Taste of Chaos indeed
Mar. 25th, 2007 12:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
la_belle_laideSTAND BY FOR TL/DR
So I had really low expectations about last night's concert. Short set, crappy venue, etc, you know the drill. But as it turns out, barring a few stressful asides, it was an awesome concert and an all around awesome night.
Because this is me, you can expect me to begin at the beginning, or at least the beginning that is relevant to me, which is early in the afternoon as my Mom and I went to pick up Jo-chan from school. (Okay, let me speak plainly; her name is Meg, I'm sure most of you know that by now, and I certainly introduced her to enough people last night anyway.) It was a weird feeling, because we picked her up from school the last time we went to a 30 concert together. We took my car and put my iPod on shuffle and talked the whole way. I like driving places with my Ma because then we get to talk and I get to foist all of my favorite songs on her. (Another odd aside: I've noticed that people in my family and social circle never "play a song" for someone else: you "show them a song." Like, "I've got to show you this song that I love.") So I showed my Mom some songs, and then when we picked Meg up, Meg showed us some songs from her iPod. Back home, you can imagine that I was a jittering freak, but I like to think I kept it all chill. Meg had forgotten her 30STM T shirt, and I thought that was actually kinda fortuitous, because I wanted to make one for her. You may remember from my last post that my shirt was the phoenix with my favorite lyric from 30's song "Attack": "Surrender to nothing." It's what I painted on my escaped bride costume for the Halloween concert. That's not my favorite song by a long shot, but it is my favorite that they do live, and I always love to scream those lyrics out like it's my job. Meg picked the phoenix design too, and her favorite lyrics: "It's not a matter of luck, it's just a matter of time" from "Edge of the Earth" (which, incidentally, is my favorite song that they do.) So we made her T shirt and then we painted some gold stuff on there. We didn't know what to do with the negative space: Chinese caligraphy (since 30 is all about CHina these days,) or the Echelon X or some other glyph or symbol? Eventually she settled on the Echelon X and--I kid you not--the Triforce. We LOLled.
Then we had pizza, I got directions to the coliseum, and off we went.
All was going really well and it seemed simple. Exit 39, that gives us tons of time to talk and listen to music, which is just what we did. The word of the day was BOTCH, as in, "get all up in this botch" and "she was being such a botch" and "how the eff are we going to find this botch?" It all started to go to hell when the directions said to turn left onto Old Country Road and I couldn't find the blasted thing. By this time it was already 7:20. Our boys were going on at 9. O_o I pulled over to a 7-11 to get directions and got two seperate sets of directions from two different people, entirely destroying my zen. The one thing that was made clear by both of them: make a left when you come out of here. Just make a left. So I went out and made a left. Directly into one way traffic going the opposite direction. Fortunately there was only one other car and it was far enough away for me to make a sharp U-turn and get onto the right road. The rest of the way was just as frenzied, going through this wacky unfamiliar town, and the guy who gave us final directions neglected to tell us that we needed to make one more right onto another road, so we asked this guy in the car next to us who told us, "OMGz turn here!" And then let us go in front of him.
But eventually we arrived safely, found a good parking spot, and made our merry way into the forum. Meg was totally nervous at this point, but by now I was feeling pretty mellow, thinking, Whatever happens, happens. We gave our general admission (read: moshing pit) tickets, and headed down into the trenches. A long haul into the pit, this trek; endless concrete poorly lit walkways and vomit on the floor. When we got to the end and were getting our mosh-pit wristbands, I could hear one of the opening bands and the crowd going off their nut. I said to the security guy, "God, I'm getting too old for this." He smiled and said, "No you're not," and ushered us in.
A mosh pit in a venue this big looks like how hell has been historically imagined. Meghan was clinging to me and I turned hawkish, watching every circle and corner. I watched the audience for signs of encroachment so much that I might have missed much of what was happening during the concert if Meg hadn't been keeping a sharp eye. We took a spot on the right side (what used to be Matt's side,) not very close to the stage but close enough, and with really good viewing. Also close to the security guard and to the exit, so that we could bail quick if we had to. During Saosin's set, some girl in the seats offered me money for our wristbands. Aha, as if! But then it didn't matter anyway, because the people in the seats closest to us were diving onto the floor anyway. The security guys were going nuts over this, because these kids were just too fast to stop. I realized that we were directly in their line of jumping and I wouldn't put it past any of them to leap right over--or onto--either of us, so we moved a few feet up to where the seats ended and the barricade began. (More on this barricade later.) Now, I get Saosin and Senses Fail mixed up, but it was the band that played two before 30, and I quite liked them. They played a pretty cool sounding song, it had atmosphere. One person in the seats behind us lit a lighter. Everyone else lit their cell phones. I remember going to concerts in the 80s when all you saw were lighters everywhere during the slow songs. Lighters that were nearly blotted out by the cigarette and pot smoke. Now, though: no smoke, clear lights, cell phones everywhere. It was actually quite beautiful. Then Senses Fail came on (or I think it was them; like I said I get them mixed up,) and I didn't like them as much. By this time Meg and I kept looking at the time on my cell phone. 8:20, 8:27, 8:43.
The set of the Taste of Chaos tour revolves: that is, it's built on a revolving stage. So when this band went off, all they had to do was turn the stage around to reveal 30's new set. I like this set ever so much more than their "masked masses / banners" one. This new set actually is reminiscent of my living room, with red lanterns and hanging Chinese charms and banners with kanji calligraphy on them. (For those who dont' know: 30 Seconds To Mars did a video for their song "From Yesterday" and they filmed it in China. It even had Kung Fu in it! So now they are all about Chinese art and myth. And I'd like to add, for the record, that I was all over this style before From Yesterday came along. ;D I could've told you this stuff was cool like ten years ago.) I thought it would be terribly exciting when they turned the stage around, but it really wasn't all that mind-blowing. We waited around for a few minutes while some stupid bimbo sat on some guy's shoulders and flashed her boobs to everyone in the audience. We looked at the time. I told Meghan, "When 30 comes on, don't let the crowd panic you. Have fun, dance, mosh, scream, do whatever you want: no one is going to hurt you. We might get shoved, but that'll be the worst of it. Iv'e got your back and so does this guy here." Indicating the security guy we'd sort of latched onto. Immediately there was a difference. I think I needed to say that to her for both of us, because then we both chilled out and decided that we were just going to have the best possible time, and I felt really safe where we were standing. Meghan had a great view to the stage and so did I.
The lights went down, and the screaming started. After years of seeing shows in clubs exclusively, I'd forgotten how loud an entire forum of screaming people can get. LOUD. Manic. Lights down and the beginning of O Fortuna, which I never miss the opportunity to joke about (Ozzy used it, Michael Jackson used it, it's in eveyr movie in the world, it's played out, etc.) but which still always makes my arm hairs stand up when it starts playing and the lights start flashing. Meghan was giggling her head off out of honest excitement and I thought of myself when I was 14, hearing this same song in this same coliseum, waiting for Ozzy Osbourne to come on, only then it was in high seats miles away from the stage. And even then it still made me scream and leap up. I could imagine what Meghan was feeling just then, so close to the stage, the music so loud, her favorite band about to come storming on ... Onto the stage... At some point. It was really taking a long time. I like to videotape this part but watch it, too (I find that when I don't live things as much when I'm looking through the viewfinder, so I hold the camera over my head,) and I had the camera trained on the stage, wondering where the eff these guys were.
And then Meghan: "Oh, LOOK! LOOK! TURN AROUND!"
The red flags, the cliche red roses, the screaming fangirls all rushing towards this surprising display... Yeah. Knocked my camera out of my hand, hence the sudden darkness. Taste of Chaos indeed.
I don't think I'd write this part on the official board, where younger fans are mocked for their youth and their love of this kind of thing (and I hope I remember to edit this out,) but that high-pitched giggle you hear around 40 seconds in, of unrestrained excitement and joy? Meghan. ^_^
You can't see it from that recording because I edited it in MovieMaker, but after I got jostled by the fangirls and grabbed my camera again, I kept recording ... upside down. BWAHAAA! For those of you who don't have flash or didn't feel like clicking on that video, here's how it went: the guys surprised the bejesus out of all of us by entering through the audience a few yards behind us. Then the went running through the barrier, Jared leading them with a bunch of roses, Shannon and Tim with flags (I think? It happened really fast,) right past us. Hundreds of hands reaching out. Tim went last and I screamed to Meghan, "That's Tim, the new guy!" I wasn't sure how I felt about that, though.
And right into A Beautiful Lie. And so it went. Now you might remember from my last three reviews how impressed I was that Jared stopped the show and asked for the houselights when it looked like someone was getting hurt or getting squished. I was disappointed all three times that the singer has to play babysitter to a crowd of rowdy drunken fools. It didn't occur to me until last night when he did the same exact thing at the same exact point in the show that, well, it was the same exact thing at the same exact point. They all stopped playing at once, maybe just a split second too early before Jared said, "Stop, stop." And then, of course, "Can I have the houselights" and "are you okay are you getting squished can you breathe what-do-you-do-if-someone-falls" etc etc. I started to wonder then: so does someone fall and get squished at exactly this one point during A Beautiful Lie every single night? I totally get that Jared cares about people not getting hurt. And I already think the dude is a good guy. But this is starting to get played out.
Even so, A Beautiful Lie went, well, a little shaky actually. For the first few measures Jared and Shannon were completely out of sync and I was like, "WTF?!" Jared and Shannon out of sync? Does Not Compute." But they righted themselves quickly enough and then it started to go smoothly. I could tell from then on that they were going to be fantastic throughout the rest of the evening. I thought it would be a good show for them. I underestimated. They blew my frigging mind this time.
I've always loved Attack live, beacuse I like when the audience sings along, but most of all I like when Jared says that "this is a song about freedom" and the way he sings "surrender to nothing" and then I get to scream "I AM FINALLY FREE" along with everyone else. But instead of the usual "song about freedom" blahblah, Jared just started screaming "FREEDOM! FREEDOM! FREEDOM!" and there was something so anthemic about it. Earlier I (rightly, I think,) suspected his honesty about people falling down in the pit. I had no suspicions of any kind of insincerity or reliance on cliche when he started doing that. Meghan and I were screaming it along with him. And in the video, you can hear us both: "I AM FINALLY FREE!" Because when you're down there on the floor during a concert by your favorite band, there's nothing else but you and the music and the jumping around madly. Earlier in the night I had told Meghan to jump, scream, mosh, have fun; what I meant was "be free." And then there was me during the second chorus when he sang that line again, spinning in a big circle with my arms spread out, looking at the flashing lights and screaming along with the words. (We actually had the space to do this. We really did choose a perfect spot.)
Then Jared asked if there were any old-school mother-effers in the audience, and I started to raise my hand up and bordered on shouting "WOOOO!" but stopped myself when I realized that I have only liked this band since last Spring and am hardly old-school. But I knew they were going to play something from their first album--my favorite by them--and I got all excited anyway. It was Buddha for Mary and I turned to Meghan and said, "Cover me, boys, I'm goin' in!"
Which just meant that I knew that Jared was going to stage-dive and crowd-walk during this song. What was completely unexpected, though, was him going in shirtless. Meghan and I shared a glance that said, "Okayyyyy....." and I said aloud, "Do you think this is sort of cheap?" to which Meghan replied, laughing, "Maybe. But I can't complain." We did later find out that it was because his shirt had torn and he was backstage trying to change it but then didn't have enough time before he had to start singing, so he just went out shameless and barbaric. It was not easy for him to walk this crowd; I mean, it's a coliseum, you know? But he did take one moment to strike a total Jesus Christ pose after my favorite part of this song: "I DON'T BELIEVE IN GOD!"
See for yourself:
Yes, that is me screaming along with the "I don't believe in god" part. And you might not be able to tell it from that video, but he is standing on people just then; they're all holding him over their heads. I've seen this a million times and it still amazes me. (Or as he said in an interview once: "A 750 pound woman could jump in and the crowd would catch her. When it's a skinny punk like me..." :D )
Oh, then they did Savior. Not a favorite of mine live, but I love the defiant lyrics to this one, and they did a great job. I'd heard that this song was difficult for them to do live, but they didn't seem to have a problem with it last night, because it came across really well.
One of the funniest aspects of this entire night was that, since I've seen this show so often, I can now predict what Jared is going to say and when. So while we were in the car driving to the forum, I told Meg about Jared's "We love you and we're going to come back again and again and again and again and again and..." etc. Which they probably won't. And sure enough he whipped that old standby out as well, and all we could do was laugh and say it along with him. He also pulled out the usual "we love you so effing much and we'll never forget this night, never." Only last night he went on with it into, "never, ever, ever, ever, ever..." and I swear to you, without missing a beat Meg and I turned to each other and did the entire Ling / Chosen One exchange from Kung Pow: "You'll never make it, never, ever make it, never, ever, never make it, don't you see you can't make it!" at exactly the same time. We cracked up, and the two girls standing behind us cracked up as well.
Next came From Yesterday. I've heard them do this at every concert I've seen, and usually Jared doesn't go for the highest notes on this one when he does it live, which actually sounds just as good. It doesn't sacrifice the melody or the intensity, and I have always appreciated the fact that it's not a song you can really do night after night for months without losing your voice. But last night he did it all the way through and hit every note just like in the song. He totally shredded his voice, I thought. I mean, it had to hurt. But holy crap, it sounded so intense. Meg and I were just looking at each other with our jaws on the floor.
After that came another favorite of mine, Battle Of One. This is usually my "mosh a bit and then watch Shannon own music" song. But I could hardly see Shannon this time, so I just moshed out. I was also trying to video this for some reason, and I have no idea why I was bothering with that. You can't dance around like a freak and get a good shot of the show at the same time. So my video of most of that is from the perspective of someone who is moving around a lot and all you see is streaks of light and occasionally a flash of the stage. I shut the camera off, but then looked over to see Meg moshing, too. She wasn't going all out (because her knees were already starting to hurt) but we had more space than we expected so we decided to flail a little. I thought it was so funny that I actually tried to tape both of us flailing around. The result is that we both look slightly manic:
Also, I didn't have that one zoomed in to where it shows actual distance. We were a lot closer than that, and the other videos represent our place in the crowd much better.
Jared went for all the usual notes on this one, too, and he just floored me. It was around this time that I also noticed Tim starting to really get into it. He would come to the front of the stage, plant his foot on the guardrail and mosh his head nearly off. I had a little pang when I saw that, remembering Matt's unique stance and ultra-coolness. But then I decided that I thought Tim was pretty cool, because he looked to be having a great time. Meg told me also that she saw Jared go over to him and goof off with him by shoving his hand in his face when he said "on his face is a map of the world." I missed that part, but I was glad when she said that. More on Tim later.
Then came Meg's favorite, The Fantasy. Before it, Jared asked us all to repeat: "DO YOU LIVE! DO YOU DIE! DO YOU BLEED!" a bunch of times. So many times that Meg and I were compelled to start goofing off again, and we would do a great flourish with our hands everytime he said that. (I've got a great video of that, too, but I've got at least one more to post and I don't want to overdo it. I have to remind myself that there are those of you who are reading this because you know me or Meg or both, and those of you who came here from the 30STM fandom and just want the review of the concert and the music.) Then he introduced the song as, "This song is called The Mother-Effing Fantasy!" We both cracked up at that and commented that we had no idea there was an extended title. Surprisingly--and to my relief--Jared didn't go into the whole "Closer" thing that he usually does. But honestly, they played this song for about ten minutes. It was a fully awesome ten minutes because this song owns when they do it live.
Also during this, Jared started yelling, "HEY! HEY! HEY! HEY!" in a very soviet kind of rhythm. Meghan slayed me by crossing her arms over her chest and kicking her legs in that cliche Russian Folk Dance kind of way, which pretty much wrecked her knees for the rest of the night (she had a tough time with the stairs later on,) but it was hilarious when she did it. I tried to video that but it was too dark.
And then it was time for what is usually the biggest number of the night, The Kill. I'm not cutting this because if you watch no other video in this writeup, this is the one to watch. Okay, so I get that this is a controversial song because it signaled some change in the band from old-school to sell-out or whatever, or that it brought in a lot of unwanted fans (the biggest stigma in 30STM fandom: "BROUGHT IN BY THE KILL!") Hey, too bad. This is the song that got me into this band, and aside from that, it's an awesome song. Call it what you like: mediocre, common, radio-friendly, whatever. The song is masterful. The video is masterful. And I love it when they play this one live, because the entire audience sings along and the group vibe is really strong. Jared made us wait forever with this one. "THIS SONG!!!" (pause) "IS CALLED!!!!!" And I swear to you, he stood there dramatically with his arms crossed over his chest for about two whole minutes like he was waiting for some sort of acknowledgment or something. And then, just like he did on Halloween: "Shhhhhh!" (Which cracks me up every time.) "THE KILL!" And this is everyone's cue to go totally off their collective nut.
Usually Jared does a stage dive during this song; occasionally he does something dangerous and just goes running through the audience. But this is a HUGE venue so I wasn't counting on anything like that. And I admittedly got a teeny bit worried when all of a sudden he disappeared from sight. One second he was on stage, the next he was gone. I joked with Meg, "Uh uh, man down. J's out of sight." Meg leaned up against the guard rail and said, "Oh my god! There! There!" And lo: Jared, way the hell across the stadium, standing up on the barricade on the other side. He was still singing, too, it was like he just emerged out of the depths. For a second I said to myself, "Huh, no fair: how come the folks on that side get their own personal show?" And then, like a second later my brain said, "Oh ... Wait. Jared. This freight train's going all the way around."
And then my camera batteries died.
BUT!! I knew it would take him a few seconds to get all the way around, so I shut my camera off, quickly "fooled" the batteries by switching them, closed it back up and turned it back on. And just in time for this:
Seriously, he hopped up onto the easily-four-foot high barrier like he was a little cricket--DOINK!--off of one foot and landed with perfect balance. When I saw it, I thought I must have seen it wrong. But when I watch the video back, I can see him take that leap up there like he was Peter Frigging Pan. Does gravity not matter? During this time it also occured to me that there's something reptilian about Jared Leto. The slow blink, the flick of the tongue, and in all honesty, how he stops you dead when he turns his basilisk eyes toward you. I know I've said this before, but pictures and videos don't do him justice. He's all crazy eyes, white teeth and sharp jaw, and he doesn't have pores. Totally unnatural.
Back up on stage he was all drama, head down and emo fringe over his eyes, head thrown back and "worship me" pose. I think he's like a psychic vampire sometimes; he feeds off the group vibe, and negativity probably gives him aura-indigestion. ;D
They finished with about 45 seconds of that "new" song they've been "introducing" for a few years, but the intro was just Shannon and Tomo and Matt going "BANG BANG BANG" and Jared yelling "JUMP JUMP JUMP" like in that hip-hop song. Jared was jumping and Tim was doing that moshing thing of his and Tomo was whirling all around, pulled by the centrifugal force of his guitar. I can't imagine how he doesn't crash into things when he does that, like for instance the other guys in the band. Tomo was all OVER this botch last night: here, there, this other place, switching places with Tim, throwing himself to the side, the back, the front. I'd heard he's been sick, but he must have been feeling better last night. He was a joy.
I have always snobbishly maintained that there is an actual ending to O Fortuna which is also exciting and dramatic and all of that, and why did everyone always leave it out when they use the beginning of the song? Last night, that was their exit music and I was very gratified.
The Used came on next, but we didn't have any interest in seeing them. Our guys were finished. Next for us, it was time to look for the signing that was not to be. We hung around in Dooley's drinking water, wondering if maybe one of the guys would wander in. We walked around the coliseum asking if there was going to be a signing. I bought us each a really awesome T shirt which I will wear to Kung Fu, and I bought SB the Taste of Chaos double CD set. We went back downstairs. There we met up with an Echelon girl and her BF who were also looking for the signing. I vaguely "knew" the girl from the official board, and we chatted a while about the state of the boards (dismal) and how people act at concerts (confrontational.) Her BF was really sweet, he said that he didn't understand why people had to be rude at concerts, when ideally music is supposed to bring people together. He said some guy had tried to start a fight with him. I was glad then that Meg and I had stood where we stood, because we missed all of that stuff. Anyway, so these nice two folks said that they were pretty sure there wasn't going to be a signing, but that the whole thing about the buses being locked away and inaccessible was a crock, and they kindly pointed us in the direction of the buses. Only thing was, once you leave the venue, there's no going back in. So we decided to go out and look for the buses, but to give it a few minutes. We went back to Dooley's. I was looking around the empty bar and saying, "This is so not a 30 Seconds to Mars hangout." Then this little blond girl started talking to us, saying that she really only barely knew of 30 Seconds to Mars and her boyfriend brought her to this show, and she was waiting for him but in the meantime she was all alone. She was actually totally sweet, although I did wonder what she wanted. Around this time I started to get the very strong feeling that we were in the wrong place at the wrong time yet again. Honestly, I felt it in my gut. I told her, "We're waiting for a signing or a place to take pictures ... I don't think this is it. I'm just trying to follow my zen." She said, "I like that, 'follow your zen.' Where does your zen say you should go?" I told her, "Outside, man. Outside."
So out we went. There, we met another girl from the boards, JeT'aime30STM (I won't give her real name.) She was doing promo and handing out stickers, and she kindly pointed us in the direction of the buses. She said she was hoping to go and try to hang out there too, once she was done handing out all her stickers (and there were hundreds of them. "Dude," I joked, "gimme a hundred, let's get back there!" She laughed and said she couldn't, but she'd meet us there.) So off Meg and I went towards the buses. On our way we passed a group of hyperventilating fangirls squealing about JARED LEEEEETO! I swear to you. "I HUGGED JARED LEEETO!" and her friend actually corrected her: "OH MY GOD! It's LEH-TO! GOD!" And then, "He just drove off with the drummer and some other people!" Ugh, oh GREAT! So already Jared and Shannon have left! But maybe not? We decided to hang around anyway.
So we went the buses and we hung. And hung. And hung. The guys from Chiodos came out of their bus and did an impromptu acoustic set. That's a nice gesture, guys, but you're not 30 Seconds to Mars. (Although "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is always fun.) Meg and I stood around, still kind of excited and hopeful. I had the gut feeling that we really had already missed Jared and Shannon--and probably Tomo, because he does tend to bugger off to do his own thing sometimes--but I decided to try to hone in on my zen anyway. Just chill. Be in the moment. Have fun. Look around. Turn around.
I did turn around, and there was Tim, walking among a group of Echelon kids who had no idea who he was. I poked Meghan and said, "Meg, turn around!" Tim saw us look at him and totally stopped dead. I'm not sure if his stunned look was because no one else had recognized him or if it was because he didn't want to be recognized. Regardless, he was kind enough to come walking over. I told him, "Hi, Tim. You guys did a great show, fantastic." He seemed a little surprised for some reason, he said, "Oh! Well, thank you so much." I told him, "We had such an awesome time and you did a great job. Thank you for..." Awkward pause. For what? For replacing Matt? For filling in temporarily? "Well, uhh... thank you for a great show." At this point I realized with no small amount of surprise that as we continued walking, we were suddenly holding hands. My right arm was linked with Meg's, my left hand was holding his hand. I swear to all and sundry that I have no idea how this happened but I think we were just going to shake hands and got switched up and then it just stayed like that for some reason. I said, "So, are you guys going to come back out and hang around a while?" We were walking and talking at this point, and when he went to answer me, he thoroughly endeared himself to me by walking into a low hanging branch of a tree and knocking his hat off. It was hilarious, and I turned to the tree and said, "Hey! Watch where the eff you're blowing, tree!" He laughed, dusted himself off and said, "The other guys already left for NYC. They had a meeting with their reps or something." And then I crassly said, "What, without you?" for which I am mortally embarrassed. "Yeah, it's the Virgin Records reps. They had to leave early. I extend my apologies from the other guys; we're really sorry they couldn't hang around." I immediately felt really bad and as if I had put him on the spot. I said, "That's cool; no worries at all, no worries. But thanks again for a great show and thanks for stopping to say hi." Then he hugged me, and then he hugged Meghan, which was the best thing ever. After he left, Meghan was just glowing; saying, "I'm so happy. This is the best adventure. I love this whole night. I miss Matt so much, but I like that guy."
I like that guy, too. And yeah, I found myself missing Matt, still.
I also found myself missing that feeling that the four guys were all kind of linked up, that whole North-South-East-West, Water-Wind-Fire-Earth, 4=1 feeling that used to resonate. The three guys leaving without the new guy, the feeling that Tim is temporary, that maybe Matt will never be replaced and they'll just have a revolving door of bassists. I could be reading too much into it, but Jared once said that the four of them "fell in love with each other" and I couldn't help but feel like this new dude was left out of that whole vibe. Meghan pointed out that the stickers that they gave out perforate exactly where the picture of Matt begins. Weird, huh?
But not as weird as how effing LOST we got going home.
We said goodnight to JeT'aime and her friend. JeT'aime, if you're reading, you are a sugar pie. ^_^ In the parking lot, I met up with Mizzy (the Queen of the Blood Ball, some of you might remember) and some other Echelon who rode here in an Echelon Car, I kid you not. We chatted for a few minutes. It was really nice to see Mizzy again, and not covered in blood. Then we got into the car and I left through the wrong exit. We rode around in a strange ghetto town for like twenty minutes, stopped in a gas station for directions (which no one could give us,) and then finally I saw a cop on the side of the road and I pulled over. He told us we were on the right track. I thanked him, told him how cute he was (because he was,) and then off we drove. We didn't get home till 1:20; later, I think, than when we saw them in the city.
And of course I have some pics, but very few. The camera is really crappy from a distance, and the ones of J that I got are capped from MovieMaker.
The whole thing was so entirely worth it. Actually, what really made it worth it to me was how happy Meghan was with the whole experience. On the way home, she talked about how she can't wait until they come around on tour again, and it doesn't matter where and when it is; she'll be there. She loved the whole night. She did really want to meet the other three guys--and I hope that next time she gets her chance because they really are a joy--but for just then it was all it was supposed to be and tons more.
So I had really low expectations about last night's concert. Short set, crappy venue, etc, you know the drill. But as it turns out, barring a few stressful asides, it was an awesome concert and an all around awesome night.
Because this is me, you can expect me to begin at the beginning, or at least the beginning that is relevant to me, which is early in the afternoon as my Mom and I went to pick up Jo-chan from school. (Okay, let me speak plainly; her name is Meg, I'm sure most of you know that by now, and I certainly introduced her to enough people last night anyway.) It was a weird feeling, because we picked her up from school the last time we went to a 30 concert together. We took my car and put my iPod on shuffle and talked the whole way. I like driving places with my Ma because then we get to talk and I get to foist all of my favorite songs on her. (Another odd aside: I've noticed that people in my family and social circle never "play a song" for someone else: you "show them a song." Like, "I've got to show you this song that I love.") So I showed my Mom some songs, and then when we picked Meg up, Meg showed us some songs from her iPod. Back home, you can imagine that I was a jittering freak, but I like to think I kept it all chill. Meg had forgotten her 30STM T shirt, and I thought that was actually kinda fortuitous, because I wanted to make one for her. You may remember from my last post that my shirt was the phoenix with my favorite lyric from 30's song "Attack": "Surrender to nothing." It's what I painted on my escaped bride costume for the Halloween concert. That's not my favorite song by a long shot, but it is my favorite that they do live, and I always love to scream those lyrics out like it's my job. Meg picked the phoenix design too, and her favorite lyrics: "It's not a matter of luck, it's just a matter of time" from "Edge of the Earth" (which, incidentally, is my favorite song that they do.) So we made her T shirt and then we painted some gold stuff on there. We didn't know what to do with the negative space: Chinese caligraphy (since 30 is all about CHina these days,) or the Echelon X or some other glyph or symbol? Eventually she settled on the Echelon X and--I kid you not--the Triforce. We LOLled.
Then we had pizza, I got directions to the coliseum, and off we went.
All was going really well and it seemed simple. Exit 39, that gives us tons of time to talk and listen to music, which is just what we did. The word of the day was BOTCH, as in, "get all up in this botch" and "she was being such a botch" and "how the eff are we going to find this botch?" It all started to go to hell when the directions said to turn left onto Old Country Road and I couldn't find the blasted thing. By this time it was already 7:20. Our boys were going on at 9. O_o I pulled over to a 7-11 to get directions and got two seperate sets of directions from two different people, entirely destroying my zen. The one thing that was made clear by both of them: make a left when you come out of here. Just make a left. So I went out and made a left. Directly into one way traffic going the opposite direction. Fortunately there was only one other car and it was far enough away for me to make a sharp U-turn and get onto the right road. The rest of the way was just as frenzied, going through this wacky unfamiliar town, and the guy who gave us final directions neglected to tell us that we needed to make one more right onto another road, so we asked this guy in the car next to us who told us, "OMGz turn here!" And then let us go in front of him.
But eventually we arrived safely, found a good parking spot, and made our merry way into the forum. Meg was totally nervous at this point, but by now I was feeling pretty mellow, thinking, Whatever happens, happens. We gave our general admission (read: moshing pit) tickets, and headed down into the trenches. A long haul into the pit, this trek; endless concrete poorly lit walkways and vomit on the floor. When we got to the end and were getting our mosh-pit wristbands, I could hear one of the opening bands and the crowd going off their nut. I said to the security guy, "God, I'm getting too old for this." He smiled and said, "No you're not," and ushered us in.
A mosh pit in a venue this big looks like how hell has been historically imagined. Meghan was clinging to me and I turned hawkish, watching every circle and corner. I watched the audience for signs of encroachment so much that I might have missed much of what was happening during the concert if Meg hadn't been keeping a sharp eye. We took a spot on the right side (what used to be Matt's side,) not very close to the stage but close enough, and with really good viewing. Also close to the security guard and to the exit, so that we could bail quick if we had to. During Saosin's set, some girl in the seats offered me money for our wristbands. Aha, as if! But then it didn't matter anyway, because the people in the seats closest to us were diving onto the floor anyway. The security guys were going nuts over this, because these kids were just too fast to stop. I realized that we were directly in their line of jumping and I wouldn't put it past any of them to leap right over--or onto--either of us, so we moved a few feet up to where the seats ended and the barricade began. (More on this barricade later.) Now, I get Saosin and Senses Fail mixed up, but it was the band that played two before 30, and I quite liked them. They played a pretty cool sounding song, it had atmosphere. One person in the seats behind us lit a lighter. Everyone else lit their cell phones. I remember going to concerts in the 80s when all you saw were lighters everywhere during the slow songs. Lighters that were nearly blotted out by the cigarette and pot smoke. Now, though: no smoke, clear lights, cell phones everywhere. It was actually quite beautiful. Then Senses Fail came on (or I think it was them; like I said I get them mixed up,) and I didn't like them as much. By this time Meg and I kept looking at the time on my cell phone. 8:20, 8:27, 8:43.
The set of the Taste of Chaos tour revolves: that is, it's built on a revolving stage. So when this band went off, all they had to do was turn the stage around to reveal 30's new set. I like this set ever so much more than their "masked masses / banners" one. This new set actually is reminiscent of my living room, with red lanterns and hanging Chinese charms and banners with kanji calligraphy on them. (For those who dont' know: 30 Seconds To Mars did a video for their song "From Yesterday" and they filmed it in China. It even had Kung Fu in it! So now they are all about Chinese art and myth. And I'd like to add, for the record, that I was all over this style before From Yesterday came along. ;D I could've told you this stuff was cool like ten years ago.) I thought it would be terribly exciting when they turned the stage around, but it really wasn't all that mind-blowing. We waited around for a few minutes while some stupid bimbo sat on some guy's shoulders and flashed her boobs to everyone in the audience. We looked at the time. I told Meghan, "When 30 comes on, don't let the crowd panic you. Have fun, dance, mosh, scream, do whatever you want: no one is going to hurt you. We might get shoved, but that'll be the worst of it. Iv'e got your back and so does this guy here." Indicating the security guy we'd sort of latched onto. Immediately there was a difference. I think I needed to say that to her for both of us, because then we both chilled out and decided that we were just going to have the best possible time, and I felt really safe where we were standing. Meghan had a great view to the stage and so did I.
The lights went down, and the screaming started. After years of seeing shows in clubs exclusively, I'd forgotten how loud an entire forum of screaming people can get. LOUD. Manic. Lights down and the beginning of O Fortuna, which I never miss the opportunity to joke about (Ozzy used it, Michael Jackson used it, it's in eveyr movie in the world, it's played out, etc.) but which still always makes my arm hairs stand up when it starts playing and the lights start flashing. Meghan was giggling her head off out of honest excitement and I thought of myself when I was 14, hearing this same song in this same coliseum, waiting for Ozzy Osbourne to come on, only then it was in high seats miles away from the stage. And even then it still made me scream and leap up. I could imagine what Meghan was feeling just then, so close to the stage, the music so loud, her favorite band about to come storming on ... Onto the stage... At some point. It was really taking a long time. I like to videotape this part but watch it, too (I find that when I don't live things as much when I'm looking through the viewfinder, so I hold the camera over my head,) and I had the camera trained on the stage, wondering where the eff these guys were.
And then Meghan: "Oh, LOOK! LOOK! TURN AROUND!"
The red flags, the cliche red roses, the screaming fangirls all rushing towards this surprising display... Yeah. Knocked my camera out of my hand, hence the sudden darkness. Taste of Chaos indeed.
I don't think I'd write this part on the official board, where younger fans are mocked for their youth and their love of this kind of thing (and I hope I remember to edit this out,) but that high-pitched giggle you hear around 40 seconds in, of unrestrained excitement and joy? Meghan. ^_^
You can't see it from that recording because I edited it in MovieMaker, but after I got jostled by the fangirls and grabbed my camera again, I kept recording ... upside down. BWAHAAA! For those of you who don't have flash or didn't feel like clicking on that video, here's how it went: the guys surprised the bejesus out of all of us by entering through the audience a few yards behind us. Then the went running through the barrier, Jared leading them with a bunch of roses, Shannon and Tim with flags (I think? It happened really fast,) right past us. Hundreds of hands reaching out. Tim went last and I screamed to Meghan, "That's Tim, the new guy!" I wasn't sure how I felt about that, though.
And right into A Beautiful Lie. And so it went. Now you might remember from my last three reviews how impressed I was that Jared stopped the show and asked for the houselights when it looked like someone was getting hurt or getting squished. I was disappointed all three times that the singer has to play babysitter to a crowd of rowdy drunken fools. It didn't occur to me until last night when he did the same exact thing at the same exact point in the show that, well, it was the same exact thing at the same exact point. They all stopped playing at once, maybe just a split second too early before Jared said, "Stop, stop." And then, of course, "Can I have the houselights" and "are you okay are you getting squished can you breathe what-do-you-do-if-someone-falls" etc etc. I started to wonder then: so does someone fall and get squished at exactly this one point during A Beautiful Lie every single night? I totally get that Jared cares about people not getting hurt. And I already think the dude is a good guy. But this is starting to get played out.
Even so, A Beautiful Lie went, well, a little shaky actually. For the first few measures Jared and Shannon were completely out of sync and I was like, "WTF?!" Jared and Shannon out of sync? Does Not Compute." But they righted themselves quickly enough and then it started to go smoothly. I could tell from then on that they were going to be fantastic throughout the rest of the evening. I thought it would be a good show for them. I underestimated. They blew my frigging mind this time.
I've always loved Attack live, beacuse I like when the audience sings along, but most of all I like when Jared says that "this is a song about freedom" and the way he sings "surrender to nothing" and then I get to scream "I AM FINALLY FREE" along with everyone else. But instead of the usual "song about freedom" blahblah, Jared just started screaming "FREEDOM! FREEDOM! FREEDOM!" and there was something so anthemic about it. Earlier I (rightly, I think,) suspected his honesty about people falling down in the pit. I had no suspicions of any kind of insincerity or reliance on cliche when he started doing that. Meghan and I were screaming it along with him. And in the video, you can hear us both: "I AM FINALLY FREE!" Because when you're down there on the floor during a concert by your favorite band, there's nothing else but you and the music and the jumping around madly. Earlier in the night I had told Meghan to jump, scream, mosh, have fun; what I meant was "be free." And then there was me during the second chorus when he sang that line again, spinning in a big circle with my arms spread out, looking at the flashing lights and screaming along with the words. (We actually had the space to do this. We really did choose a perfect spot.)
Then Jared asked if there were any old-school mother-effers in the audience, and I started to raise my hand up and bordered on shouting "WOOOO!" but stopped myself when I realized that I have only liked this band since last Spring and am hardly old-school. But I knew they were going to play something from their first album--my favorite by them--and I got all excited anyway. It was Buddha for Mary and I turned to Meghan and said, "Cover me, boys, I'm goin' in!"
Which just meant that I knew that Jared was going to stage-dive and crowd-walk during this song. What was completely unexpected, though, was him going in shirtless. Meghan and I shared a glance that said, "Okayyyyy....." and I said aloud, "Do you think this is sort of cheap?" to which Meghan replied, laughing, "Maybe. But I can't complain." We did later find out that it was because his shirt had torn and he was backstage trying to change it but then didn't have enough time before he had to start singing, so he just went out shameless and barbaric. It was not easy for him to walk this crowd; I mean, it's a coliseum, you know? But he did take one moment to strike a total Jesus Christ pose after my favorite part of this song: "I DON'T BELIEVE IN GOD!"
See for yourself:
Yes, that is me screaming along with the "I don't believe in god" part. And you might not be able to tell it from that video, but he is standing on people just then; they're all holding him over their heads. I've seen this a million times and it still amazes me. (Or as he said in an interview once: "A 750 pound woman could jump in and the crowd would catch her. When it's a skinny punk like me..." :D )
Oh, then they did Savior. Not a favorite of mine live, but I love the defiant lyrics to this one, and they did a great job. I'd heard that this song was difficult for them to do live, but they didn't seem to have a problem with it last night, because it came across really well.
One of the funniest aspects of this entire night was that, since I've seen this show so often, I can now predict what Jared is going to say and when. So while we were in the car driving to the forum, I told Meg about Jared's "We love you and we're going to come back again and again and again and again and again and..." etc. Which they probably won't. And sure enough he whipped that old standby out as well, and all we could do was laugh and say it along with him. He also pulled out the usual "we love you so effing much and we'll never forget this night, never." Only last night he went on with it into, "never, ever, ever, ever, ever..." and I swear to you, without missing a beat Meg and I turned to each other and did the entire Ling / Chosen One exchange from Kung Pow: "You'll never make it, never, ever make it, never, ever, never make it, don't you see you can't make it!" at exactly the same time. We cracked up, and the two girls standing behind us cracked up as well.
Next came From Yesterday. I've heard them do this at every concert I've seen, and usually Jared doesn't go for the highest notes on this one when he does it live, which actually sounds just as good. It doesn't sacrifice the melody or the intensity, and I have always appreciated the fact that it's not a song you can really do night after night for months without losing your voice. But last night he did it all the way through and hit every note just like in the song. He totally shredded his voice, I thought. I mean, it had to hurt. But holy crap, it sounded so intense. Meg and I were just looking at each other with our jaws on the floor.
After that came another favorite of mine, Battle Of One. This is usually my "mosh a bit and then watch Shannon own music" song. But I could hardly see Shannon this time, so I just moshed out. I was also trying to video this for some reason, and I have no idea why I was bothering with that. You can't dance around like a freak and get a good shot of the show at the same time. So my video of most of that is from the perspective of someone who is moving around a lot and all you see is streaks of light and occasionally a flash of the stage. I shut the camera off, but then looked over to see Meg moshing, too. She wasn't going all out (because her knees were already starting to hurt) but we had more space than we expected so we decided to flail a little. I thought it was so funny that I actually tried to tape both of us flailing around. The result is that we both look slightly manic:
Also, I didn't have that one zoomed in to where it shows actual distance. We were a lot closer than that, and the other videos represent our place in the crowd much better.
Jared went for all the usual notes on this one, too, and he just floored me. It was around this time that I also noticed Tim starting to really get into it. He would come to the front of the stage, plant his foot on the guardrail and mosh his head nearly off. I had a little pang when I saw that, remembering Matt's unique stance and ultra-coolness. But then I decided that I thought Tim was pretty cool, because he looked to be having a great time. Meg told me also that she saw Jared go over to him and goof off with him by shoving his hand in his face when he said "on his face is a map of the world." I missed that part, but I was glad when she said that. More on Tim later.
Then came Meg's favorite, The Fantasy. Before it, Jared asked us all to repeat: "DO YOU LIVE! DO YOU DIE! DO YOU BLEED!" a bunch of times. So many times that Meg and I were compelled to start goofing off again, and we would do a great flourish with our hands everytime he said that. (I've got a great video of that, too, but I've got at least one more to post and I don't want to overdo it. I have to remind myself that there are those of you who are reading this because you know me or Meg or both, and those of you who came here from the 30STM fandom and just want the review of the concert and the music.) Then he introduced the song as, "This song is called The Mother-Effing Fantasy!" We both cracked up at that and commented that we had no idea there was an extended title. Surprisingly--and to my relief--Jared didn't go into the whole "Closer" thing that he usually does. But honestly, they played this song for about ten minutes. It was a fully awesome ten minutes because this song owns when they do it live.
Also during this, Jared started yelling, "HEY! HEY! HEY! HEY!" in a very soviet kind of rhythm. Meghan slayed me by crossing her arms over her chest and kicking her legs in that cliche Russian Folk Dance kind of way, which pretty much wrecked her knees for the rest of the night (she had a tough time with the stairs later on,) but it was hilarious when she did it. I tried to video that but it was too dark.
And then it was time for what is usually the biggest number of the night, The Kill. I'm not cutting this because if you watch no other video in this writeup, this is the one to watch. Okay, so I get that this is a controversial song because it signaled some change in the band from old-school to sell-out or whatever, or that it brought in a lot of unwanted fans (the biggest stigma in 30STM fandom: "BROUGHT IN BY THE KILL!") Hey, too bad. This is the song that got me into this band, and aside from that, it's an awesome song. Call it what you like: mediocre, common, radio-friendly, whatever. The song is masterful. The video is masterful. And I love it when they play this one live, because the entire audience sings along and the group vibe is really strong. Jared made us wait forever with this one. "THIS SONG!!!" (pause) "IS CALLED!!!!!" And I swear to you, he stood there dramatically with his arms crossed over his chest for about two whole minutes like he was waiting for some sort of acknowledgment or something. And then, just like he did on Halloween: "Shhhhhh!" (Which cracks me up every time.) "THE KILL!" And this is everyone's cue to go totally off their collective nut.
Usually Jared does a stage dive during this song; occasionally he does something dangerous and just goes running through the audience. But this is a HUGE venue so I wasn't counting on anything like that. And I admittedly got a teeny bit worried when all of a sudden he disappeared from sight. One second he was on stage, the next he was gone. I joked with Meg, "Uh uh, man down. J's out of sight." Meg leaned up against the guard rail and said, "Oh my god! There! There!" And lo: Jared, way the hell across the stadium, standing up on the barricade on the other side. He was still singing, too, it was like he just emerged out of the depths. For a second I said to myself, "Huh, no fair: how come the folks on that side get their own personal show?" And then, like a second later my brain said, "Oh ... Wait. Jared. This freight train's going all the way around."
And then my camera batteries died.
BUT!! I knew it would take him a few seconds to get all the way around, so I shut my camera off, quickly "fooled" the batteries by switching them, closed it back up and turned it back on. And just in time for this:
Seriously, he hopped up onto the easily-four-foot high barrier like he was a little cricket--DOINK!--off of one foot and landed with perfect balance. When I saw it, I thought I must have seen it wrong. But when I watch the video back, I can see him take that leap up there like he was Peter Frigging Pan. Does gravity not matter? During this time it also occured to me that there's something reptilian about Jared Leto. The slow blink, the flick of the tongue, and in all honesty, how he stops you dead when he turns his basilisk eyes toward you. I know I've said this before, but pictures and videos don't do him justice. He's all crazy eyes, white teeth and sharp jaw, and he doesn't have pores. Totally unnatural.
Back up on stage he was all drama, head down and emo fringe over his eyes, head thrown back and "worship me" pose. I think he's like a psychic vampire sometimes; he feeds off the group vibe, and negativity probably gives him aura-indigestion. ;D
They finished with about 45 seconds of that "new" song they've been "introducing" for a few years, but the intro was just Shannon and Tomo and Matt going "BANG BANG BANG" and Jared yelling "JUMP JUMP JUMP" like in that hip-hop song. Jared was jumping and Tim was doing that moshing thing of his and Tomo was whirling all around, pulled by the centrifugal force of his guitar. I can't imagine how he doesn't crash into things when he does that, like for instance the other guys in the band. Tomo was all OVER this botch last night: here, there, this other place, switching places with Tim, throwing himself to the side, the back, the front. I'd heard he's been sick, but he must have been feeling better last night. He was a joy.
I have always snobbishly maintained that there is an actual ending to O Fortuna which is also exciting and dramatic and all of that, and why did everyone always leave it out when they use the beginning of the song? Last night, that was their exit music and I was very gratified.
The Used came on next, but we didn't have any interest in seeing them. Our guys were finished. Next for us, it was time to look for the signing that was not to be. We hung around in Dooley's drinking water, wondering if maybe one of the guys would wander in. We walked around the coliseum asking if there was going to be a signing. I bought us each a really awesome T shirt which I will wear to Kung Fu, and I bought SB the Taste of Chaos double CD set. We went back downstairs. There we met up with an Echelon girl and her BF who were also looking for the signing. I vaguely "knew" the girl from the official board, and we chatted a while about the state of the boards (dismal) and how people act at concerts (confrontational.) Her BF was really sweet, he said that he didn't understand why people had to be rude at concerts, when ideally music is supposed to bring people together. He said some guy had tried to start a fight with him. I was glad then that Meg and I had stood where we stood, because we missed all of that stuff. Anyway, so these nice two folks said that they were pretty sure there wasn't going to be a signing, but that the whole thing about the buses being locked away and inaccessible was a crock, and they kindly pointed us in the direction of the buses. Only thing was, once you leave the venue, there's no going back in. So we decided to go out and look for the buses, but to give it a few minutes. We went back to Dooley's. I was looking around the empty bar and saying, "This is so not a 30 Seconds to Mars hangout." Then this little blond girl started talking to us, saying that she really only barely knew of 30 Seconds to Mars and her boyfriend brought her to this show, and she was waiting for him but in the meantime she was all alone. She was actually totally sweet, although I did wonder what she wanted. Around this time I started to get the very strong feeling that we were in the wrong place at the wrong time yet again. Honestly, I felt it in my gut. I told her, "We're waiting for a signing or a place to take pictures ... I don't think this is it. I'm just trying to follow my zen." She said, "I like that, 'follow your zen.' Where does your zen say you should go?" I told her, "Outside, man. Outside."
So out we went. There, we met another girl from the boards, JeT'aime30STM (I won't give her real name.) She was doing promo and handing out stickers, and she kindly pointed us in the direction of the buses. She said she was hoping to go and try to hang out there too, once she was done handing out all her stickers (and there were hundreds of them. "Dude," I joked, "gimme a hundred, let's get back there!" She laughed and said she couldn't, but she'd meet us there.) So off Meg and I went towards the buses. On our way we passed a group of hyperventilating fangirls squealing about JARED LEEEEETO! I swear to you. "I HUGGED JARED LEEETO!" and her friend actually corrected her: "OH MY GOD! It's LEH-TO! GOD!" And then, "He just drove off with the drummer and some other people!" Ugh, oh GREAT! So already Jared and Shannon have left! But maybe not? We decided to hang around anyway.
So we went the buses and we hung. And hung. And hung. The guys from Chiodos came out of their bus and did an impromptu acoustic set. That's a nice gesture, guys, but you're not 30 Seconds to Mars. (Although "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is always fun.) Meg and I stood around, still kind of excited and hopeful. I had the gut feeling that we really had already missed Jared and Shannon--and probably Tomo, because he does tend to bugger off to do his own thing sometimes--but I decided to try to hone in on my zen anyway. Just chill. Be in the moment. Have fun. Look around. Turn around.
I did turn around, and there was Tim, walking among a group of Echelon kids who had no idea who he was. I poked Meghan and said, "Meg, turn around!" Tim saw us look at him and totally stopped dead. I'm not sure if his stunned look was because no one else had recognized him or if it was because he didn't want to be recognized. Regardless, he was kind enough to come walking over. I told him, "Hi, Tim. You guys did a great show, fantastic." He seemed a little surprised for some reason, he said, "Oh! Well, thank you so much." I told him, "We had such an awesome time and you did a great job. Thank you for..." Awkward pause. For what? For replacing Matt? For filling in temporarily? "Well, uhh... thank you for a great show." At this point I realized with no small amount of surprise that as we continued walking, we were suddenly holding hands. My right arm was linked with Meg's, my left hand was holding his hand. I swear to all and sundry that I have no idea how this happened but I think we were just going to shake hands and got switched up and then it just stayed like that for some reason. I said, "So, are you guys going to come back out and hang around a while?" We were walking and talking at this point, and when he went to answer me, he thoroughly endeared himself to me by walking into a low hanging branch of a tree and knocking his hat off. It was hilarious, and I turned to the tree and said, "Hey! Watch where the eff you're blowing, tree!" He laughed, dusted himself off and said, "The other guys already left for NYC. They had a meeting with their reps or something." And then I crassly said, "What, without you?" for which I am mortally embarrassed. "Yeah, it's the Virgin Records reps. They had to leave early. I extend my apologies from the other guys; we're really sorry they couldn't hang around." I immediately felt really bad and as if I had put him on the spot. I said, "That's cool; no worries at all, no worries. But thanks again for a great show and thanks for stopping to say hi." Then he hugged me, and then he hugged Meghan, which was the best thing ever. After he left, Meghan was just glowing; saying, "I'm so happy. This is the best adventure. I love this whole night. I miss Matt so much, but I like that guy."
I like that guy, too. And yeah, I found myself missing Matt, still.
I also found myself missing that feeling that the four guys were all kind of linked up, that whole North-South-East-West, Water-Wind-Fire-Earth, 4=1 feeling that used to resonate. The three guys leaving without the new guy, the feeling that Tim is temporary, that maybe Matt will never be replaced and they'll just have a revolving door of bassists. I could be reading too much into it, but Jared once said that the four of them "fell in love with each other" and I couldn't help but feel like this new dude was left out of that whole vibe. Meghan pointed out that the stickers that they gave out perforate exactly where the picture of Matt begins. Weird, huh?
But not as weird as how effing LOST we got going home.
We said goodnight to JeT'aime and her friend. JeT'aime, if you're reading, you are a sugar pie. ^_^ In the parking lot, I met up with Mizzy (the Queen of the Blood Ball, some of you might remember) and some other Echelon who rode here in an Echelon Car, I kid you not. We chatted for a few minutes. It was really nice to see Mizzy again, and not covered in blood. Then we got into the car and I left through the wrong exit. We rode around in a strange ghetto town for like twenty minutes, stopped in a gas station for directions (which no one could give us,) and then finally I saw a cop on the side of the road and I pulled over. He told us we were on the right track. I thanked him, told him how cute he was (because he was,) and then off we drove. We didn't get home till 1:20; later, I think, than when we saw them in the city.
And of course I have some pics, but very few. The camera is really crappy from a distance, and the ones of J that I got are capped from MovieMaker.
The whole thing was so entirely worth it. Actually, what really made it worth it to me was how happy Meghan was with the whole experience. On the way home, she talked about how she can't wait until they come around on tour again, and it doesn't matter where and when it is; she'll be there. She loved the whole night. She did really want to meet the other three guys--and I hope that next time she gets her chance because they really are a joy--but for just then it was all it was supposed to be and tons more.
