Concert goodness!
For the first time in a few years, I had more than one concert in a week! I used to do it all the time in college (and even a handful of times after college), but the last year or two hasn't been the greatest for concerts. But this week was a long-awaited change.
I already had tix to see The Living End over at the Avalon (formerly the club known as Limelight) on Tuesday (Aug 8th), but a few weeks back Stevo contacted me about going to see The Dave Matthews Band at Randall's Island that Sunday (Aug 6th) b/c a buddy of his dropped out and he had an extra ticket, which he said I could have for free (SCORE!).
So yeah, that Sunday I took the train down to 125th street, and was going to take the bus over to Randall's Island, but they were being slick and trying to charge people an extra $5 for a round trip to the Island, instead of just letting us use our metrocards to transfer. I was all like "screw that!" and just walked over to the island b/c it ain't that far!
It took me awhile to find Stevo b/c he was tailgaiting with some of us buddies in one of the parking lots, but I eventually found them. So we chilled there for about 2 hours, which was fun, b/c the people around us were cool (and Stevo was on his "A-game" with hysterical quotes throughout the night), and then we headed into the show.
And we got us one heck of a show, if I do say so myself. They played for just under 3 hours, and had a pretty cool setlist. They played a few songs I hadn't heard in a long time- including some of my favorites, so that had me psyched.
This is the setlist from the show (which I got at Nancies.org).
Everyday
Pantala Naga Pampa
Rapunzel
Say Goodbye
When the World Ends
So Much to Say
Anyone Seen the Bridge?
Too Much
Sleep to Dream Her
Break Free
Lie in Our Graves
The Last Stop
Can't Stop
Crush
Jimi Thing
Louisiana Bayou
Encore:
Steady as We Go
Tripping Billies
After the show, I was able to get onto one of the shuttle buses, thus proving it was a ripoff to have to pay an extra $5 to get on them at 125th if they didn't even check for passes on the way back. So that gave me a small degree of satisfaction, lol.
****
Then that Tuesday was The Living End conert. But earlier in the week the band sent out a bulletin on myspace about a pre-show "meet & greet" at a nearby store. It was gonna be for the first 25 people to show up, and there would be raffles for free stuff and they were having free beer and just a chance to hang out with the band for a bit.
I figured, I should try to go to that (especially since I had no clue who the opening band was that night, so I thought this would be a more amusing way to spend my time).
So I got to the store- it was a custom bag store called Crumplers, around 6pm and there were only four people ahead of me! That was pretty surprising, especially considering the event was supposed to happen at 7:30, and there was gonna be free stuff given away, as well as free beer.
But hey, I wasn't complaining b/c as only the 5th person there, I was guaranteed to get in! So I hung around outside and got to know the other people inline, who were all pretty cool. Two of the people had actually been there since 10:30am b/c they expected a bigger turnout and wanted to be absolutely sure they got in. They were all fun people though, and made the time pass by pretty quickly. One of the guys was even cool enough to offer to take pics for me and e-mail them to me b/c I was all smooth and forgot my digital camera at home. So thanks to you random dude who I'll probably never see again! lol
So yeah, right around 7:30pm we're outside the store, and we see the band just walking down the block like nothing- no limo, heck not even a car, they prob just walked over from the venue!
We all went in, and the people from the store gave everyone a free cellphone/mp3 player holder, that had a number on the box, which was to be used as our raffle number. They were gonna be giving away a few cool items, such as autographed bags from the store (including an AWESOME custom one, that I wish I had a picture of), a few autographed cds and LPs, and more.
The atmosphere was very laid back. The band just went in and chilled with everybody. And at first there weren't even 25 people there (yeah, I forgot to mention it wasn't just the 5 of us, about 18 more people showed up right as the event was starting). But yeah, it was cool b/c I actually got to meet and hang out with each individual band member for a few minutes each. I wound up chatting with Scott, the bass player, the longest. They were all really nice guys, but he seemed the most social. Chris, the lead singer was nice as well, but he was a little under the weather so he wasn't as chatty (although I did talk to him for a good five minutes).
I also got all their autographs and pics with each of them, so like I said it was pretty cool. The pics are posted below:
This is me and the bass player, Scott. He plays one of those big standing basses (I forget the exact name for it), but it's cool b/c sometimes he actually jumps on it during the show and basically plays it while riding it.
This is me with the lead singer/guitarist, Chris.
And last but not least, this is me with the drummer, Andy.
So yeah, meeting the band was a lot of fun, b/c they were really easy to talk to. Stevo wound up showing up to meet them also (he wound up taking Ariana's ticket b/c she wound up going to Puerto Rico to visit her grandma this week).
Then at the end, after the band had just left, they did the raffle and I actually won some prizes! I won an Crumpler's bag autographed by the band, which had all The Living End cds in it (which I gave to Steve since he was cool enough to give me the DMB ticket the other day) and an actual autographed LP record of their new album. So that was pretty cool. I felt kind of bad though b/c the people who had been there from 10:30am didn't win anything, while a bunch of people show showed up after 7:30pm won stuff. I was tempted to give them some of my prizes, but I was beaten to the punch by the other 2 people who we were waiting with b/c they BOTH won stuff, so one of them gave them their autographed LP. So that was really nice.
So yeah, after the meet & greet we walked over to the Avalon, just in time to see the ending of The Lashes opening set (yeah, I lied earlier, I did know who was opening, I just didn't care, lol). We then met up with Anita and Adam at the show, who were actually standing right in the front. The place wasn't jam packed though, so we actually got up to them with no problem and watched the rest of the show from the very front, which was sweet!
The show was awesome as usual. I've seen them like 4 times beforehand, and each time they always put on amazing set. Actually one of the last times I saw them- at the Bowery Ballroom, also with Anita and Adam, the show was SO awesome, that for weeks after, anytime me and Anita ran into each other we'd start yelling "Best show ever!!" I still totally rank it pretty high among my top 10 shows of all time (which is quite a feat considering how many I've been to).
And while the show this time wasn't as awesome as last time, mostly b/c while Chris' sore throat wasn't too bad, it did effect his voice a tad, and it wasn't as long as the last show (which clocked in at almost two hours, while this one only went an hour and 15 mins). But it was still a great show.
Oh, here's a shot I took with my camera phone from the beginning of the concert. It's what I was talking about before with the bassist riding and playing the bass. Cool shot, huh?
After the show, I wound up grabbing some pizza with Anita and Adam, which was cool b/c it gave us a chance to catch up since we hadn't seen each other in awhile. And after that I headed home. So all in all, it was a great night.
****
Oh, something else I forgot to mention. As you can see by the event that night, The Living End are pretty cool with their fans. Well, they have a myspace page and they are actually awesome enough that they personally respond to pretty much every message/comment you leave for them on their page! They'll even leave a comment for you, wishing you a happy birthday, on your special day.
So, after the show I left a comment on their page about the show, and just this past week they sent out a mass bulletin and in it was this:
"Alicia, Awsingkido, A.BAC PWNS YOU, Alix, Blueberry GreenEyes, Christie, Demander, Dabba, Fly knows theres always bananas, Goober, Georgie, Gabrielle, John-Eric, Jimmy W, Jessica, Kevin, Less than Joe, Loz, Losie, Lidia, Max, Steve Kendall hung out with The Living End, The Idey, The FCC Cant Touch Me, Tu amigo colombiano
Thanks to all that came to Avalon in New York NY and thanks also for those that came from upstate NY or Jersey or said hello at Crumpler or after the show."
So yeah, while that may not have been a "personal" response, it was still cool of them to acknowledge all the fans who left them messages about the show. And if you look on my myspace page, you will see that they did leave me a birthday message as well (and I actually asked them about doing that, and it's not automated or anything, they do it themselves). So just thought that was a cool thing to share.
I already had tix to see The Living End over at the Avalon (formerly the club known as Limelight) on Tuesday (Aug 8th), but a few weeks back Stevo contacted me about going to see The Dave Matthews Band at Randall's Island that Sunday (Aug 6th) b/c a buddy of his dropped out and he had an extra ticket, which he said I could have for free (SCORE!).
So yeah, that Sunday I took the train down to 125th street, and was going to take the bus over to Randall's Island, but they were being slick and trying to charge people an extra $5 for a round trip to the Island, instead of just letting us use our metrocards to transfer. I was all like "screw that!" and just walked over to the island b/c it ain't that far!
It took me awhile to find Stevo b/c he was tailgaiting with some of us buddies in one of the parking lots, but I eventually found them. So we chilled there for about 2 hours, which was fun, b/c the people around us were cool (and Stevo was on his "A-game" with hysterical quotes throughout the night), and then we headed into the show.
And we got us one heck of a show, if I do say so myself. They played for just under 3 hours, and had a pretty cool setlist. They played a few songs I hadn't heard in a long time- including some of my favorites, so that had me psyched.
This is the setlist from the show (which I got at Nancies.org).
Everyday
Pantala Naga Pampa
Rapunzel
Say Goodbye
When the World Ends
So Much to Say
Anyone Seen the Bridge?
Too Much
Sleep to Dream Her
Break Free
Lie in Our Graves
The Last Stop
Can't Stop
Crush
Jimi Thing
Louisiana Bayou
Encore:
Steady as We Go
Tripping Billies
After the show, I was able to get onto one of the shuttle buses, thus proving it was a ripoff to have to pay an extra $5 to get on them at 125th if they didn't even check for passes on the way back. So that gave me a small degree of satisfaction, lol.
****
Then that Tuesday was The Living End conert. But earlier in the week the band sent out a bulletin on myspace about a pre-show "meet & greet" at a nearby store. It was gonna be for the first 25 people to show up, and there would be raffles for free stuff and they were having free beer and just a chance to hang out with the band for a bit.
I figured, I should try to go to that (especially since I had no clue who the opening band was that night, so I thought this would be a more amusing way to spend my time).
So I got to the store- it was a custom bag store called Crumplers, around 6pm and there were only four people ahead of me! That was pretty surprising, especially considering the event was supposed to happen at 7:30, and there was gonna be free stuff given away, as well as free beer.
But hey, I wasn't complaining b/c as only the 5th person there, I was guaranteed to get in! So I hung around outside and got to know the other people inline, who were all pretty cool. Two of the people had actually been there since 10:30am b/c they expected a bigger turnout and wanted to be absolutely sure they got in. They were all fun people though, and made the time pass by pretty quickly. One of the guys was even cool enough to offer to take pics for me and e-mail them to me b/c I was all smooth and forgot my digital camera at home. So thanks to you random dude who I'll probably never see again! lol
So yeah, right around 7:30pm we're outside the store, and we see the band just walking down the block like nothing- no limo, heck not even a car, they prob just walked over from the venue!
We all went in, and the people from the store gave everyone a free cellphone/mp3 player holder, that had a number on the box, which was to be used as our raffle number. They were gonna be giving away a few cool items, such as autographed bags from the store (including an AWESOME custom one, that I wish I had a picture of), a few autographed cds and LPs, and more.
The atmosphere was very laid back. The band just went in and chilled with everybody. And at first there weren't even 25 people there (yeah, I forgot to mention it wasn't just the 5 of us, about 18 more people showed up right as the event was starting). But yeah, it was cool b/c I actually got to meet and hang out with each individual band member for a few minutes each. I wound up chatting with Scott, the bass player, the longest. They were all really nice guys, but he seemed the most social. Chris, the lead singer was nice as well, but he was a little under the weather so he wasn't as chatty (although I did talk to him for a good five minutes).
I also got all their autographs and pics with each of them, so like I said it was pretty cool. The pics are posted below:
This is me and the bass player, Scott. He plays one of those big standing basses (I forget the exact name for it), but it's cool b/c sometimes he actually jumps on it during the show and basically plays it while riding it.
This is me with the lead singer/guitarist, Chris.
And last but not least, this is me with the drummer, Andy.So yeah, meeting the band was a lot of fun, b/c they were really easy to talk to. Stevo wound up showing up to meet them also (he wound up taking Ariana's ticket b/c she wound up going to Puerto Rico to visit her grandma this week).
Then at the end, after the band had just left, they did the raffle and I actually won some prizes! I won an Crumpler's bag autographed by the band, which had all The Living End cds in it (which I gave to Steve since he was cool enough to give me the DMB ticket the other day) and an actual autographed LP record of their new album. So that was pretty cool. I felt kind of bad though b/c the people who had been there from 10:30am didn't win anything, while a bunch of people show showed up after 7:30pm won stuff. I was tempted to give them some of my prizes, but I was beaten to the punch by the other 2 people who we were waiting with b/c they BOTH won stuff, so one of them gave them their autographed LP. So that was really nice.
So yeah, after the meet & greet we walked over to the Avalon, just in time to see the ending of The Lashes opening set (yeah, I lied earlier, I did know who was opening, I just didn't care, lol). We then met up with Anita and Adam at the show, who were actually standing right in the front. The place wasn't jam packed though, so we actually got up to them with no problem and watched the rest of the show from the very front, which was sweet!
The show was awesome as usual. I've seen them like 4 times beforehand, and each time they always put on amazing set. Actually one of the last times I saw them- at the Bowery Ballroom, also with Anita and Adam, the show was SO awesome, that for weeks after, anytime me and Anita ran into each other we'd start yelling "Best show ever!!" I still totally rank it pretty high among my top 10 shows of all time (which is quite a feat considering how many I've been to).
And while the show this time wasn't as awesome as last time, mostly b/c while Chris' sore throat wasn't too bad, it did effect his voice a tad, and it wasn't as long as the last show (which clocked in at almost two hours, while this one only went an hour and 15 mins). But it was still a great show.
Oh, here's a shot I took with my camera phone from the beginning of the concert. It's what I was talking about before with the bassist riding and playing the bass. Cool shot, huh?
After the show, I wound up grabbing some pizza with Anita and Adam, which was cool b/c it gave us a chance to catch up since we hadn't seen each other in awhile. And after that I headed home. So all in all, it was a great night.****
Oh, something else I forgot to mention. As you can see by the event that night, The Living End are pretty cool with their fans. Well, they have a myspace page and they are actually awesome enough that they personally respond to pretty much every message/comment you leave for them on their page! They'll even leave a comment for you, wishing you a happy birthday, on your special day.
So, after the show I left a comment on their page about the show, and just this past week they sent out a mass bulletin and in it was this:
"Alicia, Awsingkido, A.BAC PWNS YOU, Alix, Blueberry GreenEyes, Christie, Demander, Dabba, Fly knows theres always bananas, Goober, Georgie, Gabrielle, John-Eric, Jimmy W, Jessica, Kevin, Less than Joe, Loz, Losie, Lidia, Max, Steve Kendall hung out with The Living End, The Idey, The FCC Cant Touch Me, Tu amigo colombiano
Thanks to all that came to Avalon in New York NY and thanks also for those that came from upstate NY or Jersey or said hello at Crumpler or after the show."
So yeah, while that may not have been a "personal" response, it was still cool of them to acknowledge all the fans who left them messages about the show. And if you look on my myspace page, you will see that they did leave me a birthday message as well (and I actually asked them about doing that, and it's not automated or anything, they do it themselves). So just thought that was a cool thing to share.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home