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!