Photo courtesy of Dana Gorab

Hey, Mario here from Take It Or Leave It, and I want to tell you guys about the time I was overwhelmed with emotions from seeing Goldfinger at Starland Ballroom.

It’s fair to say that I cannot hear Goldfinger’s “Superman” by them and not immediately think of dropping into the warehouse in Tony Hawk Pro Skater. I always make it a point to see them when they come to town and this time was no different. It was late June and for my 21st birthday, a few friends and I decided to head to Sayreville, N.J. to see Goldfinger while they made their way east from California. At the time, I was in a band playing similar music (we loved covering “Spokesman”) and all I could think about while standing in the pit was being on that stage one day.

About halfway through the set, lead vocalist John Feldmann put his guitar down and started singling out people wearing yellow or gold to come up on stage with him. Luckily for me, I was donning my bright yellow Pikachu shirt and was summoned to the stage. Now, my buddy Dylan and I have been going to shows for years and he knows the look I give him when I want to crowd surf. As soon as we made eye contact, I was immediately six feet in the air flying forward. Eventually I surfed through the surge of people flocking to the stage and just had a blast dancing and screaming my lungs out.

As the song was coming to an end, security started pulling folks to the sides of the stage to get them out of the way. The house lights were on and you could tell the staff at Starland Ballroom wanted to get that stage cleared as soon as possible. I happened to be stuck in the middle of the group, so after a few left down the side of the stage, I found myself standing next to John Feldmann. He gestured out to the crowd and mouthed “do it” to me, with a stage diving gesture. He took a step off the box he was standing on at the edge of the stage and gave me the all-clear to take a dive.

I’ve been to a lot of shows and I’ve watched plenty of mistakes from inexperienced crowd surfers, so I knew to lock eyes with a few people in the crowd to catch me. Guess who was right up front waiting for me? Yup, Dylan. He grabbed three random dudes next to him and everybody put their arms out to catch me.

It felt like I fell for an eternity and a millisecond all at once. Not only did I finally get to go on stage at Starland Ballroom, but I got to join Goldfinger up there too?! Plus, I got the seal of approval from John Feldmann for a stage dive?! I was so overwhelmed the rest of the night that I don’t even think I slept when we got home. And the cherry on top, they weren’t even the headliner! Not only did Big D And The Kids Table open for them, but Reel Big Fish closed out the show. It was one of those nights I will remember forever and I chase that high every time I step on stage to perform my own music now.