TOP 5 foods found backstage after the shins

i just happened to have newfound connections to one of my favorite bands, thanks to my friend jacob! his cousin, dave hernandez, plays bass/electric guitar for indie pop band the shins, and we were fortunate to get backstage! it actually wasn't all glamour and lights, probably due to the band's, well, chillness. didn't have a plethora of food & drink, either, but we had fun with it regardless. =)

1. MINI TOASTS: these were definitely the highlight of the evening. tiny (~1 inch on each side) little toasts with a crouton-like texture, these mini toasts smelled like cardboard, but tasted like normal, unseasoned croutons. i was successfully able to cut off the crust of one side, but ended up breaking it while attempting to do the same on an adjacent side. so much for crustless mini toasts.

2. cheese: something smelled like sour parmesan, so i turned around expecting pizza... but lo and behold! a cheese plate of brie, blue cheese, gouda, and this greyish-green oily hard cheese (did not dare try it, although my friend vik kept eating it... he later went on to make a "kamikaze" mini toast club: a little bit of every cheese on the plate. it was a bad idea in hindsight). i used the brie to make a mini toast sandwich, which i offered to james mercer, the lead singer of the shins. he was struck with awe and fascination at its bite-size cuteness, although he politely declined. at least that gave us an in to a brief yet interesting conversation with him (e.g. "the tenderloin is more than tender... it's beat down! raw!"). afterwards, it was decided that mini toasts serve as great pick-up lines, and since they're so tiny, you can always keep a stash in your pocket!

3. coppola: the only type of alcohol found in the room. strange, yet i guess it went with the cheese

4. tejava: jacob was tempted to run away with bottles and bottles stuffed in his jacket. unfortunately, this idea never came to fruition.

5. soy milk. LOTS of it! talk about wholesome.

twas the most sophisticated backstage "party" i could imagine.