Free AAR ACOUSTIC Concert + Actually Taking Pictures/Conversing with the Band = Awesomeness
[ mood| 
cheerful ]
[ music| “Dirty Little Secret”- The All-American Rejects ]
This entry’s a little late, I know, but I didn’t have the chance to write down all this squee’ing until now, so here it goes:
Mine and Susan’s beyond amazing day at The Grove in L.A. on Saturday basically came about when she heard on KROQ that the All-American Rejects were going to play a free show at the Apple Store. Though neither of us is too into the All-American Rejects, we figured, hey, we like “Swing, Swing” and their other songs, and who are we to pass up a free concert, so why not? It turned out that they played a free acoustic concert-no, I don’t think you understand the awesomeness of that: an acoustic concert-plus had a meet and greet afterwards. The squee’ing will go under a cut because I love you all enough to save your flist pages from the excessive babbling and exclamation points.
The other people we called to go couldn’t make it, so Susan and I ended up hoarding the amazingness all to ourselves. ;) Anyway, we got there at around 4:30, and after battling it out with the other cars in the parking lot and a quick bathroom break, we rushed over to the Apple Store to see that there wasn’t much of a line. They apparently weren’t letting in until 6:00, so we got the wrist bands needed to go in and went across the street from the line to Barnes & Noble to kill some time.
One of the things I love about Susan is that she is as much of a book nerd as I am, and we share the same inherent want to always be in a bookstore. Needless to say, we had a pretty good time going around the store and rec’ing books. We stopped by the Starbucks inside Barnes & Noble to grab Frappuccinos and to validate our parking ticket. Because it was 5:00, we figured we should go back in line so that we can be, as Susan expressed a couple of nights before, “two feet away from [the lead singer’s] crotch!” (And I just realized how not right that sounds out of context.)
Due to delays that neither of us are still unsure of, we ended up waiting in line until well past 7:00 although it didn’t seem that long because Susan is one of the few people with whom I can be with for hours and not run out of things to talk about. The miraculous thing is that not one of the topics we talk about is Alias. Shocking, I know.
Anyway, because we went back in line at a pretty early time, there were only about 50 or so people in front of us, and by the time they started letting in, the line had grown quite long behind us. Because of this, we ended up pretty close on the left hand side of the stage. The stage, BTW, was quite small and on the second floor of the Apple Store, which was usually just an extension of the Apple Store, so people had to stand around and away from the displays and staircase.
Susan and I were right next to the door where the band would walk in and in front of three cool kids who we met while we were standing in line. While we waited for the band to go on stage, the door would open and close periodically, giving us a peek at the band, who was practicing their vocals behind it. After the 100-150 people piled onto the second floor amidst dozens of security guards, an Apple Store guy announced that after the show, there would be a meet and greet at the back of the store.
The band finally came out and answered mine and Susan’s question of why there wasn’t a drum kit set up. As previously squee’ed over, it ended up being an acoustic show. As much as I love big concerts, small, acoustic shows are so much better because they’re more intimate and more about the music. Anyway, they opened up with “Dirty Little Secret” and also sang “Swing, Swing,” “Move Along,” a couple of other songs I forget, and what the lead singer called a “special tuning session” in which they played a few salsa, jazz, and/or meringue beats as they tuned their guitars before the last song.
The show ended up being a little over half an hour. Afterwards, people rushed to the back so they could get in line for the meet and greet. Susan and I just kind of went with the flow of the crowd and followed them to the back. It turned out that we accidentally were on the correct side of the room because the Apple Store people started yelling that everyone had to get in line at the right side of the room, which was where we were supposed to be.
While in line, we made friends with the three kids I mentioned before. There was one guy and two girls, all of whom were either in middle school or 9th grade. They didn’t have a camera, and the guy asked if I could e-mail the pictures I took to him, and I agreed. While waiting in line, we also wondered what we could get the band to sign because none of us brought the new CD or anything. I debated asking them to sign my Starbucks receipt from earlier in the day, but one of the girls we were talking with turned to the printer display we were standing next to and suggested having the band sign one of the blank pages from the printer. We all jokingly thanked the Apple Store gods that we were standing next to a printer, we “borrowed” paper and went on our way.
Before long, we were nearing the band. Susan and I later admitted that both of us were shaking as we held the camera to take pictures. The girl right in front of us had them sign a receipt from Sav-On, which would’ve been like me asking them to sign my Starbucks receipt if it wasn’t for the stolen piece of printer paper. The first band member in line, who I will call AAR Dude 1, read some of the items from the receipt, which was amusing because that lady had some bizarre items on that receipt. [The guys in the band can be seen here. From left to right: Lead Singer Dude (Tyson), AAR Dude 3, AAR Dude 2, AAR Dude 1. Yeah, I don’t know their names. Sorry.]
We finally reached the band, and the first thing Susan did was tell AAR Dude 1 that she liked his hair and that she wanted to cut her hair like him. He asked whether it would be a boy haircut or a girl haircut, and I said it would be both. Susan asked to take a picture with him, and he readily posed for it. The next band member (“AAR Dude 2” for the purposes of this entry) was leaning over the table while holding the green Sharpie in his hand, looking kind of bored. I felt bad, was honestly feeling a little nauseated from the Sharpie fumes, and wanted to talk to them anyway, so the resulting conversation went something like this:
Me: I think I’m getting high off the fumes.
AAR Dude 2: What fumes?
Me: The fumes from the Sharpie.
[AAR Dude 2 leans in to sniff the Sharpie]
Me: I think that’s why they won’t allow Sharpies and White-Out in some schools.
AAR Dude 3: They won’t?
Me: Yeah, some schools won’t because kids get high off of them.
AAR Dude 3: That’s some wussified California school rule.
AAR Dude 2: See, when I have kids, I want them to lose some brain cells.
Admittedly, it wasn’t the most intelligent conversation, but Susan and I still excitedly whispered, “Oh, my God, we actually conversed with them!” after we left the store later. Anyway, I had them sign my “borrowed” piece of printer paper, and Susan and I took turns taking pictures with the band members.
As I was taking a picture with AAR Dude 2, the lead singer, who was sitting on top and at the end of the table as opposed to behind it like everyone else, leaned in from my other side to get into the picture, too. I’m selfish and wanted a picture with just the lead singer, though, so I waited until he was finished saying bye to some friends and took a picture with him. Of course, the whole time [this picture] was being taken, I was giddily thinking, “Holy crap, his head is touching mine!” Susan and I waited to take the pictures of our three new friends and the lead singer so I could send them to them later but left soon after.
It took until after we stepped outside of the store for how truly awesome what just happened was to sink in. We giggled and squee’ed and generally freaked out on the way to the car, in the car, and on the way home. While we were driving to Susan’s house, even we left a pretty giddy voicemail on Bellanid’s phone because she had to work that night. And the icing on the cake? I got Susan home at around 9, and I was home by 9:30, so neither of us got nagged at by our parents for staying out late.
And ooh! As many pictures as my almost full Photobucket account will allow!
***
In other news, I forgot to mention that I was hired by the one company I once swore to boycott, Starbucks. Of course, that “boycott” went out the window as soon as college started, and I realized that there is nothing like overpriced Starbucks caffeine to help you stay up through the wee hours of the morning for the sake of finishing that damn paper or studying for that one test.
Anyway, yes, I am officially a barista. Today was my first day of training. I knew working there wouldn’t be a walk in the park, but nobody told me how much training a Starbucks “partner” has to go through and how many rules one has to follow. There’s even a section in the manual where it says that if two employees become involved, one of them has to transfer to another store to avoid “conflict.” Of course, that reminded me of Sydney and Vaughn, but of course, what doesn’t remind me of Sydney and Vaughn?
Speaking of work, though, I have a six-hour training shift starting at 8 AM tomorrow, so I should go so I could squeeze in some time to go over my training manual after Reno 911! and before sleep.
I hope everyone has a great week!
cheerful ]
[ music| “Dirty Little Secret”- The All-American Rejects ]
This entry’s a little late, I know, but I didn’t have the chance to write down all this squee’ing until now, so here it goes:
Mine and Susan’s beyond amazing day at The Grove in L.A. on Saturday basically came about when she heard on KROQ that the All-American Rejects were going to play a free show at the Apple Store. Though neither of us is too into the All-American Rejects, we figured, hey, we like “Swing, Swing” and their other songs, and who are we to pass up a free concert, so why not? It turned out that they played a free acoustic concert-no, I don’t think you understand the awesomeness of that: an acoustic concert-plus had a meet and greet afterwards. The squee’ing will go under a cut because I love you all enough to save your flist pages from the excessive babbling and exclamation points.
The other people we called to go couldn’t make it, so Susan and I ended up hoarding the amazingness all to ourselves. ;) Anyway, we got there at around 4:30, and after battling it out with the other cars in the parking lot and a quick bathroom break, we rushed over to the Apple Store to see that there wasn’t much of a line. They apparently weren’t letting in until 6:00, so we got the wrist bands needed to go in and went across the street from the line to Barnes & Noble to kill some time.
One of the things I love about Susan is that she is as much of a book nerd as I am, and we share the same inherent want to always be in a bookstore. Needless to say, we had a pretty good time going around the store and rec’ing books. We stopped by the Starbucks inside Barnes & Noble to grab Frappuccinos and to validate our parking ticket. Because it was 5:00, we figured we should go back in line so that we can be, as Susan expressed a couple of nights before, “two feet away from [the lead singer’s] crotch!” (And I just realized how not right that sounds out of context.)
Due to delays that neither of us are still unsure of, we ended up waiting in line until well past 7:00 although it didn’t seem that long because Susan is one of the few people with whom I can be with for hours and not run out of things to talk about. The miraculous thing is that not one of the topics we talk about is Alias. Shocking, I know.
Anyway, because we went back in line at a pretty early time, there were only about 50 or so people in front of us, and by the time they started letting in, the line had grown quite long behind us. Because of this, we ended up pretty close on the left hand side of the stage. The stage, BTW, was quite small and on the second floor of the Apple Store, which was usually just an extension of the Apple Store, so people had to stand around and away from the displays and staircase.
Susan and I were right next to the door where the band would walk in and in front of three cool kids who we met while we were standing in line. While we waited for the band to go on stage, the door would open and close periodically, giving us a peek at the band, who was practicing their vocals behind it. After the 100-150 people piled onto the second floor amidst dozens of security guards, an Apple Store guy announced that after the show, there would be a meet and greet at the back of the store.
The band finally came out and answered mine and Susan’s question of why there wasn’t a drum kit set up. As previously squee’ed over, it ended up being an acoustic show. As much as I love big concerts, small, acoustic shows are so much better because they’re more intimate and more about the music. Anyway, they opened up with “Dirty Little Secret” and also sang “Swing, Swing,” “Move Along,” a couple of other songs I forget, and what the lead singer called a “special tuning session” in which they played a few salsa, jazz, and/or meringue beats as they tuned their guitars before the last song.
The show ended up being a little over half an hour. Afterwards, people rushed to the back so they could get in line for the meet and greet. Susan and I just kind of went with the flow of the crowd and followed them to the back. It turned out that we accidentally were on the correct side of the room because the Apple Store people started yelling that everyone had to get in line at the right side of the room, which was where we were supposed to be.
While in line, we made friends with the three kids I mentioned before. There was one guy and two girls, all of whom were either in middle school or 9th grade. They didn’t have a camera, and the guy asked if I could e-mail the pictures I took to him, and I agreed. While waiting in line, we also wondered what we could get the band to sign because none of us brought the new CD or anything. I debated asking them to sign my Starbucks receipt from earlier in the day, but one of the girls we were talking with turned to the printer display we were standing next to and suggested having the band sign one of the blank pages from the printer. We all jokingly thanked the Apple Store gods that we were standing next to a printer, we “borrowed” paper and went on our way.
Before long, we were nearing the band. Susan and I later admitted that both of us were shaking as we held the camera to take pictures. The girl right in front of us had them sign a receipt from Sav-On, which would’ve been like me asking them to sign my Starbucks receipt if it wasn’t for the stolen piece of printer paper. The first band member in line, who I will call AAR Dude 1, read some of the items from the receipt, which was amusing because that lady had some bizarre items on that receipt. [The guys in the band can be seen here. From left to right: Lead Singer Dude (Tyson), AAR Dude 3, AAR Dude 2, AAR Dude 1. Yeah, I don’t know their names. Sorry.]
We finally reached the band, and the first thing Susan did was tell AAR Dude 1 that she liked his hair and that she wanted to cut her hair like him. He asked whether it would be a boy haircut or a girl haircut, and I said it would be both. Susan asked to take a picture with him, and he readily posed for it. The next band member (“AAR Dude 2” for the purposes of this entry) was leaning over the table while holding the green Sharpie in his hand, looking kind of bored. I felt bad, was honestly feeling a little nauseated from the Sharpie fumes, and wanted to talk to them anyway, so the resulting conversation went something like this:
Me: I think I’m getting high off the fumes.
AAR Dude 2: What fumes?
Me: The fumes from the Sharpie.
[AAR Dude 2 leans in to sniff the Sharpie]
Me: I think that’s why they won’t allow Sharpies and White-Out in some schools.
AAR Dude 3: They won’t?
Me: Yeah, some schools won’t because kids get high off of them.
AAR Dude 3: That’s some wussified California school rule.
AAR Dude 2: See, when I have kids, I want them to lose some brain cells.
Admittedly, it wasn’t the most intelligent conversation, but Susan and I still excitedly whispered, “Oh, my God, we actually conversed with them!” after we left the store later. Anyway, I had them sign my “borrowed” piece of printer paper, and Susan and I took turns taking pictures with the band members.
As I was taking a picture with AAR Dude 2, the lead singer, who was sitting on top and at the end of the table as opposed to behind it like everyone else, leaned in from my other side to get into the picture, too. I’m selfish and wanted a picture with just the lead singer, though, so I waited until he was finished saying bye to some friends and took a picture with him. Of course, the whole time [this picture] was being taken, I was giddily thinking, “Holy crap, his head is touching mine!” Susan and I waited to take the pictures of our three new friends and the lead singer so I could send them to them later but left soon after.
It took until after we stepped outside of the store for how truly awesome what just happened was to sink in. We giggled and squee’ed and generally freaked out on the way to the car, in the car, and on the way home. While we were driving to Susan’s house, even we left a pretty giddy voicemail on Bellanid’s phone because she had to work that night. And the icing on the cake? I got Susan home at around 9, and I was home by 9:30, so neither of us got nagged at by our parents for staying out late.
And ooh! As many pictures as my almost full Photobucket account will allow!
- My half-assed attempt at trying to take pictures over people’s heads
- Susan’s reaction to this picture: “Ooh! You got a picture of his ass!”
- Susan and her future hair twin
- Susan and AAR Dudes 2 and 3
- Me: “Oh, my God! He touched my head! *squeals giddily*”
***
In other news, I forgot to mention that I was hired by the one company I once swore to boycott, Starbucks. Of course, that “boycott” went out the window as soon as college started, and I realized that there is nothing like overpriced Starbucks caffeine to help you stay up through the wee hours of the morning for the sake of finishing that damn paper or studying for that one test.
Anyway, yes, I am officially a barista. Today was my first day of training. I knew working there wouldn’t be a walk in the park, but nobody told me how much training a Starbucks “partner” has to go through and how many rules one has to follow. There’s even a section in the manual where it says that if two employees become involved, one of them has to transfer to another store to avoid “conflict.” Of course, that reminded me of Sydney and Vaughn, but of course, what doesn’t remind me of Sydney and Vaughn?
Speaking of work, though, I have a six-hour training shift starting at 8 AM tomorrow, so I should go so I could squeeze in some time to go over my training manual after Reno 911! and before sleep.
I hope everyone has a great week!