I'm finally clean
well, it's 3 days and 57 mosquito bites later and I'm back from Soulfest. What a grand old time I had!! It was a really crazy festival because almost no one knew about it due to it being the first year for it, so there was practically no one there. This made the shows seem really really personal. I think I should give you all a little run through of the shows I saw since you're all SO SO SO interested! Me, my friends Steph, Meghan, and Steve, all hitched an 8 hour ride with my dad and sister on their way to Ottawa at about 5 Friday morning. They dropped us off at the camp place in the early afternoon and we set up our tents/unpacked our stuffs. Then we were off to see a horde of Ontario punk bands. We saw more on Saturday too and there was really some good talent. I bought an "Esoteric" three quarter length shirt. It's hawt. At about six we caught a little bit of Red Umbrella and grabbed some grub and chillax time. 8 o-clack rolled around and we went to check out Rebecca Saint James. We stayed for a couple of songs and then went searching the merch tent for stray band members. Mission unsuccessful. We did nothing until about 8:45 when we went to the big stage to get good spots for Jars. WE GOT GOOD SPOTS....second row to be exact :D this show was the best show I've ever and probably ever will see. I certainly wasn't a huge fan of them before, but I SOOOOOOOO am now!!! They passed out candles in the crowd and that was really cool. They also played some new stuff I believe. "Show You Love", "The Valley Song", and "Amazing Grace" (not the one you're thinking of) were my favourites. I was highly impressed by them.
Saturday morning comes along and we get going by around 10:30 or so. We went to see this band called "No. 8" who we'd never heard of. Bad idea. They were french, we got scared, we left. Next we checked out the aforementioned good Ontario punk bands. CHECK OUT Midday Blackout, Esoteric, Steadfast, One Cross, or Lucerin Blue. After dinner the girls went to see "Jake". Steve and I did not. At 7:30 we went and got proper spots for the FIF show at 8, and again got second row. I love FIF so much, and I'm SOOOOOOOOOO happy that I got to see them again before they're done. The show was skankerific. Favourites included Pootermobile, Dandelions, and Every New Day. Am I the only one who thinks Jeff the girl is dreamy? because she TOTALLY is!!!!! After that, there was a 15 minute break before Toby Mac came on. Me and Steve walked around a bit and came back to catch a couple of songs. They were average at best so we left for the merch tent where we ran into.............dramatic pause.............REESE ROPER!!!!!!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!! We chatted it up a little bit and learned that all of the FIF and BSS merch except a few CDs and jackets got held up at the border. I think that most of RK's merch got held up too. This happens everytime a good Christian band comes here to Canada and I think that I might personally assassinate the grumpy customs people. SO I COULDN'T GET THE FIF TOUR CD!!!! AND IT WAS FINISHED AND READY!!! THEY JUST FINISHED IT LAST WEEKEND!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! I was not pleased. and I wanted an FIF and BSS t-shirt SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO bad too :(:(:( oh well, I still got a picture with Reese. Then we just went to bed because Toby Mac was so sucky.
We didn't get up until 12 or something sunday morning and I'm not really sure why. I guess we were just tuckered out. So we got up, ate some fooooooooooood, and went off to see "Downhere". I'm not a huge fan of the "contemporary worship style" music, but this band was GOOD! I believe they're from Ontario too. They played that song about rock stars needing money and not being able to live on balogna sandwiches. It was a riot. [foreshadowing] By the time they were done it had started to rain [/foreshadowing], but we needed to get a good spot for RK. Me and Steve got a sweet second row spot since the girls were too wimpy, and we waited in the pouring rain for a solid forty five minutes. So the rain lets up a little bit and is coming down softly. They go through sound check and play Pressing On and start to play Mood Rings. They get about 3/4 of the way through and the rain starts POURING down and hitting the monitors and wires and stuff. So the techies pull the plug and tell us to pray for the rain to stop. We do and it does. It is now beautiful and sunny so the boys come back out, do another sound check, and play CCL&TLC. It was really really awesome live. Then they start playing in love with the eighties and I could tell that something was terribly amuck. Thiessen started messing up A LOT and eventually just stopped playing. He looked SO upset and I felt really really bad for him. They told us that their equipment got wet and that they couldn't play anymore and they were sorry. It was kind of ironic because hoopes was all happy and upbeat and talking to us the whole time and thiessen looked stressed and upset and he was really quiet, when it's almost always the other way around. I was a little bit dissappointed but happy that I got to hear as much as I did. TONS of other big bands wouldn't have even started playing in rain like that. FIF came out and looked really shocked that the crowd was so hardcore, it was funny. At the BSS show Reese said that if he writes another song about Canada he'll include how tough the fans in Ottawa are :D I also heard later that two of RK's amps got totally wrecked by the water and they had to play another festival in like 18 hours. What great fellas. After RK we went and had some food (food=fun) then went and got front row for BSS. For some reason, the people who set this bad boy up decided to put them on the little stage. Let me explain the little stage: ground level, the crowd can come RIGHT UP to the stage, in the tiniest tent ever. So when I say front row, I mean I could smell Reese's breath :) Man, this show was too crazy for words. It was really funny too because they never practice and didn't even have a set list. I can't remember all the songs they played, but I know they played Space Robot Five, Enamel, Resistor, and Heart Still Beats. Dennis is such a good singer! I wish I had enough money to buy his new worship album, but I didn't :( I thought it was cool how Reese had to walk over and start each backup track on his little laptop before every song :D He talked a lot aobut how they've only played about 5 shows before, and not to think of it as "sucking" but rather as "rare". I now feel that my life is complete now that I have seen these guys live. After this grrrrrrrreat show we went and caught a couple of Kutless songs. No offense to them, but most of the small Ontario bands were better. Next we had a late late dinner and caught ..35 of a Delirious song. Then we remembered that we don't like them and moved into position for TFK. This band amazes me more every time I see them. They got a new guitarist and drummer, but they're just as good as (if not better than) the originals. They totally rocked the hizzouse. That little tent was SOOOOO packed and EVERY SINGLE person was either rocking out or jumping. Seriously, if you've never heard these guys before, BUY THEIR CD!!! or if you can't find it ask me about them and I'll give you some songs. They played some totally wicked new songs and I'd even go as far as to say that they're better than the old ones. This new album (coming our September 30th) WILL be amazing. When everyone was screaming for an encore, I don't think I've ever heard anything that loud before. You know how when you hear a jet or plane up close it has that sort of boom along with the sound? That's how loud this cheering was, seriously. After this show we went over to the merch tent and I got RK pins, an RK shirt (the cool rancid knockoff/who is dan bakitis one) and a zilch CD for 5 bucks because I've been hearing good things about them. After that we went to beddddddddddd, woke up, packed up, drove for 2 hours, went to the bathroom, drove for 2 hours, went to the bathroom and I ate a bag of doritos, drove for another 2 hours, went to the bathroom, and I ate a Mr. Sub pizza sub heated up with olives on it (black AND green) along with a chocolate milk, drove for 1 hour, went to the bathroom, drove for another hour, dropped steph and meghan off at steph's, drove home, unpacked, put some stickers on stephen's awesome car, had a shower, ate a taco, and got on this computer. Oh yeah, I forgot that I saw a poster for "Guerilla Rodeo" - a band featuring members of FIF and Ace Trouble Shooter - beginning touring 2004. I'm SOOOOPER excited for that, let me tell you. APPROXIMATELY 50 PICTURES WILL BE COMING IN 3-4 DAYS, SO STAY TUNED!!! Woah, this is DEFINATELY the longest entry I've ever written. Be proud, be very proud!
sincerely yours,
the great Conraddish
p.s. could someone please e-mail me about pamela, I'm worried
Saturday morning comes along and we get going by around 10:30 or so. We went to see this band called "No. 8" who we'd never heard of. Bad idea. They were french, we got scared, we left. Next we checked out the aforementioned good Ontario punk bands. CHECK OUT Midday Blackout, Esoteric, Steadfast, One Cross, or Lucerin Blue. After dinner the girls went to see "Jake". Steve and I did not. At 7:30 we went and got proper spots for the FIF show at 8, and again got second row. I love FIF so much, and I'm SOOOOOOOOOO happy that I got to see them again before they're done. The show was skankerific. Favourites included Pootermobile, Dandelions, and Every New Day. Am I the only one who thinks Jeff the girl is dreamy? because she TOTALLY is!!!!! After that, there was a 15 minute break before Toby Mac came on. Me and Steve walked around a bit and came back to catch a couple of songs. They were average at best so we left for the merch tent where we ran into.............dramatic pause.............REESE ROPER!!!!!!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!! We chatted it up a little bit and learned that all of the FIF and BSS merch except a few CDs and jackets got held up at the border. I think that most of RK's merch got held up too. This happens everytime a good Christian band comes here to Canada and I think that I might personally assassinate the grumpy customs people. SO I COULDN'T GET THE FIF TOUR CD!!!! AND IT WAS FINISHED AND READY!!! THEY JUST FINISHED IT LAST WEEKEND!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! I was not pleased. and I wanted an FIF and BSS t-shirt SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO bad too :(:(:( oh well, I still got a picture with Reese. Then we just went to bed because Toby Mac was so sucky.
We didn't get up until 12 or something sunday morning and I'm not really sure why. I guess we were just tuckered out. So we got up, ate some fooooooooooood, and went off to see "Downhere". I'm not a huge fan of the "contemporary worship style" music, but this band was GOOD! I believe they're from Ontario too. They played that song about rock stars needing money and not being able to live on balogna sandwiches. It was a riot. [foreshadowing] By the time they were done it had started to rain [/foreshadowing], but we needed to get a good spot for RK. Me and Steve got a sweet second row spot since the girls were too wimpy, and we waited in the pouring rain for a solid forty five minutes. So the rain lets up a little bit and is coming down softly. They go through sound check and play Pressing On and start to play Mood Rings. They get about 3/4 of the way through and the rain starts POURING down and hitting the monitors and wires and stuff. So the techies pull the plug and tell us to pray for the rain to stop. We do and it does. It is now beautiful and sunny so the boys come back out, do another sound check, and play CCL&TLC. It was really really awesome live. Then they start playing in love with the eighties and I could tell that something was terribly amuck. Thiessen started messing up A LOT and eventually just stopped playing. He looked SO upset and I felt really really bad for him. They told us that their equipment got wet and that they couldn't play anymore and they were sorry. It was kind of ironic because hoopes was all happy and upbeat and talking to us the whole time and thiessen looked stressed and upset and he was really quiet, when it's almost always the other way around. I was a little bit dissappointed but happy that I got to hear as much as I did. TONS of other big bands wouldn't have even started playing in rain like that. FIF came out and looked really shocked that the crowd was so hardcore, it was funny. At the BSS show Reese said that if he writes another song about Canada he'll include how tough the fans in Ottawa are :D I also heard later that two of RK's amps got totally wrecked by the water and they had to play another festival in like 18 hours. What great fellas. After RK we went and had some food (food=fun) then went and got front row for BSS. For some reason, the people who set this bad boy up decided to put them on the little stage. Let me explain the little stage: ground level, the crowd can come RIGHT UP to the stage, in the tiniest tent ever. So when I say front row, I mean I could smell Reese's breath :) Man, this show was too crazy for words. It was really funny too because they never practice and didn't even have a set list. I can't remember all the songs they played, but I know they played Space Robot Five, Enamel, Resistor, and Heart Still Beats. Dennis is such a good singer! I wish I had enough money to buy his new worship album, but I didn't :( I thought it was cool how Reese had to walk over and start each backup track on his little laptop before every song :D He talked a lot aobut how they've only played about 5 shows before, and not to think of it as "sucking" but rather as "rare". I now feel that my life is complete now that I have seen these guys live. After this grrrrrrrreat show we went and caught a couple of Kutless songs. No offense to them, but most of the small Ontario bands were better. Next we had a late late dinner and caught ..35 of a Delirious song. Then we remembered that we don't like them and moved into position for TFK. This band amazes me more every time I see them. They got a new guitarist and drummer, but they're just as good as (if not better than) the originals. They totally rocked the hizzouse. That little tent was SOOOOO packed and EVERY SINGLE person was either rocking out or jumping. Seriously, if you've never heard these guys before, BUY THEIR CD!!! or if you can't find it ask me about them and I'll give you some songs. They played some totally wicked new songs and I'd even go as far as to say that they're better than the old ones. This new album (coming our September 30th) WILL be amazing. When everyone was screaming for an encore, I don't think I've ever heard anything that loud before. You know how when you hear a jet or plane up close it has that sort of boom along with the sound? That's how loud this cheering was, seriously. After this show we went over to the merch tent and I got RK pins, an RK shirt (the cool rancid knockoff/who is dan bakitis one) and a zilch CD for 5 bucks because I've been hearing good things about them. After that we went to beddddddddddd, woke up, packed up, drove for 2 hours, went to the bathroom, drove for 2 hours, went to the bathroom and I ate a bag of doritos, drove for another 2 hours, went to the bathroom, and I ate a Mr. Sub pizza sub heated up with olives on it (black AND green) along with a chocolate milk, drove for 1 hour, went to the bathroom, drove for another hour, dropped steph and meghan off at steph's, drove home, unpacked, put some stickers on stephen's awesome car, had a shower, ate a taco, and got on this computer. Oh yeah, I forgot that I saw a poster for "Guerilla Rodeo" - a band featuring members of FIF and Ace Trouble Shooter - beginning touring 2004. I'm SOOOOPER excited for that, let me tell you. APPROXIMATELY 50 PICTURES WILL BE COMING IN 3-4 DAYS, SO STAY TUNED!!! Woah, this is DEFINATELY the longest entry I've ever written. Be proud, be very proud!
sincerely yours,
the great Conraddish
p.s. could someone please e-mail me about pamela, I'm worried