I may have flown from Singapore, fought with a cabbie about paying his credit card fee, took a 20 minute nap, picked up my friend from the bus station, gotten dinner, then went to this concert. In fact, going to Singapore, I knew I could survive 36+ hours of being awake knowing I could get to see this band live. And too my luck, they decided to film this concert live. And the DVD comes out today!!
And voila....my favorite All Time Low song.....Coffeeshop Soundtrack from my concert!
I know for a fact that one of the most faithful readers of my blog is my Grandpa. And today, as I was cutting up my Vidalia onion, I realized that the majority of my posts lately have probably been a foreign language to him. I mean, on occasion, I still get teased about Smashing Pumpkins and Garbage (Which was music I listened to back in 7th grade.....so!), but I figured it was about time for a blog post for all.
Anyway, as I was cutting up my Vidalia Onion for my tuna float for dinner, I had a flashback to the beginning of elementary school when I was first introduced to onions. My grandpa and grandma were visiting, and I wanted lunch one day. So Grandpa Roger introduced me to the onion sandwich. We had two slices of bread, buttered them, cut a slab off the onion and placed it in the middle. This was an onion sandwich. I ate quite a few growing up. While I've dropped the sandwich part, I'd say virtually every meal I eat has an onion involved. So thank you Grandpa! One other habit I haven't dropped from elementary school is volunteering. I enjoy it. Frequently, I think of how selfish I am while volunteering. I have such a good time giving my time to help someone else. Whether it's delivering meals to the home bound or sewing, I have so much fun that I want to go back for both the people I'm helping and myself. Anyways, I recently finsihed a sock monkey. I do this every other Monday night. I get to take my time to sew, finish profits, and help out a nonprofit. Monday, I finished one of these. Then I chose to purchase it, so someone special out there is getting a surprise gift. If it's not you, sorry! Anyway, here's my monkey. I like to name them characters from a certain book series, so I believe we're on Esme.
And now for the conclusion of 6-days-of-live-music-in-a-row week:
I'm not going to lie, I checked the weather at least twice a day all week, praying for warm weather and sun. So, my friend and I planned out our bands and we were joined by one of the girls I sat with all week @ the Hanson shows.
Wrap up of Bamboozle:
-The Pretty Reckless: Little J doesn't know how to put on much clothing in real life. Might be the next Lindsay Lohan.
-Reliant K. Did not play the two songs I wanted to hear. Seriously, No Khaki pants?!
-I had an extra ticket, so one of my concert lovin' friends called after Reliant K. I ducked out of my 5th row position to go find her and get her a ticket so she could enjoy Hanson too.
-Assuming a back-of-the-crowd position for Hanson was smart. I could see. However, they did NOT play MMM Bop. Strategic on their part? I think so. But the only old school Hanson song was Penny and Me. Good thing I love 'em and saw them the previous 4 days!
-The Maine was next. I'm pretty sure they were still hung over. I was very unimpressed with their inability to sing their own songs. A little too much crowd participation for my choice, but I'm not going to lie, their set was everything I wanted it to be and more. And I may have bought tickets to see them play the Gramecy in August. I just hope THEY sing their songs this time.
-Something Corporate had a lot of buzz surrounding them, and the second I discovered the song Punk Rock Princess, I knew they were going to be one of the best bands at the show. And they were! Band of Bamboozle Award from JP. Punk Rock Princess, Hurricane, If You C Jordan AND I Woke Up in A Car = Win.
-Then major break with lots of rap crap before Paramore. Drake (aka Jimmy from Degrassi) decided to play an extra hour (punk, no one wanted to see you.....It's all about PARAMORE!) So this was dinner and strategically assume position to get out of Bamboozle on time time. Then Paramore played. I couldn't see a thing. And Hayley's mike wasn't turned up high enough. Then magically all of the tall dudes LEFT and I could see and hear!! Hayley Williams can sing. And sing she did some of the top songs on my iPod: Misery Business, Crush Crush Crush, Ignorance, Careful, Decode, That's What You Get, For a Pessimist covers just some of it. Then we had to get home. I believe I rolled in around 1:30 AM. Forced myself to shower, and hit the hay.
Day 2 began at 10AM. I had a few issues rolling out of bed, but then remembered I got to go to a 6th straight day of live music and hopped out of bed!
Highlights: -We got to Bamboozle just in time to see Fun. My friend was super stoked about this.
-OK Go was next. Not too shabby.
-We left Say Anything in order to get great seats for MuteMath, as they were my friend's Band To See of the weekend. And was that a GREAT IDEA. Need a great show to see? MuteMath. Any time. They were OUT OF CONTROL (And they sang Spotlight from Twilight...aka Mr. Cullen walking through the parking lot with Bella the first time!). See out of control awesomeness:
-Matt and Kim were good. Very entertaining. Also when I discovered I hadn't eaten chocolate in 3 days.
-MGMT. So boring live. Hipsters from Brooklyn who look really bored playing their music. So unenthusiastic they're not getting a YouTube Video.
-Weezer! I mean what more could you ask for than Hashpipe to open the show and Buddy Holly to end it, with The Sweater Song, I Want You, and Pork and Beans smashed in between??
Moral of the story: So the next time when someone asks you to go to a music festival and there are 3 or 4 bands you'd see there anyway, you pay to go. Because they're what will cover the bill to see about 10+ bands you'd never chalk up the $15+ to see. And they'll be worth your extra money. The porter potties, public transpiration, trash, overpriced food and water, scantily clad teens, and screamo bands are all just minor details in what will make it one of the most colorful highlights of your live music adventures in NYC!
Props to Bryan and Mallory for every minute we stood in that Jersey Parking lot :) That was some tough work!
(Took me a while to finish this post.....I started it a while ago!)
You know when you're standing in a parking lot on a Sunday evening watching the sunset as Kim of Matt and Kim stand up during her set and scream and you realize you can't remember the last time you had chocolate that it must have been one fantastic weekend. But not just a weekend. Six straight days of live music. Five of which included Hanson.
Realizations from 4 straight days Hanson Album Concerts:
After nearly hyperventilating when I heard about this 5-of-5 deal, I told myself I was only going to two shows. I had just purchased plane tickets to see a friend in London, so I was a little on the broke side. So I picked This Time Around and Underneath. Well.....saying no to Hanson concerts is not something that's easily done, so I may have ended up going two extra nights (on the spur of the moment!). Will I ever regret purchasing these extra tickets? NOPE!
Alas, highlights of 4 straight days of Hanson:
-Swapping Hanson stories in a line full of girls that have followed them for 13 years is way too much fun
-Tuesday: This Time Around. My FAVORITE ALBUM with top songs including If Only, Runaway Run and Save Me. Hand in Hand was AWESOME live. I was also fortunate enough to have 4 awesome girls line up right behind me this day! I spent the rest of the Hanson week with them. Except for The Walk, where they lined up at 3AM to get 3rd row standing seats.
- Wednesday: Underneath. It's a beautiful CD. While slow in the Middle, Penny and Me and Lost Without Each other were the highlights of my evening. Highlight: Taylor and Isaac playing the guitar during Dancing in the Wind. Also adorable was Taylor dedicating Penny and Me to his little girl (named Penny) who was in the crowd that night. Random part of the evening: My friend shouted "Inappropriate!" at the beginning. Funny and VERY TRUE.
-I HATE (Thursday) The Walk. I went to see Georgia live. It was worth it. Zack G, funny guy from The Hangover walked right past me while I was waiting in line. I would LOVE to know what he thought of the line that was 3 city blocks long for people waiting to get into a Hanson concert.
-I had NO intention of going to the (Friday)Shout It Out show. After all, I'm a poor New Yorker who has a concert ticket buying problem. But when you get a text while at the post office (to mail a dress back to your best friend) from the girls you've been standing in line with and they offer you a not badly priced ticket to your favorite bands NEW CD live, there's no saying no. And it is SO good. Highlight of the night: Taylor trying to dance during the best song on the CD. (To be featured in the Bamboozle post, but the dancing was just not the same!)
Then came the two days I'd been looking forward to since Thanksgiving weekend: BAMBOOZLE. Part 2 to follow shortly!
In honor of my major music week, I'm going to share with you what I think will be the highlights of my live musical experience this week/weekend.
Without much futher ado.....I'm ecstatic that I should get to see all of these songs live this week: Save Me If Only Runaway Run Penny And Me Crazy/Beautiful Lost Without Eachother
Oh wait. That's only Tuesday and Wednesday.
So top picks for must-see songs at Bamboozle: Misery Business Crush Crush Crush Ignorance Decode I Caught Myself Careful Punk Rock Princess I Woke Up In A Car (not a song...but....) Jackson Rathbone Mmm Bop Where's the Love Georgia Trinity Sadie Hawkins Dance (in my kachi pants oh oh OH!) Everything I Ask For Girls Do What They Want I Must Be Dreaming This Is The End The Way We Talk The Sweater Song My Name Is Jonas Buddy Holly Say It Ain't So Hashpipe If You're Wondering If I Want You To Kids Electric Feel Time To Pretend Daylight MuteMath's entire set OK Go's Entire Set
Kinda hopin we get We The Kings as the special guest. Green Day could swing by. As could Muse. All Time Low would be my ultimate wish.
My Saturday morning observations: Dear Summit, If this the final trailer, why is it only 2 minutes long? You gave us nearly 4 minutes before New Moon. Please don't mess up this movie, it's my favorite book. Love, jp
-The Silversun Pickups read my blog, and I just got tix to see them play on the Brooklyn Waterfront.
-Next week is THE WEEK. The HANSON week. No words can contain my excitement. After 13 years of being a 100% full fledged fan, I get to see them play 3 times. And I could finally meet them (Meet and Greet Line @ Bamboozle!!!). What would I even say? What I usually say. I'd smile really dumbly and stumble over all my words. And then they'd look at me funny. Any suggestions?
-Bamboozle. Next Saturday and Sunday. Bring it.
-Its almost May.
-I need some Augustana. So they should do just as the Silversun Pickups did and come play NYC!!!
When I was little, I always wanted to be in New York because such cool things went on.
When I was in 4th grade and had a random snow day, I went to my friend Kim's house. The "When I Come Around" video came on and she LOVED IT. I could have passed on it.
When I was a senior in high school, I took my friend to the Blink 182 show for her birthday. Green Day happened to be opening. Another friend (Mallory) gave me their greatest hits. Ah, whatever, I loved the greatest hits though.
As a Junior in college, I bought American Idiot after hearing Boulevard of Broken Dreams. I thought it was great and gave the CD to my brother. Today, he's a bigger fan than I. I also took him to the Dallas American Idiot Tour stop a day before I had to start my senior year of college. And promptly declared it the best concert I'd ever seen.
Then I graduated from college and ended up in New York City. My friend Zoe visits and insists we go to a musical. I picked Spring Awakening. It made a musical lover out of me. (My reaction post) So after SA closes, there are rumblings of the director of Spring Awakening teaming up with Green Day to make American Idiot a musical. What?!?! Me=sold.
So it opens in Berkeley, and transfers to Broadway. After a super super crappy week, MTV emails me to tell me I won a contest (what, people actually win these things?!). Well, I got a "special performance" of American Idiot on Broadway. I ask my friend Kira because she always gets me great birthday presents, so I owe her one. I pick my tickets up. They're in the 5th row. Hello!! No more words as to why this a special performance. We settle in. American Idiot begins. And then John Gallagher Jr opens his mouth. He's got a great voice, fun presence, and he's hot as a punk kid. The show is GREAT. While it may not be typical Broadway, it's fun Broadway. Fun story line and great performers. My favorite numbers: Boulevard of Broken Dreams and 21 Guns. Whatsername has THE BEST voice in the show.
So after the curtain call, they close the curtains and reopen. Everyone of the performers has a guitar and they sing Time of Your Life. Gasp. Sigh. It was SO GOOD. So then a camera man walks up, and freakin Billie Joe goes by. Then Mike and Tres appear on the stage. And HOLY COW. New York Moment: They pick up instruments and the place EXPLODES. Not just the audience, but the actors are so genuinely stoked they can't stand still either. And they play American Idiot. On a Broadway Stage. 5 rows in front of me. Then the cast wants one more song. So we get BASKETCASE.
And this is why New York rocks. Because I won tickets to a Green Day Broadway musical and Green Day freakin showed up and played.
Now I've got the next few musical events, b/c that was just the first one: Hanson x2, Bamboozle, and an ECLIPSE TRAILER.
