– Original date: 2015-07-10
– Labels: Music, Prompts
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Guys, I’ve been to a lot of concerts. I love music, it would have been my thing if I had enough talent or confidence in myself. It lead me to writing if we are being honest so it’s not all a loss. But I thought I’d share with you my top five concerts!
5. My first concert was in 2003. It was the Honda Civic Tour and Good Charlotte and New Found Glory were co-headlining. Less Than Jake and Hod Rod Circuit opened. The whole experience was nuts. It was my best friend Jessie, her boyfriend at the time Dustin, her boyfriend’s friend John and Dustin’s parents. We got floor tickets, his parents had seats and we arrived in a shitty van, literally fell out the back in front of everyone and went in like we owned the place. Looking back the show was mediocre compared to the others on this list because it was too big. It was in a huge arena, we got chased by security for sitting in seats that were sectioned off, my friend was having a panic attack and we couldn’t get out of the crowd. I punched someone because he was trying to block me from getting my friend out of there, we lost Dustin’s friend through half the show and they wouldn’t let me go in the Pit because my mom told Dustin’s parents not to let me. Rude. It was great because I saw the crowd from the Stage Point of View and it was insane. The music was excellent, my BFF got a shout out for being the only girl on a guys shoulders and I cried because it was over even if everyone else thought it was because I didn’t meet any of the band members. I remember seeing them and going “they are real” because I’d never met or seen anyone who had been on TV or magazines before. It just seemed more likely that they didn’t exist than they did.
4. My first Warped Tour was in 2005 and it did not compare to Warped Tour in 2007. I saw a lot of my favorite bands during both but 2007 just seemed so much better to me. More guys from bands walking around, I saw Paramore for the first time, my best friend and love of my life was with me and I think I took the very first picture that I ever truly loved of myself. I was sweaty, sunburned, and I had no make up on but I felt beautiful and it is to this day one of my favorite pictures of me. So much happened in the course of one day and it just seems super intense I guess but for some reason I haven’t gone back. Not because of opportunity but because I feel like it changed, like I changed and big shows like this just aren’t for me anymore. In short, I’m getting too old. LOL.
3. I have made a lot of “show friends” or “concert buddies” if you will. Friends I made at or because of a show. I was a photographer for a media company so I got to go in and shoot bands that I liked and that enabled me to meet people, make friends with other photographers and one of my closest friends who I barely see is a journalist now but when I first met her she was a budding concert photographer. A few years ago I bought Brand New tickets off her friend and saw them for the first time play a few of their albums cover to cover. It was one of my favorite experiences because I bought it on a whim, raced down with barely a minute to spare and just had a blast singing with a room full of people who were 110% absolutely in love with the music this band made. There is a magic to the devotion of music fans and I was apart of that. You can’t put a price on something like that.
2. Good Charlotte was my favorite band, honestly since I was 14. I have a few tattoos that are in relation to them, because they were such a big part of my life for so long, even if they aren’t anymore. So naturally, my top two are going to be about them because they made me so many friends, I have so many amazing experiences with them and it is hard to just pick one favorite. So I will start this one off with where it was – Las Vegas. Vegas is my magic city, everything good and glorious happens to me there. I swear it. It was 2010 and it was the CD release party for their album Cardiology. My friends and I drove from L.A to Vegas, changing in the car, we raced to try and pick up friends from the airport and to meet another friend who lived in the city for the first time. Concert buddies man, they are the best. She put us up in her house, which wasn’t really hers, see was a nanny for a nice wealthy family and they allowed us to stay. Aces. Anyways, there were maybe 30 of us in a room with the five guys and the music we loved the most. Plenty of alcohol for those who were so inclined and we were inches away from them. I was actually super nervous to be so close. Like, they could hear us in the mics as we sang along, that’s how close we were. Oddly enough, my friends and I ended up in a local magazine my boss ended up finding when she was in Vegas. She brought it back for me without even knowing I was in it, just that I was a Good Charlotte fan. Clearly had to be a favorite experience right? Also, we got to shout out requests for songs and at one point the lead singer Joel (he’s married to Nicole Richie if you didn’t know) had to say “anyone but you five, requests?” because essentially we were just screaming everything at them and we were right there. Probably annoyed the shit out of everyone else.
1. Top experience has to be Bamboozle Road Show, again in Las Vegas. My friends and I planned a road trip to follow the festival around. In Vegas we ran into the guys for the first time not even at the show, but inside the hotel where I unfortunately learned that Benji (he’s the one married to Cameron Diaz) knew who I was because of twitter and got super embarrassed because holy shit, he read what I dub “creep tweets” where I’m that asshole fan that is like “let me lick your face!”and other weird shit. We also got to do a special meet and greet thanks to Buzznet, I met an awesome girl named Bree I ended up working for (that’s how I got to photograph bands and see them for free!) and showed the guys my tattoo, which I think they loved too much for what it is LOL. I left that day knowing nothing could top it and frankly, even though I’ve moved away from being such a big and devoted fan, nothing has topped this experience. (In case you were wondering why I’m not has heavy into them anymore I feel like they have stopped putting out albums as a band and won’t do so again. So instead they each do their own things, which to me isn’t as good collectively as they were a whole. I’ve always support them, will continue to support them but their direction with music, namely the twins, just isn’t for me anymore.)
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