July 21, 2007: The Fray, Eisley, Gomez. Review: It was okay as a first concert for my birthday. I had barely discovered rock and hadn't discovered metal at all at that point. The only rock band I was really into was My Chemical Romance. The Fray played two encores. One of the planned songs was "Hips Don't Lie" by Shakira. It was pretty fun, though. I laugh now, remembering how there was a "family area" on the lawn, where me and my two guests [plus, I'm embarrassed to admit, my dad] were consigned to.
October 6, 2007: The Cure, AFI, Metric, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Kings of Leon, and more {Download Festival}. Review: It was amazing. I met The Cure at a backstage meet-and-greet (the picture of me and the drummer is still the background on my phone. I also happened upon a Q & A with AFI bassist Hunter. [I was one of ten people who got to ask him a question], as I am small and managed to weasel my way to the front. Overall, absolutely amazing. Although there was too much fog in The Cure's set. Davey [from AFI] was amazing live, and was very modest. Hunter, surprisingly, was the hyperactive one, and Jade nearly kicked Davey off of one of the light-box things that he, Davey, and Hunter stood on for much of the set. They were all wearing all or mostly black, other than Adam [the drummer], who looked like he was wearing an Uglydolls T-Shirt. The Cure was nice, but the pit was a lot less active than at AFI, and we had to leave early due to timing issues [aka my dad not wanting to drive home late].
February 20, 2008: Marilyn Manson and the Scary Kids, Ours {Rape The World Tour}. Review: The best. It was an early birthday present for my concert buddy Lexa, as her first concert. We were at the barrier the whole time and met some really lovely people. Ours was very good, although a little heavy on bass and drums. A friend we made there also noticed that the singer was wearing a thong. [Hey, whatever makes you comfortable...] :rofl They are slightly reminiscent of Chiodos, although definitely with their own style. Marilyn Manson, although he didn't come on until past 10, was absolutely amazing. His two-hour set included everything from a chilling "Sweet Dreams" to an insane "mOBSCENE", rocked the crowd. That man certainly knows how to get people pumped up - hah! It was amazingly fun. He played John 5's guitar for part of a song, leaving the guitarist to try and sing along as he was given the microphone. The pick never made it back into John 5's hands; it slipped out, causing the guitarist to scrape his finger and pause playing for nearly 10 seconds. Manson wore a rose given to him by a fan in his hair for part of the concert. It fell out, and made its way into my hands. I still have it.
April 4, 2008: My Chemical Romance, Billy Talent, Drive By {The Black Parade is Dead! Tour}. Review: This show might have beat the rest, I'd say. So here's what happened... Drive By was great, very friendly, had a not-too-bad sound mix, etc. Emily got their set list. Billy Talent was fine - I enjoyed them much more live, they didn't sound as whiny. But the best was My Chemical Romance. They came onstage, fully ready to play, and started out with a rollicking "Thank You For The Venom." Gerard talked to the crowd a ton, especially about his new favorite drink, Red Bull Smoothies (that sound DISGUSTING, but hey...). He also sang part of "Hey now, you're an all star" with the crowd, and he and James Dewey (keyboard dude) played and sang part of "Sweet Carolina." I was not at the barrier, but behind the people who were... it was amazing. Frank (guitars) and Mikey (bass) were right in front of where I stood for practically the whole show. I made friends with a ton of people there, one of whom had feather boas for the band (Frank decorated the drumset with the purple one). Gerard had some truly great intros: yelling "Mama-mia!" before "Mama," a minute-long intro to "You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison," and talking about a mix-tape that they made years ago of the worst hit songs ever before "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)." But the highlight for me was not during any songs, though "Cancer" was wonderful, and the keyboard and voice-only rendition of the Bullets song "Vampires Will Never Hurt You" was stirring. I had drawn some pictures for the band, one picture of each of the members. I placed the pictures in a folder with a note to the band. Being short, however, and not right at the barrier, I couldn't throw it up on stage. Instead, I gave it to a security guard, who gave it to another security guard. The second one was just going to place the folder inconspicuously onstage, but Gerard wouldn't let that happen - he grabbed the folder, held it up high so EVERYONE could see it, and yelled into the mic something like "Did we get some drawings???" I don't think I was breathing, I think my heart stopped as well. And, for those of you who don't know, My Chem is taking a couple-year break and then coming back and writing a new album.
June 21, 2008: Warped Tour. Review: I went with my friends, all two years younger than me, Noah, Jeni, and Lexa. We ran straight to The Academy Is..., but Noah got sort of sick and Lexa got hit in the head with a crowd surfer's foot, so they didn't really get to enjoy the set. After that, I don't remember who we went to [I'm writing this months afterward, oops.]. I do know that we didn't see a single bad set, and Pennywise was a sick intense set, my feet nearly got broken and my head was smashed into a metal barrier at one point. It was so much fun - and yes, I realize I'm a bit of a masochist in the moshing respect. I met a lot of people, including Mayday Parade, Forever the Sickest Kids, The Higher, Motion City Soundtrack, and Jefree Star. I'd see them all again, except for Family Force Five, who we didn't really see because they annoyed us too much. I know this is a short review, I mostly remember meet-n-greets. Oh, and the Motion City Soundtrack pit was a lot of fun. It was a lot of people dancing.
August 9, 2008: Linkin Park, The Bravery, Chris Cornell, Street Drum Corps, Atreyu, Hawthorne Heights, Armor For Sleep, 10 Years {Projekt Revolution 2008}. Review: Not the best concert I've been to, but it was still good. My favorite sets were Atreyu and Armor for Sleep - I skipped out on Hawthorne Heights because I'm on Linkin Park's street team and needed to pick up a couple hundred things to hand out [which, mind you, I did!]. Armor for Sleep was great - Ben curses a lot, but they're really fun and energetic on stage, and you just feel happy watching them. Ben leaned into the crowd - his hair is so soft! It's crazy. I wonder what conditioner he uses. Atreyu was really active and fun, a little more distant that AFS, but they were amazing live and even choreographed the mosh pit, especially at the end, at Lip Gloss and Black. One of the guitarists got happily frustrated with me - I wouldn't stop cheering for him when, apparently, I was supposed to be cheering for other band members. Everyone was cheering for someone, and I would cheer for him because he was right there, and he'd try to get me to cheer for the others. 10 Years was also a really good set, despite the fact the singer nearly snapped my wrist when his fingers caught in my leather wrist bands. They were a lot calmer, but still really funny and connected with the crowd. They had a new song, which was really good. The Bravery and Chris Cornell didn't impress. Linkin Park was okay, I guess - we were on the lawn, so far away it's hard to tell. I did have fun, but it wasn't the best set of the day, I don't think.
August 19, 2008: Tokio Hotel. Review: As the San Francisco Chronicle put it, it's a miracle the place didn't fall down. I was there two hours before the doors opened, but we were still far back in line. Apparently, it was the hot ticket in town - people had been waiting for a week, and I think there were some Germans and Swedes there too. I ended up, at the last song, however, at the barrier. We met some really nice girls there who helped us up to the front. The concert was amazing – they really enjoyed what they were doing, and you can see that in their show. [NOTE: Fuck, I suck at writing about concerts so long after I saw them, even though the concert is still fresh in my mind.] Bill was extremely pale, hahaa. And, there was a lot of screaming. Even before the band came on stage. Two days later, the concert was the headlining event in the entertainment section in the San Francisco Chronicle.
September 5, 2008: Nine Inch Nails, Deer Hunter {Lights in the Sky North America Tour}. Review: Ohmydearlord. I am writing this having just gotten back, so it's all fresh in my mind. I went with Linnea, my senior buddy, and she's absolutely awesome. Sort of beside the point, but whatever. This concert actually started nearly on time, and Deer Hunter came on. They were pretty good, but the sound mix was off and overemphasized the guitar and drums, which messed it up. It was very hypnotic, though, and a good preview band for NIN. There was a long break, in which Linnea and I got purple glow sticks, black bead necklaces, and pins from some people sitting next to us. We were in the seats section, which turned out to be good, since we wouldn't have seen the lights as well if we were in the mosh pit. And the lights, oh, the lights! My god, they were amazing. Interactive to Trent Reznor's every move, they fit the moods perfectly and had the coolest effects. You can't describe it with words, it was just amazing. Musically, I was blown away. I wasn't that close to the stage, but I was hanging onto every verse and chord. They just radiated energy, and, even though Trent only talked to the crowd once, it was a friendly atmosphere that knocked the breath out of you. You didn't have time to recover from one song, they just went straight into the next. I'm definitely coming next time they come around.
