My Warped Adventure
My Warped adventure consisted of four tour dates (June 30th- San Diego, July 1st- Long Beach, July 3rd- Ventura, and July 6th- Pomona) and included MCR, Fall Out Boy, Senses Fail, Steven from Fuse, Jade from AFI, Jeph from The Used and various members of Underoath, Hawthorne Heights, Relient K, the All American Rejects, and Matchbook Romance.
Thanks go out to Lynda, Danny, Maria, Julius, Rachel, Mary, Paulina,Traci, Candice, Gia, and Anna who made the long waiting periods go by quickly, and much more fun. And to the friends made a long the way (Cara, Mike, Ryan, and Matt), who helped out as best they could.
With Gerard in Long Beach.
San Diego, CA
June 30, 2005
Arrived at the venue at around five in the morning and ventured through the day without any sleep. As a result, I later practically passed out on the floor near the D.I.Y. stage. The pictures were taken by my lovely buddy Julius, who braved the crowd and stayed in front of the barricades for hours just to be in the front for MCR (his first concert experience ever).
Early in the day Lynda and I chatted with the MCR merch lady and she told us that they would probably not be having a signing just because the ones that had happened in previous weeks were nothing but hectic. She said the Warped people didn't know where they could arrange a signing that would be orderly and safe for the guys. Luckily (or not) they later posted that there WOULD be a signing and that by chance they had just announced it. So... I watched a bit of MCR's set (they had been the band chosen to play 10 extra minutes), grabbed a lemonade and headed over to the AP tent where Underoath was still doing a signing. Waited with Lynda, Gia, and Anna from the Immortality Project. The "line" for the MCR signing turned into a mob (pictures at warpedtour.com) and the guys ended up having to leave by running out of the back of the tent, then the people working the tent had to block people from running out the same way and chasing after the guys.
Lastly, during Fall Out Boy's set (they were one of the closing bands that night) they dedicated one of the songs to Mikey, who was watching from the side of the stage. Pete said, "This song is about revenge. Right, Mikey? Revenge!" Mikey smiled and nodded, and during "Grand Theft Autumn/Where is Your Boy" he mouthed along to all the words.
After a few hours of sleep and pizza, we headed off to...
Long Beach, CA
July 1, 2005
Met up with the lovely Rachel (blinkcarouseltd) and her friend Mary. Caught Mike from Senses Fail walking around, and then later met the rest of the band again at a signing.
Lynda with Buddy.
Gerard on his way to the stage.
Group pic.
Lynda and Gerard.
The awesome Candice (dicedicebaby), with Gerard.
Rachel and I with her autographed t-shirt.
Things that Long Beach taught me about Gerard:
He's attentive. (Lynda was trying to whisper something to Rachel, and in the mist of his conversation with someone else, Gerard turned around and said "What was that?""
According to him, "We can't play Vampires or Demos because they're too long."
The bad body odor rumors are true.
He wants to see Garden State, but has yet to.
His grandmother had pictures of Mikey and himself on her piano.
Drinking cough syrup is bad:
Me: (Staring at his can of Mosh Water thinking it's an energy drink.) "Does that stuff even taste good?"
Gerard: "Hmm, it's just water."
Me: "Oh, 'cause I've tasted energy drinks that taste like cough medicine."
Gerard: "Aww, well, don't do that! Drinking cough syrup is bad..."
Gerard was also very open with giving hugs without us having to ask or make the first move. For some reason this surprised me. A friend of Candice got really nervous and started stuttering in front of him, and Gerard simply opened his arms and gestured for her to hug him. I guess it was his way of trying to make the situation better and relieve her of being nervous? He came to me and Lynda for good-bye hugs, and as he left he turned and patted my arm and said "Hey...bye."
We left Long Beach early because Danny wasn't feeling too well. After one day of much needed rest we headed to..
Ventura, California
July 3, 2005
Got to Ventura a bit after doors opened because we ran into a lot of traffic. Ventura, was by far the best venue as it was held close to the beach. Later in the evening it got so cold that we were able to see our breath in the air. Met up with Rachel once again, and found Candice in line for a Senses Fail signing.
Lynda spotted Bob standing behind this Cingular booth near the entrace and we came over to talk to him. As we came forward, the lady running it immediately started to freak out on us and started yelling, "No! There's no way you're getting behind my booth..." Without missing a beat, Bob simply shrugged and said "Don't worry, I'll come out" and stepped out of the booth to talk to us. He told us that he hadn't really enjoyed the San Francisco show (the day before) and when I asked why he said, "I don't know. You just have those kinds of days sometimes." We got pictures with him, asked him to autograph a few things and he told us that the band would be one of the last, playing late and closing the show.
The green pin on his shirt says "No, I don't know where Gerard is." Lynda told Bob she liked his pin and the conversation went like this:
Lynda: "I like your pin, but that must suck..."
Bob: Yea, you wouldn't believe how many times I get asked. Girls think that just because I'm in a band with the guy, I know where he is 24/7."
Ray was walking around with his girlfriend and the cute thing was, that they both had MCR merchandise (hoodies) on. A group of younger guys next to us called for him to come over to the fence. Lynda showed him the shirt and drawing her little brother had made of him with the title "Fro of Doom!" Ray thought they were awesome and turned to show his girlfriend the picture. The younger guys kept asking Ray where Gerard was and Ray said he was probably doing press. (This highly annoyed me... I mean c'mon, Ray was with his girl and took time out to talk and now theyre asking for someone else.)
Watched Casey and some other guys from Hawthorne Heights walk by and saw Pete and Patrick from Fall Out Boy walking over to their signing. Jeph from The Used also came by, and supposedly Bert was there as well (he'd been at the Long Beach show) but I saw no sign of him. Took pictures with Aaron and Chris from Underoath, as well as Ryan from Matchbook Romance and Justin from Motion City Soundtrack. Aaron even noticed and took a look at a bunch of the Gerard pins I had on.
Saw Gerard on his way to do more press, but he stopped to sign my picture of Breakfest Monkey. Lynda gave him a painting she had made, and a drawing her brother had made of Gerard (he made one for each member). Lynda had described them to Gerard in Long Beach, and as she handed it to him he smiled and said "Yea, I remember you telling me about these."
There were girls asking Frank if they could kiss him on the cheek and when he said "No, I have a girlfriend" they kinda refused to take it for an answer. They ended up just getting a picture of Frank pinching their cheeks? Our good friend Danny's goal for Warped was to get to kiss Frank on the cheek and when we asked Frank he said sure and put his arm around Danny. Danny, in disbelief said, "What? Really?" And Frank smiled and said, "Yea man! Let's do it..."
Frank also had on what looked like a fanny pack, and it was sticking out through his hoodie.
Danny: "What's on your belly?"
Frank: (Laughs) "What's on my belly?"
Me: "He's expecting, guys..."
Lynda: "Frank, what is it?"
Frank: "Well... (rubs his tummy) it feels like a girl."
We also asked if he had seen Batman Begins to which Frank said "Yea, I liked the first half more than the second, but it was good." His face also lit up at the mention of Episode III and he said he had loved it. When Rachel asked if he had read the comic she made (where Mikey turns into the Hulk cause of a lack of coffee) Frank laughed and said, "Yea. Mikey does get like that when he doesn't get his coffee." He gave us hugs and as he left he patted Danny on the back and said, "Nice meeting you man... thanks for the smooch!"
The greatest surprise of the day came from seeing Jade from AFI. Word from one of my friends at the Despair Faction board was that his brother was going to be hanging around Ventura. A little after Frank left, I noticed Jade hanging around one of the buses. We called him over and asked to take pictures and he said "Sure... but I'm kinda behind a fence." He smiled and made the most of it. I asked how the new album was going and he said that he had taken a break that day to come to Warped. Danny asked when they would be touring again and I said "Yea, I miss you guys..." to which Jade replied with "Aww.. I miss you too" in this little sincere voice. There's a pic of us where he's behind the fence, but the one posted above was taken later in the day when he was walking around.
Ran into Steven from SURS again. He said he was horrible with names but that he remembered our faces from being on the show at the AP party. He said that he had interviewed the MCR boys and that they talked about their upcoming action figures and the Spin magazine cover. He commented on my Gerard pins and on Rachel's Yoda t-shirt. As we left, he hugged each of us and said, "Bye Jen, bye Lynda, bye Rachel... this is the last time I'll remember your names!"
After their set, Patrick and Pete came and stopped to take pictures and talk.
The first words out of Patrick's mouth to me were "Whoa, you love Gerard huh!" as he noticed my pins. I patted him on the back and said, "Don't lie! You love Gerard too..." he laughed and started to explain that they had become good friends with MCR. He also said that the chance to be able to tour with them was one of the reasons he had been so excited about doing Warped. Lynda advised me to give Patrick one of my pins and I did. I handed him my pin with Gerard doing the "kissy face" and Patrick immediately started laughing and put it on his denim jacket. Later in the evening, we asked him if he had seen Gerard yet and he said "No, but I'm excited to show him!"
Gerard passed by with some food about an hour before their showtime. The guy with him kept nagging to go, but Gerard stopped to take pictures saying "No, it's ok. I'll be too busy later."
Finally caught Mikey a short time after Gerard. He had silver make-up around his eyes and his snake skin boots on. I complimented him on them. Mikey kept giving free hugs as well, and Lynda gave him a Starbucks card which he got excited about. As he left, Lynda asked him for a hug and he giggled as he said yes and put his arms around her.
After their set, we saw Gerard running from the stage. He ran over to us, and was drinking water from a bottle, he shook Lynda's hand through the fence. He was obviously out of breath and in a hurry, and kept waving frantically and said, "I have to go.. I really have to go, I've gotta go meet kids in wheelchairs." As he walked back, we told him that he was being cute, and he made the "bunny face" and blew kisses at us.
We hung around for a little while, and saw the kids come in. The guys came out of the bus to greet them. Frank and Gerard got on their knees so they could be able to talk to the kids on the same level.. (I'm not sure if the other guys did as well, as I couldn't see them from my view.) Later, Ray and his girlfriend, Mikey, Bob, and two of their friends got into a car and left for the Warped after party.
Headed back to San Diego, and two more days of rest later we ventured out to...
Pomona, California
July 6, 2005
This was by far, the worst venue, as it was held on a horse track. The weather was hot and humid, and there weren't many things offering shade.
MCR performed at around 2:30. There was a porter potty facing the fence near the stage, which Gerard used before they played. As he walked into it, a bunch of girls swarmed the fence and started yelling "Hey! You're hot!" Security was being a bitch at Pomona. Mikey came over to talk to us for a little, and one of the guards told him that if he wanted to chat he would have to come out of the gated area. Mikey kinda surveyed the crowd of people and mumbled "I can't come outside... I have to go play now."
The performance was good as usual, Gerard did his routine lecture about the shitty guys and flashing tits, the "are my pants tight enough?" talk, and the "Hallelujah, lock and load" thing.
Maria with Bob.
After the performance we yelled at Bob to come over and he came. We talked for a few minutes and he apologized for being sweaty and said that Lynda and I were familiar from previous days. We found out that the guys were going to be busy for the rest of the day with press and a photoshoot for a magazine in Spain. He said it was good to see us again, and we told him to look out for us in September on the Trio tour.
Maria with Kenny from The Starting Line.
Watched a few of the smaller bands and ended with Fall Out Boy once again. Helped one of the bands we had become friends with, with their equipment after the show. Celebrated the end of the trip with milkshakes and Denny's.
I apologize for the length of the entry and the size of the pictures. I am also sorry if this entire post was boring. At least the pictures were a bit entertaining? Enjoy.
(Also, if you would like to see any of the pics with Hawthorne, Underoath, Matchbook, etc. just ask.)
=-jen-=
Thanks go out to Lynda, Danny, Maria, Julius, Rachel, Mary, Paulina,Traci, Candice, Gia, and Anna who made the long waiting periods go by quickly, and much more fun. And to the friends made a long the way (Cara, Mike, Ryan, and Matt), who helped out as best they could.
With Gerard in Long Beach.
San Diego, CA
June 30, 2005
Arrived at the venue at around five in the morning and ventured through the day without any sleep. As a result, I later practically passed out on the floor near the D.I.Y. stage. The pictures were taken by my lovely buddy Julius, who braved the crowd and stayed in front of the barricades for hours just to be in the front for MCR (his first concert experience ever).
Early in the day Lynda and I chatted with the MCR merch lady and she told us that they would probably not be having a signing just because the ones that had happened in previous weeks were nothing but hectic. She said the Warped people didn't know where they could arrange a signing that would be orderly and safe for the guys. Luckily (or not) they later posted that there WOULD be a signing and that by chance they had just announced it. So... I watched a bit of MCR's set (they had been the band chosen to play 10 extra minutes), grabbed a lemonade and headed over to the AP tent where Underoath was still doing a signing. Waited with Lynda, Gia, and Anna from the Immortality Project. The "line" for the MCR signing turned into a mob (pictures at warpedtour.com) and the guys ended up having to leave by running out of the back of the tent, then the people working the tent had to block people from running out the same way and chasing after the guys.
Lastly, during Fall Out Boy's set (they were one of the closing bands that night) they dedicated one of the songs to Mikey, who was watching from the side of the stage. Pete said, "This song is about revenge. Right, Mikey? Revenge!" Mikey smiled and nodded, and during "Grand Theft Autumn/Where is Your Boy" he mouthed along to all the words.
After a few hours of sleep and pizza, we headed off to...
Long Beach, CA
July 1, 2005
Met up with the lovely Rachel (blinkcarouseltd) and her friend Mary. Caught Mike from Senses Fail walking around, and then later met the rest of the band again at a signing.
Lynda with Buddy.
Gerard on his way to the stage.
Group pic.
Lynda and Gerard.
The awesome Candice (dicedicebaby), with Gerard.
Rachel and I with her autographed t-shirt.
Things that Long Beach taught me about Gerard:
He's attentive. (Lynda was trying to whisper something to Rachel, and in the mist of his conversation with someone else, Gerard turned around and said "What was that?""
According to him, "We can't play Vampires or Demos because they're too long."
The bad body odor rumors are true.
He wants to see Garden State, but has yet to.
His grandmother had pictures of Mikey and himself on her piano.
Drinking cough syrup is bad:
Me: (Staring at his can of Mosh Water thinking it's an energy drink.) "Does that stuff even taste good?"
Gerard: "Hmm, it's just water."
Me: "Oh, 'cause I've tasted energy drinks that taste like cough medicine."
Gerard: "Aww, well, don't do that! Drinking cough syrup is bad..."
Gerard was also very open with giving hugs without us having to ask or make the first move. For some reason this surprised me. A friend of Candice got really nervous and started stuttering in front of him, and Gerard simply opened his arms and gestured for her to hug him. I guess it was his way of trying to make the situation better and relieve her of being nervous? He came to me and Lynda for good-bye hugs, and as he left he turned and patted my arm and said "Hey...bye."
We left Long Beach early because Danny wasn't feeling too well. After one day of much needed rest we headed to..
Ventura, California
July 3, 2005
Got to Ventura a bit after doors opened because we ran into a lot of traffic. Ventura, was by far the best venue as it was held close to the beach. Later in the evening it got so cold that we were able to see our breath in the air. Met up with Rachel once again, and found Candice in line for a Senses Fail signing.
Lynda spotted Bob standing behind this Cingular booth near the entrace and we came over to talk to him. As we came forward, the lady running it immediately started to freak out on us and started yelling, "No! There's no way you're getting behind my booth..." Without missing a beat, Bob simply shrugged and said "Don't worry, I'll come out" and stepped out of the booth to talk to us. He told us that he hadn't really enjoyed the San Francisco show (the day before) and when I asked why he said, "I don't know. You just have those kinds of days sometimes." We got pictures with him, asked him to autograph a few things and he told us that the band would be one of the last, playing late and closing the show.
The green pin on his shirt says "No, I don't know where Gerard is." Lynda told Bob she liked his pin and the conversation went like this:
Lynda: "I like your pin, but that must suck..."
Bob: Yea, you wouldn't believe how many times I get asked. Girls think that just because I'm in a band with the guy, I know where he is 24/7."
Ray was walking around with his girlfriend and the cute thing was, that they both had MCR merchandise (hoodies) on. A group of younger guys next to us called for him to come over to the fence. Lynda showed him the shirt and drawing her little brother had made of him with the title "Fro of Doom!" Ray thought they were awesome and turned to show his girlfriend the picture. The younger guys kept asking Ray where Gerard was and Ray said he was probably doing press. (This highly annoyed me... I mean c'mon, Ray was with his girl and took time out to talk and now theyre asking for someone else.)
Watched Casey and some other guys from Hawthorne Heights walk by and saw Pete and Patrick from Fall Out Boy walking over to their signing. Jeph from The Used also came by, and supposedly Bert was there as well (he'd been at the Long Beach show) but I saw no sign of him. Took pictures with Aaron and Chris from Underoath, as well as Ryan from Matchbook Romance and Justin from Motion City Soundtrack. Aaron even noticed and took a look at a bunch of the Gerard pins I had on.
Saw Gerard on his way to do more press, but he stopped to sign my picture of Breakfest Monkey. Lynda gave him a painting she had made, and a drawing her brother had made of Gerard (he made one for each member). Lynda had described them to Gerard in Long Beach, and as she handed it to him he smiled and said "Yea, I remember you telling me about these."
There were girls asking Frank if they could kiss him on the cheek and when he said "No, I have a girlfriend" they kinda refused to take it for an answer. They ended up just getting a picture of Frank pinching their cheeks? Our good friend Danny's goal for Warped was to get to kiss Frank on the cheek and when we asked Frank he said sure and put his arm around Danny. Danny, in disbelief said, "What? Really?" And Frank smiled and said, "Yea man! Let's do it..."
Frank also had on what looked like a fanny pack, and it was sticking out through his hoodie.
Danny: "What's on your belly?"
Frank: (Laughs) "What's on my belly?"
Me: "He's expecting, guys..."
Lynda: "Frank, what is it?"
Frank: "Well... (rubs his tummy) it feels like a girl."
We also asked if he had seen Batman Begins to which Frank said "Yea, I liked the first half more than the second, but it was good." His face also lit up at the mention of Episode III and he said he had loved it. When Rachel asked if he had read the comic she made (where Mikey turns into the Hulk cause of a lack of coffee) Frank laughed and said, "Yea. Mikey does get like that when he doesn't get his coffee." He gave us hugs and as he left he patted Danny on the back and said, "Nice meeting you man... thanks for the smooch!"
The greatest surprise of the day came from seeing Jade from AFI. Word from one of my friends at the Despair Faction board was that his brother was going to be hanging around Ventura. A little after Frank left, I noticed Jade hanging around one of the buses. We called him over and asked to take pictures and he said "Sure... but I'm kinda behind a fence." He smiled and made the most of it. I asked how the new album was going and he said that he had taken a break that day to come to Warped. Danny asked when they would be touring again and I said "Yea, I miss you guys..." to which Jade replied with "Aww.. I miss you too" in this little sincere voice. There's a pic of us where he's behind the fence, but the one posted above was taken later in the day when he was walking around.
Ran into Steven from SURS again. He said he was horrible with names but that he remembered our faces from being on the show at the AP party. He said that he had interviewed the MCR boys and that they talked about their upcoming action figures and the Spin magazine cover. He commented on my Gerard pins and on Rachel's Yoda t-shirt. As we left, he hugged each of us and said, "Bye Jen, bye Lynda, bye Rachel... this is the last time I'll remember your names!"
After their set, Patrick and Pete came and stopped to take pictures and talk.
The first words out of Patrick's mouth to me were "Whoa, you love Gerard huh!" as he noticed my pins. I patted him on the back and said, "Don't lie! You love Gerard too..." he laughed and started to explain that they had become good friends with MCR. He also said that the chance to be able to tour with them was one of the reasons he had been so excited about doing Warped. Lynda advised me to give Patrick one of my pins and I did. I handed him my pin with Gerard doing the "kissy face" and Patrick immediately started laughing and put it on his denim jacket. Later in the evening, we asked him if he had seen Gerard yet and he said "No, but I'm excited to show him!"
Gerard passed by with some food about an hour before their showtime. The guy with him kept nagging to go, but Gerard stopped to take pictures saying "No, it's ok. I'll be too busy later."
Finally caught Mikey a short time after Gerard. He had silver make-up around his eyes and his snake skin boots on. I complimented him on them. Mikey kept giving free hugs as well, and Lynda gave him a Starbucks card which he got excited about. As he left, Lynda asked him for a hug and he giggled as he said yes and put his arms around her.
After their set, we saw Gerard running from the stage. He ran over to us, and was drinking water from a bottle, he shook Lynda's hand through the fence. He was obviously out of breath and in a hurry, and kept waving frantically and said, "I have to go.. I really have to go, I've gotta go meet kids in wheelchairs." As he walked back, we told him that he was being cute, and he made the "bunny face" and blew kisses at us.
We hung around for a little while, and saw the kids come in. The guys came out of the bus to greet them. Frank and Gerard got on their knees so they could be able to talk to the kids on the same level.. (I'm not sure if the other guys did as well, as I couldn't see them from my view.) Later, Ray and his girlfriend, Mikey, Bob, and two of their friends got into a car and left for the Warped after party.
Headed back to San Diego, and two more days of rest later we ventured out to...
Pomona, California
July 6, 2005
This was by far, the worst venue, as it was held on a horse track. The weather was hot and humid, and there weren't many things offering shade.
MCR performed at around 2:30. There was a porter potty facing the fence near the stage, which Gerard used before they played. As he walked into it, a bunch of girls swarmed the fence and started yelling "Hey! You're hot!" Security was being a bitch at Pomona. Mikey came over to talk to us for a little, and one of the guards told him that if he wanted to chat he would have to come out of the gated area. Mikey kinda surveyed the crowd of people and mumbled "I can't come outside... I have to go play now."
The performance was good as usual, Gerard did his routine lecture about the shitty guys and flashing tits, the "are my pants tight enough?" talk, and the "Hallelujah, lock and load" thing.
Maria with Bob.
After the performance we yelled at Bob to come over and he came. We talked for a few minutes and he apologized for being sweaty and said that Lynda and I were familiar from previous days. We found out that the guys were going to be busy for the rest of the day with press and a photoshoot for a magazine in Spain. He said it was good to see us again, and we told him to look out for us in September on the Trio tour.
Maria with Kenny from The Starting Line.
Watched a few of the smaller bands and ended with Fall Out Boy once again. Helped one of the bands we had become friends with, with their equipment after the show. Celebrated the end of the trip with milkshakes and Denny's.
I apologize for the length of the entry and the size of the pictures. I am also sorry if this entire post was boring. At least the pictures were a bit entertaining? Enjoy.
(Also, if you would like to see any of the pics with Hawthorne, Underoath, Matchbook, etc. just ask.)
=-jen-=