"New Years, the Fourth wrapped into one..." Part II
First, the promised "stalker" pictures. Kelly's going to try and sharpen them up in PhotoShop, but for now, here's the raw footage.
The piece of paper underneath the clock kept me pumped. It listed the band line up and in huge letters at the bottom, it said "HOWIE DAY 10:00PM".
The picture that inspired the "No! If you sharpen it, you might be able to see his freckle!" quote from me.
So, after Blue Merle was done playing, the stage started to get ridiculously crowded. I nearly got into it with a boy, which was fun. There were some very fun, cool people around us, which made things infinitely better.
I noticed, about 40 minutes before Howie was set to begin that I had to go to the bathroom. I'd been chewing on ice all day to numb my hideous toothache and I'd already gone like 7 times! It was so crowded right around us, Kelly basically forbade me to go, fearing I'd never be able to come back! I figured, It's Howie! I can hold it for Howie! [I'm a 12-year-old boy. I just giggled.]
Let it first be said that the last time I saw Howie, he didn't play 'She Says'. I thought Kelly was going to cry. She was furious and has been saying for weeks that if he didn't play it at Summerfest, she was throwing her beer at him. Which then evolved into talks of smuggling in a can of Pabst or one of Kelly's old cell phones. But, I digress.
He came out at like 10:02. The crowd was practically deafening, my ears popped a couple of times. Howie lauged into the microphone and said, "And a good evening to all of you as well.". I had to pee something fierce, so I had to keep my screaming to a minimum, which made me very sad. Anyway, what sounded like dance music started. Howie started shaking his ass to the music and I'm pretty sure I screamed, "SHAKE WHAT YOUR MAMA GAVE YOU!" at the absolute top of my lungs. Yeah, I'm class all the way through. The dance music turned into 'Perfect Time of Day'. I don't remember much about each individual song, but I remember thinking during 'PToD' that it sounded exactly like it does on SAtWN. He didn't jazz it up or change the notes a lot... and I like that. I can sing along to that!
'Tell Me Something', which I wasn't overly fond of on the 4-19-05 mp3. I thought about going to the bathroom; I felt like I was going to pee my pants! But we were smushed up against the half wall, there was a row of people behind us, and then there were all the people on the first bleacher. There was hardly enough room to think, let alone go to the bathroom. Not to mention, people at Summerfest have a habit of just not letting people through if you try and get back in towards the front when it's that crowded. So, I sat through 'Tell Me Something' which is infinitely better with a band, and tried not to move.
'Numbness for Sound'. I adore this song. My absolute favorite part of SAtWN is the bridge. I decided to try and go to the bathroom because I had to go so badly, I couldn't move or cheer... and I wasn't enjoying Howie like I should have been. Kelly told me I couldn't go during 'Numbness'!, but I was literally about to pee myself, so I tried to go out towards the left. To no avail, I didn't get past one person. I suffered through 'Numbness', yelling out "Cold... and the whiskey is wearing!".
'Sunday Morning Song'. That's it. I don't like this song, I'm going pee! I went out to the right this time with the mindset that he was going to play 'She Says' next and I'd better be back! Most people were actually really cool letting me out. I used the words, "I'm going to pee my pants!" and everyone pretty much made way for me. heh. The way back in was a different story, some girl called me a cunt, I almost smacked her in her stupid, blonde, pink-wearing face... but I didn't want to get kicked out of the stage, so I refrained. While I was leaving the bathroom, he started 'Brace Yourself'. No big deal. I like the song, but it's not something I was heartbroken missing half of.
I got back to Kelly and the party was on! (Okay, Garth. Party on. Vroom.)
'Trouble in Here'. The end was long and hot and awesome. Howie was all over the stage, shaking his ass and being the most adorable creature ever on this Earth.
'Ghost'. *sigh* So incredible. I was hoping for a BoL outro, but no such luck. Regardless, the song was amazing and I was one of, oh, three people around me who knew it. He sang it rather visciously, as he did a lot of songs that night. He yelled out certain parts I've never heard him yell, he sang through clenched teeth... it was hot, it was just different.
'You & A Promise'. Probably the fiercest song that night. He screamed half of it or put a certain inflection on words that made me think he was feeling this song quite a lot. Made me wonder what was going on... ooooh!
'Secret'. Again, one of maybe three people around me who knew it. There was a girl two people down from me that even knew what the Madrigals EP was, so I was in deep like with her.
'End of Our Days'. 'End. of. Our. Days'. Excuse me while I die because my life is complete. It's one of my favorite Howie songs (along with 'Morning After' and recently, 'Be There'). I never expected him to actually play it! I almost started crying. I know it sounds lame and like I'm at a New Kids show, but I really almost did. It was so incredible to be there, that close to him... after meeting him earlier... and hearing him play this most beautiful, sweet song. Kelly and I sang and mostly cuddled each other and probably made everyone around us think we were a couple. But, who cares? 'End of Our Days'. Come on.
'Be There'! "Conversation" went as follows:
Howie: I'm going to play a new song. It's called 'Be There'.
Crowd: *slight cheering, a smattering of applause*
Kat: *screams at the absolute top of her mighty pipes and jumps up and down*
Howie: Don't sound so excited about the new song. *begins it*
Kat: *sings along at the top of her lungs*
Howie: *looks at/towards her, shakes his head, smiles*
Kat: *dies*
I love 'Be There'. It's even better with the band and the harmony and... oh, love love love love love.
'Collide'. He started it by saying, "I wanna hear you all singing along.". Of course, everyone did. I thought he'd finished the song, but then he said, "That was awesome. Let's do it once more." and the band played the chorus again and everyone sang. And then everyone left.
'She Says'. Kelly had been screaming it between songs through most of the show. We pretty much went crazy. I wonder now if we weren't annoying to the people around us. Good thing was, when people found out how long we'd liked him and how long we'd been sitting there that day, they were pretty much in awe of us. It was like that made us cool instead of rather lame. I even had a drunk boy tell me I "deserve front row!" and then bellow in his drunk, frat boy voice, "FRONT ROW GIRLS! FRONT ROW GIRLS!".
After 'She Says', they left the stage and the crowd chanted "Howie! Howie!" for a while. Then "One more song! One more song!". Then Howie came out and it sounded like an *NSYNC concert. It was so loud, it was silent. Anyway.
'Sorry, So Sorry'. He came out alone. There was one orange spotlight on him. He plugged in his guitar, and began 'Sorry, So Sorry' solo. At one point, he started beating on his guitar and he screamed out "phones... that hard... to hoooooooooold!". I think I went into very real cardiac arrest. I didn't know what to do with myself, it was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen/heard!
'Morning After'. The whole band came out and Howie said this would be his last song, 'Morning After'. Um, yeah. I kinda went crazy. This was what I'd been screaming between songs for the entire set. He didn't do the sing along at the end, but Kelly and I had fun all the same. I get a thrill when I hear him say, "Girl is cold...". Lame, yes. True, also yes.
EDIT: He bows so cutely. He actually bows. One hand along his back, one along his stomach, bent in half bows. I almost peed myself, laughing. He also thanked us profusely and said that "this has been the best stop on the tour.". I know everyone says that, but he seemed really sincere. There was also one point during the show where he said, "It's crazy listening to you all. You're like RAH! BLAH!" [that's Howie yelling random syllables and sort of waving his arms around like a crazy person.] Needless to say, the crowd went insane and Howie started yelling with us. I think Milwaukee shows are fun for most bands because pretty much everyone is drunk. [/edit]
After the show was over, everyone was rushing, trying to get back near the tourbus to meet him. Kelly and I didn't have to. We just sang 'Morning After' and danced around and Kelly tried to drunkenly take another picture of the tourbus to replace the one she'd accidentally deleted. It didn't work so much, but I felt drugged. I didn't care. We danced and sang our way out of the park, basically oblivious to the crowds, the drunk guys yelling things, the imminent fights about to break out. We just basked in the Howieness of the day! *le sigh* 'Twas wonderful.
Now, onto the pictures! There were 149 show shots, but most of them didn't come out at all. Only a few of them are good, most are blurry or grainy or washed out, but I didn't have the heart to delete them. I mean... it's Howie!
This was almost immediately after he started singing 'Perfect Time of Day'. The ones of him shaking his groove thang didn't come out.
I think he looks quite beautiful in this one.
Feet!-ish. For jorajo.
I know it's way blurry, but he's jamming. out., so I thought it was too cute to delete.
Oh, his back. RUFF!
The Howie Day drumset. Whee!
*le sigh*
It's blurry and dark, but if you look closely, the freckle is evident. FRECKLE!
One of the best pictures of the night.
The other best picture of the night.
heh. Kelly took a picture of me during 'Ghost' and I didn't even know. I look confused or scandalized or something.
RAWR, Howie. RAWR.
Look at his legs! CUTER?!?
Howie plugging in his guitar before 'Sorry, So Sorry'.
Howie, putting his ears back in as the band joined him for 'Morning After'.
Oh, the prettiness. So, yes. That was my day. Basically. If you read this whole thing, you get a Howie-shaped star!
The piece of paper underneath the clock kept me pumped. It listed the band line up and in huge letters at the bottom, it said "HOWIE DAY 10:00PM".
The picture that inspired the "No! If you sharpen it, you might be able to see his freckle!" quote from me.
So, after Blue Merle was done playing, the stage started to get ridiculously crowded. I nearly got into it with a boy, which was fun. There were some very fun, cool people around us, which made things infinitely better.
I noticed, about 40 minutes before Howie was set to begin that I had to go to the bathroom. I'd been chewing on ice all day to numb my hideous toothache and I'd already gone like 7 times! It was so crowded right around us, Kelly basically forbade me to go, fearing I'd never be able to come back! I figured, It's Howie! I can hold it for Howie! [I'm a 12-year-old boy. I just giggled.]
Let it first be said that the last time I saw Howie, he didn't play 'She Says'. I thought Kelly was going to cry. She was furious and has been saying for weeks that if he didn't play it at Summerfest, she was throwing her beer at him. Which then evolved into talks of smuggling in a can of Pabst or one of Kelly's old cell phones. But, I digress.
He came out at like 10:02. The crowd was practically deafening, my ears popped a couple of times. Howie lauged into the microphone and said, "And a good evening to all of you as well.". I had to pee something fierce, so I had to keep my screaming to a minimum, which made me very sad. Anyway, what sounded like dance music started. Howie started shaking his ass to the music and I'm pretty sure I screamed, "SHAKE WHAT YOUR MAMA GAVE YOU!" at the absolute top of my lungs. Yeah, I'm class all the way through. The dance music turned into 'Perfect Time of Day'. I don't remember much about each individual song, but I remember thinking during 'PToD' that it sounded exactly like it does on SAtWN. He didn't jazz it up or change the notes a lot... and I like that. I can sing along to that!
'Tell Me Something', which I wasn't overly fond of on the 4-19-05 mp3. I thought about going to the bathroom; I felt like I was going to pee my pants! But we were smushed up against the half wall, there was a row of people behind us, and then there were all the people on the first bleacher. There was hardly enough room to think, let alone go to the bathroom. Not to mention, people at Summerfest have a habit of just not letting people through if you try and get back in towards the front when it's that crowded. So, I sat through 'Tell Me Something' which is infinitely better with a band, and tried not to move.
'Numbness for Sound'. I adore this song. My absolute favorite part of SAtWN is the bridge. I decided to try and go to the bathroom because I had to go so badly, I couldn't move or cheer... and I wasn't enjoying Howie like I should have been. Kelly told me I couldn't go during 'Numbness'!, but I was literally about to pee myself, so I tried to go out towards the left. To no avail, I didn't get past one person. I suffered through 'Numbness', yelling out "Cold... and the whiskey is wearing!".
'Sunday Morning Song'. That's it. I don't like this song, I'm going pee! I went out to the right this time with the mindset that he was going to play 'She Says' next and I'd better be back! Most people were actually really cool letting me out. I used the words, "I'm going to pee my pants!" and everyone pretty much made way for me. heh. The way back in was a different story, some girl called me a cunt, I almost smacked her in her stupid, blonde, pink-wearing face... but I didn't want to get kicked out of the stage, so I refrained. While I was leaving the bathroom, he started 'Brace Yourself'. No big deal. I like the song, but it's not something I was heartbroken missing half of.
I got back to Kelly and the party was on! (Okay, Garth. Party on. Vroom.)
'Trouble in Here'. The end was long and hot and awesome. Howie was all over the stage, shaking his ass and being the most adorable creature ever on this Earth.
'Ghost'. *sigh* So incredible. I was hoping for a BoL outro, but no such luck. Regardless, the song was amazing and I was one of, oh, three people around me who knew it. He sang it rather visciously, as he did a lot of songs that night. He yelled out certain parts I've never heard him yell, he sang through clenched teeth... it was hot, it was just different.
'You & A Promise'. Probably the fiercest song that night. He screamed half of it or put a certain inflection on words that made me think he was feeling this song quite a lot. Made me wonder what was going on... ooooh!
'Secret'. Again, one of maybe three people around me who knew it. There was a girl two people down from me that even knew what the Madrigals EP was, so I was in deep like with her.
'End of Our Days'. 'End. of. Our. Days'. Excuse me while I die because my life is complete. It's one of my favorite Howie songs (along with 'Morning After' and recently, 'Be There'). I never expected him to actually play it! I almost started crying. I know it sounds lame and like I'm at a New Kids show, but I really almost did. It was so incredible to be there, that close to him... after meeting him earlier... and hearing him play this most beautiful, sweet song. Kelly and I sang and mostly cuddled each other and probably made everyone around us think we were a couple. But, who cares? 'End of Our Days'. Come on.
'Be There'! "Conversation" went as follows:
Howie: I'm going to play a new song. It's called 'Be There'.
Crowd: *slight cheering, a smattering of applause*
Kat: *screams at the absolute top of her mighty pipes and jumps up and down*
Howie: Don't sound so excited about the new song. *begins it*
Kat: *sings along at the top of her lungs*
Howie: *looks at/towards her, shakes his head, smiles*
Kat: *dies*
I love 'Be There'. It's even better with the band and the harmony and... oh, love love love love love.
'Collide'. He started it by saying, "I wanna hear you all singing along.". Of course, everyone did. I thought he'd finished the song, but then he said, "That was awesome. Let's do it once more." and the band played the chorus again and everyone sang. And then everyone left.
'She Says'. Kelly had been screaming it between songs through most of the show. We pretty much went crazy. I wonder now if we weren't annoying to the people around us. Good thing was, when people found out how long we'd liked him and how long we'd been sitting there that day, they were pretty much in awe of us. It was like that made us cool instead of rather lame. I even had a drunk boy tell me I "deserve front row!" and then bellow in his drunk, frat boy voice, "FRONT ROW GIRLS! FRONT ROW GIRLS!".
After 'She Says', they left the stage and the crowd chanted "Howie! Howie!" for a while. Then "One more song! One more song!". Then Howie came out and it sounded like an *NSYNC concert. It was so loud, it was silent. Anyway.
'Sorry, So Sorry'. He came out alone. There was one orange spotlight on him. He plugged in his guitar, and began 'Sorry, So Sorry' solo. At one point, he started beating on his guitar and he screamed out "phones... that hard... to hoooooooooold!". I think I went into very real cardiac arrest. I didn't know what to do with myself, it was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen/heard!
'Morning After'. The whole band came out and Howie said this would be his last song, 'Morning After'. Um, yeah. I kinda went crazy. This was what I'd been screaming between songs for the entire set. He didn't do the sing along at the end, but Kelly and I had fun all the same. I get a thrill when I hear him say, "Girl is cold...". Lame, yes. True, also yes.
EDIT: He bows so cutely. He actually bows. One hand along his back, one along his stomach, bent in half bows. I almost peed myself, laughing. He also thanked us profusely and said that "this has been the best stop on the tour.". I know everyone says that, but he seemed really sincere. There was also one point during the show where he said, "It's crazy listening to you all. You're like RAH! BLAH!" [that's Howie yelling random syllables and sort of waving his arms around like a crazy person.] Needless to say, the crowd went insane and Howie started yelling with us. I think Milwaukee shows are fun for most bands because pretty much everyone is drunk. [/edit]
After the show was over, everyone was rushing, trying to get back near the tourbus to meet him. Kelly and I didn't have to. We just sang 'Morning After' and danced around and Kelly tried to drunkenly take another picture of the tourbus to replace the one she'd accidentally deleted. It didn't work so much, but I felt drugged. I didn't care. We danced and sang our way out of the park, basically oblivious to the crowds, the drunk guys yelling things, the imminent fights about to break out. We just basked in the Howieness of the day! *le sigh* 'Twas wonderful.
Now, onto the pictures! There were 149 show shots, but most of them didn't come out at all. Only a few of them are good, most are blurry or grainy or washed out, but I didn't have the heart to delete them. I mean... it's Howie!
This was almost immediately after he started singing 'Perfect Time of Day'. The ones of him shaking his groove thang didn't come out.
I think he looks quite beautiful in this one.
Feet!-ish. For jorajo.
I know it's way blurry, but he's jamming. out., so I thought it was too cute to delete.
Oh, his back. RUFF!
The Howie Day drumset. Whee!
*le sigh*
It's blurry and dark, but if you look closely, the freckle is evident. FRECKLE!
One of the best pictures of the night.
The other best picture of the night.
heh. Kelly took a picture of me during 'Ghost' and I didn't even know. I look confused or scandalized or something.
RAWR, Howie. RAWR.
Look at his legs! CUTER?!?
Howie plugging in his guitar before 'Sorry, So Sorry'.
Howie, putting his ears back in as the band joined him for 'Morning After'.
Oh, the prettiness. So, yes. That was my day. Basically. If you read this whole thing, you get a Howie-shaped star!