By MADELINE DALY
Scene Editor
Wednesday afternoon I nervously walked straight from class into the O'Laughlin Auditorium at Saint Mary's College, excitement filling my stomach as I awaited my interview with my favorite YouTube newcomers, Cal Shapiro and Rob "Rez"Resnick, together known as Timeflies. I have been following their weekly Timeflies Tuesday videos since the very beginning, so finally meeting the guys was no ordinary interview for me.
As I wandered into the auditorium, empty except for Cal and Rez's groupies starting up sound check, I couldn't help but audibly squeal and run to the very front row. I took my seat and casually pretended to play cool, "texting" on my phone when actually sending Snapchats of the stage to my incredibly jealous friends. Once Cal and Rez sauntered onto the stage, my eyes became completely affixed, and I was unaware of anything besides the fact that Timeflies was basically giving me a private concert (well, it was their sound check and I was the only one in the audience but that still counts in my opinion).
After 30 minutes of running through the beginnings of each song, the band's manager Jared Glick, sporting a vintage 80s Notre Dame jacket, motioned to me and said to meet downstairs. My heart was racing uncontrollably as I stood up and went down to the basement, passing dressing rooms labeled Sylvia Yacoub, the Saint Mary's sophomore from "The Voice" who opened for the duo, Timeflies, and Timeflies Crew.
I finally arrived in a cozy room with three couches and a table of every kind of snack food you could ever crave where Rez, Cal and Jared sat, Cal eating beef jerky like he hadn't eaten in days and Rez sipping on a blue Gatorade. They stood up when I walked in, shook my hand and introduced themselves (like I don't already know your names, your birthdays, where you live, where you went to school ... should I continue?) as I told them my name, hoping to make a memorable impression. As we started the interview, I leaned back on the couch and started talking to them like we had already known each other, just four college kids hanging out talking about our love for music.
After watching countless videos of them goofing around, drinking and partying, I had to ask if they miss college or if they felt like they were still in it.
"I feel like I'm still in college," Rez said with a smirk, leaning back in his chair.
"Just yesterday we were in Nashville and our friend took us into a dorm room there," Cal said. "I hadn't been to a dorm in forever but those were some great memories. I think I do miss college, it's a lot of friendship."
Since they are graduates of Tufts University, the next question I had for them was whether or not they planned a concert at their alma mater on this tour.
"No," Rez said quickly. "We did play at Tufts like a year and a half ago."
"It was the worst," Cal said. "Tufts isn't that fun by itself. I mean, we had fun but college is what you make it. Unless you go to a huge awesome school, college kind of makes you. But even in that situation, it's up to you."
When asked about their hopes for Wednesday night's concert, the guys expressed excitement and curiosity.
"First of all, awesome shoes," Cal said, referring to my aqua blue Tory Burch flats, my favorite part of the interview. "Second of all, I don't think we do many seated auditoriums, so that should be interesting. The ones in the past have been awesome, but one time we performed at [Boston College] and they made everybody sit down even when they tried to stand up. But we are so excited to kick our tour off here. We don't know much about [Saint Mary's], but playing at an all girls school is a lot better than playing at an all dude's school. We did perform for all guys once, it was a lovely time."
After giving me a less-than-enthusiastic "Go Irish", it was time for Cal and Rez to start prepping for the show, meaning I had to leave their presence to go wait in line for the concert. On my way out I tweeted about Cal complimenting my shoes and nearly started jumping up and down from excitement, thinking that nothing could top those 10 minutes.
However, only a few hours later Timeflies managed to impress me once again. With my press pass I was allowed in the very front row, hands on the stage with only inches of air standing between Cal and myself. The vibe of the concert was amazing, with hundreds of students screaming, dancing and waving glow sticks towards the stage, singing along with Cal and staring in amazement during his freestyles. He even did a Notre Dame/Saint Mary's freestyle, inserting phrases like "Domer Fest," "MantiTe'o," and "Go Belles" into his on-the-spot rap.
I was in a complete state of euphoria after the concert ended, flipping through the pictures on my iPhone, discovering one of Cal reaching for my hand (my absolute favorite part of the concert). Basically, if you were doing anything besides staring at Cal and Rez last night you seriously missed out. This duo really knows how to own a stage and work the crowd, and if you ever get the chance to see them live, you definitely should. And try to get in the front row, because it is an experience you will never forget.
Contact Madeline Daly at mdaly6@nd.edu
