Season 7 To Be An Advocate Blog 20: Ace Of Cups 2: PTJ

 Ace Of Cups 2: PTJ

Ace of Cups is a bar in Columbus, only a few miles from my parent’s house. It’s fairly popular locally and pretty ingrained in my mind because I've driven past it my entire life. Ace of Cups is one of the only major bars Cousin Simple hasn’t played since the band started almost eight years ago, although Box Seats played there at the beginning of last summer.

Over the course of the summer, Cousin Simple has been slowly releasing their new EP, Part Time Job (PTJ). On Friday, October 4th, 2024 Cousin Simple released the last two songs, and they had a show at Ace of Cups that night.

I was heading home at 6:30, and I went to pick Noah up on the way. After I picked Noah up, we got to my apartment, where Paige and her best friend Nicole were already hanging out. After making dinner, we all hung out for a while and walked to Ace of Cups.

By the time we got to Ace of Cups, we had already missed most of the openers, but we had just enough time to greet the usual attendees. After saying hi to everyone and buying a few drinks, it was time for Cousin Simple to play.

On PTJ, there are 5 Songs: Violet Television, Talk, Head Over Heels, Friendly Fire, and Cincinnati. I’m excited about this EP because 1. It’s the second one they’ve released this year, and that’s never happened before. 2. It’s a bit different from the usual stuff, and it’s really working… but the most emotional part of the show had nothing to do with PTJ.

Mitch Whittaker went to high school with Ryan and the lead singer, Will. He played bass, ukulele, and keyboard for Cousin Simple since the band started. At the beginning of this semester, Mitch moved to Chicago for college to be an optometrist. At the end of Cousin Simple’s song Chapstick, the song slows down, and Will would sing while Mitch would play ukulele.

Before they played Chapstick, Will said, “I’m gonna try something new,” as he grabbed the ukulele. I would be lying if I said I didn’t tear up just a little bit at the end of the song. As an autistic person, change can be hard. Most of my early blogs, in fact, were about me struggling with change… but when things change, you have a choice. You can either: 1. Be sad about it or 2. Appreciate how things were and move forward from there.

Have a Greattastic day and be safe 

J. Mitchie Ulibarri