I guess the start of my day will do.
I woke up at about 8 and started getting ready. By 11:45 I had picked up my friend Donte and we were on the road. The 4 and a half hour drive was long and monotonous. Once we were on the interstate it was none stop driving for the remainder of the time which was at least 2 hours. So no breaks, no stopping, just straight line driving for 2 hours at 70-85 mph on the road with a bunch of crazies.
Truly, it racked my nerves.
Once we were in Atlanta, and I hit that stop sign, I could finally relax for a second and say "WE'RE HERE!" Seeing planes fly over head really made me uncomfortable, especially when the thought of "I'll be in one of those in another month" came to mind.
Getting to the Tabernacle and parking was incredibly easier than I thought it would be... though I'm not so sure I came in the right way. haha
Once I got out of my car and stepped foot on ground for the first time in hours, I was hit with the reality that I was there. This was Atlanta and AFI was in the building next to me. The buildings that towered tall next to me like the CNN center and a few other unnamed buildings really threw me for a look as well.
They were just so massive!
I had to pass up the DF only line since my friend, Donte, wasn't a DFer yet. I didn't mind much, we were there 2 hours early with not too many people in front of us. I have to make a comment about one thing though... There were a surprising amount of people's with their mom's at the show. Seriously guys? And when I was walking to my place in line, I don't think there was a single person who didn't stare at me. What was with that? haha
Anyway, after getting in the Tabernacle, we sort of worked our way into a pseudo-line at the merch store. I got the DF tour shirt and that one really classy gold/grey shirt with the lady on it. Donte got a bandanna and talked to the merch guy, (I think his name is Fritch but I'm not sure.) about marvel super heroes and went to a plain of Nerdom that I am not familiar with.
Getting into the room, we were already farther back than I had hoped to be, but we picked our spot and stood it well. Only one person tried to (and exceeded :<) to get int front of me, to which I replied "EXCUSE ME?" and of course she ignored me. Her friends tried to follow though and I wouldn't allow it so neh!
Dave Hauser came on. No one was particularly impressed from what I could tell, but I wouldn't by any means say he was bad. If only all of his songs weren't the same pace. He also brought up 2 beers and a bottle of jack with him on stage, to which a few people shouted "chug'a' beeerrrr!" haha He was a good opener though. I imagine Gallows, though they may not be that great, would have pumped more energy.
Now for the real big part of the night
________________________________
The lights dimmed and everyone screamed as the eerie music started up. The whole crowd, which spanned the entire room almost, rushed forward and you had no choice to stand still. The power of the crowd was just too much. Jade ran out playing the intro and my heart felt like it disappeared. I quickly came to terms with "They're real. They're really in front of me!" Davey came out and I saw him as he walked up to grasp the microphone. One "Oh!" followed by the band breaking in sent the crowd into a frenzy.
I was on Jade's side of the stage the whole night so I only got to see Hunter for a few seconds here and there when he'd run over and switch places with Jade as he always does. Adam was also pretty hard to see in the venue because it was so dark. They boys busted right into Girls not Grey after Torch Song. You could definitely tell that the years of playing it and some of the other older songs has really paid off. It was so rapid, so powerful it's all lost in a blur except for the intro and bits and pieces here and there. I have to say that being in the energetic crowd, so close to the boys really made it special.
Davey would run over to our side from time to time and we'd all move in his direction. It was crazy.
Songs like Kill Caustic, Leaving Song Pt. II, Dancing Through Sunday, Love Like Winter, Miss Murder, and best of all, Wester really had the crowd in a frenzy.
The newer songs weren't as great but I understand since they haven't preformed them as much as the others, they were still good. I especially enjoyed beautiful thieves.
Right as Death of Seasons played, some jackass with his shirt off came into the crowd to my right swinging trying to get to the front. That obviously didn't fly with someone and they punched him right in the back of the head. Thus a fight broke out and I pushed Donte to the left trying to get us away from it all. The guards solved it fast, but I still completely missed my favorite part of DoS, Hunter's bass intro. :(
My favorite for the night was On the Arrow. It was so great. I'd say 3 times better than the original version. Adam playing the shaker so intensely was a laugh though. I've just never seen anyone so transfixed on one thing. It was like he wasn't moving anything but his arm and the motion to which he did it was so bizarre, but he kept the whole thing in beat and that's what matters. The song was so moving!
I hate to leave out every single detail, but this post has gone on for long enough and I still have some more to say.
By the end of the show though, Donte and I were only about 5-6 people back and that was really close! Silver and Cold was heart piercing, to say the least. Some random guy (who told me his board name, though I can't remember it), Donte, and I all swayed back and forth to the end of the song, it was an epic end, to an epic night.
Or so I thought. Because then I remembered we were going to wait to meet the boys outside.
After pushing through some self promoting paramore sound-alike band, and the scent of a huge garbage can mixed with the BO of a hundred or more sweaty fans, we made our way to the barriers around the tour bus.
---
We waited for 2 hours in the cold for the boys to come out. After all the driving and waiting, it felt more like 40 minutes in my head, still, about 10 minutes before we saw anyone, I was getting pissed and wanted to get back on the road.
I met some really cool people. A short girl who had been going to AFI shows since 2003, an enthusiastic older lady who claimed I must have been 16, and a cute blond girl in gold converse shows who liked video games. The amount of homeless people who would walk up to us and beg for money was depressing at first, then just sad, and eventually became irritating (against my better nature). There had to be at least 15 different people who came up and bothered us. Including one who wasn't right in the head and just came and stood by the fans, mumbled to himself and sang God Bless America. One was a terrible harmonica player with possible delirium, one was a comedian of some sort, and one had a suit and gold rings. It was pressing at my devotion and patience to stay.
[Did I mention I hadn't checked my car in hours and it can easily be broken into through the back window?]
Needless to say, I was ready to go... but Jade finally came out after 2 hours and started signing stuff and taking pictures with everyone. Hunter soon followed. Jade was surprised we came all the way from southern Alabama. Hunter was really nice too. I wish I would have had more courage to talk to him seeing as I kinda idolize the man. Nothing came to mind when I thought to ask him something...
Apparently by the time Hunter made it about 15 more people down, Davey and Adam came out... Sadly, I had already left. The pain in my stomach was too harsh and I had a feeling Davey & Adam just didn't want to see us that night.
I drove back home. There wasn't a place to eat for miles, except for Waffle House and I just didn't want to deal with the gas for the next 3-4 hours so we drove on until we found a McDonalds somewhere. Took the rest of the drive back thinking about how awesome of a night we had and playing all of my AFI albums in the car.
I got back home at about 5 a.m. It's still a little hard to believe I was there. My mind is seriously fried from the concept. It's like I was on another planet.
Sorry for writing so much, but it was just too special to me to only include little bits and pieces,
~Matt
One of my favorite celeb-type people. Hunter is the awesome. End of story.
Awkward picture all around. My camera sucks, and i was laughing right as the picture was being taken. oh well. Only get to meet the man once every few years I guess.
No comments:
Post a Comment