Blather, rinse, repeat

In other news! Last night I went to see Taking Back Sunday with my best pal Kim, and my cousin Meg. They played on Long Island, and, anyone who knows me also knows I love TBS, and therefore probably also knows that TBS is from Long Island. So like it's kind of a big deal if you know what I mean.

They played in Huntington, which is pretty far from where we all live (we are Eastern LI gals, and LI is, as its name suggests, hella long.) So, by the time I got my kid up from his nap, got my dogs fed, and we picked Kim up from her house and stopped for dinner, we arrived at the venue just in time to see the second opening band, The Menzingers. They were good, I have to say.

TBS went on earlier than I had expected, which was another pleasant surprise. Okay, I hate to admit this, but since having a kid, I get super tired and if I'm not in bed by 11 I get cranky, knowing how early I'll be up the next day. And having to drive all the way back from Huntington (though, we took Meghan's car since hers doesn't have a car seat and was more comfy, so she drove!) was going to be a drag. (We ended up getting home around quarter after twelve, which is not too bad, really.)

These days, they open the show with the “Preface” from “Happiness Is” album, and then right into Flicker Fade. I love love love Flicker Fade. It has its own meaning to me, which is probably completely removed from the meaning it has to the writers of the song. (It's kind of my novel-writing song. “Destroy what you create.” :D )

There was a time when I would go to concerts, come home and stay up until 3 or 4 AM writing up the setlist and talking about every single song. But it's like, a whole entire day later, I hardly got any real sleep last night, Callum's going to be awake in a half an hour, and I can barely remember the entire setlist. They did all the old classics, even Timberwolves At New Jersey, which I love, but rarely get to hear them play live. Last time I saw them they played My Blue Heaven, which is my personal favorite song (and in my top ten best songs ever,) but they didn't fit that one in this time.

Our seats were in the second-to-last row, all the way on the end. I mean, the seats were actually pretty bad. The VIP area totally blocked my entire view of stage left. Once in a while I could see the top of John Nolan's head, if the Embracing Couple in the VIP area moved apart once in a while.

Oh, and The Bros were there, too. The Bros are at every concert I've ever been to, and probably every concert you've ever been to as well. You know, those 3-5 guys who meet up at the venue all, “BRO! BRO!” and then they drink beer and mosh about. Well I mean, of course there were tons of Bros in the moshpit, but there were four Bros in the VIP area, too. I usually don't like The Bros because of how they trample everyone else, but The Bros in the VIP area were so harmless, and were having so much fun, I kind of warmed to them. They didn't bother anyone, and didn't throw any beer. What they did do was dance to every song, and sometimes hug each other during the really old songs. They were so nice, and actually so endearing, I'm not even sure I can classify them as The Bros.

But there were Bros in the pit for sure. At one point, there was some kind of kerfluffle that got really loud. Adam (Lazzara, the singer, which you should know, and if you don't know that, who are you and why are you on my LJ? ;D ) briefly quit his on-stage bantering mid-sentence and asked for the house-lights to be turned up. Turns out, some Bro had lost his shoe. Adam: “Uhh... okay? IDGAF? I thought someone had died out there or something ffs!” And then, after that, other Bros held up their shoes.

Kim and Meghan had a blast watching all the crowdsurfers.

Me? I was the only jackass standing up in the mezzanine. Two girls came down from the bar area and stood on the stairs behind me and danced a little. I turned to them and said, “I'm so glad I'm not the only one up here dancing.” And one of them grabbed my and and said, “I'm glad, too. I'm just happy that someone else up here knows all the words.” High-five, Bro-sis.

I can't sit down during a TBS show though, you know? When you're seeing a band you've loved for so long, and you know every word to every song, and the songs mean a lot to you, you're just going to be the one jackass standing up in the mezzanine and dancing your goddamn fool head off. That was me.

I remember the first time I saw TBS, what, ten years ago? I went with my friend Brittany, and I had only gone to see the then-opening band, which was 30STM. I didn't want to see some other band I hadn't really heard of, but I couldn't leave her there by herself. When they started to play, I realized objectively that they were a good live band. And, by and by, I started really listening, and getting into it.

It was Adam, you know, once he started talking, that made me finally say, “Okay, this is different.” I've said it before. He doesn't do that whole “YEAH YOU BASTARDS I WANNA HEAR YOU ALL SCREAM GRRRR RAAAARRRWWW ROCK N ROLLLLLL!!!!!1111” thing that I think is so dumb and overplayed. He's weird and dancey and stuttery and personable. I remember, back then, that one of the Pirates movies had just come out, whichever one it was, and I later said to my friend, “Was that guy playing at being Jack Sparrow or something?” And she was like, “That's how he's always been.”

Meghan—who's seen them a number of times as well—commented the same thing last night. I leaned over to her and Kim and said, “He's so different to other frontmen, right? With the quirky dance moves?” and Meg said, “He's always reminded me of, if like, Jack Sparrow was in a band.”

That's who A-Lazz* is. He's Jack Sparrow in a band.

I want to post a video, but I don't have any good ones. Someday I'll take a video of TBS where I'm not dancing around like a jackass, but last night was not that night.




*I go on and on about him like he's my favorite. Eddie Reyes is my favorite, because he's the low-key guitarist who started and maintained the band for all these years. It's just, Adam does all the talking and mic-swinging, so.


ETA I remembered another funny thing! Before the concert even started, just as the lights went down, the guy in the bar-area behind us yelled out, “SHE SAID DON’T!” Which, like. :DDDDD

I can't say enough about last night's concert. But those of you who know me, know that I will try anyway. ^_^

First I want to apologize for the quality of the pictures and videos. As for the pictures, my camera is a tiny little CyberShot and it's not really made for this kind of setting. Everything is blurry and too dark, with or without flash. Or possibly I just suck. As far as the videos go, keep in mind that they are taken as I hold the camera above my head while dancing, often in the pit. So the view that you get on the videos is very much what it looks like to be, well, yeah. Dancing around in or at the edge of the pit. Sorry, I know there are much better quality videos out there where you can actually see the band, but I can't seem to stop dancing long enough to get that sort of video. My bad!

Anyway, here's how it went.

( Getting there. Matt Rubano and Eddie Reyes! )

Finally we got inside the venue and I said that we should look around for a good place to chill until the bands came on. I didn't want to be standing up the whole night. We went into the bathroom which was right beside the stage, and right outside of it were these boxes next to the stage, nearly to the side of it. So we sat there for a while and listened to whatever the DJ put on. At one point he played "Relax" by Frankie Goes To Hollywood and we all got a laugh out of that. Oh, while sitting there I saw a girl up against the barrier in front of the stage and she was wearing a SKELETON CREW t shirt! I got her attention and told her that her shirt was rad, and that it was so cool to support Skeleton Crew.

( Inside the club: Matt, Eddie, and Mark. Also Fake Jepha. )

( Envy On The Coast )

At one point, the singer of Envy On The Coast went into the crowd, sort of like Jared Leto does, letting them hold him up. It was really cool.

I have to admit though, that the highest point of their set was when Adam Lazzara came out on stage and sang with them for a few minutes. HELLO, SURPRISE! I videotaped some of that. ( Here is the crappy quality video: )

Wow, that was really awesome!

( Before TBS's set, and as usual, THE BROS. )

Right before TBS went on stage, they changed the music to Tom Jones and Frank Sinatra, which gave my Mom a giggle. She was singing along to The Kill and Helena, and then she was singing along to those songs, too. ^_^

Then, finally, it was time for TBS to come on and do their first show with The New Guy. I was excited and nervous (and getting squished, and trying to prevent my Mom and Meg from getting squished, which was only going to get worse once the rush to the stage began.)

The first one I saw on stage was Eddie Reyes, and he just looked so ready, and so psyched to be there. I started taping it because I knew we were going to hear the name of the new guitarist as soon as possible and I didn't want to miss that moment! And surely enough, before they even began to play their first song, Adam gave it up: Matthew Fazzi. Here is the introduction and the beginning of the first song: ( It's under the cut )

It was cute, when Adam first introduced him he did this little happy dance and the Hawaiian shaka sign. Hang Loose! I recognized it and I was like, "WTF, why is homeboy doing a shaka?" It was cute though. Honestly, he did look a little hesitant. Not nervous so much as a little unsure maybe? Which kind of endeared him to me actually. If he'd gone up there all cocky and "I AM THE NEW FRED" I would have been a little put off. But the dude just looked like he wanted to have a good time, and then he actually did seem to have a good time.

Their first song was You Know How I Do, which surprised me because when I saw them at PR they opened with "What's It Feel Like To Be A Ghost?" but I wasn't complaining. I love the crap out of that song. All of their songs, really. Anyway, so I was trying to dance, and I could see that so was Meg, and my Mom was happily singing along, but at the same time people kept shoving us and I wondered how long we were going to last right on the very edge of the pit, and right next to the men's room, no less.

Before I get into the details of the show, let me tell you the set list before I forget it. I'm sure I've left a song out, I just can't place which one it is. And this is not in any kind of order. I wish I could remember the order they played things, but I don't. Anyway, these are the songs:

You Know How I Do, You're So Last Summer, One Eighty By Summer, Error: Operator, Set Phasers To Stun, Miami, Spin, Up Against, Cute Without The E, Bonus Mosh, What's It Feel Like To Be A Ghost, Liar, MakeDamnSure, and of course they also played a new song in the middle of the set!

Right, so here are some details of the show overall. First let me tell everyone who doesn't know anything about Taking Back Sunday: they are an awesome live band. Not only because of the music but because of their general vibe, the energy, how they treat the audience etc. Adam is very chatty. He doesn't do the whole "LET'S HEAR IT YOU MOTHER EFFERS! EFF YOU ALLLLL!!!" kind of thing. As Meg put it, "He's actually kinda, I dunno. Gentle." And he kind of is in a way. He talks to the audience as if he's talking one on one with very little separation between us and him. He likes to tell stories, and it's delightful the way he interrupts himself, gets tangential, and has to start over. He often says, "I'm talking because I'm out of breath!" And why wouldn't he be, because the live performance is anything but gentle! He's known for his crazy mic-swinging tricks. This guy could never go cordless. He throws the mic as high as the ceiling will allow, falls to the floor, catches the mic, twirls the cord three times around his neck and then goes back to singing without missing a lyric. It's kind of incredible. He spins the cord all around himself, around the rafters, he throws it out like a fishing line then snaps it back in, and he doesn't miss a note. Once he hit Matt in the head with it during a show, causing him to require a bunch of stitches. But Matt went right back on stage and kept playing with a concussion. I'm glad I wasn't there for that show, you know? But either way it's incredible to watch!

He also does this thing where he gets down really low to the first row and sings to different people. He is not only engaging, but incredibly compelling as he seems to mean every word he sings. He looks like a madman up there sometimes, gesturing randomly with his hands and making exaggerated motions with his eyes. He's just so freaking much fun to watch.

A few things that Adam shared with us: "Miami" is his favorite song. I thought that was so ironic because if I had to pick a least favorite by them, I would pick Miami! (My favorites are two that they did not play last night: My Blue Heaven [that song is like, god transposed to music,] and The Ballad of Sal Villanueva, which is a B side that I've never heard them play.) He goes on a lot about how he thinks he's out of shape and "fat" and OMG STFU ADAM. The dude is nowhere near fat and to be honest, I like him so much better this way than I did when he was a rack of bones. Personal opinion there. He talked about Youtube and watching his favorite bands on there, but he said that he preferred it if we didn't tape the song they were about to do (it was right before "Bonus Mosh") because he didn't want anyone to experience it through a camera; he wanted everyone living it in the moment. And you know what, he is exactly right. I have this obsession with remembering everything and taping things and taking photographs, but I remarked last year after the 30STM concert that I went to, that watching something through a viewfinder takes you out of the moment. Adam talked about his shirt, about the shirt of someone in the front row, and he talked for a while about Long Island.

I pee my pants with joy everytime they talk about Long Island. He also mentioned "Everything is bigger in Texas," and my Mom and I had to laugh because that's sort of this inside joke on this one Mystery Blog that I go to. (S'up BlogBelieve?)

While introducing "One Eighty By Summer" he said that it was about a bet he and the rest of the band had with Eddie Reyes that he would weigh 180 by summer. O_o

While on the subject of that song, I should mention that it had one of my favorite Fred moments, and I decided to tape that one part to see if The New Guy was going to do it. (I have/had/have two Best Fred Moments, and one of them is in that song and the other is in Bonus Mosh. In that one, while Adam is Singing, Fred just lets loose with this incredible scream. No words, just a sound. It just blew my mind.) Anyway, in 180, there is this part where Adam is singing the verse (it's an amazing build up to a huge, climactic part of the song,) and in the background Fred would sing the line, "I need you defenseless, dependent, and alone," and on the last "alone" his voice would just soar.

The New Guy did that part, and I was so glad. I didn't go in there expecting Fred, and he didn't come out pretending to be him, and he sounded good. Here is my favorite part of that song: (  It's under the cut: )

Adam took a question about The New Guy from the audience, and someone asked how old he was. Adam at first joked that he was 37 and then revealed that he is actually only nineteen! Also that he is part Italian and part Hawaiian, and that's when I had the "AHA" moment. ^_^ He also said he was from North Carolina (I think it was North--I'm fairly sure that's where Adam is also from originally) (Hold the press, another fan says it could be north California; I might have misheard. ^_^) and he used to play in a band called "Facing New York." I could have the band name wrong, too though. I'd also like to add that while I do think Matthew (The New Guy) plays guitar wonderfully, I felt that his mic was very low and sometimes I couldn't hear him song. I would have liked to hear more, but I guess we'll hear plenty on the new album. At least I hope we do, because one thing I really love about this band is the dueling vocals. I absolutely adore the way the two vocal lines cross, separate, then rise to meet each other for these tremendous, epic choruses. TBS is known for this and it wouldn't be the same if they didn't do that anymore. So I hope that they continue with that.

One of the funniest parts was with the sombrero. yesterday was, of course, Cinco de Mayo so someone had brought a sombrero that they wanted Adam to wear. I managed to get this little exchange on tape; it was very funny and brought the LOLz: ( Under the cut )

Also, Matt is doing some singing now. Adam made a point of teasing him about the height of his mic stand and they took a few minutes to joke about it; Matt saying that he might be short, but he makes up for it with a huge Napoleon complex. Which is too funny because there's no way that's true. It was just very cute. So anyway, we got to hear Matt singing and he was good, too; I enjoyed hearing him very much.

One other funny / annoying thing was how the audience messed up my favorite part to one of the best songs, Error Operator. There is this really intense part where the words go, "Murder, oh murder, oh where have you been?" and the way Adam sings it, it's very hard to describe unless you've heard it. It's through one of those neat voice-phaser thingies though, and I understand that it's a little bit muddled and unclear (I suspect that's the point,) but for goodness sakes, those are the most compelling lyrics in the song! And everyone tried to sing along and instead of the right lyrics everyone was singing, "Where are you, where are you, where have you been?!" I was like, "OMG, FAIL! STOP RUINING IT!"

Of course, as I had expected, they played a new song! I liked it right away from what I could manage to hear last night, and I can't wait to hear it, and hear more new stuff, down the road. I taped it and am putting it here in my LJ. I imagine they're going to be playing it live on Friday so lots of people will hear it then, too. It's very cool, people. ( It's here under the cut. )

I should also mention that somewhere during "Miami" and right before "Spin," our little spot between the pit and the bathroom got really unruly, to the point where Meg couldn't enjoy the music. Even the security guys were shoving to get by. She was getting squished and she couldn't enjoy the music with someone pushing her every few minutes, so we bailed to the back of the club. She found a clear view behind the sound board thingamajig and watched the rest from there. But then they played SPIN which is absolutely one of my favorite songs by them pretty much ever. I told Mom and Meg that I was going to just go back up there for that one song. I went into the pit where it was okay to just throw yourself around and scream, which is precisely what I did.

Then I made my way back to the back of the club and watched the rest from there, where it was not really okay to dance around like a fool and sing out loud, because that's where everyone is all chill, kind of nodding their heads along to the music and mouthing the words, but I did it anyway.

The last few songs were Liar, A Decade Under The Influence (Adam changed the lyrics and added his own during this song: "You must not know about me...." instead of "coming over but it never was enough...."), What's It Feel Like To Be A Ghost, and then Adam said that they weren't going to do an encore ("It's 2008!" he said, "We need to think of something else!") and they were true to his word. They did MakeDamnSure to close it out. Once again, me, trying to tape it--because I love when an entire crowd sings along with a song--all while trying to dance, mosh, and sing along at the same time. So as with most of my videos, you get the viewpoint of me actually at the concert (and you can hear me singing along--sorry!) but for once the sound on my camera wasn't so bad, and you can hear how well they played the song. ( Here, under the cut. )

None of my pics came out AT ALL, but some of the ones my Mom took did. The trick, I guess, was to not have it on zoom, which makes it look much farther than it actually was, but a lot clearer. These pictures don't represent how close we were when we were by the edge of the pit for that while, because we were really pretty close! But at least you can see that it's a concert, and not some impressionist painting.

( Pics under the cut: )

We caught up with Scooter again before we left. She had been in the pit the whole time, good for her! Go Scooter! Then we went outside into the chilly night air and waited a while till the parking lot cleared out a bit before leaving. (Plus we were parked around by the bus, and, you never know!) The people in the parking lot were crazy as they were trying to get out, it was madness.

And, yeah, that was it! We drove Meg home and got her home by around 1 AM. All the way back we listened to 3 Cheers nd The Black Parade by MyChem. I really do miss that band something fierce and it was nostalgic listening to them.

Meg and my Mom both had a great time and of course, so did I. I almost want to say that I can't believe how lucky we were to be the first to see Matthew Fazzi and to hear
the new song, and in such a teeny venue as well, but it has less to do with luck and more to do with the generousity of the band involved. It was one of the best shows I've seen--even if the club itself didn't offer much in the way of good viewing--and I am so, so glad that we got to go. The guys in the band that we met were way nicer than they had to be and as always, they put on one hell of a concert. I totally cannot wait for them to go back out on tour. ^_^

( Pre-show: I think the stress is getting to my BALLS. )

( But we got there, and it was Good with a capital G. )

( Taking Back Sunday is the White Rabbit. )

( Apparently two boys talking is much more entertaining than a rock band playing their hearts out. )

( TAKING BACK SUNDAY )

What was funny was that last night I had total Wayvision. I knew before even seeing one of those boys everytime they were walking by. I'd be like, "Mikey Way," and there he would be. My brain would to, "Gerard Way" and lo and behold, there he was. At one point right before MyChem went on, Mikey and Alicia were walking through the audience to the sound booth and not a single soul recognized them. I was like, "Dude. Mikey and Alicia Way."

Anyway (lolpun!) it wasn't 15 minutes before they were dropping the banner for MyChem, and about five minutes after that that they were coming on.

( My Chemical Romance )

( Frank Iero FTW. ) "I'm pretty sure tonight is made of win."

Anyway, there you have it, the story of last night. I've already got Frank's note put away in my photo album, which will have to do in place of actual photos because in case you haven't noticed by the lack of them posted here, none of my pics came out any kind of viewable. But that's okay, I think I should sometimes try to get over my hysterical mania about having pictures of everything that has occurred in my entire life, ever. I've written it all down and it was such a swell time overall, I have something better than pictures.

Oh and hell yeah, the movie. OMG, our movie! Our officially sanctioned movie. OMG. OMGWEEEE.

And here we are, with the concert all over and the VMAs tonight and my favorite band nominated.

Yesterday really started when Brittany got here and we ran out to the train station. We missed the first train, but it's just as well, because we got there in plenty of time. The train ride in was uneventful yet fun. The cab ride to Webster Hall was brief and only $7.

( Making the important donation, waiting on line, getting to know my camera intimately. )

( Inside Webster Hall )

( Biting Ozzy's style, how awesome Shannon is, Tomo hiding behind equipment, and the set list. )

( Turorial: how to get acknowledged by Jared, how to get a kiss from Jared. What became of our donations. )

( This is the story of my life... )

Ahh, then they played The Kill, which was the highlight of the night, if you ask me. Not only because it's one of my favorites, but because the crowd was so into it, and the band was so into the crowd being into it, and it was great fun to sing along. Jared did a really cool crowd-walk. If anyone would like to watch the video for The Kill that I taped, you may see it here, ( behind the cut. )

The sound totally sucks. Sorry about that.

( Do you kiss your Mom with that mouth? Or, alternately: No, YOUR mom is in the audience! )

With a slightly (unintentionall, I'm sure) hubristic toss of his black and red hair, an "OMGs I am SO OUTTA HERE!!" hand gesture, and a friendly pat to Matt's arm, Jared was the first to leave the stage. He was followed by Matt and Tomo, then Shannon came down from his drum kit. ( See the ending here. Watch as the sight of Shannon with his shirt off makes me drop my camera. That's me you hear giggling at my own stupidity. )

Seriously, how funny was that?

Sadly, all of my pictures really suck, too. ( But here are a few of them anyway. )

And then it was over! The rest of the night was kind of anticlimactic for me, although it was now Brittany's turn to go all kinds of crazy.

( Drunk girls still love Jordan Catalano. Seriously. )

( Taking Back Sunday, and getting bounced. )

So Brit and I headed back to Penn Station, where some guy was puking very loudly right next to us as we walked to the entrance. I thought that was gross and kind of ignored him. I mean, really! Go puke somewhere else, not in public! Later, I was to have more sympathy for him.

( Obnoxious Bellowing Boy who HATES CHRISTY OMGS!! And a creepy, staring boy. )

The car ride home was atrocious. Props to Brittany for keeping me occupied and alert, but all I wanted to do was throw up. My head was pounding and all I could taste was sour ice cream and orange juice. I've never gotten car sick while I was actually driving before; it was ridiculous. That's the worst feeling. Makes me sick again just thinking of it.

I guess we got home at around 3 AM. I took a shower and checked my email. I had, earlier, entered the latest MTV contest to go to the VMA thing with 30 STM. They were looking for 20 fans to accompany them. I thought, What a wonderful idea, and sent in my entry. Once again, MTV asked for photographs. Once again I sent some, but this time with the message telling them how I felt about their beauty contests--we really should not be required to send photos to prove we love a band's music--and that if that was the case, I knew I couldn't win and really didn't want to. Part of me was thinking, Maybe MTV will respect that attitude, you know?

Needless to say, I didn't win. So I went to bed at around 3:30.

I'm still thankful that I got to see them. It was an oddly fulfilling time, and even though it was like 60 degrees or less when Brittany and I got home, it's still technically summer. Now after Sunday's BBQ--a big, family gathering for one last hurrah, as I like to think of it--I think I can give summer a kiss goodbye for a while, and start thinking about Autumn.

And 30 Seconds To Mars' Autumn Tour. ^_^