Best show ever
I expect this story to be really long.
Today is Sunday February 12th, which means yesterday was the 11th, which means it was the In Flames show in Columbus. I guess I will go into great detail about the events of the day and night. I had super high expectations for the show. Expectations like this show was going to be the best show I have ever seen. (honestly, it was.) Mark and I had been waiting for this show forever. So Saturday we left here about 1. We had plans of getting food before the show and everything. Also, we had to be in Columbus by 5 to get to the in store signing In Flames was doing a the Magnolia Thunderpussy.We got into Zanesville, and we were both very hungry so I saw a sign that read Oriental so I assumed chinese food, so I suggested that and it was cool. They had a buffet for $5.75. I stocked my plate up with chicken, rice, and steak and peppers. There was so much chicken there. Then I went back and got buffalo wings and cake. NEVER eat chinese buffalo wings. Then I got a fortune cookie that read Never quit. that pissed me off. Then I tried to get something in one of those rip off claw machines but I had 50 cents. I tried for the Big Bird doll and there was an Ernie doll next to him and a red hat. I tried for the hat because it seemed easiest. The claw grabbed the Ernie doll and picked it up and brought it over to drop down in the box, then the fucking claw dropped it right before it was to the little chute for me to claim. I was mad. Alright, time passed (about 60 miles) and we got into Columbus sooner or later. Ok, the main part of Columbus was nice, like around the OSU campus, but then we got deeper into it, and Mark and I was seriously frightened to walk down the street. I have never had that feeling of being uncomfortable just walking down the street. We got to the Magnolia Thunderpussy, that's the record store if anyone was still wondering. It was pretty shitty haha. Well, they had a TON of stuff. Music you probably wouldnt find anywhere else but it was pretty cluttered and all the labels that said what band you were looking at, were written in black permanent marker haha no joke. So we walked in there but still had an hour to piss around, so that is exactlyy what we did. I really had to piss. So Mark and I decided to walk down the street to find somewhere. But the thing is we were in the bum part of town. Some homeless dude came up and bummed a cigarette off Mark. It was creepy or scary, just a little weird. not too out of the ordinary. Then we found nowhere but while walking Mark decided to drop his camera and he was mad that it might not work so we went into the local Family Dollar to buy a new one. He deicided against it because we figured his would still work. The we came out and this is what creeped us the fuck out. Some old black lady with big messed up hair, and one normal eye and one that went completely the opposite way. I didn't know if she was looking at me or not. I couldn't understand what she mumbles, because that was all it was, but I think she said something like, can you give me some food I'm hungry and don't have any, but really fast and mumbly. Mark thought she asked for a ride home, but either way it was freaky and we just kept walking but alot faster. just the way people walk down the street and look at you in that art of town made you feel unsafe. Then we hurried to Mark's car to make it back to the safe part of town to find bathrooms and payphones because we both had to call home once we got there haha. So we found a gas station. I went in and asked if they had a bathroom and the guy said "yea outside" and he said "oh wait you need a key" so he gave it to me and said "sir please bring it back......" ??? haha like he thought I was going to take it and run. But I walked in and almost threw up for real. It's always gross to go into gas stations bathrooms, but this was THE most disgusting bathroom I have ever been in. the floor was all wet, and there was writing all over the wall. Then I saw in the toilet and what did I see? Let's just say someone took a blender, crapped in it, vomited tuna casserole into it, and mixed it around with a crapstick, and poured it in the toilet. So yea, you couldnt even imagine. I had Ruby's digital camera and I shoulda took a pic to show everyone but I didn't think. I wanted out of their. But I had to piss so bad. I locked the door and did my business. And I was scared in doing it because I was reading the walls and there were all these gang writings on it, and pictures of like Jason Voorhees' hockey mask, all while not even pissing in the toilet all the time, man. It was just too gross. haha and the best part was Mark had to go take a number 2, and he didn't know how bad it was and I kept telling him, "Dude, you are not going to take a shit in there. You are not gonna do it. He went in and before the door even closed he was back out haha. By this point, we were both totally not liking Columbus. then we saw a Mcdonalds sign and get this, It was a two story Mcdonalds?!?!?! That is crazy. That place was so huge. So we used the payphone to call home, and luckily my mom gave me a phone card to use.
Finally, back the the Magnolia Thunderpussy to meet In Flamessss!!! We had to wait about 45 minutes once we got there, but it was worth it. I got a poster signed and I got my cd signed and I also got a Decibel magazine with Anders (the singer) on it. You had to buy the cd there to get the magazine free but I already had my own so I just told some dude to hand me one anyways haha. We finally got to them and man, they were super nice dudes. Jesper and Daniel didn't talk probably because they're English wasn't too great. but hey, they're Swedish. But Bjorn, Peter, and the one and only Anders all talked and like I said they were super nice. I got a picture with Anders and so did Mark. Then we ran out of there like little girls because we just met In Flames. It was so unbelievable to meet them to me and Mark and I were both just wowed at what just happened. It was a very high point in my time. ok so it was about 6 and the doors opened at 7 so we sat in Mark's car in the parking garage by the venue and listened to music to get pumped for the show and we just bullshitted for awhile. Then we went to go get in line and it went down like three block from the venue. The line was unreal. And I knew, why because the show had sold out. That was a good feeling because then it would be super packed (oh, it was) and that we had tickets. So we stood in the line and were freezing because it was about 24 degrees I think and we both had on nothing but t shirts so we ran into this crazy ass store. It was like a Pacsun/American Eagle/Aeropostale type store and like the girls clothes were on the bottom and guys was on the top floor,and there was this little area with comfy chiars and a pile of like 15 huge fuzzy rugs that were the most comfortable things ever. haha so we chilled in there then ran outside over to Starbucks real quick then back to the line. So we stood in line for a bit and someone comes over and its Anthony Dipietro. It was odd, I didn't really know the guy, but we he went to our school, I had talked to him a few times, and he said he recognized me then Mark and came over and we bullshitted for a bit. then finally got inside the venue.
Ok, now for the good part. This was the absolute sweetest venue for a concert. If a band that you really like ever comes to the Newport Music Hall, go see them there. There is two levels. It's not very big but wherever you are you can see great. It is bigger than Mr. Smalls but that place is tiny. Newport is great. there is the floor, and there's about 3 steps that go from the main walking area and the floor. And theres stairs on opposite sides in the middle. it's kinda hard to explain, you have to see for yourself. Then there's a second level with a balcony with some seats but mostly standing and you have the best view from up there. It's kinda far away but still good and safe, and you can still see perfect. Steve, you would love this venue. Anyways, so we went to the merch booth, and I bought a Trivium shirt. Simple design but still really sweet. I love it. and Mark got an In Flames tour shirt. Zao had already started while we were in the merch line. Zao was OK. Dan's vocals were really really screechy and sounded way higher than on cd. The opened I know with The Rising End, and I recognized some stuff off of The Funeral of God. I didn't recognize anything else. Mark and I both agreed Zao didn't belong at this show. After a relatively short wait, it was time for Devildriver. We moved up to the steps I was talking about and they are pretty close to the stage. Like I said, the view was perfect from there. We were probably only about 15 or 20 feet away from the stage. from the steps. Alot of the night was watched from there. Until In Flames heh heh heh but that's later. anyways Devildriver tore shit up. Like seriously, they were flawless. Dez sounded amazing all night and the playing was great and the bassist's hair is long and he swung it around and it was a great thing to watch. I do remember most of the songs they played. In no order, they played, End of the Line (I know they opened with this), Nothing's Wrong, The Moutain, I Could Care Less, Meet the Wretched, Grinfucked,and Hold Back The Day. I was suprised to hear them play The Moutain because I love that song, and I didn't think they would. all in all, Devildriver owned the shit out of that place. The crowd seemed to agree. and I love how Dez was saying he doesn't want to see any of that emo, screamo, hardcore dancing. he wanted moshing haha. he's a cool guy. Neither Mark or me did any moshing for Devildriver, but they are coming back to Columbus in May to headline. We may be going back. it would be worth it.
Like I said, this place was really crowded so us moving up in the front to see Trivium was impossible but we were more than content to stay by the steps because it was such an awesome viewing place. With Ruby's camera, I took many pictures of Trivium. I didn't get any of Devildriver or Trivium. Getting pictures was kind of hard because it was dark alot, and even with flash they still came out dark, and look a little far away, we were really close to the stage, so I don't know why the pics looked like that but anyways. I was pretty sure of what Trivium was going to play, and they played exactly what I expected. They opened with the intro to the Ascendancy album. it's called The End of Everything,and sounds so fucking cool. it's just some acoustic guitar and piano and haunting vocals in the background. and they opened with Like Light to Flies, then played Rain,and they also played Drowned and Torn Asunder, Requiem, The Decieved, Declaration, A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation, and closed with Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr. Oh yea and the whole night Matt and Corey were using Dimebag's guitars and they did this sweet ass Pantera tribute. They played some of Domination, then kicked into Walk, and someone runs out on the stage to sing Walk,and at first I didn't realize who it was but then I noticed and it as fucking Mark Hunter, the vocalist of Chimaira. Now, I know nobody that really reads this probably knows who any of these bands are, but Chimaira isnt even on the tour, and they are from Cleveland, which is like right up the road so he must have came down to the show to hang out. It was sweet. Overall Trivium was so awesome. they put on the 2nd best show of the night. Mark bought theyre cd, because if you bought it you got to meet them after their performance. and I was 5 bucks short. So that fucker got to meet them but he still got my booklet signed. and while they were signing I snuck up to the table and got a picture of them signing. \m/
So I got back and Mark and I took our place on the steps for In fucking Flames. The lights went out, as they did before all the bans performances, and the place went nuts. Then these crazy blue lights shot all over the place and Your Bedtime Story is Scaring Everyone was playing, which is the eerie closing track on In Flames' new cd Come Clarity (go buy it), and the band members took the stage, lights still out but we could see their silhouettes. Then they kicked into Pinball Map and lights came on and those fucking CRAZY ass white lights started flashing, and I bet there was a messy cleanup because everyone shit their pants from going so crazy. Now at this point in the night, I hadn't done any moshing, and I crowdsurfed once during Devildriver. So I felt unfulfilled and I needed to get in a pit and do some more crowdsurfing, but I was terrified of doing that because I had Ruby's digital camera in my pocket, and I did not want to break that so I wanted to be really really careful. so In Flames kept on kicking ass and about a 3rd of the way through their set we moved down onto the floor and into the pit area. Now I use pit area loosely because as other concerts I've been to, there were not crazy pits the ENTIRE In Flames set, there were many, but we were actually comfortable standing down there in the crowd about 5 to 10 feet from the stage. And I was short so I had to reach the camera over people's head to get some decent shots, and I tried my best, and there are some ok ones. so for about 2/3 of In Flames set, we were down there, and it was better than I could have ever imagined. I kind of knew their setlist too, because I saw it on the internet from someone who had been to a show and got a setlist. But the craziest thing was that In Flames played the song Gyroscope and that was not on the setlist at all, and I heard nothing on the internet or anywhere of them playing that song and it's one of my favorites off of Whoracle and I was amazed. And then throughout In Flames set, I balled up, and Mark and I ran into numerous pits. That felt good and they were pretty decent sized. You always expect the worst from mosh pits, and I only came out with a cut lip (I could taste the blood on it and now to think of it, it is a little sore.) and once when I got knocked on my ass, my ear collided with someone asshole's knees, and I lost hearing I my ear for a second. It scared me a bit , but I patted myself on the ear and I heard so I was fine. and Mark claims he smacked me in the face, haha I don't know if he did, I don't remember but he claims he did. I won't go over In Flames entire setlist but they played greats such as Behind Space, Take this Life, Episode 666, Trigger, Insipid 2000, Crawl Through Knives, Only For The Weak, Gyroscope, Worlds Within The Margin, Scorn, Vacuum, Leeches, The Quiet Place, Black and White, Dial 595 Escape, Cloud Connected, and a few more. and I crowdsurfed to the front and when I got over the barricade I asked if I could get some pics from right there in front of the stage, like I'm talking right to the side and right up on it, and I got one, and I went to get more, but they ended a song, and the lights usually go out after songs, so I was waiting for them to come on and some other bitch security guard made me leave and go back into the crowd.
Overall, the show was the best I've ever seen. Now I know I said the same thing about Ozzfest 05, but under the circumstances and bands of this show, I loved it so much more. I don't think any other concert that I will go to for awhile will be better. Mark and I were both dead fucking tired and ached and wanted to go but as we exited I said we should go to the back of the venue where the bus was to see if anyone was gonna come out from any bands. So we stood freezing for awhile, an no one came, but other people were still waiting so we decided to run like 3 blocks down the street to the garage where Mark parked and drive back to the venue. Then (oh man), as we were walking back, by one of the exits, people were standing, and low and behold,talking to them is Dez the singer from Devildriver. It was so unreal. I had met him and got my cd at Ozzfest 04 and now here he is again. and we stood and talked for a minute, and he is fucking cool as hell. He was saying like how he told radio stations to suck his Italian cock (not exactly in those words but you get the idea.) and he was talking something about touring opening for Venom, who created black metal basically. and he was just talking about playing the brutal music that they want to play and not listening to anybody about what they say and that their third album will still be even more brutal. The way he said all this was awesome and typical Dez style. then I got a picture with him, and his middle finger is pointed right over his eye by some chance,so it looks like he is poking himself in the eye with his middle finger haha but hes not he was just posing. then we went to get the car and came back and the drummer from In Flames was outside talking to some people. I didn't have a marker so I couldn't get anything else signed. then we stood there and Anders Friden, singer for In Flames came out!!!! man it was fucking great. Meeting and talking twice in the same day, Then Mark and I got a picture with him. Still, after he left, we chilled and man, then came out Mark Hunter from Chimaira!! That was the guy who came out onstae with Trivium. So he stood there and Mark and I listened as he talked about some dude we a crooked cock. haha. I dont know. He said if you ever see this guy, who was like a former band member that is back now, ask him how his crooked cock is doing. We didn't get to get a picture with him so after that everyone left and so did we.
In the end it was one of the best days and nights ever. I got home about 3-3:30 and went straight to bed. I got about 40 pictures and once I get them on here, they will go up. There's some really good ones. Mostly just In Flames and Trivium and some of the autographs I got and the ones I got of band members. haha oh yea I forgot. While we were in line, there was this black dude with a change can standing there freestyling for change haha. It was some older guy and it wasn't like fast good freestlying, it was just stuff like, "Hey,I'm here tryin to make some change, blah blah something that rhymes with change,", and stuff like, " I been livin here for years, checkin out all the folk, I don't care if you have a joke, or rockin Fubu wear" haha stupid shit like that. Then while still in line, there was this dude across the street SHOUTING and a loud preacher voice, preaching to all the metalheads about God, and how were are all bad and we're going to hell, and everyone in line was all makin fun of him, and shouting shit back. It was good haha. Well, I'm about done here. This was super long I know, but there was lot to tell. I hop you read it all. haha But I'm done now so good day.
Today is Sunday February 12th, which means yesterday was the 11th, which means it was the In Flames show in Columbus. I guess I will go into great detail about the events of the day and night. I had super high expectations for the show. Expectations like this show was going to be the best show I have ever seen. (honestly, it was.) Mark and I had been waiting for this show forever. So Saturday we left here about 1. We had plans of getting food before the show and everything. Also, we had to be in Columbus by 5 to get to the in store signing In Flames was doing a the Magnolia Thunderpussy.We got into Zanesville, and we were both very hungry so I saw a sign that read Oriental so I assumed chinese food, so I suggested that and it was cool. They had a buffet for $5.75. I stocked my plate up with chicken, rice, and steak and peppers. There was so much chicken there. Then I went back and got buffalo wings and cake. NEVER eat chinese buffalo wings. Then I got a fortune cookie that read Never quit. that pissed me off. Then I tried to get something in one of those rip off claw machines but I had 50 cents. I tried for the Big Bird doll and there was an Ernie doll next to him and a red hat. I tried for the hat because it seemed easiest. The claw grabbed the Ernie doll and picked it up and brought it over to drop down in the box, then the fucking claw dropped it right before it was to the little chute for me to claim. I was mad. Alright, time passed (about 60 miles) and we got into Columbus sooner or later. Ok, the main part of Columbus was nice, like around the OSU campus, but then we got deeper into it, and Mark and I was seriously frightened to walk down the street. I have never had that feeling of being uncomfortable just walking down the street. We got to the Magnolia Thunderpussy, that's the record store if anyone was still wondering. It was pretty shitty haha. Well, they had a TON of stuff. Music you probably wouldnt find anywhere else but it was pretty cluttered and all the labels that said what band you were looking at, were written in black permanent marker haha no joke. So we walked in there but still had an hour to piss around, so that is exactlyy what we did. I really had to piss. So Mark and I decided to walk down the street to find somewhere. But the thing is we were in the bum part of town. Some homeless dude came up and bummed a cigarette off Mark. It was creepy or scary, just a little weird. not too out of the ordinary. Then we found nowhere but while walking Mark decided to drop his camera and he was mad that it might not work so we went into the local Family Dollar to buy a new one. He deicided against it because we figured his would still work. The we came out and this is what creeped us the fuck out. Some old black lady with big messed up hair, and one normal eye and one that went completely the opposite way. I didn't know if she was looking at me or not. I couldn't understand what she mumbles, because that was all it was, but I think she said something like, can you give me some food I'm hungry and don't have any, but really fast and mumbly. Mark thought she asked for a ride home, but either way it was freaky and we just kept walking but alot faster. just the way people walk down the street and look at you in that art of town made you feel unsafe. Then we hurried to Mark's car to make it back to the safe part of town to find bathrooms and payphones because we both had to call home once we got there haha. So we found a gas station. I went in and asked if they had a bathroom and the guy said "yea outside" and he said "oh wait you need a key" so he gave it to me and said "sir please bring it back......" ??? haha like he thought I was going to take it and run. But I walked in and almost threw up for real. It's always gross to go into gas stations bathrooms, but this was THE most disgusting bathroom I have ever been in. the floor was all wet, and there was writing all over the wall. Then I saw in the toilet and what did I see? Let's just say someone took a blender, crapped in it, vomited tuna casserole into it, and mixed it around with a crapstick, and poured it in the toilet. So yea, you couldnt even imagine. I had Ruby's digital camera and I shoulda took a pic to show everyone but I didn't think. I wanted out of their. But I had to piss so bad. I locked the door and did my business. And I was scared in doing it because I was reading the walls and there were all these gang writings on it, and pictures of like Jason Voorhees' hockey mask, all while not even pissing in the toilet all the time, man. It was just too gross. haha and the best part was Mark had to go take a number 2, and he didn't know how bad it was and I kept telling him, "Dude, you are not going to take a shit in there. You are not gonna do it. He went in and before the door even closed he was back out haha. By this point, we were both totally not liking Columbus. then we saw a Mcdonalds sign and get this, It was a two story Mcdonalds?!?!?! That is crazy. That place was so huge. So we used the payphone to call home, and luckily my mom gave me a phone card to use.
Finally, back the the Magnolia Thunderpussy to meet In Flamessss!!! We had to wait about 45 minutes once we got there, but it was worth it. I got a poster signed and I got my cd signed and I also got a Decibel magazine with Anders (the singer) on it. You had to buy the cd there to get the magazine free but I already had my own so I just told some dude to hand me one anyways haha. We finally got to them and man, they were super nice dudes. Jesper and Daniel didn't talk probably because they're English wasn't too great. but hey, they're Swedish. But Bjorn, Peter, and the one and only Anders all talked and like I said they were super nice. I got a picture with Anders and so did Mark. Then we ran out of there like little girls because we just met In Flames. It was so unbelievable to meet them to me and Mark and I were both just wowed at what just happened. It was a very high point in my time. ok so it was about 6 and the doors opened at 7 so we sat in Mark's car in the parking garage by the venue and listened to music to get pumped for the show and we just bullshitted for awhile. Then we went to go get in line and it went down like three block from the venue. The line was unreal. And I knew, why because the show had sold out. That was a good feeling because then it would be super packed (oh, it was) and that we had tickets. So we stood in the line and were freezing because it was about 24 degrees I think and we both had on nothing but t shirts so we ran into this crazy ass store. It was like a Pacsun/American Eagle/Aeropostale type store and like the girls clothes were on the bottom and guys was on the top floor,and there was this little area with comfy chiars and a pile of like 15 huge fuzzy rugs that were the most comfortable things ever. haha so we chilled in there then ran outside over to Starbucks real quick then back to the line. So we stood in line for a bit and someone comes over and its Anthony Dipietro. It was odd, I didn't really know the guy, but we he went to our school, I had talked to him a few times, and he said he recognized me then Mark and came over and we bullshitted for a bit. then finally got inside the venue.
Ok, now for the good part. This was the absolute sweetest venue for a concert. If a band that you really like ever comes to the Newport Music Hall, go see them there. There is two levels. It's not very big but wherever you are you can see great. It is bigger than Mr. Smalls but that place is tiny. Newport is great. there is the floor, and there's about 3 steps that go from the main walking area and the floor. And theres stairs on opposite sides in the middle. it's kinda hard to explain, you have to see for yourself. Then there's a second level with a balcony with some seats but mostly standing and you have the best view from up there. It's kinda far away but still good and safe, and you can still see perfect. Steve, you would love this venue. Anyways, so we went to the merch booth, and I bought a Trivium shirt. Simple design but still really sweet. I love it. and Mark got an In Flames tour shirt. Zao had already started while we were in the merch line. Zao was OK. Dan's vocals were really really screechy and sounded way higher than on cd. The opened I know with The Rising End, and I recognized some stuff off of The Funeral of God. I didn't recognize anything else. Mark and I both agreed Zao didn't belong at this show. After a relatively short wait, it was time for Devildriver. We moved up to the steps I was talking about and they are pretty close to the stage. Like I said, the view was perfect from there. We were probably only about 15 or 20 feet away from the stage. from the steps. Alot of the night was watched from there. Until In Flames heh heh heh but that's later. anyways Devildriver tore shit up. Like seriously, they were flawless. Dez sounded amazing all night and the playing was great and the bassist's hair is long and he swung it around and it was a great thing to watch. I do remember most of the songs they played. In no order, they played, End of the Line (I know they opened with this), Nothing's Wrong, The Moutain, I Could Care Less, Meet the Wretched, Grinfucked,and Hold Back The Day. I was suprised to hear them play The Moutain because I love that song, and I didn't think they would. all in all, Devildriver owned the shit out of that place. The crowd seemed to agree. and I love how Dez was saying he doesn't want to see any of that emo, screamo, hardcore dancing. he wanted moshing haha. he's a cool guy. Neither Mark or me did any moshing for Devildriver, but they are coming back to Columbus in May to headline. We may be going back. it would be worth it.
Like I said, this place was really crowded so us moving up in the front to see Trivium was impossible but we were more than content to stay by the steps because it was such an awesome viewing place. With Ruby's camera, I took many pictures of Trivium. I didn't get any of Devildriver or Trivium. Getting pictures was kind of hard because it was dark alot, and even with flash they still came out dark, and look a little far away, we were really close to the stage, so I don't know why the pics looked like that but anyways. I was pretty sure of what Trivium was going to play, and they played exactly what I expected. They opened with the intro to the Ascendancy album. it's called The End of Everything,and sounds so fucking cool. it's just some acoustic guitar and piano and haunting vocals in the background. and they opened with Like Light to Flies, then played Rain,and they also played Drowned and Torn Asunder, Requiem, The Decieved, Declaration, A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation, and closed with Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr. Oh yea and the whole night Matt and Corey were using Dimebag's guitars and they did this sweet ass Pantera tribute. They played some of Domination, then kicked into Walk, and someone runs out on the stage to sing Walk,and at first I didn't realize who it was but then I noticed and it as fucking Mark Hunter, the vocalist of Chimaira. Now, I know nobody that really reads this probably knows who any of these bands are, but Chimaira isnt even on the tour, and they are from Cleveland, which is like right up the road so he must have came down to the show to hang out. It was sweet. Overall Trivium was so awesome. they put on the 2nd best show of the night. Mark bought theyre cd, because if you bought it you got to meet them after their performance. and I was 5 bucks short. So that fucker got to meet them but he still got my booklet signed. and while they were signing I snuck up to the table and got a picture of them signing. \m/
So I got back and Mark and I took our place on the steps for In fucking Flames. The lights went out, as they did before all the bans performances, and the place went nuts. Then these crazy blue lights shot all over the place and Your Bedtime Story is Scaring Everyone was playing, which is the eerie closing track on In Flames' new cd Come Clarity (go buy it), and the band members took the stage, lights still out but we could see their silhouettes. Then they kicked into Pinball Map and lights came on and those fucking CRAZY ass white lights started flashing, and I bet there was a messy cleanup because everyone shit their pants from going so crazy. Now at this point in the night, I hadn't done any moshing, and I crowdsurfed once during Devildriver. So I felt unfulfilled and I needed to get in a pit and do some more crowdsurfing, but I was terrified of doing that because I had Ruby's digital camera in my pocket, and I did not want to break that so I wanted to be really really careful. so In Flames kept on kicking ass and about a 3rd of the way through their set we moved down onto the floor and into the pit area. Now I use pit area loosely because as other concerts I've been to, there were not crazy pits the ENTIRE In Flames set, there were many, but we were actually comfortable standing down there in the crowd about 5 to 10 feet from the stage. And I was short so I had to reach the camera over people's head to get some decent shots, and I tried my best, and there are some ok ones. so for about 2/3 of In Flames set, we were down there, and it was better than I could have ever imagined. I kind of knew their setlist too, because I saw it on the internet from someone who had been to a show and got a setlist. But the craziest thing was that In Flames played the song Gyroscope and that was not on the setlist at all, and I heard nothing on the internet or anywhere of them playing that song and it's one of my favorites off of Whoracle and I was amazed. And then throughout In Flames set, I balled up, and Mark and I ran into numerous pits. That felt good and they were pretty decent sized. You always expect the worst from mosh pits, and I only came out with a cut lip (I could taste the blood on it and now to think of it, it is a little sore.) and once when I got knocked on my ass, my ear collided with someone asshole's knees, and I lost hearing I my ear for a second. It scared me a bit , but I patted myself on the ear and I heard so I was fine. and Mark claims he smacked me in the face, haha I don't know if he did, I don't remember but he claims he did. I won't go over In Flames entire setlist but they played greats such as Behind Space, Take this Life, Episode 666, Trigger, Insipid 2000, Crawl Through Knives, Only For The Weak, Gyroscope, Worlds Within The Margin, Scorn, Vacuum, Leeches, The Quiet Place, Black and White, Dial 595 Escape, Cloud Connected, and a few more. and I crowdsurfed to the front and when I got over the barricade I asked if I could get some pics from right there in front of the stage, like I'm talking right to the side and right up on it, and I got one, and I went to get more, but they ended a song, and the lights usually go out after songs, so I was waiting for them to come on and some other bitch security guard made me leave and go back into the crowd.
Overall, the show was the best I've ever seen. Now I know I said the same thing about Ozzfest 05, but under the circumstances and bands of this show, I loved it so much more. I don't think any other concert that I will go to for awhile will be better. Mark and I were both dead fucking tired and ached and wanted to go but as we exited I said we should go to the back of the venue where the bus was to see if anyone was gonna come out from any bands. So we stood freezing for awhile, an no one came, but other people were still waiting so we decided to run like 3 blocks down the street to the garage where Mark parked and drive back to the venue. Then (oh man), as we were walking back, by one of the exits, people were standing, and low and behold,talking to them is Dez the singer from Devildriver. It was so unreal. I had met him and got my cd at Ozzfest 04 and now here he is again. and we stood and talked for a minute, and he is fucking cool as hell. He was saying like how he told radio stations to suck his Italian cock (not exactly in those words but you get the idea.) and he was talking something about touring opening for Venom, who created black metal basically. and he was just talking about playing the brutal music that they want to play and not listening to anybody about what they say and that their third album will still be even more brutal. The way he said all this was awesome and typical Dez style. then I got a picture with him, and his middle finger is pointed right over his eye by some chance,so it looks like he is poking himself in the eye with his middle finger haha but hes not he was just posing. then we went to get the car and came back and the drummer from In Flames was outside talking to some people. I didn't have a marker so I couldn't get anything else signed. then we stood there and Anders Friden, singer for In Flames came out!!!! man it was fucking great. Meeting and talking twice in the same day, Then Mark and I got a picture with him. Still, after he left, we chilled and man, then came out Mark Hunter from Chimaira!! That was the guy who came out onstae with Trivium. So he stood there and Mark and I listened as he talked about some dude we a crooked cock. haha. I dont know. He said if you ever see this guy, who was like a former band member that is back now, ask him how his crooked cock is doing. We didn't get to get a picture with him so after that everyone left and so did we.
In the end it was one of the best days and nights ever. I got home about 3-3:30 and went straight to bed. I got about 40 pictures and once I get them on here, they will go up. There's some really good ones. Mostly just In Flames and Trivium and some of the autographs I got and the ones I got of band members. haha oh yea I forgot. While we were in line, there was this black dude with a change can standing there freestyling for change haha. It was some older guy and it wasn't like fast good freestlying, it was just stuff like, "Hey,I'm here tryin to make some change, blah blah something that rhymes with change,", and stuff like, " I been livin here for years, checkin out all the folk, I don't care if you have a joke, or rockin Fubu wear" haha stupid shit like that. Then while still in line, there was this dude across the street SHOUTING and a loud preacher voice, preaching to all the metalheads about God, and how were are all bad and we're going to hell, and everyone in line was all makin fun of him, and shouting shit back. It was good haha. Well, I'm about done here. This was super long I know, but there was lot to tell. I hop you read it all. haha But I'm done now so good day.