Ah, I was all ready to go. I found free parking right by the arena, had my bottle of water with a sport cap, my ticket in hand, and of course, Spinny Chuck in my purse. I ventured through the door, where they took my WATER away from me! I asked if I could at least bring the empty bottle to fill at a drinking fountain instead of braving the germs on those things, but they said no and admitted it was because the venue wants you to pay a ridiculous amount for THEIR water. Bastards. So I chugged as much as my tummy would hold and headed for the floor. There were already hundreds of people sitting out there, so I worked my way toward the front until I found a space just big enough to plunk down my not-so-small booty. Shortly after, the color of the lights on the Hoobastank banner changed, and everyone stood up and rushed to the front. No, the show was not starting. It was just idiotic sheep mentality.
Finally at 7:30 as scheduled, Hoobastank took to the stage and played a 30 minute set. I'd never heard these guys before, but I must say I totally dug their music. Things in the pit were still fairly calm. After they were done, and after about a half hour of waiting around and being pressed against people from all angles, Incubus appeared. The crowd went INSANE. I was so crushed that I could not take a full breath of air and I was in imminent danger of losing my footing and falling down as the crowd surged in every direction. Ah, it was perfect. After a couple songs, things calmed down a bit, well at least I could breathe anyway, and a nice pit opened up just to my right. I love Incubus pits. Yeah, we're all running into each other and going crazy, but there's still some degree of courtesy in there. Spinny Chuck was up in full effect, and helped me locate my friends from enjoychuck.com, Gerlando and Andrea pretty quickly. Eventually I ended up about 20 people from the front and on the edge of the pit where I could finally admire the stage set-up. (Read Gerlando's review at enjoychuck.com for description) And of course, Incubus sounded amazing. The only downside I experienced was the intense heat down in the front, and twice I had to make my way out of there to get some air. I swear I could feel a 10 degree temperature change just when I got to the side of the pit. (and if only stupid security didn't take my water away, I wouldn't have had to get out of there at all.)
As far as the odd events that occured that evening, I did not see the moment where something hit Dirk's instument (I think I was outside buying a t-shirt), nor did I see the crowd surfer hit the ground (I say good - that's what they get!) but I did see a couple of interesting things out there. First of all, during "Echo" there was a girl on someone's shoulders near me who was singing along, reaching out to Brandon, and CRYING. Yes, crying. Like the women you see footage of weeping at a Beatles concert back in the 60's. Can you say FUCKING DOUCHEBAG? Never the less, I got a pretty good laugh out of it. But the next thing really takes the cake: In the middle of the mosh pit, an Asian guy with spikey hair ran out into the middle of the craziness and started BREAKDANCING. Breakdancing like nobody's business in the middle of the chaotic pit! That guy gets the Evil Carrot Madd Props Award for that one!!! Definitely an awesome thing to have witnessed. All in all, it was an amazing show, a good crowd, lots of energy, and tons of fun! (Even if I am a little sore today!) See you tomorrow in SF!
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