So as usual, we left around noon. When we were driving, this huge hawk or some kind of bird flew down ridiculously close to the wind shield and scared the crap out of us. Then I saw a sign that said "Do not pick up hitchhikers" and thought it was the funniest thing ever. Nothing else really happened on the way. We just listened to a lot of Anberlin, Hawthorne Heights, Emery, and The Beatles.
We got to the People's Court around three and were on the first set of stairs, which was pretty sweet. There was a girl in front of us that was alone, then the people that came right after us knew her so they went up, which wasn't a big deal, but by the time doors opened at least twenty people had joined her in line. It was so ridiculous, that many people could not fit comfortably in the amount of space there was.
So we got inside and went to merch because that's what the m&g email said to do, but it ended up being later, so we just got merch and got a m&g with Emery for buying the EP, which was pretty sweet. After we figured out the deal with all the m&g stuff, we went to get our spot for The Mile After & Tickle Me Pink. I had a pretty good spot, but lost it when we went to the m&g, but we were in the first row anyway.
The Mile After was funny. They opened up with Afternoon Delight, and they pretty much had me won over after that. The music was good and the guys seemed cool. The played I Believe In A Thing Called Love and Fat Bottomed Girls later. They had a short set, but they fit a lot in. They had the crowd sing the chorus on the last song and they had a competition to see whose side was louder. The guy on our side was like "If we don't win I will throw my fucking guitar at you. I've lost the last two nights, but we're gonna win tonight!" and he did because our side was asm. Their kick drum mic wasn't working, so while they tried to work it out they had someone in the audience tell a joke that I can't remember, but I know it involved Hitler and Jews... Then they ended up just going with the broken mic because they couldn't really do anything. I can't really think of any other funny stuff they said, but overall, I liked them.
Next was Tickle Me Pink. I only saw a few songs from the back because we had to go to merch for the m&g. I listened to a little before the show, and I wasn't all that impressed, and I guess they were about the same for me live. Not bad, but not really my thing. I was really glad the m&g was during their sat though; it worked out perfectly.
For the m&g, some dude just came and took us into this tiny little room where they were waiting. It was really quiet and JT was just like "...we can sign some stuff for you and then take some pictures..." so we did. When we got the picture Matt was like "it's like I'm being shot" because of all the flashes. So we finished all that and said bye and then went back for the rest of Tickle Me Pink and to make sure we had good spots for Emery and Hawthorne Heights.
Emery started setting up and Josh was dancing around in the back behind the stage where you can still see. I swear he's the coolest person ever. He basically makes their shows for me. We could barely hear the vocals, so that kind of sucked, but they were still really good. They move a lot and they're just a super fun band to see. There were lots of crowd surfers and Josh danced. That's just about all I need. I suck at song titles, so I don't know the set list other than they opened with Walls, Don't Bore Us, Can't Stop The Killer, and they ended with Studying Politics. Not as good as last time, but still completely amazing.
Then Hawthorne Heights. Micah, Eron, and Matt were walking around behind the stage for a long time, then when JT came out, everyone was screaming. Pretty pathetic. I hate favoritism like that. They came and put setlists down and everyone was looking at it and the guy behind me was trying to read it and was screwing it up like crazy and was like "I just learned how to read last year." Anyway, they came out and they played and they were asm. They played Five Becomes Four acoustic and I almost started crying, but I controlled myself. JT thanked everyone for wearing the Casey shirts, but I didn't see any other than me and Kelsey. It was really intense though. But I love mini acoustic sets in the middle. This was only the second time I've seen one, but I loved it last time, too. There were a ton of crowd surfers and they were almost running into Matt and JT, so JT was like "We love the crowd surfers, but if you're gonna do it, can you do it here and here (in between them)? We don't want to get our teeth knocked out. I don't have very good dental insurance. Actually, I don't have any dental insurance..." After they came out for the encore, JT said "We weren't planning on come back out, so if we fuck this up, it's your fault." It was really weird hearing all the songs without screaming, especially Niki FM, but I'm glad they didn't replace him or try to emulate him. I think they said other funny stuff, but I really can't think of anything else.
Then we went the Emery m&g, which was basically the same, except the Emery guys were a lot less awkward. We went up and Devin was first and he was super nice and asked my name and stuff. Then Matt, Toby, Matt, Josh. They were all super nice and when I got to Josh I was like "You've actually already signed this..." and pointed to his signature and he was like "That one's gross, I'll sign it again. I'll put a heart, too." Then I got a picture and we left. I freaking love them so much.
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