8123. To many, it’s just random numbers but those random numbers have meaning to many people; random or not. Those numbers represent home whether you’ve actually gone to the parking lot where those numbers are placed in Phoenix, Arizona or not it’s still home. Home doesn’t have to be somewhere physical, home is somewhere where you feel safe, comfortable, accepted, and loved. If it wasn’t for a band called The Maine then 8123 would indeed be just some random numbers there would be no home for many lost souls. 8123 is more than just a collection of artists who enjoy making music, it’s so much more. 8123 is knowing that you are not the only one in the world who feels the way you do; we all have demons and uneasy thoughts and 8123 and the music that comes from the artist involved gives me and many others comfort in knowing that we’re not in this alone. It’s also knowing that you have friends in all parts of the world. Without this wonderful community, I wouldn’t be able to say that I have friends in Sweden, California, Florida, Arizona, Tennessee and so many other amazing places. 8123 is also experiencing new things with amazing and sometimes new people.

8123 is driving anywhere from an hour to flying across the country just to see the inspirational, amazing, genuine bands that are a part of it, play songs that mean the world to you. 8123 is crying when you say goodbye to your friends that you’ve met along the way because the distance is a bitch and you don’t know when you’ll see them again. 8123 includes all the tears of sadness and joy, the soreness in your stomach from laughing too much, the stiffness in your limbs from driving or flying for too long, the sweaty palms that you get from talking to John, Jared, Pat, Kennedy or Garrett, and it’s the lost voice the day after screaming your lungs out to a song that means everything to you. Describing 8123 and the feeling that it brings is so difficult to put into words. 8123 is my home away from home; it’s all my friends who are there for me when my other friends can’t, it’s family that is closer to me than my actual family. John O'Callaghan, lead singer of The Maine wrote: “It's about a number you can't really explain but you don't really have to because the people you love already feel it too.”

By the time that this is published I’ll be in Phoenix Arizona watching one of my favorite bands for the past eight years celebrate ten years of being a band play at 8123 fest with someone of my favorite people. 8123 is a part of me and 8123 means everything to me!