TOURZILLA '07
Minute by minute replay!
So, I get home just in time for some spaghetti and then head out to pick up Miss Courtney, and we make it to St. Andrew's with just a little bit of scary driving when I dived two lanes to get into the parking lot. No one was injured so I count it as a positive experience.
It was kind of cold and drizzling in line, but they opened doors on time. I think. Close enough, anyway. We had quite a few entertaining characters around us - the family in front of us apparently had no idea what was going on and were only there so the one daughter could see Boys Like Girls. The other daughter asked me if there was going to be moshing, and when I said yes, and that there were 3 other bands and BLG were playing last, they then decided to give up and leave. SO basically, at least $90 down the tubes. And behind us, two girls got in line and asked where they get tickets. And not willcall, no. The internet wouldn't let them buy tickets so they came out here... to a concert that had been sold out for at least a month. Any ticketmaster outlet could have told them that. So then they left.
Finally we got inside, got our spot, and Valencia started! We wormed our way up a little, and there was a definite lack of personal space, but it wasn't horrendous. They played all the songs I wanted them too, plus a new one. Opened with Away We Go, then in some order 3000 Miles Away, The Closest I Am To Living On The Edge, the new song, and closed with The Space Between. Shane kind of moved onto the barrier or something, so there was this huge crush of people trying to get to him, and he had people sing into the mic while he was there. And really, Maxim is like, the happiest drummer ever. He's just up there smiling the whole time. Overall they were really, really good, and we were only a few people back so it was fun to see them again.
Maxim through his drumsticks into the crowd, and somehow one got to Courtney's foot, and I got two hands on it and this jerk from behind me grabbed it, too. So Courtney and I basically did all we could it keep it away from him, especially when he told us his friend had the other one. So finally he gave up and I made sure to keep it away from him. Crazy dude.
We stayed in our spot for the Audition, and kept going 'oh, look, there's Danny' as he kept appearing and leaving. When they actually started playing the place was just way too crazy. It was possibly the most ridiculous crowd of 14 year olds ever. There was absolutely no place to go, which made it much less fun when people were still trying to shove forward. I was pretty much trying to breath, much less sing along. They played two new songs, making me even more excited for this new cd. They also played Dance Halls Turned to Ghost Towns, You've Made Us Conscious, Approach the Bench, and closed with Don't Be So Hard. So during the last song, instead of shoving the mic into the crowd, Alex from All Time Low came out to sing the 'say you'll never ever' part with Danny, which was cool. By this time we had moved out of the crazy crowd after getting shoved and falling in a huge heap of people. So then the boys both walked out into the crowd and everyone went crazy. Scary scary teenies!
So then Courtney got water and we headed over to the merch table, and Shane was there, so we went up and I told him I had one of their drumsticks, and would he sign it. So he was looking at it, and asked if it was from the Audition and I told him no, it was from you guys, and that they were amazing and we had been pumped for this tour. So he have me a high five and a fist pound, and signed the drumstick. After we moved off to stand in the back waiting for All Time Low to play, George was walking around trying to sell cds. So we both told him that we already had it, and I asked if he'd sign the drumstick, and mentioned we had gone to Bamboozle and saw them there. So he was all shocked he went that far and asked if we had like it, and we told him it was amazing and he said it was an awesome weekend, and shook our hands and introduced himself and told us he'd see us next time.
So then it was kind of my personal mission to get all of Valencia to sign the thing, which was tricky because I couldn't remember what all of them looked like. Ooops. But somewhere along the line Maxim was walking out so we stopped him and asked him to sign, told him they were awesome and all that. I think I got Danny from the Aud sometime after that, told him they were amazing as always and that we were really looking forward to the new cd and he got all excited about it, too, reminding us when it was coming out and when they were coming back.
All Time Low was fantastic, this was our first time seeing them and they definitely lived up to expectations. Jack and Alex were so cute, arguing with each other and joking and stuff. Jack asked if Eminem was there and then if anyone else ever asked that at shows. Although they didn't play Come One, Come All, they opened with Dear Maria, and did play Coffeeshop Soundtrack and This Girl's A Straigt-Up Hustler from their EP, along with Six Feet Under the Stars and others I can't remember. Basically they were amazing.
Boys Like Girls took about forever to set up, so we killed a lot of time. I might have hunted people down, in fact, it might have been at this time when Courtney had to help me chase down Brendan, who signed and then tried to get us to buy merch since we had the cd.
Finally Boys Like Girls was up, and they were good despite some mic problems and a tendency to play really long intros. I think they opened with Hero/Heroine, and most excitingly, they played Let Go, which was awesome in all its electric glory. I screamed really loud when Martin asked if it was ok if they played someone else's song, ha. They also played Dance Hall Drug, so that was wonderful, although they added in part of that buy you a drank song. Oh well. They also played Me, You and My Medication, Heels Over Head, Broken Man and Five Minutes to Midnight, I'm pretty sure. Martin has a really amazing range, I really like his voice.
So we hung back a bit, let the crowd leave, and then I went looking for JD, the last Valencia member. Some girls were crowded around him, but once the attack horde had gotten their pictures, I asked him to sign my drumstick and he mentioned how impossible it was to sign them. So I thanked him for trying and said we'd see them next time. Timmy from the Aud was right there, so again, waiting for the mass of girls to leave him alone, we heard people asking if he was someone from a band and they didn't know but they got pictures with him anyway. Sheesh. So when we went up I told him how the new stuff sounded great and we couldn't wait to see them again when they came back, and he got excited too and was all, 'Oh, I don't even know what we'll play at that show. Probably a mix of old and new' and I told him that would be awesome and we'd love it no matter what. I think he was the one who told me to pound it. Such a cute kid.
Anyway, we kind of headed out, and saw ATL's Jack trapped by the stairs by an extreme mob. It totally wasn't even worth trying to get to him, I felt kind of bad for him. So we went back to the car, saw some more creepy girls singing a BLG song to BLG's van, and then left. And had an adventure to the Gibraltar Trade Center before getting on a detour and finally making our way safely home, before 11.
Pretty sure the red is from Timmy
JD on the left, Shane in the middle, Maxim on the right
George's is backwards compared to everyone else, and then Brendan (who's came down to process of elimination)
Danny Stevens!
So, I get home just in time for some spaghetti and then head out to pick up Miss Courtney, and we make it to St. Andrew's with just a little bit of scary driving when I dived two lanes to get into the parking lot. No one was injured so I count it as a positive experience.
It was kind of cold and drizzling in line, but they opened doors on time. I think. Close enough, anyway. We had quite a few entertaining characters around us - the family in front of us apparently had no idea what was going on and were only there so the one daughter could see Boys Like Girls. The other daughter asked me if there was going to be moshing, and when I said yes, and that there were 3 other bands and BLG were playing last, they then decided to give up and leave. SO basically, at least $90 down the tubes. And behind us, two girls got in line and asked where they get tickets. And not willcall, no. The internet wouldn't let them buy tickets so they came out here... to a concert that had been sold out for at least a month. Any ticketmaster outlet could have told them that. So then they left.
Finally we got inside, got our spot, and Valencia started! We wormed our way up a little, and there was a definite lack of personal space, but it wasn't horrendous. They played all the songs I wanted them too, plus a new one. Opened with Away We Go, then in some order 3000 Miles Away, The Closest I Am To Living On The Edge, the new song, and closed with The Space Between. Shane kind of moved onto the barrier or something, so there was this huge crush of people trying to get to him, and he had people sing into the mic while he was there. And really, Maxim is like, the happiest drummer ever. He's just up there smiling the whole time. Overall they were really, really good, and we were only a few people back so it was fun to see them again.
Maxim through his drumsticks into the crowd, and somehow one got to Courtney's foot, and I got two hands on it and this jerk from behind me grabbed it, too. So Courtney and I basically did all we could it keep it away from him, especially when he told us his friend had the other one. So finally he gave up and I made sure to keep it away from him. Crazy dude.
We stayed in our spot for the Audition, and kept going 'oh, look, there's Danny' as he kept appearing and leaving. When they actually started playing the place was just way too crazy. It was possibly the most ridiculous crowd of 14 year olds ever. There was absolutely no place to go, which made it much less fun when people were still trying to shove forward. I was pretty much trying to breath, much less sing along. They played two new songs, making me even more excited for this new cd. They also played Dance Halls Turned to Ghost Towns, You've Made Us Conscious, Approach the Bench, and closed with Don't Be So Hard. So during the last song, instead of shoving the mic into the crowd, Alex from All Time Low came out to sing the 'say you'll never ever' part with Danny, which was cool. By this time we had moved out of the crazy crowd after getting shoved and falling in a huge heap of people. So then the boys both walked out into the crowd and everyone went crazy. Scary scary teenies!
So then Courtney got water and we headed over to the merch table, and Shane was there, so we went up and I told him I had one of their drumsticks, and would he sign it. So he was looking at it, and asked if it was from the Audition and I told him no, it was from you guys, and that they were amazing and we had been pumped for this tour. So he have me a high five and a fist pound, and signed the drumstick. After we moved off to stand in the back waiting for All Time Low to play, George was walking around trying to sell cds. So we both told him that we already had it, and I asked if he'd sign the drumstick, and mentioned we had gone to Bamboozle and saw them there. So he was all shocked he went that far and asked if we had like it, and we told him it was amazing and he said it was an awesome weekend, and shook our hands and introduced himself and told us he'd see us next time.
So then it was kind of my personal mission to get all of Valencia to sign the thing, which was tricky because I couldn't remember what all of them looked like. Ooops. But somewhere along the line Maxim was walking out so we stopped him and asked him to sign, told him they were awesome and all that. I think I got Danny from the Aud sometime after that, told him they were amazing as always and that we were really looking forward to the new cd and he got all excited about it, too, reminding us when it was coming out and when they were coming back.
All Time Low was fantastic, this was our first time seeing them and they definitely lived up to expectations. Jack and Alex were so cute, arguing with each other and joking and stuff. Jack asked if Eminem was there and then if anyone else ever asked that at shows. Although they didn't play Come One, Come All, they opened with Dear Maria, and did play Coffeeshop Soundtrack and This Girl's A Straigt-Up Hustler from their EP, along with Six Feet Under the Stars and others I can't remember. Basically they were amazing.
Boys Like Girls took about forever to set up, so we killed a lot of time. I might have hunted people down, in fact, it might have been at this time when Courtney had to help me chase down Brendan, who signed and then tried to get us to buy merch since we had the cd.
Finally Boys Like Girls was up, and they were good despite some mic problems and a tendency to play really long intros. I think they opened with Hero/Heroine, and most excitingly, they played Let Go, which was awesome in all its electric glory. I screamed really loud when Martin asked if it was ok if they played someone else's song, ha. They also played Dance Hall Drug, so that was wonderful, although they added in part of that buy you a drank song. Oh well. They also played Me, You and My Medication, Heels Over Head, Broken Man and Five Minutes to Midnight, I'm pretty sure. Martin has a really amazing range, I really like his voice.
So we hung back a bit, let the crowd leave, and then I went looking for JD, the last Valencia member. Some girls were crowded around him, but once the attack horde had gotten their pictures, I asked him to sign my drumstick and he mentioned how impossible it was to sign them. So I thanked him for trying and said we'd see them next time. Timmy from the Aud was right there, so again, waiting for the mass of girls to leave him alone, we heard people asking if he was someone from a band and they didn't know but they got pictures with him anyway. Sheesh. So when we went up I told him how the new stuff sounded great and we couldn't wait to see them again when they came back, and he got excited too and was all, 'Oh, I don't even know what we'll play at that show. Probably a mix of old and new' and I told him that would be awesome and we'd love it no matter what. I think he was the one who told me to pound it. Such a cute kid.
Anyway, we kind of headed out, and saw ATL's Jack trapped by the stairs by an extreme mob. It totally wasn't even worth trying to get to him, I felt kind of bad for him. So we went back to the car, saw some more creepy girls singing a BLG song to BLG's van, and then left. And had an adventure to the Gibraltar Trade Center before getting on a detour and finally making our way safely home, before 11.
Pretty sure the red is from Timmy
JD on the left, Shane in the middle, Maxim on the right
George's is backwards compared to everyone else, and then Brendan (who's came down to process of elimination)
Danny Stevens!