By Marian Daniells, News Staff

So there’s this boy…
Actually, I lied. There are four of them. They’re the Lennon boys: Kipp, Mark, Michael and Pat. They can sing, play guitar and make many a girl swoon.
I know them affectionately as Venice, a small-time band from Venice Beach, Calif. whose CDs serve as a playlist to my life.
My mom used to sing “Mary on My Mind,” changing Mary to Marian.
When I was 15 and spent the summer in Providence, 3,000 miles from home, I burned my boyfriend a copy of “Two Places at One Time” and listened to it regularly myself. Even now, when I’m again on the east coast, it still makes me homesick
“Think Again” is my ultimate pick-me-up, a constant reminder that my age should never be a limitation.
“One Quiet Day” is the song my planner would sing if it weren’t, you know, an inanimate object.
“So Bad” is my favorite I-like-him-so-much-it-hurts song.
And “The Family Tree” will play at my funeral.
I’ve seen Venice in several venues. I own signed guitar picks, set lists and concert shirts. And when Kipp Lennon (who was apparently a 1980s teenage heartthrob) noticed me singing along to all the words at a street fair they performed in San Diego, Calif., he winked. In retrospect, it may have been at my mom, but it doesn’t really matter.
Coincidentally, my best friend in middle school was related to them. We’ve brought my dog to bark at concerts. I’ve sent them an e-mail before, inviting them over for my mother’s margaritas (they graciously declined). Needless to say, I’m a groupie.
As a groupie, I get their e-mail updates (well, my dad does and then forwards them to me). And this past week, my favorite little foursome informed their fans that Kipp, Mark and Michael Lennon will be going on tour this coming September.
Starting then, my boys will be jetting all over the states, Europe and potentially South America as backup vocalists for Roger Waters’ “The Wall” tour.
Yes, dear readers, Venice and Pink Floyd are pairing up for the most incredible, epic eargasm ever.
And I will be there. If I have to scale to walls of the Boston Garden Spiderman-style, I will be there on Sept. 30, ready to cheer on my boys.
I’m thrilled that the group is transitioning into this new phase of their musical career. I want to follow them in their journey because the group and their music have always been there for me.
Venice, with a little help from my good friends Ben and Jerry, has gotten me through every breakup. I’m probably one of the youngest fans they have.
Ultimately, Venice is just so much more than a band for me. Venice is my youth. Venice is car trips with my mom and drives to school. Venice is dancing on my dad’s feet in our kitchen. Venice is watching my grandmother die, knowing that I will sing “The Family Tree” at her funeral reception.
As a lesser-known group, they maintain their personality and their connection with their fans. They are true artists who produce quality work. They take the time to shake hands with their fans and their songs include intimate details about their lives. And despite the fact that their lyrics are riddled with specific people and places, they are relatable.
I have my own “Jennys,” people who make me feel as passionate about them as I am about music. I have my own “Hideaway Hills,” places where I go to escape, to feel inspired and introspective. And I have my own “Katrinas,” loved ones I’ve lost and who pop up somehow in all my writing.
I’m sad that Venice will be gone for so long. But in a final hurrah, I intend to cram in as many summer concerts as I can afford before they leave in September. It will make for a hectic and nastolgic summer vacation, but when I return in the fall, I can expand my musical interests and become as versed and invested in Pink Floyd’s music as I am in Venice’s.
Come Sept. 30, everything will be memorized and I will be at The Garden singing along with my boys to each song on each disk of the “The Wall.”

– Marian Daniells can be reached at inside@huntington–news.com.