And I continue the trend of a standard teen with this post about warped tour. Gawd damnit. XD
Anyhow, this is hella later. I went Friday the 11th of July, and it took me until today to post this. But, I didn’t want to leave anything out, I wanted to do the entire experience justice. And, hopefully, by the time I post this, I’ll feel like I have.
So, I’ve been to hundreds of concerts, but most (all?) of them were Grateful Dead concerts that took place sometime before my memory became solid, which was at the age of three, once we moved into the apartment we had in Pennsylvania.
When I was younger, around six to eight years old or so, I went to a Van Morrison concert with my parents and my oldest younger brother. I remember the music being okayish, but, I knew my parents were enjoying it much more than I was, and Van was wearing a purple outfit with a purple top hat. I couldn’t really appreciate something like a concert at that age, and I’m glad there was a break in between that and my next one, so I didn’t just take it for granted.
I saw a concert a bit less than a year ago, maybe less or more than that. It was a bunch of local bands. One was my friend’s older brother’s band, and a bunch of others I never heard of. And one was Shinedown. And I had heard of them, but, I didn’t really know their music. My friend showed me a song of theirs, “I Dare You”. It was okay, I mean, it wasn’t that bad, it was… alright. I wouldn’t listen to it in my spare time, but, I figured they’d have something better, and I might enjoy myself. They in fact did not. That was their best song, and my friend’s brother’s band was actually better than them, in my opinion. Also, the lead singer of Shinedown reaked of pot. XD
I mean, I didn’t expect to be wowed, because I knew they probably wouldn’t play any sort of punk rock or… god damnit, the cliché teen thing. As I was saying: …or piano, or love songs, or anything particularly beautiful. I was just expecting… I don’t know, something… emotion, I guess? But, it just felt like they were reciting something in front of a class. Shinedown fans will hate me for this, but, to me, it was the equivalent of having feces pumped directly through speakers and onto the crowd, which they just seemed to love. And I looked around, and noticed how many people had dark clothing on, and I looked at myself in my bright solid red shirt and my bracelets and kind of realized I didn’t really belong there. So, I made up my mind that the next concert I went to would be something I wanted to see. And that I’d have to hope my friends were going so I could catch a ride, since I don’t have a car of my own.
Then it happened. There was a warped tour coming up. And holy shit, I had money! I had wanted to go the past two years for a variety of bands, and this year, I could actually go. And I instantly knew I was going to have a great time. It was in two weeks. So, I bought the ticket. Every since I’d gotten back though, I felt… off-balance. And about a week before the concert or so, I gave blood. That did it. I felt fine at first, but, the next morning, I woke up fatigued, and I knew I was sick. For the first time in like, three years or so.
Anyhow, I was worried about getting better, and I didn’t realize how physically tolling warped tour could be. And I wasn’t keeping up on my sleep. So, it got to where I had three hours of sleep in the past 52 hours, and I hadn’t had much to eat or drink at all. I was missing at least a pint of blood (I think they took more…), and I was getting over a cold. I was hungry, thirsty, and sleepy. I thought we were going to go out for breakfast, but, we didn’t.
Anyhow, Friday, we drove there, and waited in line for a few hours. People were trying to sell us CDs and all sorts of things, and then we got in.
The first band I saw was Mayday Parade. And they were amazing. They played “Three Cheers for Five Years”, “Black Cat”, and “I’d Hate to Be You When People Find Out What This Song is About” among a few other things. They were really good live.
Then, after they finished, I walked off, not feeling to great, having just been singing at the top of my lungs and jumping and such. I found Farewell, and I knew I wanted to rub it in Darkey’s face that I saw them, and on top of that, they were really good, so, I walked over. They didn’t have many people there, and I felt kind of bad, but the people there seemed excited. Farewell played “Zelda”, “Anchors Aweigh” (or is it away?), “Eighty Eights”, and “War”, among some other songs I didn’t recognize. They were just as good live as they were recorded, and they seemed to be enjoying themselves. One of their guitarists, Buddy, made funny faces when he sang. It was neat. However, partway through “War”, my vision started fading. I realized my mouth was dry, and I had a bit of a headache. I asked a girl where I could find water, and quick, and she pointed me in the exact opposite direction of the closest water stand. I felt like I was losing consciousness, and I’ve never let myself lose it aside from sleeping, so, I kept keeping myself from drifting. Finally, I just asked a woman at a stand where I could find water, and said that I needed it badly, and she just gave me her’s. Apparently, she had a case of it. It was really nice of her though, and I felt better. I bought a $3 water, and a $4 dollar gatorade after that, just to have with me in case.
I found my friends over at the main stage, waiting for Say Anything. As I waited, I heard two people in front of me talking about Jack’s Mannequin, the almost reason I was there. They were the band I wanted to see most. So, I joined in, and I made friends with the girl named Leah. She was really nice. I got the feeling her friend wasn’t overly fond of my forwardness (EDIT: Yeah, she wasn’t. XD), so, I don’t think she liked me. Anyhow, the band for Say Anything was late, but, their singer said he was willing to occupy us. So, he played several songs, and it was good. He played Belt, which I don’t really like, but, he also played A Walk through Hell, which was awesome, and Alive with the Glory of Love! And that was awesome too.
However, by this point, I felt awful. I started feeling like I was going to pass out or something. Again. But, more than anything, I felt sick. I went and bought more gatorade, and I laid down in the grass. I put myself in a hypnogogic state and meditated for a bit, trying to gather my energy back. After 20 minutes of resting, I felt much better, and I didn’t get much worse for the rest of the day.
I went and found my new friends, and lost the ones I knew from my old town, since we’re not really close anyhow. I found them standing in the line waiting to get stuff signed by Say Anything. The guy (David) said someone already came by with a marker and wrote on their hands, so, I wouldn’t be able to cut in with them. Leah said “Of course” I would, and pulled out a marker and wrote on my hand. XD So, I had them sign my blink-182 shirt, that I honestly just happened to be wearing that day. In truth, I didn’t want to wash it for reasons I shouldn’t say publicly, and it was my last clean shirt. Anyhow, the first guy asked “That’s a vintage blink-182 shirt… nice… Are you sure you want me to ruin it?” I paused for half a moment, and realizing I had nothing else for him to sign, I said “yes!”. So, he did. They all signed my sleeve. Leah drew on my shoulder. It says Warped Tour ‘08, and has a person and a flower and the sun. And then David had someone waiting in the line to get stuff signed by Andrew McMahon, so, I did. I had him sign my other sleeve, and I took an awful picture with him where my hair is ridiculously poofy. (Again with the teenage clichés!?)
Anyhow, that was awesome. Then, we went back to the main stage, and Relient K was playing. They played The Best Thing (which was AMAZING), The Sadie Hawkins Dance, and Who I am Hates Who I’ve Been, among other things.
Then, I believe something called Against Me! played, and they weren’t very good, at least to me. Then Gym Class Heroes started playing on the second main stage while Jack’s Mannequin set up. I don’t like Gym Class Heroes very much, but, I did enjoy watching/listening from afar, they actually put on a pretty good show.
FINALLY, Jack’s Mannequin came on, and they opened with Mixed Tape. There’s a line that goes, “As I’m swimming through the stereo, I’m writing you a symphony of sound!”, and when that came on, he sang “As I’m swimming through the stereo”, and he paused for half a moment, and sang “I forgot about the symphony of sound!”. I started laughing. But, he fixed it so gracefully, that if you didn’t know the lyrics, you wouldn’t have known he messed up. They also sang Dark Blue, La La Lie, Holiday from Real, and best of all, Made for Each Other, which was… -amazing- to see played.
There’s something to be said for seeing one of your favorite artists sing one of your favorite songs, right there, right in front of you. Better yet is getting to actually meet him, have him talk to you, and have him sign your shirt. And normally I don’t give a damn about celebrities. I cared really, because I really like his music, the artistic lyrics he has in his music, and moreover, the way it makes me feel when I hear it. Hell, I’d love to meet Van Gogh, but, I’m sure it’s not the same level of artisticness, or at least, most of you would try to convince me otherwise. But, I think music is waaaay cooler than standard art.
Anyhow, after that, my dad was made, and I was wiped. I was ready to go home. I said goodbye to my friends, and I already had their contact information, so, I was hoping I’d have new friends. I found my other friends, and a bit after Angels and Airwaves came on (I heard Everything’s Magic), we drove home. Once my friend left, I did a few things on the computer, practiced a bit of piano and found I still couldn’t sing, and I passed the hell out.
But, it was an amazing day, and this blogging is HELLA late. I meant to post this over a week ago. XD
Anyhow, enjoy!
“But, if you left it up to me, every day would be a holiday… from real!“
