Thursday, August 23, 2007

One of my new favorite sayings

I think I heard this one from my pastor, if I recall correctly:

"Everyone is somebody's weirdo."

I'm kinda weird, so I appreciated that one. LOL

Just thought I'd share that.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007






I inadvertantly posted the Warped Tour blogs in the wrong order. :( The one on the top, and the one in the middle need to trade places. But since I know of no good way to make that happen, I will just warn you. LOL

Enjoy a few more Warped Tour pics

Warped Tour Boise 2007 - Let the Concerts Begin






Once the posters were hung up I basically hung around The Fold's booth. I bought one of the canvas totes that The Fold had for sale, and consolidated my "stuff" into it. The Fold's vendor booth was across from an orange trailer from "The Truth". They had a huge orange flat that was pretty easy to spot, so I never got lost. At the onset "The Truth" was playing a lot of rap music which wasn't everyone's favorite. Later on, they did change it up a bit. At one point they were playing Kelly Clarkson. Early in the day, they gave away a lot of tees and freebies for just about any reason. I noticed that the later it became in the day, the more difficult the questions were that people had to answer. Andrew, the merch person for The Fold went over to get a tee early in the day. They gave him a bit of a hard time about it because he worked on the tour and knew the answer to their question. But they relented and gave him the tee eventually. I thought about going over there, but never did.
As it got a bit closer to the time for the concerts to start, I headed over to the stage to find a good vantage point. The Smart Punk stage where Kaddisfly and The Fold were to play was actually not too far from the vendor booth. I was grateful for that. I watched as Kaddisfly finished their set up and checked out the exposures on my camera. My neck felt like it was starting to burn, so I lathered on more sunscreen. Then it was time for Kaddisfly to play. I really enjoyed their set a great deal. They even did a few sound effects in some of their music with rather unusual instruments and I liked the sound of it. I'd definitely go see them again. Justin was there in the front near me, and really enthusiastically getting into their music. I took lots of photos.
Then the band on the Hurley.com stage picked up and started their set. I kept listening, but I never did hear them say who they were. They did mention where they were from. So, if you recognize them, here is the drummer;
Lead singer:
You can help solve the mystery. LOL I listened from the Smartpunk stage wandering over now and again to take a pic or two. The Fold started their set up, and I took photos then, too. Here are pics of Aaron & Dan from set up that I particularly like:
Then it was 1 p.m. which means it was time for The Fold to rock, and they did! They played some older songs I'd heard, but didn't know as well, New Skeptic and Medicine. Their set, as always was too short, but it was really good. The sound was the best there from any place I'd heard them before (all two times before. LOL)
The day was just getting started.
But this day is ending, so part three tomorrow. .... stay tuned.... same bat time, same bat channel (so, I grew up in the 60-70's) LOL
Peace out,
--Melanie

More Warped Tour, The Saga Continues






After The Fold finished their set, I went over to the stage "next door" and listened for a bit. I think it was Amber Pacific. I'd heard they were good, so I was glad to get to check them out. I stayed through most of their set, but then headed back up to The Fold's booth. I had a hard time staying at the stages for some reason, which is unusual. So, I think it was my restlessness of the day. I also wanted to be there for the autograph session and to see if there was anything I could do to help out. Mostly I just stood around, chatted, and took pics until the autograph session. Oh... I did get someone to buy a cd while I was waiting. I ran into people I knew at the booth.. a friend's old roommate, a few people that knew me from other concerts, including someone who lives practically down the street from me. :) A few times I was able to get some people to listen to "Secrets Keep You Sick." Again I could hear everything on the main stages (Lucky, 13 stages) quite well, so I didn't feel such a strong urge to brave the crowd. I did hear Flogging Molly from where I was at one point. After I while I headed over to find the Ernie Ball stage (with a little help from a friend since I didn't recall where it was) to see Daphne Loves Derby. By the time I arrived, they were into their first song, but I didn't miss much. The played a good set, and I enjoyed it.

On the way back, I took a quick look around the main stages, and thought I recognized Circa Survive, so I listened to the last half of their set. I wandered down to the stage to the left of them on the far left, so I was a bit of a distance away, but I could see most of the band. I took a few photos.
New Found Glory was playing next, so I stayed around to listen. I really enjoy seeing NFG. I saw them at Warped in Salt Lake in July and loved their show. Jordan is all over the place, and he even came down into the grassy area on my left. And "Kiss Me" punk-style is great! LOL I love the original, anyway. I thought it was a bit slower in Boise than in SLC, or so it seemed. I am seeing Eisley soon, so I thought it would also be cool to try and take pics of Chad for Sherri. Maybe I can put them in a small inexpensive photo album for her or something. Anyway, after NFG I headed over to find DLD's merch booth. I talked to David a bit. We had met in Salt Lake not long ago, and he not only remembered me, but he also remembered the city... he's good. LOL So we chatted a little and I had my photo taken with everyone. I bought Daphne Loves Derby's EP. I already had the new cd, but none of their older stuff. Then I went back over to "homebase" for the day, which was at The Fold booth. I have a feeling they didn't know what to do with me. LOL I tried to get people to listen to The Fold's cd. Sometimes I was successful. I'm pretty timid at first. I do better when I know exactly what I plan to do or say, or have some direction, so I fumbled a bit. I love promoting bands I love, though. Dan's pretty good at it, but I guess he has a lot of experience. LOL Most everyone that did stop to listen seemed to really like The Fold. I think there was one guy who was more into metal/screamo, but most everyone else seemed to really like their music. Can't say that I blame them. :) I mentioned to Dan that Bryce was playing an acoustic set at around 5 and he said he wanted to go. So, we went over to see Bryce play. It was a good thing Dan went because I didn't remember where the tent was and I just followed. We stood in the back a bit. Dan tried to heckle Bryce but he didn't hear him. LOL Dan left about half way through and I ended up getting just a little closer. I wasn't having much luck with pics between the lighting and the fact that I had a huge smudge on my lens that I didn't notice right away. LOL No wonder they all looked like there was gauze over the lens. ;) For the last song, Bryce did Brat Pack and tried to crowd surf. The crowd wasn't real "tight" so they basically ended up just setting him down in the middle of the crowd. At least he wasn't dropped! I had my pic taken with Bryce. Then I made my way back to homebase again.
Dan went to dinner. I stayed around and basically got in the way, I think. At some point (can't recall if it was before or after Dan left) I went to see if my daughter was at the Killswitch Engage performance. I didn't find her. I stopped to take a few pics before heading back up the hill. When Dan got back, he was getting people to listen to the cd with promises of a free poster. It worked quite well for the most part. He had this huge poster sign saying to Get the cd now, so I held that for quite a little while. About halfway through Paramore's set, Dan said I didn't have to hold that anymore if I wanted to go see Paramore. I said, I kind of did, so I went down and watched the last half of Paramore from the far right of the stage. Half the band was hidden behind speakers, but it was still good. After Paramore, I stayed for Hawthorne Heights on the opposite stages, and the first half of Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. They were good, but for some reason I thought they sounded just a little bit better in SLC. I'm not sure why. Maybe because it wasn't so far into Warped Tour. The schedule can be pretty gruelling for artists!!! It is for fans, too, but only for a day. I can't imagine every day for the whole tour! Anyway, I went back up as I wanted to be sure to have a chance to say goodbye to everyone. When the show was over security was trying to kick everyone out who wasn't buying something. I was trying to give some girls a poster for listening to The Fold cd, and the one security guard almost didn't let me finish. LOL I was able to stay a little longer because I had a vendor wristband on. I had a pic taken with Dan. Andrew said it was the best pic he'd ever taken. I looked and the lighting looked good and it didn't seem to be overly fuzzy, so I said, "yea, it's good." I never really looked close until I got home. LOL Dan made the silliest face. LOL He likes to do that, I've noticed.

So, I asked if there was anything to do, and there really wasn't much so I headed out the gate and hoped to find my daughter. I bought "cold" water from some guy outside the gate for $1. It wasn't really cold, but it was wet. LOL When I didn't see Bethany, I headed for the hotel to look for Nick's car. No luck.
To be continued.....
Note: I will add pics to this part of the saga as I get them uploaded. Oh, and all the events happened... but I could have things a bit out of order here and there. LOL It was a long day!!

Warped Tour Boise, 2007 - The Journey Commences


Warped Tour Boise, 2007 is officially history, and I was very happy to be a small part in the making of that history. As usual, I did let the timing of everything stress me just a little, and I prayed lots that God would work everything out in his time, which he gratefully did.
We were to leave Thursday evening right after my daughter got off work. The three of us, Bethany, Nick and I were going to the Hampton Inn across the street from the venue to sleep a few hours before getting up and enjoying too much sun and lots of good music. We finally decided to take Nick's car, and he drove both directions, which was kind of nice for us. :) I had hoped we would leave by 8 or 8:30 p.m. and be in Boise by 2 a.m. But, as they say, the best laid plans.... As it turned out, we arrived closer to 3 a.m., maybe a little later, and checked into our hotel room. We had a bit of a disagreement about who got the plush king bed over the pull out sofa sleeper, but being as I was paying the bill, I won. When I checked into the room the first thing I noticed was that it smelled a bit of cigarette smoke. I went downstairs to ask if it was a smoking room. The guy at the desk assured me it was not, but said sometimes people will smoke in them anyway. I was concerned about allergies. They didn't have Claritin, but he did offer to pay for some for me if I went across the street to Wal Mart. Nice offer, but I needed sleep! So, I took my chances. It wasn't bad, so I think it was just someone smoked in there only one time. Anyway, I asked the desk to give me a wake up call at 8 a.m. I woke up at 6:30, then went back to sleep until 7:15. I lay awake a few minutes and just decided that by the time I went back to sleep it would be time to wake up again, so I got up. I went downstairs and checked out the breakfast which was really a pretty good layout... some nice big biscuits, scrambled eggs, oatmeal, cereal, fruit (cantaloupe, honeydew, grapes and mandarin oranges), some really nice gooey, tasty-looking doughnuts, and muffins. I really wished I could have handled a real breakfast at that point, but it all seemed to heavy. I opted for a banana muffin and fruit - and then some more fruit. I walked about outside and checked out the venue. I saw buses starting to arrive in the venue lots - buses, vans with trailers and motor homes. I saw a couple of guys walking towards the hotel from the venue and I asked if people were lining up already, and they answered in the affirmative. I figured I'd better get ready. I really wanted to see The Fold, and I thought they might be playing first, so getting there and getting in the gate early seemed a good idea. I quickly went up to my room, did a quick shower, gathered up my belongings, filled Nick in and left for the venue. They planned to sleep in until later. The trip to the venue from the hotel was really rather short, and the hotel assured me that we could park there until Warped Tour was over. So, I was there in no time. There were probably about 30 or so people waiting already with about the same number of people waiting in the will call lines. I chatted lots, as I am prone to do, and started asking about delivering cookies to Dan, camera policies, etc. Finally, the guy at security agreed to allow me to leave the cookies at the inside of the gate in case I saw Dan with the agreement that he could not be responsible for them. That worked for me. Then I found out from him that I could take my high zoom point and shoot in. I also ran into Justin, who I see in Salt Lake at a lot of concerts. He was doing street team stuff for Kaddisfly. Small world. A few years back Kaddisfly lost their trailer/equipment, so I sent them a small donation. I was finally going to get to see them. Shortly after that, I saw Dan. I said "hello" and told him about the cookies. He was looking for his street teamers and a little preoccupied. As it turned out, there was one street team person there, and she wanted some help, so I offered to help. I believe she was also from Northern UT. Dan gave me a vendor wristband, and I went about hanging up posters announcing the stage and time for their show.
At one point we hung a few up near and on the latrines... and I forgot to see if one of them was occupied first. As I was hanging the poster up, this guy pushed open the door. It was kind of funny. We finished up with the posters and waited a bit for something else to do. There really wasn't much. The funniest thing is that I never went through security, I never had my ticket scanned, even though I had one, and I never thought about that much until it was all over with. Then it made me chuckle. It was a pretty good start, I'd say.
--Melanie
Oh, I forgot to mention, the last time I was at that hotel and venue, there was a field between the hotel and parking lot. This time there were pathways, roads and parking slots. Last time there was nothing much around except a Chevron station, this time there was a huge Super Walmart, a Taco Del Mar, and a few other businesses. It really has changed. :)

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Another Novella from an Aging Groupie






Well, last week was really busy. I managed to get tickets for three different concerts in about a week - Eisley on the 3rd, The Rentals with Copeland and Goldenboy on August 8 (I went to see Copeland) and Bowling for Soup, Melee, Quietdrive and Army of Freshmen on the 11th (I went mainly for Melee, but BFS does put on a good concert and I'd seen Quietdrive and they are really good as well.) There was actually another show I really wanted to go to at a really small venue on Saturday with Jonathan Jones (was singer of the band Waking Ashland which is no more), but it was too much. I had to get something done at home and the gas can be a lot.
For the Eisley concert, I arrived really early and was able to get permission to get my camera in. I watched people come and go, and it seems like almost no one came very early except me and one other guy and his friend. The concert was really good. They were playing an acoustic set and they have some amazing harmonies. Eisely consists of three sisters, a brother and a cousin. Dad, Boyd, is the manager. After the show, I was able to talk to most of them and get photos. Boyd is nearly as chatty as I am and very nice. He loves to tour, but he said that he had almost no sleep before the tour started because of things related to their cd release. If you like Sixpence None the Richer at all, Stacey's vocals are a bit reminiscent of Leigh Nash.
For the Copeland show, I could not seem to get ahold of anyone regarding a photo pass, so I wrote to the management of both bands. The Rentals manager actually got my camera pre-approved. In the end, they had an "open camera" policy with no video or audio, so I ended up not needing a pass. I had been really looking forward to seeing Copeland as last time I came, Copeland and I were at the venue and I talked to the drummer before they ended up driving off because the venue was being remodeled and was unacceptable, so it's been a long time since they were here. I came pretty early not knowing much about the Rentals or their popularity other than listening to a few songs online and noticing that "Friends of P" is really contagious. No one showed up for hours. Usually I have someone to talk to. LOL I just said hi and made a little bit of small talk here and there during load out and was exceedingly bored. I almost brought a book and didn't. I regretted that decision. LOL People did finally start showing up, but very late. Things are really unpredictable here in that regard. Goldenboy played first and they were really very good so I bought their cd afterwards. Then Copeland played 9 songs. They way it was set up, I just reached over and was able to get the set list. I managed to convince others in the front row to let me leave part way through The Rentals set so I could talk to Aaron, et al. as they had to leave early for the next show. The Rentals had a bus to sleep on so were in less of a hurry. Then I went back to the front of the stage. The Rentals were really good. The lead singer is the former bass player of Weezer. Bethany used to really like them a lot. He is kinda phrenetic on stage and fun to watch. They have outstanding harmonies, keyboards and a violinist. I was impressed. Afterwards I stayed and had photos taken. I also got their setlist and had it autographed.
On Saturday, my friend Lauralee was coming with her sister at 12:30 p.m., so that is when I planned to get to the venue. I didn't know if I had preapproval for my camera as Chris (of Melee) never did tell me if Gabe (tour manager) approved it or not. He did, so I was able to bring my camera in. I have a tradition with Ricky (guitarist) of bringing him Beef Jerkey from UT. He blogged about trying beef jerkey in every state in a blog once, and he loves it. Since we were there so early, we saw pretty much everyone load out. When I first got there, Chris (bass player) of Bowling for Soup was walking his dog Sherman. I was the 4th person in line. My friend and her sis were the first two, and Emily a huge Army of Freshman fan was 3rd. We had lots of time to visit, take turns going to the bathroom, going to my car, etc. BFS had a radio station sound check party like last time only this time people actually showed up, so I didn't get to go. Last time in Jan., only 4 people actuallyl came, so they let 25 of us in line go. The gal behind me in line was a fan/friend of Quietdrive, and she stole one of their bandanas and wore it a lot of the day. It was funny. Bowling for Soup arrived at the venue just before I did. Then Army of Freshman showed up and talked to Emily and the rest of us a little bit. Quietdrive showed up. I was looking for Melee. I think they are always the last ones there every time. LOL I visited with them a bit, gave Ricky his beef jerkey and waited some more. After a very long, hot afternoon, it was finally time to enter. The show was outstanding. Army of Freshman was really good and very energetic on stage. The same was true for Quietdrive, and the lead singer also played violin on a few songs and it added a lot to the music. Then it was time for Melee! Let me say that I totally love those guys. Chris always gives 100% plus on stage, and the guys comaraderie off the stage carries over on stage. There stage presence and great music really make them a favorite of mine to see. They are well loved in Salt Lake City. Later Chris said this is one place they could pull off being a headliner. I am hoping someday they will headline here. The stage guy gave me a drumstick and said it was Melee's. Bowling for Soup put on a good show as always. It was the third time I'd seen them. The bass player probably weighs over 400 lbs, and moves in ways a guy like that is not expected to move. LOL He winks a lot, kisses his bass, and does some funny things. The lead singer can toss a pic into his mouth, spit it back up really high and catch it, although he did miss it once this time. I think that's rare. Their song High School is pretty funny. I really didn't talk to any of them, although they were around a lot time and I saw them often. Last time I talked to Eric a bit.
After the show, I had photos taken in the venue, and was talking to Ricky when they were kicking us out. So, I asked him if he'd be around outside a bit and he said yes, so I left. Outside I was talking to Ricky. Everyone was milling around and it was pretty laid back. People had pics taken, talked to their favorite band people for probably a couple of hours, or at least it seemed like it. I talked to Chris for a really long time about books, music, faith, and just about everything. LOL Then Chris had to go and get a pic with a guitar winner. I walked over and it turned out to be Emily! She won a pink guitar autographed by all the bands. When I asked her, she wasn't even sure how she won it. I did find that there was an Ernie Ball contest to win a guitar, so I'm guessing that was it. Too funny that she didn't even know. LOL So, I took a pic of her with it and the bands. Chris was the only one from Melee in the pic, though. I said "what happened to everyone else" and he had no idea. LOL Then I spotted Ryan and talked to him for a little bit. I had Ryan autograph the drumstick, and the only one who hadn't already done so was the drummer. We laughed about it. Then Mike (the drummer) came by and signed it and said it wasn't his drumstick. So we had to unravel the mystery of the drumstick. The Melee crew was all planning to go to The Gateway to the movies to see Rush Hour 3. I ended up talking to Chris again, and I asked if he was going and he said he didn't think so. Then he was told his movie was going to start, so he ended up going anyway. I told him he could write us a movie review. The funny thing is that Ricky and Ryan did a funny review on Ricky's blog. I'm not sure what Chris thought yet. The Melee bunch left for the theaters, and I ended up talking to Kai of Army of Freshmen for a very long time. Emily was involved in the conversation, but I think Kai and I did most of the talking. I manage to solve the drumstick mystery as the drumstick belonged to AOF's drummer. Kai signed it I think he plays bass. LOL Anyway, it's a funny memory. After Kai left, Emily and I stayed and chatted for a good while, and we both finally headed off for home. Emily went South, and I set off to the North. I was tired, but it was a good day. Anyway, the day's events went something like that, although the order gets a bit jumbled at times. I'm soooo old. LOL
On the way home I stopped at Arby's and went to check the time to make sure it wasn't too late to order. No cell phone. Apparently it had fallen out of my camera bag. It hasn't turned up. I had the account suspended. Today I called to ask a question and after the whole tale, and after I told the gal the camera only took fuzzy pics from the beginning and I was thinking of returning it had it not been lost, she offered to send me another one just like it for free if I renewed my contract as of todays date. I took her up on the offer. She waived everything pretty much, so I decided to have it shipped express for $15. I still can't believe it. You usually have to pull teeth to get anything from them like that!!! So, I'm a happy person in that regard. I still hope the phone comes back to me so I can get the info. from my sim card, but that took a good deal of stress off my mind.
Oh, and speaking of stress... I am involved in a "Brad Avery Fear Factor" contest right now. I have had it reconfirmed that I am indeed a klutz and cannot juggle golf balls. I tied for last place on that round. I'm looking good for the round where I have to eat some weird concoction which is supposed to be a "cake" and eat it in under 4 minutes while drinking 20 oz of A&W Root beer. Don't ever do that. Your stomach thinks it is going to explode. Besides, Brad may like root beer, I have never liked the stuff much. At any rate, one of the prizes is a meet & greet to the show of your choice for Third Day. Brad is the bass player. They do these sort of things on their message boards around birthdays. Hopefully I'll survive the challenge, although I'll be shocked if I win. LOL Pray for me, I'll need it. Ed calls it self-inflicted punishment. He's probably right. LOL Have a good laugh at my expense. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyA3_Q0mx6I
Peace out,
--Melanie
Oh, I almost forgot to mention.. on the way home in the mountains behind Lagoon, there was a fire. I don't really know the details. I tried to take pics from my car, but as I feared it wasn't going to work in the dark from a moving vehicle. The drivers behind me most likley thought I was tipsy. ;)


Sunday, August 05, 2007

My so called life, part 2








It has been a fun, strange, interesting and busy week. I have probably wasted enough time, just the same, to post the rest of this blog at least 2 or 3 times. It's not like I've done nothing at all, but I probably should be doing more, but I'm rather unmotivated. So, mostly I have been editing and uploading photos.


Day 2 of Creation West I woke up rather early -- somewhere in the neighborhood of 7:30 a.m. Now that may not be early for some, but it is quite early for me. I tried to get myself organized for a shower, ate a bowl of cereal and headed off to the showers. The line was not nearly as bad as I had expected and it seems like it went rather quickly. I was still undecided as to what I was going to do for the day. Switchfoot was playing on the main stage in the evening, and I really wanted to see Ruth, Everyday Sunday and MXPX on the Fringe Stage. It was exactly like last year. Everyone I wanted to see on Thursday was on the Fringe stage until 5 p.m., but if I went to the mainstage that late, I wasn't sure I'd be able to see Switchfoot close up and all. Jon Foreman is definitely someone you want to be in the front for. I guess I'm way too spoiled.


I arrived just as Phil Wickham was getting ready for worship and I was glad not to miss it after all. After the message, Phil played the main stage and it was a pretty good extension of what had taken place earlier. Justin Lookado spoke. He's a pretty good and dynamic speaker, although I don't think I quite agreed with everything he said during this day. Some of his points were good, so I can't complain too much. I was really looking forward to seeing Storyside B afterwards. I was not disappointed. :) I was able to see them again later in the day, and subsequent times promoting the Gotee Records booth at the festival. Sometime during the morning, I someone really nice and she tried to save a spot for me for Switchfoot so I could go see MXPX, et al, and I kept her place when she needed to leave. She kept most of my belongings with her. That could have been (and almost was) a disaster. It almost worked. In the end, I did end up in the front, so I guess it did work in a sense. All of the bands on the Fringe stage were pretty good. When I arrived, there was a group playing a rather acoustic set. They weren't too bad. Afterwards, Run Kid Run played , then Ruth. I really liked Ruth, and that is good because I am going to try and see them with Relient K and Switchfoot in November. I was rather surprised to see Jerome of Switchfoot standing at the side of the stage watching. A little bit later he was joined by Andrew. The fact that I recognized Drew must have shown on my face - I hope I wasn't staring. He gave me a little nod, then walked away for a sec, and then came back. I think it's cool that they were able to catch the show. After Ruth, Reggie Dabbs was supposed to speak, but he wasn't able to be there. One of the guys from the Christian Medical Response team spoke instead. I think his name was Dan or Don Diamond. Anyway, I really enjoyed everything he had to say. I wish I would have been able to pick up a copy -- as he was actually one of the better speakers. I did get some good photos of him. LOL Everyday Sunday played a good set, and then it was time for MXPX. All I can say is that I am glad I didn't miss MXPX!! They gave it 100%. The only disappointment on the Fringe stage that day was really the fact that there were barricades there this year. Last year there weren't. It made getting photos a bit more difficult, but I did manage to get a few here and there. It did seem like there was less shade at the Fringe Stage this year, but that could be due to the barricade being further back from the stage since I was at the front both this year and last year.


My other disappointment is that I didn't make the connection that Barlowgirl and MXPX would overlap, so I missed a good part of Barlowgirl's set. I did catch the last 3 songs or so and I heard "Never Alone" which I love, so it was still good. Skillet played after Barlowgirl. I was able to move up to about two or three back, and I kept looking for the girl with my things. At some point I did find her, and she handed my things back to me. I absolutely loved Skillet's set. I was able to get some good photos of Korey Cooper, although it was difficult to get pics of Jon Cooper. I'm still going through them all. The sun was really bright, and it was quite hot, as it was all 4 days. I know that Skillet performed, "The Older I Get" and I just love that song. Then it was time for worship with Phil Wickham again (they really made him work on Thursday!) and he played a lot of what he had played during the morning. I really did enjoy him, though. Someone left after skillet, and I was able to move up to the front. Then Ron Luce spoke (the title of his talk was "Who's brand are you") and Chris Tomlin was coming onstage next. Chris was really quite amazing. The crowd started to get closer and closer for Chris and Switchfoot's sets. Switchfoot was absolutely incredible! Jon gave it 200%. At one point he came down into the crowd, and sang before going back up onstage. He grabbed a cymbal and started banging it during the show, and was just very animated onstage. It was probably the best I've seen them. If there is a video of that show, it will go down as a "Best of Switchfoot" performance!! I was pretty excited to hear them sing Awakening for the first time live. And I have my one usual complaint -- it was just too short. In reality, the set was not at all short, but I didn't want it to end. But, as they say, all good things must come to an end. LOL Afterwards, I stayed to pick up trash as usual, then headed over to the tent to hear Sean McDonald sing. I like Sean. I worked hospitality for shows he was opening at, and he is a nice person as well. Afterwards, I waited to see if he was meeting anyone. He was behind the stage while people were loading in, and there was a short line of people. I didn't know if it was o.k. to go back there or not, so I waited. Several others went back and no one seemed to care, so I followed. I waited while Sean talked to a few people, and then I told him that I had worked hospitality in Salt Lake City. He didn't remember. I told him it was fine that I didn't expect him to remember. I think he felt bad. I told him next time I saw him here he could forget me again. LOL Seriously, I told him that I didn't think he would remember me and I would have been surprised if he had. He was very kind, and we talked for a sec. and he posed for a photo with me. Then I said good-bye, left the tent and saw a cut out for Veggietales and "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything", which of course, reminded me of Relient K. So I had someone take a pic of me with it. I was quite exhausted, so I slowly headed back for my campsite. Then I had something to eat (I think it was tuna and crackers again, some soy milk and a few snacks, found the "not so sweet" Honeybuckets, and turned in for the night. Two more days left. I fell asleep pretty easily.


Well, this is a novella after all as I was sure it would be. Stay tuned for Chapter 3. To cite an old tv program, same bat time, same bat channel. (Yes, that was very cheesy.)


Peace out,

Melanie

Friday, August 03, 2007

So much going on... my so called life, part 1






There has been so much happening lately that I don't even know where to begin. I'm not even sure where the beginning is. LOL This will, in all likelihood be a novella.
Creation West was amazing, but by the time the last day came around I was rather glad it didn't go on for one more day. My body was telling me it was enough of a good thing. :)
I am not a good long distance driver. My max is generally about 5 hours. It's more than twice that to The Gorge. Somehow I made it with very little sleep. On Tuesday (the 24th) I was up about 8 a.m. to help load up all of my daughter's salon furnishings (stations, sinks, hair dryers, cabinets, etc.) into a moving truck to be placed into storage. My plan was to leave for Creation at about 3 p.m., but we didn't finish with the salon business until about 2:30 and afterwards we went to have a late lunch (or was that early dinner?) By the time I got home, showered and the car loaded for the trip, it was after 6 p.m. I pulled out of the driveway at 6:22 p.m.
I did rather well the first part of the trip, but I was very tired. I had thought about stopping and sleeping a few hours at about Ontario, OR at the Motel 6 there, but since I left so late I decided not to. Instead I slept at a rest stop for about 2 hours. I stopped one other time to sleep along the way for about an hour. The other driver's on the road were rather appreciative that I finally was off the road, I have a feeling. I wanted to make Creation by 8 a.m. when the gates opened, but I ended up arriving closer to 9:45 a.m. - which was about 1/2 hr. ahead of my time last year. The funny thing is that I ended up almost in the same spot as last year. The Honeybuckets weren't too far away - fortunately far enough away, though. LOL The showers were not exactly close, but not too far. Everything else was a pretty good hike from my campsite. Setting up the tent was easy since I have a self-erecting tent. It was so hot at the campsite I decided I might as well wait at the gate, so I took my sunscreen, my snacks, a few drinks, the items I took for RK and my blanket and headed for the gate. It was a long wait as the gate didn't open for another four hours, but I was the first person in line. LOL In the end, I'm not sure how much that accounted for. Slowly people started joining me in line. Second in line was a Hawk Nelson fan I met last year and her friend. Eventually a group of young people had joined me, and they decided to play a game called "Big Booty." It was pretty funny. They tried to get me to play, but I was a party pooper. The game did take some concentration and on 3 hours of sleep, it just wasn't going to happen for me. LOL The game went on nearly the entire 4 hours, with new people joining and leaving the whole time. I do think there were a few hardy souls who lasted the entire game. Time seemed to just crawl by. The sun beat down, but all of us stood rather firm.
At last it was time for the gates to open. Everyone started heading through security. Some of the people that came after me promised to try and keep me at the front, but it all fell through. I think they tried, though, we just were separated. In the end, I was not exactly at the front. A few tall guys locked arms in front of me and wouldn't budge. Somehow during the trip down the hill, they hit a roadblock and fell back and I ended up in front after all. So I did get my spot in front of the stage, right where Jon S. would be during Relient K's set. That is exactly where I wanted to be. I knew I would be leaving, though, so the tricky part was hanging onto the spot. I started discussing my dilemma with about 4 or 5 people around me and told them I really needed to go and meet someone and not lose my spot. I finally told them who I was meeting, so they said they'd hold it for me, and I literally ran up the hill towards the merch tents. Did I say that I was too old and out of shape for this? LOL I made it to the top and hit an area that was blocked off. I asked how to get to the tents from there and the security guy instructed me to walk all the way around. I simply said, "I can't" and he took pity on me and let me take a short cut for which I was extremely grateful. I finally arrived at the tents, and found that they weren't supposed to open for another 15 minutes. SO, I was waiting, and thinking I wasn't going to make it back in time to keep my place. Then I saw Jon and shouted out to him. He came to the gate and the security guard said I couldn't go in, so Jon flashed his badge and said he was with the band and that worked. We had a nice visit, and I took pics. I tried to video for Brittany, but I couldn't remember how to work the recorder on my camera, so Jon wrote a note for her and I took a pic of him to go with it. He's cool that way. :) I was such a ditz the entire time. I mean, I'm a ditz anyway, but on such little sleep and all the oxygen deprivation from running up the hill, I was extra loopy. (Thanks Jon for being so patient.) Anyway, I finally said my good-byes, and headed back for the stage. When I got back I needed something to drink badly, so I stopped by the medical table, and tried to get something, but the guy said, "just a minute" and pretty much ignored me. There was one gal there with a couple of skinned knees and a few others sitting. It was so hot standing there that I just went back to my spot by the stage, which I was very grateful to still have. At one point I asked security if it was possible to get a little bit of water and he said I'd have to go to the medical table. (Been there, done that, didn't work.) So, I decided to take a chance and tough it out. I'm stubborn that way. He said if I had to be hauled out, I wouldn't like it. A few times I almost thought I'd have to be. But, I survived. Hawk Nelson put on an awesome show as they did last year. I think I had to sit down during part of their set because I was nauseous, though. Superchick was amazing and very energetic. I was especially looking forward to seeing Jars of Clay and Relient K, and I wasn't disappointed in either. Jars of Clay was fun, and I still get a kick out of their shorts and crew socks. I wasn't surprised, though since I'd seen pics from other festivals this summer. I did hear quite a few comments, though. I think others got a kick out of their attire as well. I think CW was Relient K's best show that I've seen to date. Matty was really animated on stage and really seemed to be having fun. I tried, in vain, to get some decent photos. Matty gave me a shout out (kind of a quiet shout out), but it sounded like he said, "Mellie" so I wasn't sure if he was talking about me or not. LOL I was just pretty excited that they were doing Sloop John B, because I love their rendition. Jon was fun to watch on stage, as always. And, as always, the set just seemed to go by too quickly.
I stayed after and picked up trash, as I usually do. I am just amazed that people leave so much garbage behind! If everyone decided to take two items more than they left behind and tossed them, I don't think there'd be anything for the clean-up crew to do, and I think they'd be o.k. with that, actually. I had kinda hoped to see Jon again, but never did catch up with him afterwards. I'm sure he had a long day as well. On the way back to the campsite I stopped at the tent for the "midnight" show and stayed for the remainder of Nazareth's show. He was pretty funny, and I really enjoyed it. Then I headed back to my campsite, ate some tuna salad with crackers, had some very vanilla soy milk and turned in for some much needed sleep. Day 1 was long and hot, but good.
Stay tuned for more... But first, I'd better actually get something accomplished today. LOL
Peace out,
Melanie
P.S. still to come... Days 2-4 and the trip home, closing the chapter on my daughter's salon, and 2 nights of David Meece. Oh, and pics. :)
P.S.S. If you check out Wednesday's Creation West 2007 podcast at http://www.monsterpod.com/ I can be seen going through the gate. Thanks to Socks for letting me know. Kinda scray, huh?