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la_belle_laideSomeday my great great grandchildren will read this and look at these pictures and say, "Holy crap, great great grandma spent Halloween with 30 Seconds To Mars?!" (Because I'm pretty sure that people will still know of the band then. Or at least I hope so.) Anyway, let me preface this with a few disclaimers: Those of you who know me, who have heard me talk, know that when I get most urple and crazy and effusive, I'm usually being tongue in cheek and self-mocking. (At least I hope you know.) Keep that in mind when I go on at length about Jerrod and Shannon Frito Layto and whoever the hell the other two guys are. ;) Also, because I'm me, I have to write down every detail. I have some kind of weird neurosis that unless I write things down, they didn't happen. So this promises to be long. Also, because I was listening to some music while I was mentally writing this out, there are quoted song lyrics throughout that seemed to go with what was on my mind. It might read like a song-fic. O_o Bearing all that in mind, off we go.
It seems that The Train Gods either hate me or really don't like when I go to see 30 Seconds to Mars. Recall last Friday, when all of a sudden there was "rail work" as they said and they cancelled all the trains home and would have stranded Meghan and I in the city if not for my Dad. Well, Tuesday came around and I got up bright and early, all packed and ready, dressed in my finest black pants and 30STm shirt that was a gift from Jeremy, my "concert kit", and the gifts I had made for the band with help from my beautiful and awesome friend Kim. I had asked my Da to drive me to Ronkonkoma station because I didn't fancy leaving my car there overnight. There I was, all excited and with my leftover ticket from Friday, and I went to the desk to ask which track to take, only to be told by the vaguely discourteous teller that all the trains were cancelled. Yes, all of them, to everywhere. Because of sudden "rail work." So I called my Dad, who had only just turned the corner. I had a train to catch from Penn Station to 30th st. station in PA and I didn't have a lot of time between trains, only 25 minutes. He came back and ended up driving me all the way into the city. Again. With time to spare.
Until he couldn't find the perfect spot to let me off at the station. I swear we passed the entrance 3 times but he kept going around for like 40 minutes while I kept saying, "right here is fine, I can walk!" But that's not how Dads do things. Finally he did let me off a few yards from the entrance and I booked out of there like my butt was on fire and my head was catching. I wasn't feeling too zen when I got to the teller to get the tickets, and she must have sensed that because she gave me a lollipop. I needn't have worried about being late, though, because my train to Philly ended up being delayed.
But I still got there in plenty of time, and my cab driver to the hotel was very nice, unlike the NY cab drivers. He was a big black guy and we got into the subject of racial profiling, and from there he mentioned that he was into martial arts. I always feel, when men say that, that they expect women to change the subject. Because they always seem surprised when I say, "Really? I do martial arts, too. What kind do you do?" and then hold a conversation about it. He told me about his son, who was 11 and had that natural zen state that most martial artists study years to master. It seemed like "zen" was the order of the day, so when I got to the hotel I unpacked my bathroom stuff, laid out my costume, and because I had a few hours before dinner and the concert, decided to zen walk. Zen walking is when I just start walking with no destination and I just look at things. I ended up going into a "world culture" store and buying some trinkets that I thought I'd work into my costume. But then I ended up not using them anyway. I didn't really see or do much on my zen walk. Then I stopped for a slice of pizza and went back to the hotel. I was too nervous to finish the entire pizza (and I'm still not sure exactly why--I'm nervous now just writing about it,) and then got into my costume, all a-jitter. I think I thought I was going to be late.
This was my costume, the escaped wildwoman:
Here you can see the full front, with the 30 Seconds to Mars glyphs down the front:
And here is the facepaint that I was so excited to do:
The front there reads, "Surrender To Nothing" which is a lyric from the song "Attack", which the first time I heard it I thought, "God, this song isn't about violence, it's about freedom." Much to my self-satisfaction, whenever Jared introduces this song he says, "This is a song about freedom." See, the gist of this costume is the wild woman who has escaped the prospect of confining marriage. And because this costume party was a blood ball, she obviously escaped it violently. One was supposed to think, "You should see the other guy!" The hand print was supposed to look like part war paint, part would-be groom's bloody handprint like, "OMG, somebody get her away from me!" The broken ropes, the blood, the feathers, all of that, was all supposed to mean freedom. But I knew that most people were going to take a look and say, "Hey, Bloody Bride!" I thought I'd correct them, "Escaped bride!" But, uhh, you'll see that I didn't.
The cab ride to the venue was sort of fun, everyone was looking in the window and I'd give them this cheesy "HAPPY HALLOWEEN!" grin. One other cab driver who pulled up beside me cracked up when I did that.
I needn't have worried about getting there late, because I got there at 4:30 and doors weren't until 7. There were maybe 30 people on line by then and I felt like there was enough time to wander around. Except there was really nowhere to wander. The Electric Factory (the club where they played) was the only business on the street, it seemed like, aside fromthe Red Cross blood donation place across the street. (Appropriate, no?) I wandered around the back of the building and was stopped by three guys before I got to the other side. They asked where I was going and I told them that I wanted to see how big the place was. I refrained from saying, "I'm so totally not looking for the band's tour bus. Really!" One of the guys said, "Oh, it's pretty big. It goes from back here all the way to the front." The other two guys snickered. "Really big," they said. "Huh huh. Heh heh. Really big. Goes all the way to the street. Huh huh." I rolled my eyes and walked away from Beavis and Butthead and Beavis.
On my way back I passed a group of Echelon pouring fake blood (hereto referred to as just "blood" and you'll all gather that I mean fake blood,) all over themselves and each other. "'Surrender to nothing,'" one of them quoted to me. "Awesome, girl. You look beautiful. Great job on the costume." I thought, Here's someone who gets it. ^_^ Then as I was getting back on line another group of girls passed and said, "What a great custome!" and "YOU'RE LOVELY." Which made me think they had to be from the bulletin board, because "JULES YOU'RE LOVELY" is kind of an inside joke over there.
Also on line was this couple all in white, splattered liberally with blood. The guy had on a floor length, hooded robe with hand-painted Echelon X, glyphics, red arrow, and "PROVEHITO IN ALTUM" written across the bottom. They were having a marvelous time with their bottle of blood, up until security came out and told everyone that they couldn't do any more blood splattering in the parking lot. (I wonder if this was because the Red Cross was across the street. ;D )
I got on line behind a girl whose forum screen name is She'sMorbid. I sat down and whined, "I'M BORED!" She asked me, "How long have you been here?" "Five minutes," I told her, and she laughed. Then three other folks got behind me and sat down. It was only 5 PM and we had a loooong wait. I decided to talk to the nice people behind me which ended up being one of the best ideas I'd had all night. I whipped out the necklaces I had made with the help of Kim and said that I really wanted to get the chance to meet the band tonight and give them these. By the way, these are the necklaces I made:
For those not in the know who might be reading, I've already explained the glyphics in a previous post, and the phoenix is another one of their symbols.
Eventually I mentioned that I hadn't seen the tour busses parked, and She'sMorbid clued me in that the last time she was there, they were on the other side of the building that i had just about gotten to before being intercepted by Beavis and Butthead and Beavis, so I asked her to hold my place in line while I took a gander around the block. "Aroudn the block" basically meant down a deserted street, then left down a creepy alley with loading docks and dumpsters. And, surely enough, the tour busses. From there on in, no longer worried if I would fail in my mission to deliver up those necklaces, I found my zen (at least for the time being) and decided to stop being bored and frustrated and have a good time. I wish I could remember the names of the lovely people behind me on line. There were two girls together, and another girl who worked for Blender magazine and was there to see Head Automatica and thought maybe she'd hang around for 30 Seconds to Mars. "Do," I told her. "You will so completely not regret it. They're going to bring the house down." And behind her was a very lovely girl with short, black hair and red makeup around her eyes, with her very cute and sweet boyfriend. I'd later end up next to them in the venue. Anyway, Blender Girl and Hilarious Girl and She'sMorbid and myself got into all sorts of crazy conversations. It's funny how it seems the thing to do is pick on Jared sometimes--but not really pick on him so much as pick on the girls who only go there to try to grab at him and stuff like that. We like to say things like, "He's too pretty" and "OH MY GOD JARED FRITO LAYTO" and "JERROD LEGGO I WANT TO HAVE YOUR BAYBIEZ!!!!11" as if it were his fault that he's got those huge eyes. And it is sort of an inside joke among the fans of the actual band and the actual music to refer to him in those terms, too, because of the frequent misspellings and mispronounciations of his name by various vapid fangirls. For years girls would scream "JARED LEETO!" until they caught on that they were being mocked for not even knowing what the guy's name was while trying to grab his crotch. "Leto, rhymes woth ghetto," he said once. These days girls seem to scream "OMG JARED LAYTO!" Hence Jared Frito Layto.
I wish I could remember more of what we talked about, but mostly I just remember laughing my fool head off. Hilarious Girl said once, "I don't get these girls who are like fourteen and trying to bed this guy who was on TV when they were just out of the womb, it's gross." Hilarious Girl, I wish I could remember your name and shout out to you, because you are truly a wit. Blender Girl asked how old I was and I told her I had just turned 34. She laughed and said, "No, really how old are you?" "Thirty four last week," I said. "Oh, wow," she said. "That's awesome. You look like you're twenty." (I might have at the time, but did not by the end of the night.) I said, "It's a good age; I'm enjoying it so far. Plus, Jared Frito Layto is 34, and if he's still young enough to dress up for Halloween (and even not on Halloween) and act the fool, then by god so am I." Hilarious Girl said, "God, I know. He's like 34 and just hitting his stride. He gives us all hope." As if she was a day over 20. ^_^
Someone went by offering candy and I said, "Dude, you're a stranger." He said, "It's Halloween. Plus I'm from the radio station. You can trust me." I took a Tootsie Roll and, forgetting that one of the opening bands is called Pink Spiders I said, "Thanks, but if I start to see pink snakes I'll know who to blame." Hilarious girl said, "I'll start to worry if you see Pink Spiders and actually think they're any good."
Which was true, and reminded me that even though we were about to go into the venue, finally (at around 7:30!) we'd still have at least three hours to wait. There were, as you can see, way too frigging many opening bands:
Once inside, I lost Blender Girl and Hilarious Girl, but was right beside Pretty Goth Girl and her Cute Boyfriend who looked very very much like Sehing Tristan from Green Cloud.) I also met up with Katie and her Mom, who were the two awesome Echelon I mentioned after the last show. Behind me came two young girls (maybe in their late teens to very early 20's) who were both shorter than I am. I repeatedly offered them my spot but they would insist that they could see just fine. For a short while, they did.
I think I can safely say that I was not the only person there whose back was aching like mad after about fifteen minutes of standing around. I think it had something to do with the uneven floors. You kept having to shift your weight and you could never get comfortable. I was leaning on the railing, thinking, My God, I have hours of this. The two girls behind me started chatting with me to pass the time, and thank god, because there was a lot of time to pass.
Onto the opening bands: Okay, Men, Women and Children. Not bad, and my favorite out of the four others if I had to choose. They just seemed like a fun group and they sounded quite different from everyone else, because they had neat percussion and keyboard. They also had these cool lights that looked like lightsabers. The lead singer was dressed like Scarface. I missed them on Friday, and it ends up that they are way better than the rest of the others.
Next came Cobra Starship. Sorry, Cobra Starship fans, but I couldn't stand listening to this band. It sounded like distorted generic pop and I just can't take that girl with the strapped-on keyboard at all seriously. The 80's weren't all that inspiring. Let them go.
Pink Spiders came out dressed as The Chipmunks. The girl behind me (Janna, I later found out,) asked if they'd reached puberty yet. I told her I'd read they were already in their 20's. But it's not just their looks that mark them as childish, but their music. Again, bland and poppy. "Don't Call It A Crush?" Please.
Head Automatica? I don't know, I might have liked them if it wasn't already ten o'clock, the time at which I'd planned on watching 30 Seconds to Mars, and my back was hurting. Again, I'm not sure if this place just had terrible sound or their equipment was bad or what, but it was just fuzzy screaming. I thought and hoped that each song would be their last. Everytime they'd start another one Janna and I would look at each other like, "NOOOOO!" And that last song they do, (what's it called, "Scandalous" or something?) went on and on. Everytime I thought it was over, they'd do another damn chorus.
This is also around the time that The Bros came along. These were a group of about four drunken retarded frat boys who were all about 6'5". Never mind that the group of us had been waiting there since 7. They came in all drunk with elbows everywhere, shoving themselves in front of us going, "Hey, Bro!" to each other every few seconds. One Bro lit up a cigarette. Then another. Then another. The third one I asked him to put it out, or smoke somewhere not by me. "Yeah," he said, which I took to mean, "No."
Also, a circle pit started up during Head Automatica's set. Oddly, this circle pit was not near the front, but rather near the middle. Now, we were off to the stage right (I'd promised myself I'd be on Matt's side this time because I'd always ended up on Tomo's side before,) fairly close to the front, and the circle pit went from a few yards behind us to a few yards in front. When a circle pit starts to happen, people against the barricades start to get crushed. They don't seem to realize that when you clear out the middle like that to slam, there's nowhere for the people around the edges to go. So The Bros kept getting knocked into me. Eventually I just got into a bow stance and put my arms in a circle in front of me, so no one could get into my personal space.
After a small eternity, the Street Drum Corps came on. Honestly, I really enjoy the Street Drum Corps. I'm a huge fan of percussion, especially unusnal percussion. I can spend hours listening to nothing but percussion. But they came out in teeny, tiny little red 30 Seconds To Mars shorts and started straddling their drums. The view, my dears, I could have gone the whole night without seeing. And they played for a LONG time. It was already 11:30 and I'd thought our boys would be halfway through their set by then. The audience was getting really cranky and I heard a lot of "God! I have to drive home tonight, isn't this ever going to end?!" When the Street Drum Corps guys said, "I think we have time for a few more," I swear I thought they were kidding. The entire audience went, "NOOOOO!" Then I felt bad because they actually DID have a few more. A few more LONG songs. The drunken retarded frat boys in the audience started booing, which I hate under any circumstances and should never happen.
It's also worth noting that there was a girl of around 14 behind Janna who had a scream so high and piercing that it felt like a shiny steel spike going through my head. It was so bad that everytime any of the bands said, "MAKE SOME NOISE!!!" as bands are wont to do, I'd put my hands over my ears. And the scream would go right through my palms and into my ears anyway. Why can't all 14 year olds be like Meghan? Eventually Janna turned around and said, "Look, you know, you don't have to make that noise. It's not going to accomplish anything." I'm surprised dogs weren't howling all over Philly.
They finished around 11:40, and the club didn't even bring the house lights up before O Fortuna started to play at around 11:45. ^_^
I tried to simultaneously tape this and call my Mom at home so she could hear it. The result is a terrible video consisting of mostly darkness (the song plays for a while before they come out,) and then a crazily tilting and shaking camera when they do come out, because this is when the crowd rushes the stage and everyone gets their pee all in a dazzle. Tomo comes out first, then Matt, and then Shannon, all wearing masks, but not the silly white ones. Also, it was Halloween, so it was just cool. During the cresendo, as usual, Le Jared comes charging out to much general hysteria, and then off they go into A Beautiful Lie. This is always a shaky song for them, and I put that down to adrenaline. I rather like that. It's nice to know that they still get a rush after all these hundreds of concerts.
I'm thinking The Fantasy came next, and I tried to tape some of it, but quit when I was getting jostled by The Bros too much. Jared was maybe a half a verse into the song when he stopped the freaking show already. This time the entire band stopped playing, unlike last time when they were still keeping the rhythm and waiting it out. They went dead silent and Jared asked for the house lights. Which, of course, made everyone clamor to see what was going on. Not that anyone could see anything, but we got the gist of it from Jared: "Everybody back off. Are you okay, honey? Can you stand up? Can you breathe? Guys, you can't trample on people like that. What do you do when someone falls?" ANd the audience, like obedient siblings: "PICK THEM UP!" Jared: "That's right, you pick them up. Now put the lights down and let's get back to this song."
I think that they should have security in the middle of the floor instead of just around the perimeters. At least at shows like this. It's not fair to anyone that the lead singer has to babysit the Drunken Retarded Fratboys.
I think Buddha for Mary came next, and this song went over very well. Jared did a crowd walk so deep into the audience that I wondered how the hell he was going to get back. He fumbled the "he said / she said" parts a bit, but it doesn't matter when he does that. Besides, how easy can it be to concentrate when there are hundreds of hands on you? I don't know how he trusts those people. Maybe back in the day, when it was just Echelon up front and not Bros and Drunken Retarded Fratboys. Dude, I wouldn't even crowd surf. I don't know these people enough to trust them not to drop me (people always do get dropped) and also, you don't know where those hands have been. But you have a pretty good idea, and it's ugly. Anyway, I was taping this because it was BEAUTIFUL and the part that goes, "He said, You'd better pray to Jesus / She said, I don't believe in God," gets me all riled and I screamed that part out like it was my job, thinking, "That's going to sound so intense on the video." And then, like a moron, I accidentally erased it, Go, me. My other favorite part of that song is when Jared sings, "She always liked to fall apaaaaaaaart" and holds that note for just about ever. It's not the easiest of notes to hold for someone who can't sing. My friend Laura who knew what he looked like first and then heard him sing after I gave her a few songs once said of him, "He's got a small mouth. Well, until he opens it." When he did that part last night I felt it like all the way to my liver.
I think then Battle of One came next. It was awesome, as it has always been everytime I've heard them do it live. I couldn't take my eyes off Shannon. One, because this was the first concert I'd been to where I could actually see him, and two, because to be honest, he's mesmeric. I've never seen such a look of ferocity and meditation at the same time. Shannon's timing is exquisite; one thing I love about him as a drummer is that he knows when not to play, he leaves space for the rest of the music. He does this fascinating thing where he beats the hell out of the cymbol a few times then leans forward and grabs it, then does that on the other side. I saw that in the video for Edge of the Earth and I actually grabbed a screen from it. I can't imagine the coordination it must take, and yet he makes it look casual.
What was next, The Mission, I think? I tried to tape this, too, because I knew it was going to be fabulous. It was. I only discovered a little while ago, however, that I must have been right underneath the speakers for Matt's bass, because on the playback all you hear is a fuzzy, steady, "FOOMFOOMFOOMFOOM".
Speaking of Matt, I was all about him last night. Maybe it's because it was my first time on his side of the stage, but I couldn't get enough of Matt and I tried to take a ton of pictures of him. He's so chill when everyone else is leaping around. Well I mean, I guess that's the bass player way and all, but he's so effortlessly cool.
Creepily enough, it seemed that he was swigging that corn syrup blood and spitting it out.
PTOOEY
Let me take a moment to address the various personnae of these guys in their fake blood. Tomo, okay, Tomo looks like he's covered in fake blood. His face is too sweet and unassuming; I think he'd have to work at it to look threatening. He's just boyish like that. Jared's blood-splatter looks like he freaked out momentarily and whacked someone with an axe. He's like the mercurial killer, like he could have just as easily not killed you, but hell, he was jumping around like a cracked out monkey and you and the aze happened to be there, oh well. Matt, on the other hand, for as nice a person as he is, comes across as a methodical serial killer. Here's a guy who takes his time, maybe even a few months. I don't know, it was Halloween, they were covered in blood, my mind wandered. Shannon didn't have any blood on him, WTF was that all about? Get with the program, Shannon!
Jared in blood splatter and the only picture I got of Tomo the whole night:
I'm so bad at remembering the set list. Jared asked for requests and then did what he wanted to do anyway, which was Echelon. He did this one by himself ("Hang on, this was a long time ago. Let me see if I can remember it.") They did The Story (it used to be people would light their lighters when the slow songs came on, now it's cell phones.) What else? Of course they did The Kill, duh. I tried to tape this, too, like I always do. Once again, terrible sound, me getting jostled around, the audience singing most of it for Jared. Nice crowd walk in this one, too. He prefaced this song with, "Shhhh! This song is called The Kill!" I just had to giggle at how serious he was about it.
To my annoyance, The Bros knew a few words to this song. The rest of the time they just stood there like big square blockheads being in everyone's way and falling drunkenly over each other. When The Kill came on, they vaguely mouthed some of the words like, "Oh yeah, this was on the radio." MOVE, DOUCHBAGS, BEFORE I PUNCH YOU IN THE VAGINA! God, I hated those guys.
Then, of course, they did Attack, and The Bros, surprisingly, knew even a few more words to this one. At the end of this song about five tons of orange and black confetti started to come down. It was actually a beautiful visual. I was recording already because I was getting some really cool shots of the crowd surfers and stagedivers, so the confetti thing was a nice surprise.
Check it out:
They closed with something I didn't recognize but felt like I should have. It was just all too hectic. After the four of them gathered together around Shannon's drums:
they disappeared before the confetti stopped blowing around.
And then, my dears, it was time to line up to get crap signed.
I ended up on line behind the caped, gowned and bloody Lord and Lady I'd seen in the parking lot earlier. These two were so hardcore I almost felt intimidated to talk to them, but I did anyway. I said, "I think you guys will appreciate this," and I whipped out those necklaces. The Echelonic Druid, as I shall call him here, liked the necklaces and told me that he'd seen the band many times and met them many times and how pleasant they always were. They were really hardcore, had gotten their kids into the music and everything. We were really close to being at the front of the line this time, and we were up the stairs in about fifteen minutes. Shannon saw the Echelonic Lord and Lady coming a mile away and was like, "WOW! You guys look awesome!" They went on down the line and Shannon said Hi to me and I said, "Hey, are you guys going to hang out by your bus for a while? I have something to give you." He said, "Yeah, sure! We got it covered." Tomo and Matt were all about The Echelonic Lord and Lady, and when they got to Jared, he leapt to his feet and just threw his arms around the guy and said, 'Your'e awesome. Go wait by the bus, I want a picture and we have something for you." Then he signed my CD (who the hell am I going to give this one to? I've given so many away,) and I thanked him, and as I was walking away he said, "Hey! Hey, Bloody Bride!" (Refer to me having my "Escaped bride!" response all worked out.) I went, "Uhh ... yeah?" He said, "Hey, Bloody Bride," (and in a low voice,) "go and wait by the bus, okay?" Me: "Uhh ... Okay!"
Now if this was any other concert, and any other singer and fan but Jared and me, or if I was really hot and had to wonder about things like this, that might have sounded sleazy. But it was Jared and it was me, just the singer luring faithful Echelon into his costume contest. ^_^
So off I went to wait for the guys by their tour bus, in an alley between the club and a warehouse, with huge garbage bins and a loading dock about four feet high that we were all sitting on. There were at least thirty other people there, and I managed to find Janna and Megan again, as well as Katie and her Mom. We decided to wait by the end of the line (we were actually at what we thought was the beginning,) because we figured the crowd would thin out and we could actually say Hi and get some pictures.
Tomo came out first and very quietly said, "I'm sorry guys, but I have somewhere to be. If you'd like to take a picture, I have to do it now." And then he very patiently went down the line saying Hi to everyone and taking a picture with anyone who wanted one. Janna and Megan didn't have a camera, so I got pictures of them. Then Janna took one of me with Tomo. As I went to step up to him I fell into a huge hole in the pavement and almost took him down with me. The picture is blurry--my fault for not telling Janna to hold the button down for a second to let it autofocus.
I thought about handing him the package of necklaces, but he was in such a rush and I didn't want to hold him up. I figured I'd probably catch Matt, because I know that Jared has been going into the bus to work on their video and stuff, and I wasn't sure if Shannon was in the habit of hanging around for too long, either. Jared actually did come out of the bus for a second, got mobbed, and went back in. After a few minutes, Janna nudged me, laughing, and said, "No one knows that's Jared. He's got a mask on." Now, the entire time we was walking by in the bloodied white tux and stupid furry mask, I was staring at the huge garbage bin thinking something along the lines of, "That's a really huge garbage bin. It sure has a lot of garbage in it. I wonder how much. There's probably, like, chairs and tables in there. Jeez, my feet hurt."
Echelonic Lord and Lady showed up, too. We watched Jared get mobbed for a while and I asked, "Should we be, like, mobbing him too? Because it doesn't seem polite." Echelonic Lord said, "Nahh, he'll come over here. He wants to see us." So we waited. And eventually, Jared did come over, and he jumped up onto the loading dock and started giving directions. Unfortunately I was still pretty deaf, but I got the gist of it.
And I thought, "Great, here's where he get executed." But really it was just Jared's costume contest. He made everyone line up and went by applause, the men first. There were some great costumes there, like the werewolf guy and the Dracula guy (Dracula like Bram Stoker's Dracula, with Gary Oldeman.) They didn't have blood on them, but Jared said their costumes were cool enough to qualify. The Echelonic Lord guy was clearly a shoe-in. ;D He won by a mile, which was just the way Jared wanted it. I think he led the applause, actually.
Then it was the girls' turn and I was on the far end, the last one. There was a girl next to me who didn't have a costume or blood on her, and Jared said, "Hey, no costume, no blood, beat it." Everyone went all, "Awwww!" and I leaned over to offer her some of my spare blood." Jared laughed and said, "No cheating! Get back there!" and shoved me back into line. (My suddenly short-circuited brain: "OMGz JERROD FRITO LAYTO SHOVED ME! TEEHEEEE! THAT WAS HOT! God, I disappoint myself. If he wasn't cute and ten pounds lighter than me I might have knocked him off the makeshift stage. ^_~ ) There was another bloody bride there, Missy, with a beautiful gown (not a $20 one from KMart ^_^ ) and loads of blood. She was at the other end and she got tons of applause. The winners were obvious. A good time was had by all.
'Round about this time, Shannon was milling around all the contestants. Echelonic Lord asked me, "Did you get to give them their gifts yet?" I told him I hadn't; they were busy and everyone else was sort of mobbing them and I didn't want to be rude. Echelonic Lord just went, "Okay, hold on." Then he hooked Shannon by the shirt and said, "Excuse me, this girl has something for you."
BZZZZZT!! Is the sound of my brain short-sircuiting again. And not because it's Shannon Frito Layto the famous drummer, but because his eyes were pretty much gold last night and I always--always-choke when I talk to cute guys, whether it's someone I see in the store or, indeed, Shannon Frity Layto. "Uhm, uhm, I, uhh, made these for you guys." I whipped the white necklace out, still in its velvet case ("It's all about presentation," Kim told me,) and basically shoved it at him. "So, uhh, here you go." He glanced at it and said, "Oh, thanks, that's very..." Then he glanced again, then he really looked at it, then he took it out of my hand and said, "Oh, wow. Wow." I said, "So, uhh, I made those and there's four of them in this bag..." which I handed to him. "...You can give the other three to the other guys if you don't mind. Because there's three more." Shannon grabbed my arm and said, "Oh, wow. Thank you." I told him, "You're welcome." And still holding my arm he said, "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." To the point where I had absolutely no words left in my brain aside from, "Uhh ... you're welcome." Then, as he was turning away I managed, "No, thank you for a great show! And wonderful music!" Which is really all I wanted to say, actually.
After Shannon's effusive and sincere thanks, I saw Jared still milling around on the makeshift stage, still sort of getting mobbed. As this was going on, some girl came running down the street screaming at the top of her lungs in very much the same manner that Meghan and I were making fun of on Friday: "BLBLBLBLBAAAAAAA!!!" ANd then--I kid you not, people--"JARED LAYTO! JARED LAYTO!" I saw her doing something with her shirt, so I think she flashed him, but I could be wrong.
Jared turned around and, dude, without missing a beat, said, "Oh, yeah, hey, go have another drink." Rumor has it that Jared can be just slightly straight edge when it comes to stuff like drinking and smoking and whatnot, which is what makes all the comments like "Jared's on crack!" that much more ironic. The comment was a perfectly timed barb and everyone around him busted out laughing. However, I'm pretty sure that was the comment that started all the trouble for him. Because that drunk girl was a package deal, and the other parts were a handful of very aggressive Drunken Retarded Fratboys.
Which is, in fact, why Jared looks so paranoid in the picture he took with me.
Heavens no, it wasn't that dramatic; there were no cut-throat beer fights exactly. It all started to go down during this picture:
As far as how i look in that picture: I had been hoping to keep the nice zen composure mask I had when I first took pics of myself in the hotel room, but for one thing, I was having a weird reaction to the face paint, so one side of my face was itching and burning like mad, and the other side was on Jared, so it was like the rest of my face was between heaven and hell, plus it was 2 AM and so hence the slightly hysterical grin.
As for Jared, I know it looks like I just put my hand on his butt or something like that and startled him, but actually something far worse happened. Just as The Echelonic Lord snapped this pic, the Drunken Retarded Fratboys came down the street and started yelling obscenities at Jared. The things they said were so vulgar I can't even repeat it, and actually so threatening that he made a hasty retreat to their tour bus for a little while until the people left. In all subsequent pictures until those guys quit yelling, he looks paranoid like that. They were shouting some really crazy things to him. It doesn't bear even repeating, but what it came down to was something to the effect of: Jared might get to sleep with his pick of the girls, but afterwards they were going to do some stuff to him.
Jared went totally rigid and started with this kind of mantra: "I have to go. I have to go. I have to go." He was trying to make his way down the stage but those guys were on the road where he was trying to get down, and people were still grabbing him for pictures. I think I yelled that I was going to go down there and punch them in the vagina, or maybe I didn't because I didn't think that a joke like that was appropriate. I know I did lean over the makeshift stage and say something like, "What's your problem, get lost!" The guy yelled back to me that he would fight me for Jared Layto. >_> And then, I'm not sure if it was to me or to pretty much everyone, "If you don't think you're going to get to blah blah blah Jared, just leave right now." Then this one guy I know from the forum yelled down, "Why, is that what you want to do?" And they were all like, "WOOOO! YEAH! JARED LAYTO, BABY!"
It was sickening.
After a few minutes of this, and while the security guards were trying to get rid of that group, Jared made his way back to his bus. Around then, Janna and Megan had to leave. "Those guys ruined it for everyone," Janna said. I told her that they might still be hanging around, and I'd walk with them back to the parking lot instead of going down the street where they'd left. Just as we got to the fence by the lot, I was a few steps behind and I turned around and saw Missy and Echelonic Lord and Lady by the bus and I thought, "They never got their prize." I called out to Janna to tell her I was going back to see those guys, and I guess she didn't hear me because they went back to their car.
I went back to the bus and found that the party was still going on. Jared leaned out of the bus, now in a blue T shirt and a silly hat with a red pompom on the top,(but whatever, he could put dead swer rats on his head and he'd still look good,) and said, "Are those c---s gone yet?"
I hate that word above all words in the English language, but it was nothing compared to what those guys and that girl were saying to him.Also, when he said it, it was kind of hot. I toyed with the idea of saying, "Yes, I obliterated them with a chi blast," but instead I kept my mouth shut. Really all I wanted to tell him was that I had given this package to Shannon, and there was something for everyone in there. But all of a sudden everyone wanted a piece of him again. I didn't want to just be rude and butt in; he seemed really busy. Trying to speak a word to him, I felt like a cat chasing a lazer beam across the wall.
I heard a girl behind me say, "I'm trying to get to him, but I can't even see him with Pocahontas in front of me here." I turned around and said, "Yeah, I get that all the time, being Native American." She said, "Well, you have a feather in your hair." I said, "Yeah, well. Native American." She didn't mean anything mean by it, I don't think. ANd I really do get that "Pocahontas" comment frequently, with or without feathers.
Jared disappeared back into the bus with the promise to return with "small tokens" for the winners of the costume contest. Lord and Lady Echelon, and Missy, too, kindly protested that they didn't really need any tokens; that the concert and the pictures and the party were enough. Around this time, Tomo came back and Matt also came outside. He was very apologetic about being late, said he had to wrap up some business in the club. All of a sudden everyone was clamoring for him, too, and I could not believe his patience as he struggled to load a suitcase into the bus and answer his cell phone and talk to ten people at once. For all that he looked like a methodical serial killer onstage, he was just as sweet as you could imagine in street clothes and non-bloody. Jared called him into the bus for a second and told everyone to wait outside. Then he came out without Matt and said, "You're all the Kings and Queens to us tonight, but we did promise a prize to the two of you who won by applause."
Dude and then Matt came out with two white, autographed Fender Strats.
How about a little tongue with your guitar:
*Sigh!* Le Jared. I took a bunch of pictures to send to the winners. I also did manage to tap Jared on the shoulder and say, "I left a gift for all of you guys with Shannon; I hope you get a chance to see it tonight." He said, "Oh, hey, thanks!" Then some girl very cutely tried to give him a balloon animal, much to her friend's chagrin ("No! Don't give him that, it's stupid!") and Jared said with a smile, "Um, you can keep that if you want." And then Shannon came back out. I smiled and he waved, then came over again and said, "Thank you so much." BZZZZT! "Uhhh ... you're welcome. There are four of those. Three more for, you know, three other guys..." And then he just grabbed me and hugged me, probably so that I would shut up. And again I got to say, "Thank you for such an awesome show and party." "No, thank YOU," Shannon said. Now when we do this at work, it could go on for minutes until everyone is giggling, but I have to remind myself that these are not my friends at work, just a band being nice to the people who are nice to them, so I just let him go and said, "You're welcome. I'll be sure to come out and see you guys next time."
Okay, it was a little hairy trying to get a cab at 3:30 in the morning. In the end it was down to me, Missy, Emma, and two other ladies I didn't know. I think their ride home bailed on them. I was starting to get slightly worried, because when I called the cab company the guy asked where I was and when I said, "Electric Factory, 7th Avenue," he said, "But I need an address. See, this is what happens on Halloween, you people go walking around at night and then you don't know where you are." I was digging around in my purse for the address when we got disconnected, and I had to try again. Finally I got through and he said, "We'll send someone out if we have someone in the area." IF?! It's 3:30 AM, I'm on a street corner in the middle of freaking nowhere, there is no if! I tried all different cab companies and no one picked up. Emma and the others had gone off to try to make calls of their own. The other tour buses had all pulled out (the guy from Men, Women and Children hanging off the outside of one of the windows,) and only the 30 Seconds to Mars bus was still there. Basically I just stood out there with the bodyguards, who were still outside by the door, and waited. Emma and the rest came back, and then my cab came around. I said goodnight to them and they asked the cabbie to come back and pick them up afterwards, which he said he would do. He freaking RACED back to the hotel and I thought we were going to die.
When I got in the lobby, 3:45 AM, covered in fake blood and probably with my eyes standing out from my head, the woman behind the counter looked up and "TSK"ed at me. "Uh," I said, "Happy Halloween." She "TSK"ed again and said, "I don't celebrate Halloween. Thanks anyway."
I just had to laugh. Her loss. I celebrate the crap out of that holiday.
It seems that The Train Gods either hate me or really don't like when I go to see 30 Seconds to Mars. Recall last Friday, when all of a sudden there was "rail work" as they said and they cancelled all the trains home and would have stranded Meghan and I in the city if not for my Dad. Well, Tuesday came around and I got up bright and early, all packed and ready, dressed in my finest black pants and 30STm shirt that was a gift from Jeremy, my "concert kit", and the gifts I had made for the band with help from my beautiful and awesome friend Kim. I had asked my Da to drive me to Ronkonkoma station because I didn't fancy leaving my car there overnight. There I was, all excited and with my leftover ticket from Friday, and I went to the desk to ask which track to take, only to be told by the vaguely discourteous teller that all the trains were cancelled. Yes, all of them, to everywhere. Because of sudden "rail work." So I called my Dad, who had only just turned the corner. I had a train to catch from Penn Station to 30th st. station in PA and I didn't have a lot of time between trains, only 25 minutes. He came back and ended up driving me all the way into the city. Again. With time to spare.
Until he couldn't find the perfect spot to let me off at the station. I swear we passed the entrance 3 times but he kept going around for like 40 minutes while I kept saying, "right here is fine, I can walk!" But that's not how Dads do things. Finally he did let me off a few yards from the entrance and I booked out of there like my butt was on fire and my head was catching. I wasn't feeling too zen when I got to the teller to get the tickets, and she must have sensed that because she gave me a lollipop. I needn't have worried about being late, though, because my train to Philly ended up being delayed.
But I still got there in plenty of time, and my cab driver to the hotel was very nice, unlike the NY cab drivers. He was a big black guy and we got into the subject of racial profiling, and from there he mentioned that he was into martial arts. I always feel, when men say that, that they expect women to change the subject. Because they always seem surprised when I say, "Really? I do martial arts, too. What kind do you do?" and then hold a conversation about it. He told me about his son, who was 11 and had that natural zen state that most martial artists study years to master. It seemed like "zen" was the order of the day, so when I got to the hotel I unpacked my bathroom stuff, laid out my costume, and because I had a few hours before dinner and the concert, decided to zen walk. Zen walking is when I just start walking with no destination and I just look at things. I ended up going into a "world culture" store and buying some trinkets that I thought I'd work into my costume. But then I ended up not using them anyway. I didn't really see or do much on my zen walk. Then I stopped for a slice of pizza and went back to the hotel. I was too nervous to finish the entire pizza (and I'm still not sure exactly why--I'm nervous now just writing about it,) and then got into my costume, all a-jitter. I think I thought I was going to be late.
This was my costume, the escaped wildwoman:
Here you can see the full front, with the 30 Seconds to Mars glyphs down the front:
And here is the facepaint that I was so excited to do:
The front there reads, "Surrender To Nothing" which is a lyric from the song "Attack", which the first time I heard it I thought, "God, this song isn't about violence, it's about freedom." Much to my self-satisfaction, whenever Jared introduces this song he says, "This is a song about freedom." See, the gist of this costume is the wild woman who has escaped the prospect of confining marriage. And because this costume party was a blood ball, she obviously escaped it violently. One was supposed to think, "You should see the other guy!" The hand print was supposed to look like part war paint, part would-be groom's bloody handprint like, "OMG, somebody get her away from me!" The broken ropes, the blood, the feathers, all of that, was all supposed to mean freedom. But I knew that most people were going to take a look and say, "Hey, Bloody Bride!" I thought I'd correct them, "Escaped bride!" But, uhh, you'll see that I didn't.
The cab ride to the venue was sort of fun, everyone was looking in the window and I'd give them this cheesy "HAPPY HALLOWEEN!" grin. One other cab driver who pulled up beside me cracked up when I did that.
I needn't have worried about getting there late, because I got there at 4:30 and doors weren't until 7. There were maybe 30 people on line by then and I felt like there was enough time to wander around. Except there was really nowhere to wander. The Electric Factory (the club where they played) was the only business on the street, it seemed like, aside fromthe Red Cross blood donation place across the street. (Appropriate, no?) I wandered around the back of the building and was stopped by three guys before I got to the other side. They asked where I was going and I told them that I wanted to see how big the place was. I refrained from saying, "I'm so totally not looking for the band's tour bus. Really!" One of the guys said, "Oh, it's pretty big. It goes from back here all the way to the front." The other two guys snickered. "Really big," they said. "Huh huh. Heh heh. Really big. Goes all the way to the street. Huh huh." I rolled my eyes and walked away from Beavis and Butthead and Beavis.
On my way back I passed a group of Echelon pouring fake blood (hereto referred to as just "blood" and you'll all gather that I mean fake blood,) all over themselves and each other. "'Surrender to nothing,'" one of them quoted to me. "Awesome, girl. You look beautiful. Great job on the costume." I thought, Here's someone who gets it. ^_^ Then as I was getting back on line another group of girls passed and said, "What a great custome!" and "YOU'RE LOVELY." Which made me think they had to be from the bulletin board, because "JULES YOU'RE LOVELY" is kind of an inside joke over there.
Also on line was this couple all in white, splattered liberally with blood. The guy had on a floor length, hooded robe with hand-painted Echelon X, glyphics, red arrow, and "PROVEHITO IN ALTUM" written across the bottom. They were having a marvelous time with their bottle of blood, up until security came out and told everyone that they couldn't do any more blood splattering in the parking lot. (I wonder if this was because the Red Cross was across the street. ;D )
I got on line behind a girl whose forum screen name is She'sMorbid. I sat down and whined, "I'M BORED!" She asked me, "How long have you been here?" "Five minutes," I told her, and she laughed. Then three other folks got behind me and sat down. It was only 5 PM and we had a loooong wait. I decided to talk to the nice people behind me which ended up being one of the best ideas I'd had all night. I whipped out the necklaces I had made with the help of Kim and said that I really wanted to get the chance to meet the band tonight and give them these. By the way, these are the necklaces I made:
For those not in the know who might be reading, I've already explained the glyphics in a previous post, and the phoenix is another one of their symbols.
Eventually I mentioned that I hadn't seen the tour busses parked, and She'sMorbid clued me in that the last time she was there, they were on the other side of the building that i had just about gotten to before being intercepted by Beavis and Butthead and Beavis, so I asked her to hold my place in line while I took a gander around the block. "Aroudn the block" basically meant down a deserted street, then left down a creepy alley with loading docks and dumpsters. And, surely enough, the tour busses. From there on in, no longer worried if I would fail in my mission to deliver up those necklaces, I found my zen (at least for the time being) and decided to stop being bored and frustrated and have a good time. I wish I could remember the names of the lovely people behind me on line. There were two girls together, and another girl who worked for Blender magazine and was there to see Head Automatica and thought maybe she'd hang around for 30 Seconds to Mars. "Do," I told her. "You will so completely not regret it. They're going to bring the house down." And behind her was a very lovely girl with short, black hair and red makeup around her eyes, with her very cute and sweet boyfriend. I'd later end up next to them in the venue. Anyway, Blender Girl and Hilarious Girl and She'sMorbid and myself got into all sorts of crazy conversations. It's funny how it seems the thing to do is pick on Jared sometimes--but not really pick on him so much as pick on the girls who only go there to try to grab at him and stuff like that. We like to say things like, "He's too pretty" and "OH MY GOD JARED FRITO LAYTO" and "JERROD LEGGO I WANT TO HAVE YOUR BAYBIEZ!!!!11" as if it were his fault that he's got those huge eyes. And it is sort of an inside joke among the fans of the actual band and the actual music to refer to him in those terms, too, because of the frequent misspellings and mispronounciations of his name by various vapid fangirls. For years girls would scream "JARED LEETO!" until they caught on that they were being mocked for not even knowing what the guy's name was while trying to grab his crotch. "Leto, rhymes woth ghetto," he said once. These days girls seem to scream "OMG JARED LAYTO!" Hence Jared Frito Layto.
I wish I could remember more of what we talked about, but mostly I just remember laughing my fool head off. Hilarious Girl said once, "I don't get these girls who are like fourteen and trying to bed this guy who was on TV when they were just out of the womb, it's gross." Hilarious Girl, I wish I could remember your name and shout out to you, because you are truly a wit. Blender Girl asked how old I was and I told her I had just turned 34. She laughed and said, "No, really how old are you?" "Thirty four last week," I said. "Oh, wow," she said. "That's awesome. You look like you're twenty." (I might have at the time, but did not by the end of the night.) I said, "It's a good age; I'm enjoying it so far. Plus, Jared Frito Layto is 34, and if he's still young enough to dress up for Halloween (and even not on Halloween) and act the fool, then by god so am I." Hilarious Girl said, "God, I know. He's like 34 and just hitting his stride. He gives us all hope." As if she was a day over 20. ^_^
Someone went by offering candy and I said, "Dude, you're a stranger." He said, "It's Halloween. Plus I'm from the radio station. You can trust me." I took a Tootsie Roll and, forgetting that one of the opening bands is called Pink Spiders I said, "Thanks, but if I start to see pink snakes I'll know who to blame." Hilarious girl said, "I'll start to worry if you see Pink Spiders and actually think they're any good."
Which was true, and reminded me that even though we were about to go into the venue, finally (at around 7:30!) we'd still have at least three hours to wait. There were, as you can see, way too frigging many opening bands:
Once inside, I lost Blender Girl and Hilarious Girl, but was right beside Pretty Goth Girl and her Cute Boyfriend who looked very very much like Sehing Tristan from Green Cloud.) I also met up with Katie and her Mom, who were the two awesome Echelon I mentioned after the last show. Behind me came two young girls (maybe in their late teens to very early 20's) who were both shorter than I am. I repeatedly offered them my spot but they would insist that they could see just fine. For a short while, they did.
I think I can safely say that I was not the only person there whose back was aching like mad after about fifteen minutes of standing around. I think it had something to do with the uneven floors. You kept having to shift your weight and you could never get comfortable. I was leaning on the railing, thinking, My God, I have hours of this. The two girls behind me started chatting with me to pass the time, and thank god, because there was a lot of time to pass.
Onto the opening bands: Okay, Men, Women and Children. Not bad, and my favorite out of the four others if I had to choose. They just seemed like a fun group and they sounded quite different from everyone else, because they had neat percussion and keyboard. They also had these cool lights that looked like lightsabers. The lead singer was dressed like Scarface. I missed them on Friday, and it ends up that they are way better than the rest of the others.
Next came Cobra Starship. Sorry, Cobra Starship fans, but I couldn't stand listening to this band. It sounded like distorted generic pop and I just can't take that girl with the strapped-on keyboard at all seriously. The 80's weren't all that inspiring. Let them go.
Pink Spiders came out dressed as The Chipmunks. The girl behind me (Janna, I later found out,) asked if they'd reached puberty yet. I told her I'd read they were already in their 20's. But it's not just their looks that mark them as childish, but their music. Again, bland and poppy. "Don't Call It A Crush?" Please.
Head Automatica? I don't know, I might have liked them if it wasn't already ten o'clock, the time at which I'd planned on watching 30 Seconds to Mars, and my back was hurting. Again, I'm not sure if this place just had terrible sound or their equipment was bad or what, but it was just fuzzy screaming. I thought and hoped that each song would be their last. Everytime they'd start another one Janna and I would look at each other like, "NOOOOO!" And that last song they do, (what's it called, "Scandalous" or something?) went on and on. Everytime I thought it was over, they'd do another damn chorus.
This is also around the time that The Bros came along. These were a group of about four drunken retarded frat boys who were all about 6'5". Never mind that the group of us had been waiting there since 7. They came in all drunk with elbows everywhere, shoving themselves in front of us going, "Hey, Bro!" to each other every few seconds. One Bro lit up a cigarette. Then another. Then another. The third one I asked him to put it out, or smoke somewhere not by me. "Yeah," he said, which I took to mean, "No."
Also, a circle pit started up during Head Automatica's set. Oddly, this circle pit was not near the front, but rather near the middle. Now, we were off to the stage right (I'd promised myself I'd be on Matt's side this time because I'd always ended up on Tomo's side before,) fairly close to the front, and the circle pit went from a few yards behind us to a few yards in front. When a circle pit starts to happen, people against the barricades start to get crushed. They don't seem to realize that when you clear out the middle like that to slam, there's nowhere for the people around the edges to go. So The Bros kept getting knocked into me. Eventually I just got into a bow stance and put my arms in a circle in front of me, so no one could get into my personal space.
After a small eternity, the Street Drum Corps came on. Honestly, I really enjoy the Street Drum Corps. I'm a huge fan of percussion, especially unusnal percussion. I can spend hours listening to nothing but percussion. But they came out in teeny, tiny little red 30 Seconds To Mars shorts and started straddling their drums. The view, my dears, I could have gone the whole night without seeing. And they played for a LONG time. It was already 11:30 and I'd thought our boys would be halfway through their set by then. The audience was getting really cranky and I heard a lot of "God! I have to drive home tonight, isn't this ever going to end?!" When the Street Drum Corps guys said, "I think we have time for a few more," I swear I thought they were kidding. The entire audience went, "NOOOOO!" Then I felt bad because they actually DID have a few more. A few more LONG songs. The drunken retarded frat boys in the audience started booing, which I hate under any circumstances and should never happen.
It's also worth noting that there was a girl of around 14 behind Janna who had a scream so high and piercing that it felt like a shiny steel spike going through my head. It was so bad that everytime any of the bands said, "MAKE SOME NOISE!!!" as bands are wont to do, I'd put my hands over my ears. And the scream would go right through my palms and into my ears anyway. Why can't all 14 year olds be like Meghan? Eventually Janna turned around and said, "Look, you know, you don't have to make that noise. It's not going to accomplish anything." I'm surprised dogs weren't howling all over Philly.
They finished around 11:40, and the club didn't even bring the house lights up before O Fortuna started to play at around 11:45. ^_^
I tried to simultaneously tape this and call my Mom at home so she could hear it. The result is a terrible video consisting of mostly darkness (the song plays for a while before they come out,) and then a crazily tilting and shaking camera when they do come out, because this is when the crowd rushes the stage and everyone gets their pee all in a dazzle. Tomo comes out first, then Matt, and then Shannon, all wearing masks, but not the silly white ones. Also, it was Halloween, so it was just cool. During the cresendo, as usual, Le Jared comes charging out to much general hysteria, and then off they go into A Beautiful Lie. This is always a shaky song for them, and I put that down to adrenaline. I rather like that. It's nice to know that they still get a rush after all these hundreds of concerts.
I'm thinking The Fantasy came next, and I tried to tape some of it, but quit when I was getting jostled by The Bros too much. Jared was maybe a half a verse into the song when he stopped the freaking show already. This time the entire band stopped playing, unlike last time when they were still keeping the rhythm and waiting it out. They went dead silent and Jared asked for the house lights. Which, of course, made everyone clamor to see what was going on. Not that anyone could see anything, but we got the gist of it from Jared: "Everybody back off. Are you okay, honey? Can you stand up? Can you breathe? Guys, you can't trample on people like that. What do you do when someone falls?" ANd the audience, like obedient siblings: "PICK THEM UP!" Jared: "That's right, you pick them up. Now put the lights down and let's get back to this song."
I think that they should have security in the middle of the floor instead of just around the perimeters. At least at shows like this. It's not fair to anyone that the lead singer has to babysit the Drunken Retarded Fratboys.
I think Buddha for Mary came next, and this song went over very well. Jared did a crowd walk so deep into the audience that I wondered how the hell he was going to get back. He fumbled the "he said / she said" parts a bit, but it doesn't matter when he does that. Besides, how easy can it be to concentrate when there are hundreds of hands on you? I don't know how he trusts those people. Maybe back in the day, when it was just Echelon up front and not Bros and Drunken Retarded Fratboys. Dude, I wouldn't even crowd surf. I don't know these people enough to trust them not to drop me (people always do get dropped) and also, you don't know where those hands have been. But you have a pretty good idea, and it's ugly. Anyway, I was taping this because it was BEAUTIFUL and the part that goes, "He said, You'd better pray to Jesus / She said, I don't believe in God," gets me all riled and I screamed that part out like it was my job, thinking, "That's going to sound so intense on the video." And then, like a moron, I accidentally erased it, Go, me. My other favorite part of that song is when Jared sings, "She always liked to fall apaaaaaaaart" and holds that note for just about ever. It's not the easiest of notes to hold for someone who can't sing. My friend Laura who knew what he looked like first and then heard him sing after I gave her a few songs once said of him, "He's got a small mouth. Well, until he opens it." When he did that part last night I felt it like all the way to my liver.
I think then Battle of One came next. It was awesome, as it has always been everytime I've heard them do it live. I couldn't take my eyes off Shannon. One, because this was the first concert I'd been to where I could actually see him, and two, because to be honest, he's mesmeric. I've never seen such a look of ferocity and meditation at the same time. Shannon's timing is exquisite; one thing I love about him as a drummer is that he knows when not to play, he leaves space for the rest of the music. He does this fascinating thing where he beats the hell out of the cymbol a few times then leans forward and grabs it, then does that on the other side. I saw that in the video for Edge of the Earth and I actually grabbed a screen from it. I can't imagine the coordination it must take, and yet he makes it look casual.
What was next, The Mission, I think? I tried to tape this, too, because I knew it was going to be fabulous. It was. I only discovered a little while ago, however, that I must have been right underneath the speakers for Matt's bass, because on the playback all you hear is a fuzzy, steady, "FOOMFOOMFOOMFOOM".
Speaking of Matt, I was all about him last night. Maybe it's because it was my first time on his side of the stage, but I couldn't get enough of Matt and I tried to take a ton of pictures of him. He's so chill when everyone else is leaping around. Well I mean, I guess that's the bass player way and all, but he's so effortlessly cool.
Creepily enough, it seemed that he was swigging that corn syrup blood and spitting it out.
PTOOEY
Let me take a moment to address the various personnae of these guys in their fake blood. Tomo, okay, Tomo looks like he's covered in fake blood. His face is too sweet and unassuming; I think he'd have to work at it to look threatening. He's just boyish like that. Jared's blood-splatter looks like he freaked out momentarily and whacked someone with an axe. He's like the mercurial killer, like he could have just as easily not killed you, but hell, he was jumping around like a cracked out monkey and you and the aze happened to be there, oh well. Matt, on the other hand, for as nice a person as he is, comes across as a methodical serial killer. Here's a guy who takes his time, maybe even a few months. I don't know, it was Halloween, they were covered in blood, my mind wandered. Shannon didn't have any blood on him, WTF was that all about? Get with the program, Shannon!
Jared in blood splatter and the only picture I got of Tomo the whole night:
I'm so bad at remembering the set list. Jared asked for requests and then did what he wanted to do anyway, which was Echelon. He did this one by himself ("Hang on, this was a long time ago. Let me see if I can remember it.") They did The Story (it used to be people would light their lighters when the slow songs came on, now it's cell phones.) What else? Of course they did The Kill, duh. I tried to tape this, too, like I always do. Once again, terrible sound, me getting jostled around, the audience singing most of it for Jared. Nice crowd walk in this one, too. He prefaced this song with, "Shhhh! This song is called The Kill!" I just had to giggle at how serious he was about it.
To my annoyance, The Bros knew a few words to this song. The rest of the time they just stood there like big square blockheads being in everyone's way and falling drunkenly over each other. When The Kill came on, they vaguely mouthed some of the words like, "Oh yeah, this was on the radio." MOVE, DOUCHBAGS, BEFORE I PUNCH YOU IN THE VAGINA! God, I hated those guys.
Then, of course, they did Attack, and The Bros, surprisingly, knew even a few more words to this one. At the end of this song about five tons of orange and black confetti started to come down. It was actually a beautiful visual. I was recording already because I was getting some really cool shots of the crowd surfers and stagedivers, so the confetti thing was a nice surprise.
Check it out:
They closed with something I didn't recognize but felt like I should have. It was just all too hectic. After the four of them gathered together around Shannon's drums:
they disappeared before the confetti stopped blowing around.
And then, my dears, it was time to line up to get crap signed.
I ended up on line behind the caped, gowned and bloody Lord and Lady I'd seen in the parking lot earlier. These two were so hardcore I almost felt intimidated to talk to them, but I did anyway. I said, "I think you guys will appreciate this," and I whipped out those necklaces. The Echelonic Druid, as I shall call him here, liked the necklaces and told me that he'd seen the band many times and met them many times and how pleasant they always were. They were really hardcore, had gotten their kids into the music and everything. We were really close to being at the front of the line this time, and we were up the stairs in about fifteen minutes. Shannon saw the Echelonic Lord and Lady coming a mile away and was like, "WOW! You guys look awesome!" They went on down the line and Shannon said Hi to me and I said, "Hey, are you guys going to hang out by your bus for a while? I have something to give you." He said, "Yeah, sure! We got it covered." Tomo and Matt were all about The Echelonic Lord and Lady, and when they got to Jared, he leapt to his feet and just threw his arms around the guy and said, 'Your'e awesome. Go wait by the bus, I want a picture and we have something for you." Then he signed my CD (who the hell am I going to give this one to? I've given so many away,) and I thanked him, and as I was walking away he said, "Hey! Hey, Bloody Bride!" (Refer to me having my "Escaped bride!" response all worked out.) I went, "Uhh ... yeah?" He said, "Hey, Bloody Bride," (and in a low voice,) "go and wait by the bus, okay?" Me: "Uhh ... Okay!"
Now if this was any other concert, and any other singer and fan but Jared and me, or if I was really hot and had to wonder about things like this, that might have sounded sleazy. But it was Jared and it was me, just the singer luring faithful Echelon into his costume contest. ^_^
So off I went to wait for the guys by their tour bus, in an alley between the club and a warehouse, with huge garbage bins and a loading dock about four feet high that we were all sitting on. There were at least thirty other people there, and I managed to find Janna and Megan again, as well as Katie and her Mom. We decided to wait by the end of the line (we were actually at what we thought was the beginning,) because we figured the crowd would thin out and we could actually say Hi and get some pictures.
Tomo came out first and very quietly said, "I'm sorry guys, but I have somewhere to be. If you'd like to take a picture, I have to do it now." And then he very patiently went down the line saying Hi to everyone and taking a picture with anyone who wanted one. Janna and Megan didn't have a camera, so I got pictures of them. Then Janna took one of me with Tomo. As I went to step up to him I fell into a huge hole in the pavement and almost took him down with me. The picture is blurry--my fault for not telling Janna to hold the button down for a second to let it autofocus.
I thought about handing him the package of necklaces, but he was in such a rush and I didn't want to hold him up. I figured I'd probably catch Matt, because I know that Jared has been going into the bus to work on their video and stuff, and I wasn't sure if Shannon was in the habit of hanging around for too long, either. Jared actually did come out of the bus for a second, got mobbed, and went back in. After a few minutes, Janna nudged me, laughing, and said, "No one knows that's Jared. He's got a mask on." Now, the entire time we was walking by in the bloodied white tux and stupid furry mask, I was staring at the huge garbage bin thinking something along the lines of, "That's a really huge garbage bin. It sure has a lot of garbage in it. I wonder how much. There's probably, like, chairs and tables in there. Jeez, my feet hurt."
Echelonic Lord and Lady showed up, too. We watched Jared get mobbed for a while and I asked, "Should we be, like, mobbing him too? Because it doesn't seem polite." Echelonic Lord said, "Nahh, he'll come over here. He wants to see us." So we waited. And eventually, Jared did come over, and he jumped up onto the loading dock and started giving directions. Unfortunately I was still pretty deaf, but I got the gist of it.
And I thought, "Great, here's where he get executed." But really it was just Jared's costume contest. He made everyone line up and went by applause, the men first. There were some great costumes there, like the werewolf guy and the Dracula guy (Dracula like Bram Stoker's Dracula, with Gary Oldeman.) They didn't have blood on them, but Jared said their costumes were cool enough to qualify. The Echelonic Lord guy was clearly a shoe-in. ;D He won by a mile, which was just the way Jared wanted it. I think he led the applause, actually.
Then it was the girls' turn and I was on the far end, the last one. There was a girl next to me who didn't have a costume or blood on her, and Jared said, "Hey, no costume, no blood, beat it." Everyone went all, "Awwww!" and I leaned over to offer her some of my spare blood." Jared laughed and said, "No cheating! Get back there!" and shoved me back into line. (My suddenly short-circuited brain: "OMGz JERROD FRITO LAYTO SHOVED ME! TEEHEEEE! THAT WAS HOT! God, I disappoint myself. If he wasn't cute and ten pounds lighter than me I might have knocked him off the makeshift stage. ^_~ ) There was another bloody bride there, Missy, with a beautiful gown (not a $20 one from KMart ^_^ ) and loads of blood. She was at the other end and she got tons of applause. The winners were obvious. A good time was had by all.
'Round about this time, Shannon was milling around all the contestants. Echelonic Lord asked me, "Did you get to give them their gifts yet?" I told him I hadn't; they were busy and everyone else was sort of mobbing them and I didn't want to be rude. Echelonic Lord just went, "Okay, hold on." Then he hooked Shannon by the shirt and said, "Excuse me, this girl has something for you."
BZZZZZT!! Is the sound of my brain short-sircuiting again. And not because it's Shannon Frito Layto the famous drummer, but because his eyes were pretty much gold last night and I always--always-choke when I talk to cute guys, whether it's someone I see in the store or, indeed, Shannon Frity Layto. "Uhm, uhm, I, uhh, made these for you guys." I whipped the white necklace out, still in its velvet case ("It's all about presentation," Kim told me,) and basically shoved it at him. "So, uhh, here you go." He glanced at it and said, "Oh, thanks, that's very..." Then he glanced again, then he really looked at it, then he took it out of my hand and said, "Oh, wow. Wow." I said, "So, uhh, I made those and there's four of them in this bag..." which I handed to him. "...You can give the other three to the other guys if you don't mind. Because there's three more." Shannon grabbed my arm and said, "Oh, wow. Thank you." I told him, "You're welcome." And still holding my arm he said, "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." To the point where I had absolutely no words left in my brain aside from, "Uhh ... you're welcome." Then, as he was turning away I managed, "No, thank you for a great show! And wonderful music!" Which is really all I wanted to say, actually.
After Shannon's effusive and sincere thanks, I saw Jared still milling around on the makeshift stage, still sort of getting mobbed. As this was going on, some girl came running down the street screaming at the top of her lungs in very much the same manner that Meghan and I were making fun of on Friday: "BLBLBLBLBAAAAAAA!!!" ANd then--I kid you not, people--"JARED LAYTO! JARED LAYTO!" I saw her doing something with her shirt, so I think she flashed him, but I could be wrong.
Jared turned around and, dude, without missing a beat, said, "Oh, yeah, hey, go have another drink." Rumor has it that Jared can be just slightly straight edge when it comes to stuff like drinking and smoking and whatnot, which is what makes all the comments like "Jared's on crack!" that much more ironic. The comment was a perfectly timed barb and everyone around him busted out laughing. However, I'm pretty sure that was the comment that started all the trouble for him. Because that drunk girl was a package deal, and the other parts were a handful of very aggressive Drunken Retarded Fratboys.
Which is, in fact, why Jared looks so paranoid in the picture he took with me.
Heavens no, it wasn't that dramatic; there were no cut-throat beer fights exactly. It all started to go down during this picture:
As far as how i look in that picture: I had been hoping to keep the nice zen composure mask I had when I first took pics of myself in the hotel room, but for one thing, I was having a weird reaction to the face paint, so one side of my face was itching and burning like mad, and the other side was on Jared, so it was like the rest of my face was between heaven and hell, plus it was 2 AM and so hence the slightly hysterical grin.
As for Jared, I know it looks like I just put my hand on his butt or something like that and startled him, but actually something far worse happened. Just as The Echelonic Lord snapped this pic, the Drunken Retarded Fratboys came down the street and started yelling obscenities at Jared. The things they said were so vulgar I can't even repeat it, and actually so threatening that he made a hasty retreat to their tour bus for a little while until the people left. In all subsequent pictures until those guys quit yelling, he looks paranoid like that. They were shouting some really crazy things to him. It doesn't bear even repeating, but what it came down to was something to the effect of: Jared might get to sleep with his pick of the girls, but afterwards they were going to do some stuff to him.
Jared went totally rigid and started with this kind of mantra: "I have to go. I have to go. I have to go." He was trying to make his way down the stage but those guys were on the road where he was trying to get down, and people were still grabbing him for pictures. I think I yelled that I was going to go down there and punch them in the vagina, or maybe I didn't because I didn't think that a joke like that was appropriate. I know I did lean over the makeshift stage and say something like, "What's your problem, get lost!" The guy yelled back to me that he would fight me for Jared Layto. >_> And then, I'm not sure if it was to me or to pretty much everyone, "If you don't think you're going to get to blah blah blah Jared, just leave right now." Then this one guy I know from the forum yelled down, "Why, is that what you want to do?" And they were all like, "WOOOO! YEAH! JARED LAYTO, BABY!"
It was sickening.
After a few minutes of this, and while the security guards were trying to get rid of that group, Jared made his way back to his bus. Around then, Janna and Megan had to leave. "Those guys ruined it for everyone," Janna said. I told her that they might still be hanging around, and I'd walk with them back to the parking lot instead of going down the street where they'd left. Just as we got to the fence by the lot, I was a few steps behind and I turned around and saw Missy and Echelonic Lord and Lady by the bus and I thought, "They never got their prize." I called out to Janna to tell her I was going back to see those guys, and I guess she didn't hear me because they went back to their car.
I went back to the bus and found that the party was still going on. Jared leaned out of the bus, now in a blue T shirt and a silly hat with a red pompom on the top,(but whatever, he could put dead swer rats on his head and he'd still look good,) and said, "Are those c---s gone yet?"
I hate that word above all words in the English language, but it was nothing compared to what those guys and that girl were saying to him.
I heard a girl behind me say, "I'm trying to get to him, but I can't even see him with Pocahontas in front of me here." I turned around and said, "Yeah, I get that all the time, being Native American." She said, "Well, you have a feather in your hair." I said, "Yeah, well. Native American." She didn't mean anything mean by it, I don't think. ANd I really do get that "Pocahontas" comment frequently, with or without feathers.
Jared disappeared back into the bus with the promise to return with "small tokens" for the winners of the costume contest. Lord and Lady Echelon, and Missy, too, kindly protested that they didn't really need any tokens; that the concert and the pictures and the party were enough. Around this time, Tomo came back and Matt also came outside. He was very apologetic about being late, said he had to wrap up some business in the club. All of a sudden everyone was clamoring for him, too, and I could not believe his patience as he struggled to load a suitcase into the bus and answer his cell phone and talk to ten people at once. For all that he looked like a methodical serial killer onstage, he was just as sweet as you could imagine in street clothes and non-bloody. Jared called him into the bus for a second and told everyone to wait outside. Then he came out without Matt and said, "You're all the Kings and Queens to us tonight, but we did promise a prize to the two of you who won by applause."
Dude and then Matt came out with two white, autographed Fender Strats.
How about a little tongue with your guitar:
*Sigh!* Le Jared. I took a bunch of pictures to send to the winners. I also did manage to tap Jared on the shoulder and say, "I left a gift for all of you guys with Shannon; I hope you get a chance to see it tonight." He said, "Oh, hey, thanks!" Then some girl very cutely tried to give him a balloon animal, much to her friend's chagrin ("No! Don't give him that, it's stupid!") and Jared said with a smile, "Um, you can keep that if you want." And then Shannon came back out. I smiled and he waved, then came over again and said, "Thank you so much." BZZZZT! "Uhhh ... you're welcome. There are four of those. Three more for, you know, three other guys..." And then he just grabbed me and hugged me, probably so that I would shut up. And again I got to say, "Thank you for such an awesome show and party." "No, thank YOU," Shannon said. Now when we do this at work, it could go on for minutes until everyone is giggling, but I have to remind myself that these are not my friends at work, just a band being nice to the people who are nice to them, so I just let him go and said, "You're welcome. I'll be sure to come out and see you guys next time."
Okay, it was a little hairy trying to get a cab at 3:30 in the morning. In the end it was down to me, Missy, Emma, and two other ladies I didn't know. I think their ride home bailed on them. I was starting to get slightly worried, because when I called the cab company the guy asked where I was and when I said, "Electric Factory, 7th Avenue," he said, "But I need an address. See, this is what happens on Halloween, you people go walking around at night and then you don't know where you are." I was digging around in my purse for the address when we got disconnected, and I had to try again. Finally I got through and he said, "We'll send someone out if we have someone in the area." IF?! It's 3:30 AM, I'm on a street corner in the middle of freaking nowhere, there is no if! I tried all different cab companies and no one picked up. Emma and the others had gone off to try to make calls of their own. The other tour buses had all pulled out (the guy from Men, Women and Children hanging off the outside of one of the windows,) and only the 30 Seconds to Mars bus was still there. Basically I just stood out there with the bodyguards, who were still outside by the door, and waited. Emma and the rest came back, and then my cab came around. I said goodnight to them and they asked the cabbie to come back and pick them up afterwards, which he said he would do. He freaking RACED back to the hotel and I thought we were going to die.
When I got in the lobby, 3:45 AM, covered in fake blood and probably with my eyes standing out from my head, the woman behind the counter looked up and "TSK"ed at me. "Uh," I said, "Happy Halloween." She "TSK"ed again and said, "I don't celebrate Halloween. Thanks anyway."
I just had to laugh. Her loss. I celebrate the crap out of that holiday.
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Date: 2006-11-02 05:22 am (UTC)And you looked freakishly hot and gorgeous! Surrender to Nothing! Whooo!
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Date: 2006-11-02 12:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-02 05:56 am (UTC)And your costume rocked ;)
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Date: 2006-11-02 12:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-02 03:06 pm (UTC)Go Bucks!
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Date: 2006-11-02 03:23 pm (UTC)(poor non-Ohioan folk have no clue what that means...)
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Date: 2006-11-02 12:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-02 08:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-03 04:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-03 11:55 am (UTC)whoa
Date: 2006-11-05 08:37 pm (UTC)cant thank you enough for the pics.. i went on the board today and found several of lynn getting his guitar.. and i actually found one someone took of me and jared when it was my turn for applause! YAY!!
are people on the boards ok with you copying pics? It was the only one of me that was taken the whole night besides the one you took with me standing behind the king and queen!
talk to you later
SOOZ