Day 314

"Stop wishing for the sunshine, start living in the rain."

No, this is not the opening gambit of a leaflet published by the British Tourist Board. This is the first line of the chorus to Sunshine; the third track from the second studio album Dirt by Kids In Glass Houses.

I remember the exact moment I became a Kids In Glass Houses fan. It was when I first saw them perform during the Give It A Name festival I spoke of back on Day 83 of my THREEHUNDREDANDSIXTEEFIVE T-shirt challenge. After that show, I went on to watch them headline a very intimate gig down in Portsmouth. They’d played their entire Smart Casual album near enough from start to finish and at the end, the crowd were still pleading to hear more. Aled, overwhelmed by the reaction, tried to reason that there simply was no more album left to play (they’d even thrown in a cover of Sex On Fire by Kings Of Leon to keep the energy up), but still the crowd begged to hear some of the B side tracks from their earlier EP.
The band exchanged quizzical glances with one another before taking up their instruments to play Historia.
For me, this mattered. This was a big deal. This was a band who respected their fans and were humbled by how passionate they were. This was a band who took cues from their audience. This was a band who stood in the merchandise booth after their shows to meet the fans properly and sign tickets. This was a band that I have come to call one of my favourites.

Their second album Dirt also did not disappoint. Merchandise for it was released almost right away and that’s where I set eyes on today’s T-shirt. I bought it the minute I saw it and I’ve worn it as often as I can ever since, including today – Day 314 of my THREEHUNDREDANDSIXTEEFIVE T-shirt challenge.

Ironically, the sun actually is shining today, which sort of undermines the whole sentiment…