever been to. Second time I saw them opening for Say Anything and it was so dam good. It was recently after Brother Sister which is still my favourite album. Best moment of the show was during O' Porcupine and they held the silence and made everyone shut up for what felt like an eternity before Aaron said "Listen to it" really sticks out in my mind.
JohnnyoftheWell 10.24.19	The only time I caught them was also opening for Coheed. The mix was terrible and the crowd even worse, so it was honestly kind of underwhelming despite their best efforts (and a great setlist) but I bumped into Aaron after the show; he was sitting on the floor outside the venue, and I blurted out how great I thought they were in general. He said thank you but that he was facetiming his wife and kid, so I apologised and carried on to chat to some strangers nearby (can't remember why). He came over a few minutes later and we chatted about random stuff (Canada, Brexit, the Arabic/Hebrew prayers in Rainbow Signs) - nothing story-worthy on its own, though lovely, but that night was a strange one for me. I was flying off to Greece the next day with my girlfriend for a holiday just before I started an exchange year in Italy, and the combined intimidation of that year (I really didn't want to leave my uni) and whether we'd manage to stay together after were such a heavy vibe that talking to him was the only thing in the world that seemed real, both in the moment and for several hours afterwards. Given how much mwY I listened to after we eventually broken up, I guess that was apt. Anyway, he seemed like such a genuine, engaging guy in a way that somehow surprised me despite how much I'd heard people online saying as much
Feather 10.29.19	I am a relatively new fan and fell in love with them through Untitled. I was hoping to catch them in May this year, but waited too long to buy my ticket and it sold out. Just a couple days before the Chicago show, I see online that there appears to be another Chicago show ... that night! What happened was, the band had a day off in Chicago and decided last second to play an extra show at an extremely tiny venue nearby my house. Upon showing up that night I was shocked to see, the tiny venue was only half filled due to the extremely short notice. The show was incredible and they played an entirely different set list than the rest of the tour (and much longer). Songs I was hyped to hear: New Wine, New Skins and Wolf am I. Songs I am sad that they skipped: Fox's Dream and Rainbow Signs. I am hoping to catch them again somewhere on this final tour. RIP. Aside: praise be to sowing for getting me into these guys. (use Untitled cover)
heyadam 10.30.19	love this list :') was gonna type out a list of my favorite in-song moments, but it'd be pages long
heyadam 02.18.20	: (
Rowan5215 02.18.20	I've had Four Fires stuck in my head for days son I think that's best that youuuu sitdown...
cold 02.18.20	Oh man, how did I miss this list? mewithoutYou has been my favorite band since the early 2000's. I've probably seen them well over a dozen times, but the one that really comes to mind is during the CTUTF era. The show itself was insane, all prime cuts from CFUTF and [A>B] Life, the original line up, and Aaron was off the rails with intensity that night. But, that's not what was most memorable. Back in those days, they would hold little potlucks outside the venue (or wherever they wanted to really). They held one outside a local record shop in my city, and they just played some acoustic songs for whoever was outside with them. And in that little, intimate group, mewithoutYou just gave it a sense of community and connection (if that makes sense). I haven't seen them do one of those since then, but it's something I'll never forget. The lyric that has always stuck with me is "You kept a distance out of fear you'd break, but what good's a single wind chime hanging quiet all alone?"
heyadam 02.18.20	ugh row that’s one of my favs ever. so good. and cold I wish I woulda caught them back in the day — the first time I saw them was a year or so before Ten Stories came out