Queens of the Stone Age
Last night Sherry & I went to the Orangle Peel in Asheville to see Queens of the Stone Age.
When we got there, we went to the line until someone (I considered him a good person to have around, so I'll call him Cool Guy for later) told us we could go around the corner to get our tickets because this was just for the door. So after that, we waited half an hour to get in, then we had an hour wait for the show to start. The waiting actually wasn't that bad, which is good considering it was standing-room only (i.e., no seats available) inside. We ended up going in through the under-21 door because we didn't plan on drinking and it was faster than having everyone check IDs in the other line. While we were waiting inside, I saw Melissa Roth, which was kinda funny because I don't really see many PCHS people around, and she's one of the few I have seen in the past few years (I saw her once at the vet in Columbus, probably a couple of years ago now at least).
I hadn't heard of them (Or should I say him? Technically it is the singer's name...) Dax Riggs was pretty good, I was pleasantly surprised, and afterwards I picked up the CD for $10. It was supposed to be $12 but I didn't have any ones on me and the guy didn't have change either, so he gave it to me for less, which was cool. I wouldn't have been opposed to paying $15 instead, especially since I know things sold at the shows go more toward the band and process than the companies, but I didn't think about that until I was already outside. But back to the show stuff. Good show, although I was thankful I opted to buy earplugs this time because it's a small venue and very close to the set! But I was definitely wanting to look for the chance to hear clearer sometime soon, so I was already determined to look for the CD afterwards, which is a good sign. And apparently some people were familiar, because there was a guy close-by who was singing along.
Oh, and we were center and fairly close, so I had a good view of the lead mic throughout, when I could look around the tall guys in front of me, which is a definite plus.
The second band was really talented and jamming (Howlin' Rain) but not my taste. I think a few people felt that way, but I really felt bad for them because there were some idiots off to the side yelling at them throughout and just being jerks in general. But anyway, they were okay, and then we were finally going to be at QotSA. Through all this, Cool Guy was a little over to the left and front of us, just bobbing to the music and enjoying himself, nothing exciting.
I was a little surprised and amused to watch the set-up, because it was actually the first two bands plus a couple of random people, plus a couple of Orange Peel dudes, that did all the roadie work in-between sets.
Up until we were getting ready for the final act, the people around us were pretty cool, a number of younger guys for the most part, but everyone was just enjoying the show, not really crowded, etc. Of course that changed. There were some stupid people who started pushing their way through the crowd to the front, filling in the space somewhat, and all. This girl (Purse Chick) ends up behind me talking about saving room for some guy to her friend, which I'm mostly thinking whatever, except she has this hard wicker type purse that's like two feet long thrown over her shoulder so it keeps bumping me when she turns and stuff, but she's still behind me and all and I ignore her.
Then this fucking drunk (that's what I thought of him as the entire time) shoves his way through and right next to me/in front of me as QotSA is about to start. The girl says something about hey, be careful, you spent a lot of money on that beer. And I thought hey, she's trying to calm the drunk guy. There's some guy to the side of me who says something to him and he leans over, almost on me, to glare at the guy to see if he'll say anything else. Great. Thankfully it stops and he goes back to waiting. Sherry had suggested I come up in front of him to stay closer before they started, which I might have done, but I didn't want to deal with this guy and I was afraid to stand directly in front of his beer cup or to get way too close like I probably would be packed in soon. Not that I was but like a row(ish) or two back.
As the band starts, I wonder if he is who Purse Chick was waiting on as they interact a little (not overly). She's dancing, doing her think next to him, and he's right in front of me at this point, threatening to block my view of Hommes, which I can work around, but most annoyingly is despite the fact that most of us are getting to be a few inches apart, this guy has an aura around him of about a foot, certainly in front and back. And this reason is because Fucking Drunk is SWAYING like crazy, like leaning back until he bumps into me. Every. Fucking. Time. I was getting so pissed. I have never honestly thought of shoving or yelling at someone until then, even though I knew it probably wouldn't be a smart idea with this guy anyway.
He kept doing this for like 10-15 minutes (I'm sure it was at least the first 2-3 songs, maybe more like 4-5), until they were starting to mosh to our left, and suddenly, beer finished I think, he decided to rush left and ram into someone and start moshing, taking him away from me. (Yes!) So we all end up being shoved about a little, but thankfully most of it stays to the left. I think his long-overdue depature came about the time Sherry was being caught up in the edge of the mosh and makes her side exit to get some room. Around this time, because Sherry was noticing her too, Purse Chick ends up right beside me for awhile in the bobbing, jumping, swaying, crowd it's turning into, and she keeps bashing me and others with her purse in the process.
The Orange Peel Krewe tries to calm the mosh occasionally, but thankfully it still stays to our left for the most part. The biggest scare I had was looking down to see what I was stepping on (part of a cup?) they shifted and my glasses were knocked off. I am so thankful I had my hands out to catch them instantly, and that I managed to, because I'm sure they would have immediately been killed otherwise.
So the crowd ends up shifting about some, and Cool Guy ends up right beside and then later a little behind me. Which was nice because he wasn't being a jerk about anything, I actually felt safer crammed against him than I would have Fucking Drunk or most people, and while he wasn't overly tall, he was taller and a little biger, so he blocked some of the mosh waves from me, which was a definite plus. It kinda felt like he was a guard or something. During this I did end up shoved together awhile with Purse Chick, and the edge of her damn purse keeps poking me under the arm, kind of into my breast. Thankfully not terribly long after that we ended up shifting again and she ended up somewhere behind me. Yes, both annoying people gone!!!
But as for the show, Queens of the Stone Age was great, the crowd became a moving mass of energy which was incredibly fun, except for the occasional shoving-mosh people. Again, thankfully they were over to the side for the most part and really I just got pushed about a little occasionally. I could just enjoy the show and get into it, although a little less having to keep an eye out to the side would have been nice.
So QotSA definitely recommended, especially for a small venue. I don't know how many tickets they sold total, but it was sold out, and I think I read somewhere the firecode is 900-something, so I'm guessing something like 600-800 people? They played a number from the new CD, a few older things, (of course) did an encore, etc. Unfortunately they did not play "The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret." :( But it was still a great set and lots of fun.
Of course tonight my hips are a little sore, but I'm not sure if that's the concert, the fact that I walked 65 minutes on a track with Danielle today to start trying to exercise more, or really a combination thereof.
In other (somewhat related) news, today is NEW FOO! :) Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace. And only a couple of weeks 'till Charlotte... :)
When we got there, we went to the line until someone (I considered him a good person to have around, so I'll call him Cool Guy for later) told us we could go around the corner to get our tickets because this was just for the door. So after that, we waited half an hour to get in, then we had an hour wait for the show to start. The waiting actually wasn't that bad, which is good considering it was standing-room only (i.e., no seats available) inside. We ended up going in through the under-21 door because we didn't plan on drinking and it was faster than having everyone check IDs in the other line. While we were waiting inside, I saw Melissa Roth, which was kinda funny because I don't really see many PCHS people around, and she's one of the few I have seen in the past few years (I saw her once at the vet in Columbus, probably a couple of years ago now at least).
I hadn't heard of them (Or should I say him? Technically it is the singer's name...) Dax Riggs was pretty good, I was pleasantly surprised, and afterwards I picked up the CD for $10. It was supposed to be $12 but I didn't have any ones on me and the guy didn't have change either, so he gave it to me for less, which was cool. I wouldn't have been opposed to paying $15 instead, especially since I know things sold at the shows go more toward the band and process than the companies, but I didn't think about that until I was already outside. But back to the show stuff. Good show, although I was thankful I opted to buy earplugs this time because it's a small venue and very close to the set! But I was definitely wanting to look for the chance to hear clearer sometime soon, so I was already determined to look for the CD afterwards, which is a good sign. And apparently some people were familiar, because there was a guy close-by who was singing along.
Oh, and we were center and fairly close, so I had a good view of the lead mic throughout, when I could look around the tall guys in front of me, which is a definite plus.
The second band was really talented and jamming (Howlin' Rain) but not my taste. I think a few people felt that way, but I really felt bad for them because there were some idiots off to the side yelling at them throughout and just being jerks in general. But anyway, they were okay, and then we were finally going to be at QotSA. Through all this, Cool Guy was a little over to the left and front of us, just bobbing to the music and enjoying himself, nothing exciting.
I was a little surprised and amused to watch the set-up, because it was actually the first two bands plus a couple of random people, plus a couple of Orange Peel dudes, that did all the roadie work in-between sets.
Up until we were getting ready for the final act, the people around us were pretty cool, a number of younger guys for the most part, but everyone was just enjoying the show, not really crowded, etc. Of course that changed. There were some stupid people who started pushing their way through the crowd to the front, filling in the space somewhat, and all. This girl (Purse Chick) ends up behind me talking about saving room for some guy to her friend, which I'm mostly thinking whatever, except she has this hard wicker type purse that's like two feet long thrown over her shoulder so it keeps bumping me when she turns and stuff, but she's still behind me and all and I ignore her.
Then this fucking drunk (that's what I thought of him as the entire time) shoves his way through and right next to me/in front of me as QotSA is about to start. The girl says something about hey, be careful, you spent a lot of money on that beer. And I thought hey, she's trying to calm the drunk guy. There's some guy to the side of me who says something to him and he leans over, almost on me, to glare at the guy to see if he'll say anything else. Great. Thankfully it stops and he goes back to waiting. Sherry had suggested I come up in front of him to stay closer before they started, which I might have done, but I didn't want to deal with this guy and I was afraid to stand directly in front of his beer cup or to get way too close like I probably would be packed in soon. Not that I was but like a row(ish) or two back.
As the band starts, I wonder if he is who Purse Chick was waiting on as they interact a little (not overly). She's dancing, doing her think next to him, and he's right in front of me at this point, threatening to block my view of Hommes, which I can work around, but most annoyingly is despite the fact that most of us are getting to be a few inches apart, this guy has an aura around him of about a foot, certainly in front and back. And this reason is because Fucking Drunk is SWAYING like crazy, like leaning back until he bumps into me. Every. Fucking. Time. I was getting so pissed. I have never honestly thought of shoving or yelling at someone until then, even though I knew it probably wouldn't be a smart idea with this guy anyway.
He kept doing this for like 10-15 minutes (I'm sure it was at least the first 2-3 songs, maybe more like 4-5), until they were starting to mosh to our left, and suddenly, beer finished I think, he decided to rush left and ram into someone and start moshing, taking him away from me. (Yes!) So we all end up being shoved about a little, but thankfully most of it stays to the left. I think his long-overdue depature came about the time Sherry was being caught up in the edge of the mosh and makes her side exit to get some room. Around this time, because Sherry was noticing her too, Purse Chick ends up right beside me for awhile in the bobbing, jumping, swaying, crowd it's turning into, and she keeps bashing me and others with her purse in the process.
The Orange Peel Krewe tries to calm the mosh occasionally, but thankfully it still stays to our left for the most part. The biggest scare I had was looking down to see what I was stepping on (part of a cup?) they shifted and my glasses were knocked off. I am so thankful I had my hands out to catch them instantly, and that I managed to, because I'm sure they would have immediately been killed otherwise.
So the crowd ends up shifting about some, and Cool Guy ends up right beside and then later a little behind me. Which was nice because he wasn't being a jerk about anything, I actually felt safer crammed against him than I would have Fucking Drunk or most people, and while he wasn't overly tall, he was taller and a little biger, so he blocked some of the mosh waves from me, which was a definite plus. It kinda felt like he was a guard or something. During this I did end up shoved together awhile with Purse Chick, and the edge of her damn purse keeps poking me under the arm, kind of into my breast. Thankfully not terribly long after that we ended up shifting again and she ended up somewhere behind me. Yes, both annoying people gone!!!
But as for the show, Queens of the Stone Age was great, the crowd became a moving mass of energy which was incredibly fun, except for the occasional shoving-mosh people. Again, thankfully they were over to the side for the most part and really I just got pushed about a little occasionally. I could just enjoy the show and get into it, although a little less having to keep an eye out to the side would have been nice.
So QotSA definitely recommended, especially for a small venue. I don't know how many tickets they sold total, but it was sold out, and I think I read somewhere the firecode is 900-something, so I'm guessing something like 600-800 people? They played a number from the new CD, a few older things, (of course) did an encore, etc. Unfortunately they did not play "The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret." :( But it was still a great set and lots of fun.
Of course tonight my hips are a little sore, but I'm not sure if that's the concert, the fact that I walked 65 minutes on a track with Danielle today to start trying to exercise more, or really a combination thereof.
In other (somewhat related) news, today is NEW FOO! :) Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace. And only a couple of weeks 'till Charlotte... :)