September 26, 2007 Blaqk Audio San Diego

Rita and I drove to San Diego early in the morning. When we got to the House of Blues there were only a few people in front of us. We decided that we should eat there to be able to get the front of the line passes. The only problem was that Rita was fasting for Ramadan so she couldn’t eat until it was almost time to be let in. So I went and ate and then later she went and ate. But all that doesn’t matter, really.

We met some people that we saw at the Blaqk Audio CD singing a few weeks earlier. What was really funny was that as we were waiting the tour bus pulls up right in front of us and Smith and Fritch start to unload all this equipment. We were a little confused as to WHY they would pull up right in front of the fans to do this, but I guess it was the shortest distance to the stage. Really funny.

So we do our regular 8 hour wait and make friends with people in line and at one point we see Davey disappear into a side door. The staff was really nice and a lot of people stopped to talk to us. It was generally good times. So finally we’re let in and they lead us down these steps and down this long corridor where we just wait for this little side door to open. They searched up and metal scanned us and it actually made me feel really safe. The corridor was creepy though. Painted al weird and what not. It was like one of those horror movies where they lead you somewhere, shut the doors and then murder you brutally. Kinda…intense.

So then the door opens and we all pour in. Rita and I get barricade and it’s awesome. There’s an opening DJ who played really awesome stuff and we all dance and laugh and talk and wait for Blaqk Audio. Little did we know that we would be waiting for one and a half hours. An hour in people started to get tired of dancing. The DJ was loosing our interest fast. Another 20 minutes and he was getting booed. I felt bad for him but it was just sooooo long. And we wanted Blaqk Audio.

Oh, tangent. At one point this girl looks up, brings her hands up to her face and lets out this blood curdling scream. We all look up to the balcony thinking something bad had happened. Nope. She saw Jeffree Star. Geez.

Anyway, so we’re all getting impatient for Blaqk Audio and finally the DJ leaves and we all cheer. Then the funniest thing happens. Smith runs out on stage and pushes a button the Mac that’s set up. I look at Rita and go “THAT was the problem! Smith forgot to turn the power on!” So finally the lights go down and this bass starts. I’ve never felt so rattled. It was like this…it SHOOK. It shook you to your very BONES. The room vibrated, I vibrated, my BRAIN vibrated. I swear my EYEBALLS vibrated. It was so loud and strong I was wondering if my ear drums could take it. I can’t even really describe it. Take a really heavy bass line, turn your volume all the way up and play it. Now imagine it 100 times stronger. Amazing.

So Davey and Jade come out and mrow, I love those black outfits. Hawt. Both of ‘em. Wicked hot. Jade was getting his groove on behind his little keyboard, Davey was having seizures…I mean, dancing on stage. He talked to us, it was fun. Jade joined Davey at one point and sang Blurr’s “Girls and Boys” with him. He has such a beautiful voice, I wish he’d sing more. Whenever Jade was close to us I would reach for him instead of Davey. Jade needs lots of love too and I figured 99% of the crowd was there for Davey anyway.

Speaking of the crowd. Terrible! It was like…you took ever Davey fan in the world, put them in a little room and put you between them and Davey. We were getting CRUSHED. I was GONNA dance but I was busy dying. This girl had her arm between me and Rita so instead of only getting crushed into the barricade, we got crushed in the ribs by her arm too. And she had a death grip on that thing. Annoying.

Halfway through I actually started to wonder how much longer they’d be playing cause I couldn’t enjoy that crowd. I was all into the music, singing along and suddenly there was a surge and it hurt. And would it have killed Davey to touch the crowd at one point?! Bah. Well…considering the crowd…maybe it would have…

I don’t remember what exactly Davey said but at one point his voice cracked and he said something like “my voice just cracked. Sometimes it does that when I’m talking. Sometimes it does that when I’m singing.” And then he was talking about how Blaqk Audio had never played San Diego before but some of his ‘friends’ told him how amazing the crowd was. Ya, you weren’t IN it.

Aaaaanyway. So they leave (sad) and we file out. Rita and I wait until around 1 AM for them to come out but nope, no such luck. We have the WORST luck. Whenever we wait for bands after, even if they’re bands that ALWAYS come out to talk to the fans, it’s pretty much guaranteed they won’t come out that night. So it was a 2 hour drive back home and we both had work in the morning.

I loved seeing the boys play, but I don’t think I really enjoyed that concert. If I had to use a word to describe it I would have to say it was okay. Just okay. Nothing special. I think when they’re in CA they’re home, so right after concerts they go off with their friends and loved ones. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. They don’t owe us anything except a kick ass show, but it would be nice to meet them. Especially since I totally messed up on the Best Buy CD singing and didn’t really say anything. But that’s my fault, not theirs. But I still say Davey was grumpy that day. And I got distracted by his heart tattoos behind his ears. Love those things. Should’ve said something to Jade. Damn it.

Savage Garden, Affirmation tour 2001

A concert review from 6 years ago…geesh. I distinctly recall being in the car with mom and hearing an advertisement for the Savage Garden concert at the Universal Amphitheatre. I freaked out and the first thing we did when we got home was buy tickets. Mom and I were gonna go, but because of her cancer it ended up being me and Dean. He was all worried that I would get hurt because he remembered going to concerts when he was young and he had his jaw broken. Haha, it’s a Savage Garden concert, but whatever.

This concert had assigned seating and we got there a few hours early. I went and bought a Savage Garden girls t-shirt, a poster and then we took our seats. We were far back. There were A LOT of people.

God knows I don’t remember a set list. I remember that they opened with Best Thing and that they were amazing. During Hold Me they pulled a girl up on stage who had a large sheet sign that said ‘it’s my birthday!’ She went and hugged Dan and he disappeared under the sheet for a moment. It was funny. During Break Me, Shake Me there’s a part where Angie kicks Darren and she kicked him hard cause he really went sprawling on the stage. Chained to You shocked me with Darren’s Elvis impersonation but it also amused me greatly.

I screamed a few times. It was a great show. Even if Darren and Dan were only a few inches tall. It was the best night of my life for a long time. Besides two Kiss concerts it was also the only concert I’ve been to. I remember almost crying when it was over, it was just so amazing. Who knew it would be about 7 years before I would ever see Darren again?

September 12, 2006: AFI at UCI

I can’t believe I’m writing a review from a concert I went to over a year ago, but since I decided to use this blog for all my concert going experiences, it seems only fitting. After all, this is THE concert. The one that started it. The one that changed my life. Really.

I remember when I first heard that AFI was playing at UCI I wasn’t gonna go. Rita had to literally talk me into it. 1. It was during a school week. 2. Jen and I had said our first AFI concert was gonna be together. Looking back, not the most realistic goal ever considering we live on opposite sides of the country. But ya, Rita talked me into going and I was so glad she did.

For weeks after buying the tickets we were joking around about how we were going to be all out of place. We’d never been to a rock concert before. Okay, I’d been to Hyde shows but I kinda avoided the crowd and hung back. This was gonna be our first barricade. I was terrified. Large groups of people scare me. It’s one of the reasons I never went to concerts. But go we did. We got there at like 8:30 AM and camped out. We met some awesome people. This guy that flew in, got ditched by his ride and then WALKED to the venue. Enola, who has been an awesome friend since. She got us through that show, I swear. At least me. It was nice having an experienced concert goer to give you pointers. Megan, who was awesome but didn’t like wearing underwear. Sterling and her friend Michelle and their friend Chris who was wonderfully gay. We also randomly ran into Noor (did I spell that right?). It was great times in line. There was drama, of course, but it was fun.

It was really annoying when they took the line and made it two lines. So all these people who were there only for an hour got to be in the same place as us, but whatever. What annoyed me most was this one guy who called us ‘DU babies’. Urgh. Who CARES when we became fans? But anyway…

So the anticipation started to mount and finally we were let in. We ran and took our place by the barricade. I was so psyched! But as the people started filling in I was also rather nervous. So many people! All behind me! Ahh! But the stage looked pretty awesome and we were on the right side where Jade would be playing so all was good. AFI had two opening acts that night: Saosin and Tiger Army.

Saosin…boring. I don’t even remember anything about them other than that I thought they were SO boring.

Tiger Army…amazing. I had no idea this was Nick 13’s band until he introduced himself. I remember being struck by his voice and how amazing it sounded. I fell in love with that band right then. I still need to get more of their albums, but wow Tiger Army was awesome.

I remember starting to be pushed during Tiger Army and that took some of the enjoyment away. I didn’t like it at all and I was thinking ‘uh-oh, I hope this doesn’t ruin AFI for me’. Once Tiger Army left the crew started setting up for AFI. Since we were on the side we could see the magic happen. This one guy went and climbed up a rope using just his arms, hang from the rafters with one arm while fixing something and then climbed back down. We all applauded because WOW he made that look easy. We also noticed that one of the boxes said “Foo Fighters”. We joked that AFI either pulled a fast one on us and it’s actually the Fighers Foo we’re seeing or they stole their box from Warped Tour.

Suddenly the lights went off and the opening notes to Prelude 12/21 started to play. Davey walked out on stage and started to sing. We started to sing. The crowd started to push and push and something miraculous happened…I didn’t care. All of the sudden I stopped caring that I was being pushes, squished, elbowed and shoved. AFI was on stage and they were owning my life.

I don’t remember what set list they played. I don’t think it matters. What does matter is that they were spot on. Jade was always right there, being his spastic self. Davey came over and sang to us for a while. Hunter was impossible to photograph because he’d stand very still and then suddenly dart across the stage. Adam was Adam and showing those drums who’s boss. Smith did his thing. It was amazing.

I sang along and truly lost it whenever Davey commanded us to scream. And this is me. I don’t scream. But I did for them. A lot. I also learned the art of elbow-fu. I don’t push people out of my way, I just put my elbow in their side and leave it there. Eventually they all moved. The crowd surfers sucked but what can ya do?

AFI commands the stage. They command us. It was breath-taking. It was an eye-opener. Suddenly I realized that I could go to shows. I could go to concerts and be in the pit and not be scared. And go to concerts I did. Rita and I have become regular concert buddies. If she doesn’t wanna go I manage to talk Enola into it.

I can’t recall a lot of the details. Just that Davey wore pink eye shadow, Jade had his skunk-mullet and they were all in white. The little trees were blinking with their Christmas lights and everything went well. But that feeling will always be there. That moment of realization that I wasn’t scared shit-less in the pit. That this is something I can do more often. It was very freeing. Concerts are very freeing and I’m if nothing else I have to thank AFI for that.

So ya, that’s my year later concert review. I’ll be going back even further. I wanna hang on to all the concerts I’ve been to. I wanna have something to look back on. So stay tuned for Savage Garden from 2000. The two Hyde concerts and the more recent Blaqk Audio concert and Download Festival.

March 10, 2007: My Chemical Romance

So I went to the concert with Enola yesterday.

We got up at 6:15 AM and drove to the Forum in Inglewood. We got there around 7:15 and joined the line. We arrived just as the tour buses did so that was pretty cool. It was funny cause as Enola and I were walking across the parking lot to find the line we found a group of middle aged black people and we looked at each other going "That can't be the crowd". We keep walking until we find the teenaged white kids and we knew we were in the right place. We sit down and proceed to make friends.
So it turns out that the venue doesn't recognize lines until noon and the four hours we spent there were worthless. These girls we met there were starting to freak the fuck out and it got really annoying after a while. They were seriously freaking out, getting all ready to run for the entrance once noon came. It was kinda fun for a while but then they were still going on about it a few hours later and I started telling them to calm down. It was too early in the morning for that. But they were really nice otherwise.
Just in case you were all wondering, the Forum sucked. It was absolutely terrible. We were in the middle of nowhere, they wouldn't let us on the property until noon and security was really rude. I get that they were getting tired of us. They told us to stay on the sidewalk and people kept walking on the parking lot and making groups. Ya, like they won't notice the teenagers in black. Come on guys.
I was a bit worried about my car cause I realized I'd parked it in the wrong area and I asked a security guy what to do about it and if I would get in trouble if I kept it there. He was really snappish with me but I made it very clear that I wasn't going to argue with him and that I just wanted to know if I made a mistake so I could go correct it. So after that he kinda calmed down a little and told me what I needed to know. Anyway, tangent.
So security really didn't know what was going on. Everyone said something else. Communication was a big problem at this venue. They wouldn't give us a straight answer to anything, really. So once noon rolled around they told us that they would lead us in line the way it was. I think they realized how dangerous it could have been to just tell us all to run and whoever gets there first gets there first. Of course the back of the line starts pushing forward, pissing the front of the line off, which pissed security off. It was a generally pissy time. This one security lady ended up taking charge and I love her for it.
We were told to stand against a wall and she sent us in one person at a time to make the new line. I was sent in and I grabbed Enola once she came in (luckily security didn't notice) and had her join us. They had it so that those spots were our permanent spots and if you got separated from your friends you were shit out of luck.
Well, it was your regular 'waiting in line for almost 12 hours' time. The funny thing though is that Kroq came and started playing music. They played AFI's Decemberunderground and I almost died. I was so stocked. They also played 30 Second to Mars "The Kill" and so many people sang along I was slightly amazed. Then they played The Used and got a lot of mixed reactions. I met a lot of people I liked and some I didn't. I got a My Chem Black Parade hoodie and then before we went in Enola and I put all our stuff into my car. I was so glad I didn't have my purse in the pit.
So we ended up NOT getting barricade because the security guard leading our line onto the floor got stopped by another one and told us that we needed to wait. The nice security lady then SCREAMS at him to let us go. Communication problems, I told you. So we ended up two people rows away from the barricade but that's not too bad. I met this really cool girl named Monica and it was her first My Chem show (hey, mine too!) and her first real rock show. She'd only been to Panic! at the Disco (ech) before and I told her a few tips on what to do. Ya, cause I'm an expect, lol. I've been to an AFI show and suddenly I can tell people how to behave. So funny.
So the opening act was Rise Against and they were really really good. The problem with me is that I can't really enjoy opening acts. They may be amazing but two songs in I always think "if they would only finish I could see ____ now". So I might go see Rise Against for the sake of seeing Rise Against one day because they really were good.
So finally the lights go out and The Black Parade (My Chem's persona) comes on stage. WOW! Two thoughts: "Wow, they're good live. Wow they're HOT live." You know how sometimes you see people in real life and don't find them as attractive? Not these boys. I had the hardest time figuring out who to watch. Frank, Mikey and Gerard were in a straight line of sight so my eyes kept going back and forth. Let m tell you, it got slightly disorienting. Ray was hidden behind Gerard a lot and when I lost sight of Gerard I'd mainly watch Frank. He can PLAY! Wow. So can Mikey. Wow. The whole thing. Wow. They played the ENTIRE album from start to finish in order. The stage show was so huge. There was fire (poor Bob! Trauma much?), sparkler fireworks, big ass balloons and confetti of doom. We were right in front of the confetti machine so when that thing blew it rained down on us like mad. I just ended up laughing like an idiot cause I couldn't see a THING, it was so surreal. Oh, and they a loud boom machine. It sounded like a gun shot and the first time it went off we all kinda screamed (not in the good way) cause hey…we’re in Inglewood.
I had this really annoying girl next to me who kept screaming in my ear "FRANK! I LOVE YOU, FRANK! I LOVE YOU!" Ya, we all love Frank. Shut up. And she kept pushing me! I got stubborn and refused to move after a while. Had she been civil and nice I might have let her sneak in front of me since it didn't change my position much.
So once they finished playing the Black Parade announced that My Chemical Romance is coming up next. They play "Blood" and once that stops the curtain opens again and there's this huge "Revenge" banner and My Chem comes out in their old stage outfits from "Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge". Mikey wore his glasses! I like him without his glasses, but there's something endearing about his glasses. I can't decide what I like better, the Black Parade uniforms or the Revenge outfits. So now that they're out as My Chem the stage show gets a lot more basic. Black Parade was all about show, Revenge was all about raw energy. The crowd started crushing me just a little bit more and 50% of the sweat on me wasn't mine. Gross in retrospect.
The cutest things happened during Revenge. Mikey had found a credit card and Gerard took it from him going "Someone threw a credit card up here. If you're missing it...Alex K...K...kuvor...oh fuck it!" and he threw it over his shoulder. It was really funny. The difference between the stage shows was kind of mind blowing. It was really amazing that they were the same band. Oh! And Frank smooched Gerard right on the cheek during I'm Not Okay. AMAZING. I couldn't believe I just saw that. Hee hee. Mikey also only wore his glasses for like one or two songs before he said fuck it and took them off. I can't imagine wearing glasses while playing to be comfortable anyway. I'm sure they fog up.
So they end the show and Monica and I are kinda dead. My throat hurt from screaming, my legs hurt from pushing. We're leaning on each other a moment just going wow. I had to stop singing along halfway through the show cause I was so out of breath. It was so hot. But during Helena I made myself sing the last part. I thought I was gonna pass out but I made it through and it was amazing.
I found Enola and lost track of Monica before I got her contact info which actually made me rather sad. Out of all the new people I met that day I connected with her the most. I kinda made sure she didn't get squished too bad in the pit cause she was a lot smaller than me, or at least I tried, and she made sure we didn't get separated. Oh well...maybe I’ll meet her again at another concert.
So we get outside and breath a sigh of relieve as deliciously cold air hits us. I ended up taking my jacket off. It was COLD, but I was so hot it was just perfect. We were so concert dumb and numb. We wandered around a bit, trying to make our legs work again and then made our way to the tour buses. We waited a while (it was around 11:30) and then were told that they weren't coming back to the buses, which made sense since they're staying in the LA area for 3 days. So we go and sit in Enola's friend's (Mary) car and then we run into Star (also Enola's friend) and she tells us that they're at this lounge thing on the other side of the Forum and we go there and wait out there. Enola and her friends were talking to fans as we were all watching the glass doors. At one point Jeffree Star comes out and Enola and Star go to talk to him. He's such a gorgeous person. I take a picture of him and Enola and then listen to them talk. I'm actually really glad that I met him because I always thought of him as kind of...fake, but hearing him talk, watching him be I found out it was rather natural. He was so nice and immediately personable, which was awesome.
I look over after a moment and notice that I can see Gerard through the glass doors and then Jeffree says he has to go back in and disappears into the door. We watch Gerard kinda hang out with his friends a bit and then they disappear into another room. I was so stocked that I saw him. It was so awesome. But Enola and her friends started getting really mad that Gerard didn't come out. I couldn't understand why, honestly. He was at a party with his friends and there were like...20-30 fans outside, I wouldn't have come outside either. It actually started annoying me after a while the way they were picking at him cause I didn't think it was very fair. I dunno, maybe I'm too easy to please but I never actually expect bands to come out and see fans, so every time I see someone off stage I'm happy. After all, the bands only obligation is to put on a good show, chillin' with fans is just an incredibly awesome bonus.
So I started getting really tired and grumpy and started pushing that I wanted to go cause we still wanted to go to Swingers to gets something to eat. So after repeated bitch-ness I get them to take us to the car and Mary starts to drive us to my car when suddenly Enola hears screaming by the bus. She yells "The bitches are screaming! They're by the bus!" so Mary slams on the breaks and we run out and head over to the crowd. We just missed Gerard as he went back to the bus. We end up finding the nice security lady and she says "you guys are still here?!" and we talk with her a bit which was awesome cause that meant we were in front of the little make-shift barrier they had for the fans. Suddenly we notice that Mary is motioning us over and we head over and I listen to them talk to Worm (lol, yes I totally wanted to spell it Wyrm) who is My Chem's bodyguard. He was really nice. Star was explaining how disappointed and hurt she felt that Gerard and the others would just ignore them like that. He made it very clear that Gerard and the others DID in fact want to go out and talk to the fans but security wasn't letting them.
They had hired Green Days security to help them with the big LA venues and apparently fans had been really disrespectful at other shows (getting drunk and yelling obscenities in their faces when they met them) so they didn't want the boys to face this crowd. They had just arrived from Arizona that morning and to top it off they were all kinda sick from sanding in freezing cold weather a few days ago cause they were singing autographs for hours. Having all this explained to us calmed Enola and her friends down and I felt better about the whole thing. Worm also said that it's frustrating to have them play a 2 hour show (yes, TWO hours) and then have fans act like that's not enough. Very true. But hey, who DOESN'T want to meet the band?
One thing we all started picking up on is that halfway through he kept saying "They might even come out since they really want to. They might ignore us and just come out." so we took that as a hint. Then he told us to please move back over to the crowd of fans because Frank and his girlfriend/fiancé/wife (?) were coming back to the bus. We head over to the crowd and a few moments later Frank comes out to talk to us. I cannot believe how the fans acted. They were screaming and freaking the fuck out. I mean ya, it's exciting but if you behave like a wild mob they're not gonna wanna come out (this is where I noticed how much more mature AFI fans were). So we tell people to calm down or he'll leave and Mary (did I mention she’s like 45? Cool lady)+ security starts backing us up into a line. They say that this is autographs only, no pictures. And what do people do? Shove cameras in Frank's face and take pictures! HELLO! Did you not just hear them say NO PICTURES?! I wanted to grab cameras and punch people.
So people start pushing and Frank is handling it really well, being all nice and energetic. Then Gerard comes out and people start freaking out again. The poor guy, he looked so tired. He's so much smaller in person and I immediately got this urge to protect him. But of course fans start crowding and he's being really tired, only saying what needs to be said and singing autographs. You could tell he was exhausted and sick. I felt so bad. But Frank was a bundle of energy, hugging and singing away. I decide to go to him and leave Gerard alone a bit so as I get to Frank security starts saying they'll need to wrap it up. Frank tells us to just start throwing shit we want signed, but no one really did so I stood on tip toes and reaches through the people to hand him the Black Parade CD sleeve and he sings it. Note that I never pushed. I head over to Gerard and see if I can get an autograph out of him too and Star meets him and shakes his hand and starts telling him how important they are in her life and how much of an influence. It was actually rather sweet and Gerard held her hand the entire time and I swear he tried to focus, but he was just so tired. So once she stepped out of the way I tried to get in but the crowd started pushing and they were surrounding Gerard so security called an end to it and that they had to get back on the bus.
What does the crowd do? They SWARM Gerard and he starts getting those big terrified eyes. So Worm grabs onto him, lifts him clear off the ground and turns him around and pushes him out of the crowd. I was standing right there. Gerard was lifted right past me and he looked so startled and confused that I kinda wanted to kill people. The guys only human. He may be a rock god on stage, but goddamn it people, he's tiny in real life. This actually really pisses me off still. The sheer disrespected that crowd showed security and the boys was amazing. No photos? They take tons. Be civil? They push. Time to go? They swarm.
I don't think I would be this mad if I hadn't seen Gerard's face. The guy makes me want to protect him, I think it's cause I didn't realize just how tiny of a person he was. He's taller than Frank (who's only like 5'2'' or something) but he's still tiny. Especially when he's not feeling well. He’s got these huge puppy eyes. So ya, security hustled them back to the bus and we were told to go home now. At this point it's 3 AM. Enola and I go back with Mary and she drives us to my car. We pile in and I drive home. We get home at like 4 AM. I was awake for 22 hours. It was amazing.


Oh, and Enola also got to give Gerard and Frank their bags that she made for them and the Batman comic I bought for Gerard. Yay!