(no subject)
I had a very, very amazing weekend.
I arrived at Brian's in Aliquippa shortly before 2, and then we headed off to Cleveland. It was a pleasant drive--good weather, no construction and average traffic. We got to our hotel (the Marriott) sometime between 3:30 and 4, and discovered that we've been upgraded, apparently. So, for $100 we got this gigaaaantic suite. Like. It's huge. And very beautiful. So, before concert #1 we run out and get some dinner and then head to the House of Blues which is literally a block away from our hotel. So nice.
Line up for the first concert was Hate Eternal, Born of Osiris, Unearth, Cannibal Corpse, and Hatebreed. I really wish Hate Eternal had played more songs, because I really dug them. Born of Osiris sucked, Unearth was pretty good--I liked their music, but didn't like them. And Cannibal Corpse was very good. We didn't stay to see Hatebreed because neither of us are into them. We went back to the hotel for a moment and then headed back over to the House of Blues to meet the bands after the show. We ended up meeting Corpse Grinder (one word? Two? Spelling correct? I hate no idea), and Brian got his autograph, so it was sort of worth standing in the cold for forever, haha.
Here's the great part. So, we had planned on going to this bar a few blocks farther down the street, but I had left my coat in the hotel room. In most hotels, that wouldn't be a problem, but to get to our room we had to walk through the hotel for literally 5 mintues. So, that sort of sucked. But, instead we went to this Irish pub right next to the hotel that was playing some nice blues stuff. We got beer (he picked out something for me to drink, and it was actually very good), and were just talking when one of the other members of Cannibal Corpse walks in. Long story short, Brian ends up doing a triple shot of Jäger with the guy. He's just giddy, smiling like a schoolboy. So, we're back at our table and he's all glowing, and he vows that he'll do shots with every one of the Corpse guys who ends up at the pub. I had just proceeded to cover his eyes jokingly as he stared at the door just WAITING, when another member of Corpse comes in. Thankfully, the guy wasn't a shot-sort-of-guy, so Brian was spared having to do another, as he was already quite buzzed by that point.
So, around midnight, as no one else came in, we headed back up to the room and crashed. Or, sort-of crashed, as our bed was incrediably uncomfortable so we were both sort of in-and-out of sleep the entire night. We get up at noon, are informed that we need to be out by 1:30 (we had planned on staying in the room until 6 :/ ), and then we pack up and go to this awesome little restaurant in Lakeside. He found it by looking on the Food Network's website or something; I guess it's supposed to be featured on one of the TV shows. We waited for a bit over an hour for a seat--and we end up sitting at the bar because it was first-come, first-serve--but oh. my. lord. was it worth the wait. They specialize in grilled cheese sandwiches, and Sweetbabyjesuswasitgood.
We mill around the town for a bit and plan our trip to--wait for it--Norway. We're going to Norway over Easter, apparently, haha. The Inferno Festival, which has a very amazing line up so far. It'll cost a bit less than $1300 including airfair, 5 days hotel, food, tickets to 45 concerts, etc.
Anyway. Theeeeeeeeeeeeeen we go to Heathefest, which might have been the highlight of my concert-going life. Hammer Horde (which is a band from Toledo of kids I'm faiiiirrrrly sure are younger than me, but FUCKING EPIC AS HEL(other L optional)!) , Vreid, Alestorm, Belphegor, and ELUVEITIE. And some other band that really sucked, but we were in the other room. Oh. My. God. was it good. Vreid was very all-about Norway, Alestorm was just pure Scottish pirate magic and glee (they opened with the phrase SHOW US YOUR TITS, CLEVELAND!), Belphegor really almost succeeded in ripping my face off (could be the fact that I was literally sitting on the stage at this point. Could not get better "seats"), but Brian ruined them for me because he brought to my attention that the singer's speaking voice sounded like Fozzy Bear from the Muppets. He and the guy squeezed in with us started doing Fozzy Bear/Cookie Monster impressions and I just couldn't handle it. Every time I'd turn around to look at him he'd just start doing impressions and making faces, and I was done.
Then there was Eluveitie. My love for that band is endless. Just.
Okay. On the fairly small stage, they had a bagpiper/floutist, violinist, two guitarists, a bassist, a hurdy-gurdy player, the drummer with a full set, and then the vocalist. All headbanging and jumping around. And it was really like a musical orgasm. I'm sorry, but growling vocals and a hurdy-gurdy and bagpipes cannot fail. Cannot. An impossibility. And at the end I got the lead guitarist's pick, haha. Thank God for Brian being ridiculously tall.
Then we drove home. I got back to my house around 5:20, and was definitely asleep by 5:25.
This weekend was just magical. Except for today, but there's no point in ruining a happy update. Yay!