OKAY, HERE IS MY PREVIOUSLY PROMISED EPIC BAMBOOZLE POST
Bamboozle on March 27th, 2010 took place at Angel Stadium and began at 2:00pm. We, Kimmi, Mike, and myself, got there around maybe 3. It was hot. We walked from a far away side street to the entrance of the stadium, where my new can of sunscreen and sharpies were thrown away, much to my dismay. But anyway, we were in, and after a long wait and much excitement, we finally were going to be able to see bands we had loved for years.
I forgot to mention, on our walk in, i was ecstatic to realize that Envy on the Coast was playing. I've been listening to their new album practically on repeat recently and i just barely recognized "Headfirst in the River" and i was really glad to be able to hear them perform. Even though we didn't exactly get to see them, hearing them from in the parking lot was one of the first incredible experiences of the day.
The second most amazing thing to happen occurred as we were walking through the stadium, towards the stage. A small collection of people were holding up a sign reading "FORGIVE DURDEN SIGNING @ 4:30. FUELED BY RAMEN TENT." the holders of the sign must have seen my face completely freak because they were like "oh yeah! over there!" and we heading over there. At the tent, i saw a guy who LOOKED like Thomas Dutton (who happens to be one of my MOST favorite musicians/heroes ever) and so i asked the girl there if it was him and she said yes, probably thinking i was retard, but i didn't care.
I ask Thomas for a picture, and Kimmi and I both got pictures with him! After that, not really wanting to just walk away, I told him (probably sounding like a retard again) how much i LOVE Razia's Shadow, asking about the pronunciation and everything. He said thanks and I asked if he was working on anything else. He said he was but i didn't really catch if he really said what it was. I told him i was excited to hear that, and i thanked him again. and then we left, though i would have liked to talk to him for like the whole day.
and as though on cue, i started feeling sick. it was hot as fuck, and my legs were shaky and i just felt awful. I opened the first water and was done with it within a few minutes. We wondered around the lot for a while, I got to see like a blip of Envy on the Coast before their set ended, and we lurked the merch tables. We got swindled into a confusing competition to meet Say Anything, but that didn't work out. Kimmi got shaved ice and i sat by a planter that i was already imagining throwing up into.
I can't really remember what happened in the time between then and Circa Survive. I think we walked around some more. Kimmi bought a shirt. I bought a shirt. Mike found a lot of Blink shirt twins.
One of my favorite bands was playing at the time, though they aren't exactly a favorite anymore. I loved Chiodos because i love Craig Owens. However, the band kicked him out and replaced him with another vocalist, who actually performed pretty well. I didn't watch them because we were doing other stuff, but listening, i was both sad for Craig but happy for Chiodos because their sound remained pretty consistent and they still had quite a group of fans to support them. My only qualm was that they sang a favorite song of mine, "A Letter to Janelle," but that song, says Craig, was written word for word from a break up letter he got from a girlfriend. To me, despite the band legally owning the song, it seems a bit disrespectful to still perform it.
There was a long time between anyone we were interested in seeing and whoever was playing then. I suggested that we chill out in the tunnel (which was part of Angel Stadium). There was shade, concrete floors, and a general relaxing environment.
Kimmi and Mike talked for a long time and fooled around with their phones and shit. I still felt awful of course, so i laid down and sipped water. Nothing really helped.
I think Circa was around almost 5. I tried to explain what their draw was, that Anthony Green is a god, and that the band was voting #1 best live band, etc, etc. But from far away, I don't think it was really conveyed well. They played three songs that i am very familiar with, and Anthony Green was very godlike. He was really funny too. He mentioned all the pot in the air, saying how much he loved California and how the guys on stage were affected by it. He has such a crazy voice. I loved it.
and there was this emo kid sitting nearby:
So after Circa Survive, we went back inside for a while because it was so much cooler in there. Actually, i think we got food. fucking food is so expensive and it was awful. We all got chicken stars from Carl's Jr and they tasted like shit. I was trying to eat because i knew i had to, but every time i ate the third arm of the star, i started feeling really sick again. Plus i really had to pee. But anyway, i ate as much as i could and gave up. Kimmi threw the remaining stars at random people walking by. actually, all this happened before Circa Survive.
We were sitting out in the parking lot when i had to pee again, so we ran to the bathroom and ran back right before Say Anything started. The techs were testing the mics and shit and then the band came on stage. They were wearing their outfits from the Hate Everyone video and they played Belt, Woe, Hate Everyone, Shiska, Mara and Me, Every Man Has His Molly, and Alive With the Glory of Love.
they were AMAZING! i was so glad i finally got to see them live and it was so worth it. Max Bemis sounded incredible, like right off the album. He was really funny too, dancing and running around and stuff. The whole band was really cool. I wish they could have played more songs, but i was still stunned.
my favorite picture from the day :)
We all sort of migrated to the other stage where Pierce the Veil was playing, i was sort of dazed from Say Anything, but hungry, so i bought some kettle corn for fucking $7. Pierce the Veil is an interesting sort of band (Mike thought the singer was a girl at first. he isn't.) so i thought to ask the girl vending the kettle corn what she thought of the music. She seemed happy to be working Bamboozle, and said she'd worked there before and really enjoyed it. Instead of really watching the band, we just sat on a planter and ate the kettle corn. We were pretty wiped out and PTV's set ended pretty fast. They were good, i guess, from what i heard. I'm looking forward to their new album.
After a while, we migrated back to the main stage for Angels and Airwaves, a band i'm not to fond of, but Mike is a fan of Blink so we decided to give them a chance. They were terrible. I can usually sort of understand art projects when it comes to music, but Tom Delonge is so fucking pretentious it's not even funny. Even Mike hated it. It was pretty much just noise. In between songs, he said something about "We have this idea that with imagination, anything is possible..." That's cute, and very Walt Disney, but that's not something a former ex-Blink member says at a rock festival. so gay. When their set FINALLY ended, we stayed sitting for a while, waiting for the last band of the night, AFI.
I'm about as familiar with AFI's discography as Kimmi is of Circa Survive's, but i was excited to see this band merely because they are so legendary. And of course they did not disappoint. The stage was set up to impress, with fog machines blowing smoke on stage that was subsequently blown off stage by the strong winds, backlit by rotating lights that changed colors. It alternated from green and blue, to yellow or white, to red and orange, creating a hellish affect.
The band itself was INCREDIBLE. these guys are not young, so of course they are good at what they do. The lead singer, Davey, commanded the stage with more power than i've ever seen in a frontman, stalking the stage, jumping from drumsets, leaning forward towards the crowd from on top of the amp and over all just being crazy. It was all very dramatic. The guitarist, Jade, had some good solos and shared the amp with Davey on some occasions. But his little spins and jumps were nothing compared to Davey. He looked like a fallen god or something. He was all biceps and jaw bone, screaming and singing and ending practically every note with a little falsetto shriek. He also began and ended most of the songs with a moan that made me wonder more than once how this band had such a following with guys, too. But nevertheless, the crowd was crazy and ranged in ages, from mothers to college guys to some teen girls younger than ourselves.
unfortunately, my camera was dying and it refused to take a clear picture
the last song they played was Miss Murder, a fist pumping good stadium song and then, thankfully, the day was over. I was beat and i wanted to go home. We waited a while for Kimmi's parents to pick us up, we dropped off Mike, and got back to Torrance. Before we dropped off Mike, we were hysterical. It could have been a concert high or maybe just a real high from all the fucking weed in the air. Though i don't think second hand smoke works like that, we were giggling and cackling all the way back to lakewood. I was dropped off around 11:30 and I immediately went to bed and woke up sick at 3:00.