P.O.D. show!!!
Saw my boys in concert on Monday night and got to hang backstage with them for a bit. So behind the cut are more pictures and a very long report.... enjoy :)
Yesterday (Dec. 5th) I got to see P.O.D. play with Cold and Fivespeed at Earthlink Live in Atlanta. I hate the one way streets in Atlanta! They made me miss the venue once so it took me a while to park. I ended up parking on 14th Street and the show was down 17th street… so I had a lot of walking, haha. I got to the venue about 5:30 and got to meet my new friend Jason. I also met Barb again, who is a longtime friend of Blindside's. I passed out a bunch of EP/Testify cards and got to talk to a lot of people about the EP, the new album, P.O.D. shows… man I love talking about the guys to people!
On my way over I heard 105.3 "the Buzz" radio station saying that they were going to interview the guys in the studio. I called my roommate to make her listen since I wouldn't be able to, and she told me that just Wuv and Sonny came. Apparently the guys are one of the first people they've interviewed on the air. Here's the basic jest of what they said, don't quote me haha:
The DJ asked, why do you write so many songs but only put a certain number on the CD? Sonny/Wuv responded that their contract only pays them for a certain number of songs and that to put more than that number is considered giving the songs away. This is one reason they released the EP since they wanted to release a lot of new songs. (yesss!)
Then the DJ mentioned another performer that acts all crazy on stage, but off stage he is pretty laid back… the DJ asked if Sonny is like that. He responded that yes, being on stage is an emotional release for him, but when he is off stage he is much more laid back.
The DJ asked about their involvement w/the Narnia movie, and the guys responded that the Narnia people loved "Goodbye for Now" and they weren't able to work out filming a music video so the song is just going to be used in promotional media.
The DJ asked if they wrote "Sleeping Awake" before they saw "Matrix Reloaded" since it links up so well with the movie, and they responded no, they had only seen the original Matrix movie at that point, but the Matrix people almost didn't want to use the song since it links up so well with the second movie.
Then apparently the radio station has been saying that if you showed up to the concert wearing "105.3 the buzz" t-shirts you would get in, but only 5 people showed up with them on. So then they asked trivia questions about their station and luckily I remembered their old call numbers so I got to go in and I pulled in my new friends Jared & Adam with me. After the meet and greet I hung out with them a little longer and got to talk to them some. I told them that I had a final at 10:30 the next morning and Traa was like "That's no good!" The guys were constantly rotating playing a football Xbox game, maybe Madden 2004/5 or something? And it looked like Tattoo Mike was beating Wuv like crazy. Of course they were playing as the San Diego Chargers and the Patriots. I joked with them that they should be playing as the Atlanta Falcons since they were in Atlanta, but Mike was like nah...
I got to meet ODZ, who was jamming on an acoustic guitar. He was going over the chords and such of "Goodbye for Now" with Jason and Traa. I talked with Sonny some and mentioned the new "The Warriors" video game that had come out based on the movie "The Warriors" and Sonny was like, yeah, I've heard about it, it sounds sweet. He asked me if I really lived in Atlanta (I guess since he's seen me in so many areas), and when I said yes, he asked if there were any surplus stores in the area, and I told him I didn't know because no one actually lives in Atlanta, everyone lives in the metro area. He was like yeah, I've heard that before, and laughed. Then Tim Pacheco came in but he had a tam on, so I didn't recognize him. ODZ introduced us and so I talked to him for a while. He told me that in "Roots in Stereo," the line is definitely "Lick a shot."
Then Jason, Sonny, and Wuv went to go get their stuff from the hotel so they could leave, while Traa, Tim, ODZ and me hung around. ODZ was listening to "Goodbye for Now" so he could play along. Tim and Traa were singing along as well, but after several plays Traa forgot to put it back and so the iPod played the studio version of "Sounds Like War" which is amazing! The 30 second clip that was online hardly reveals the song at all. I loved it! I told Traa that the first time I had ever seen them play was at this same venue on Nov 17, 2001 and Traa was like "Yeah, this place has a really nice sound system, so everyone is in for a treat. It's a small venue but that makes it a more intimate show." Then I asked him what Jason is screaming in the song "Teachers" and he told me that it's "Training day," which fits in with the song nicely. I could never tell what he was screaming haha. We talked about Matisyahu and then Traa mentioned he wasn't in the studio when Edi Fitzroy came and sang along on "Why Wait?"
Then the rest of the guys came back and kept relaxing and just hanging out. I sat with Jason as he grabbed the acoustic guitar ODZ had been playing with and we talked. He said that during their short break he just hung out at home with his family. We talked some about school and when I told him about the lyric confusion in "Roots in Stereo" he thought the line was "Make a shout" just like I had assumed at first, haha. I told him how much I loved the EP and the new stuff and he said that "Why Wait?" came to them quickly when they were writing and that they hardly took it seriously at first. I talked with Sonny some more and told him that his dreadlocks looked insanely heavy, and he agreed, haha. He said that it never hit him how long they had grown until he saw a picture a few weeks ago. I talked with Mike Kelley, the drum tech for a while; it was good catching up with everyone.
They were scheduled to go on stage at 9:30 and so at 9 everyone left… somehow I managed to get a spot up front. Oddly enough there isn't a barrier between the stage and the audience area, which was very cool so that we could be near the band. I talked to some people who are from Guatemala and Poland who were temporarily in the country. The girl from Guatemala had driven all the way from Texas because she couldn't go to the Texas shows a while back… that's some dedication! (Claudia I mentioned you to her!)
Anyway the guys came on and blew the place up! Since the stage was right in our face I had to look straight up and stand on my toes to see the whole stage clearly. I was standing to Jason's left towards the middle and luckily it didn't get too pushy during the show. Sonny started to let people who crowd surfed to the stage stand on stage with him and sing some, so a lot of people really enjoyed that. This one guy who got up there was wearing a shirt that mentioned some city in Iraq and Sonny said something about supporting the troops… I couldn't tell exactly what. He was a fairly tall guy so when he started to stage dive Sonny was like "Please you guys don't let him fall... don't let him fall!" The new songs they played were Mark My Words, Roots in Stereo, Lights Out, and as an encore they played Goodbye for Now and If it Wasn't for You. They also played classics such as Boom, YOTN, Southtown, Satellite, Will You, Execute the Sounds, Wildfire, Revolution, Set It Off, Without Jah Nothin', and Alive. Sonny said it was the first time they had played "If It Wasn't for You" live. The show was AMAZING! The guys are on fire right now. Everything was totally on key and in the right spot. Tim does amazing backup vocals… during Set It Off I was like "Wow, Jason is doing vocals pretty good" but when I looked at him, it was actually Tim doing the vocals! The new songs are astounding. Testify is going to be too amazing for words, I can tell already! Sonny came by and put the mic in my face some so that was cool, but there was a huge speaker thing right in front of me so he couldn't reach all the way down to my height haha. My pictures definitely show how high up the stage is… my neck is still killing me from looking straight up and my legs hurt from having to stand on my toes. This was my 11th P.O.D. show and they just keep getting better and better! They are like refined silver… they were amazing live to begin with but they keep bringing more and more to the stage and leave you begging for more.
After the show I was walking out when my friend Aaron from high school found me. It was good to see him and he was like "I knew I'd find you at a P.O.D. show." He and his friends waited outside the venue for an hour after the show to meet the guys, along with a man who was involved with WWE in San Diego and his wife Mary. Tim came out and talked to everyone for a while. When the guys came out they stood around and took pictures, signed things, and talked some with some of the hardcore warriors that were bracing the windy Atlanta night. I gave Wuv a tin Bob Marley candle I had found and he was like "Sweet!" and he opened it up and smelled it and said "It even smells like Bob Marley!" Jason looked over and said, "What is that, his ashes?" and we all laughed. I said my final goodbyes to the guys and made it home at 2:30 AM and woke up 4 hours later to finish my final paper… hope that I get an A in the class anyway! haha I'm sorry this is so long, but hopefully it is detailed enough for those that want details! Keep counting down to "Testify", warriors… this album is going to take over the world. Their headlining tour is going to be incredible because Traa said they'll play a lot of the new songs.
Pretty good pics for a disposable, I say...
Mike, their tattoo artist, and me
Yesterday (Dec. 5th) I got to see P.O.D. play with Cold and Fivespeed at Earthlink Live in Atlanta. I hate the one way streets in Atlanta! They made me miss the venue once so it took me a while to park. I ended up parking on 14th Street and the show was down 17th street… so I had a lot of walking, haha. I got to the venue about 5:30 and got to meet my new friend Jason. I also met Barb again, who is a longtime friend of Blindside's. I passed out a bunch of EP/Testify cards and got to talk to a lot of people about the EP, the new album, P.O.D. shows… man I love talking about the guys to people!
On my way over I heard 105.3 "the Buzz" radio station saying that they were going to interview the guys in the studio. I called my roommate to make her listen since I wouldn't be able to, and she told me that just Wuv and Sonny came. Apparently the guys are one of the first people they've interviewed on the air. Here's the basic jest of what they said, don't quote me haha:
The DJ asked, why do you write so many songs but only put a certain number on the CD? Sonny/Wuv responded that their contract only pays them for a certain number of songs and that to put more than that number is considered giving the songs away. This is one reason they released the EP since they wanted to release a lot of new songs. (yesss!)
Then the DJ mentioned another performer that acts all crazy on stage, but off stage he is pretty laid back… the DJ asked if Sonny is like that. He responded that yes, being on stage is an emotional release for him, but when he is off stage he is much more laid back.
The DJ asked about their involvement w/the Narnia movie, and the guys responded that the Narnia people loved "Goodbye for Now" and they weren't able to work out filming a music video so the song is just going to be used in promotional media.
The DJ asked if they wrote "Sleeping Awake" before they saw "Matrix Reloaded" since it links up so well with the movie, and they responded no, they had only seen the original Matrix movie at that point, but the Matrix people almost didn't want to use the song since it links up so well with the second movie.
Then apparently the radio station has been saying that if you showed up to the concert wearing "105.3 the buzz" t-shirts you would get in, but only 5 people showed up with them on. So then they asked trivia questions about their station and luckily I remembered their old call numbers so I got to go in and I pulled in my new friends Jared & Adam with me. After the meet and greet I hung out with them a little longer and got to talk to them some. I told them that I had a final at 10:30 the next morning and Traa was like "That's no good!" The guys were constantly rotating playing a football Xbox game, maybe Madden 2004/5 or something? And it looked like Tattoo Mike was beating Wuv like crazy. Of course they were playing as the San Diego Chargers and the Patriots. I joked with them that they should be playing as the Atlanta Falcons since they were in Atlanta, but Mike was like nah...
I got to meet ODZ, who was jamming on an acoustic guitar. He was going over the chords and such of "Goodbye for Now" with Jason and Traa. I talked with Sonny some and mentioned the new "The Warriors" video game that had come out based on the movie "The Warriors" and Sonny was like, yeah, I've heard about it, it sounds sweet. He asked me if I really lived in Atlanta (I guess since he's seen me in so many areas), and when I said yes, he asked if there were any surplus stores in the area, and I told him I didn't know because no one actually lives in Atlanta, everyone lives in the metro area. He was like yeah, I've heard that before, and laughed. Then Tim Pacheco came in but he had a tam on, so I didn't recognize him. ODZ introduced us and so I talked to him for a while. He told me that in "Roots in Stereo," the line is definitely "Lick a shot."
Then Jason, Sonny, and Wuv went to go get their stuff from the hotel so they could leave, while Traa, Tim, ODZ and me hung around. ODZ was listening to "Goodbye for Now" so he could play along. Tim and Traa were singing along as well, but after several plays Traa forgot to put it back and so the iPod played the studio version of "Sounds Like War" which is amazing! The 30 second clip that was online hardly reveals the song at all. I loved it! I told Traa that the first time I had ever seen them play was at this same venue on Nov 17, 2001 and Traa was like "Yeah, this place has a really nice sound system, so everyone is in for a treat. It's a small venue but that makes it a more intimate show." Then I asked him what Jason is screaming in the song "Teachers" and he told me that it's "Training day," which fits in with the song nicely. I could never tell what he was screaming haha. We talked about Matisyahu and then Traa mentioned he wasn't in the studio when Edi Fitzroy came and sang along on "Why Wait?"
Then the rest of the guys came back and kept relaxing and just hanging out. I sat with Jason as he grabbed the acoustic guitar ODZ had been playing with and we talked. He said that during their short break he just hung out at home with his family. We talked some about school and when I told him about the lyric confusion in "Roots in Stereo" he thought the line was "Make a shout" just like I had assumed at first, haha. I told him how much I loved the EP and the new stuff and he said that "Why Wait?" came to them quickly when they were writing and that they hardly took it seriously at first. I talked with Sonny some more and told him that his dreadlocks looked insanely heavy, and he agreed, haha. He said that it never hit him how long they had grown until he saw a picture a few weeks ago. I talked with Mike Kelley, the drum tech for a while; it was good catching up with everyone.
They were scheduled to go on stage at 9:30 and so at 9 everyone left… somehow I managed to get a spot up front. Oddly enough there isn't a barrier between the stage and the audience area, which was very cool so that we could be near the band. I talked to some people who are from Guatemala and Poland who were temporarily in the country. The girl from Guatemala had driven all the way from Texas because she couldn't go to the Texas shows a while back… that's some dedication! (Claudia I mentioned you to her!)
Anyway the guys came on and blew the place up! Since the stage was right in our face I had to look straight up and stand on my toes to see the whole stage clearly. I was standing to Jason's left towards the middle and luckily it didn't get too pushy during the show. Sonny started to let people who crowd surfed to the stage stand on stage with him and sing some, so a lot of people really enjoyed that. This one guy who got up there was wearing a shirt that mentioned some city in Iraq and Sonny said something about supporting the troops… I couldn't tell exactly what. He was a fairly tall guy so when he started to stage dive Sonny was like "Please you guys don't let him fall... don't let him fall!" The new songs they played were Mark My Words, Roots in Stereo, Lights Out, and as an encore they played Goodbye for Now and If it Wasn't for You. They also played classics such as Boom, YOTN, Southtown, Satellite, Will You, Execute the Sounds, Wildfire, Revolution, Set It Off, Without Jah Nothin', and Alive. Sonny said it was the first time they had played "If It Wasn't for You" live. The show was AMAZING! The guys are on fire right now. Everything was totally on key and in the right spot. Tim does amazing backup vocals… during Set It Off I was like "Wow, Jason is doing vocals pretty good" but when I looked at him, it was actually Tim doing the vocals! The new songs are astounding. Testify is going to be too amazing for words, I can tell already! Sonny came by and put the mic in my face some so that was cool, but there was a huge speaker thing right in front of me so he couldn't reach all the way down to my height haha. My pictures definitely show how high up the stage is… my neck is still killing me from looking straight up and my legs hurt from having to stand on my toes. This was my 11th P.O.D. show and they just keep getting better and better! They are like refined silver… they were amazing live to begin with but they keep bringing more and more to the stage and leave you begging for more.
After the show I was walking out when my friend Aaron from high school found me. It was good to see him and he was like "I knew I'd find you at a P.O.D. show." He and his friends waited outside the venue for an hour after the show to meet the guys, along with a man who was involved with WWE in San Diego and his wife Mary. Tim came out and talked to everyone for a while. When the guys came out they stood around and took pictures, signed things, and talked some with some of the hardcore warriors that were bracing the windy Atlanta night. I gave Wuv a tin Bob Marley candle I had found and he was like "Sweet!" and he opened it up and smelled it and said "It even smells like Bob Marley!" Jason looked over and said, "What is that, his ashes?" and we all laughed. I said my final goodbyes to the guys and made it home at 2:30 AM and woke up 4 hours later to finish my final paper… hope that I get an A in the class anyway! haha I'm sorry this is so long, but hopefully it is detailed enough for those that want details! Keep counting down to "Testify", warriors… this album is going to take over the world. Their headlining tour is going to be incredible because Traa said they'll play a lot of the new songs.
Pretty good pics for a disposable, I say...
Mike, their tattoo artist, and me