Saturday, June 06, 2009

The Real Relient K Day Blog



Thursday I knew I was in for a long day. I took the entire day off work as I wanted to be absolutely sure I was in the front of the line and I did hope that Relient K would arrive early enough for me to see them a bit. My original plan was to be there by 9:30 a.m. I knew that was probably too early, but thought perhaps I'd find things to do nearby if I needed to for a bit. As it turned out, I didn't get to bed until 5 a.m., so I set my alarm clock for 9:06 a.m. It was close enough. LOL Sleep came with great difficulty, and morning came far too soon. I struggled my way out of bed and set out to get ready to go. I put on my "Just As I Am" tee, and finished getting dressed, finished packing my camera gear, ate a bowl of cereal with blueberries and strawberries, took Mollie out for a brief walk and eventually headed out the door probably a little before 10 a.m.

I had planned a pit stop at Smith's grocery store to pick up some gift cards, and something to drink. I secretly hoped no one else had decided to come so early with a lot of schools letting out already, and said my prayer to just trust God with the timing. (He is good to always work things out as they should be.) Then I realized that I left a camera battery in the charger at home, so I went the mile or so back home to retrieve it. Finally I was on my way to the Murray Theater for real.

It was about 10:45 when I reached my destination, and set about to find someplace to park. Parking turned out to be the biggest challenge. I had been to the venue once before, and parked at the far end of the parking lot across the street. This time I was greeted by multiple signs promising that Murray Theater patrons would be towed ir they parked there at any time. I drove in circles for what seemed like an eternity until I finally found a spot around the corner and down the street. So I walked over to the theater and waited. I easily lost track of time, but probably about 20-30 minutes later, Jeremiah and his son arrived to wait for tickets. The show was sold out, but Jeremiah had driven down with his family from WY in hopes of getting his son in to see Relient K as a belated birthday present. He had been told that some tickets might be at the door at 3 p.m. He said they prayed about it all night and on the way down, as he tried to make some headway with his music contacts. Jeremiah had been the drummer for a band called Weston. The three of us chatted quite a bit as the morning wore on. I told him I bet that Thiessen would probably get them in. LOL A couple of other young ladies arrived that were also told some tickets would be available at the door at 3 p.m.

I don't really recall what time it was, but RK's bus arrived and parked right in front of the venue. I almost parked my car there, so it's probably a good thing that I moved it. The bus driver got off the bus and waited for a taxi, Ethan and a few other guys got off the bus at various times, and Ethan, et al., made a trek down to Starbucks in the Barnes & Noble down the street. After what seemed like another eternity, Hoopes finally got off the bus and we chatted a bit. I mentioned Jeremiah and family to him and Hoopes said he'd get them in the show.

More people began to arrive and line up for the supposed 3 p.m. door tickets.

Lauralee texted me that she would get to the venue about 2:30 p.m. (It was probably closer to 4-4:30 before she arrived.) And I wondered about April and was hoping to see her soon.

I really don't recall what time it was exactly whenI looked up and April greeted me and we finally met face to face. We decided to head over to Subway and split an oven roasted chicken sandwich, which was pretty tasty, btw. LOL I had to have Subway in honor of RK's setlist song about the $5 footlong. :) April and I chatted some more and she finally went over to spend some time at the park down the street, having tired a little of doing the waiting in line all day thing. I can't say I blame her!

The line began to grow, and grow and grow. A good number of people were waiting for the 3 o'clock tickets. The funny thing is that the venue will sell ocasionally sell a handful of tickets at the door when doors open. I think the security guy was getting a tad nervous as a lot of people waiting did not have a ticket yet. He kept saying, "This is not good." I managed to catch Scotty and made sure that Jeremiah and family would be on the list as Hoopes didn't get his name, and Scotty said, "no problem" and wrote it down on blue tape. LOL By about 5 or so, security kept arranging and rearranging the lines trying to figure out how they were going to let people in.

At various times, the guys went in to sound check - Ethan first, Schneck - finally Thiessen, who I think had just awakened. He gave me a "hi five" and said he had to go brush his teeth and sound check and said he'd be back out to chat later. (Later he came out and said he wanted to chat, but he had to brush his teeth. LOL)

Lauralee finally arrived in there somewhere, and April came back from the park. We waited...

The tickets said doors at 6 p.m. and concert at 7 p.m., but earlier in the day, I was told that the doors would in fact open at 7. Finally we were let in the door and I made my way to the stage, left of center. In reality, I think it was closer to 6:30 p.m., but then we waited in the venue a very long time. The natives began to get restless and started chanting, "start the show" at one point. The crowd also got rather pushy and scrunched even before The Classic Crime played their set. I was told I could shoot with my pro camera, no flash for 3 songs, so I tried my best, but three songs with such an "enthusiastic" crowd turned out to be a huge challenge. Most of the pics are not good. I do think I have a few good ones of Owl City, though. And I did get some decent shots of RK with my point and shoot.

The crowd was really ready for a show by the time The Classic Crime took to the stage and put on an awesome performance. April had been next to me and decided she'd had enough of the crazy crowd and headed for the back. We had to really yell at people to let her out. Finally she just said, "look, let me out and all 60 of you can have my spot." LOL It worked.

Owl City set up and their set up really went rather quickly. It does seem that Adam has a few fans in SLC, who knew the music, which was pretty nice, actually. The lighting for Owl City was dark, mostly in blues, and he and Matt played the show in bare feet. With his rolled up pant legs and bare feet, Adam looked like he was ready for the beach. :) Although Owl City is a bit more techno than what I normally listen to, I liked Adam's voice, and the songs were almost relaxing. The backdrops made me think of Jacob Marshall as he had the video behind him with clouds for a good portion of the set. MAE and clouds.:)

Owl City finished up their set and the set up began for Relient K. They put a platform right in front of my face. I know how to pick spots - that's for sure. LOL Sometime during one of the other sets, I had dropped my wallet. I did get some help from the crowd in backing away as a lot of the content had apparently fallen out and was on the floor. I think I retrieved everything. Everything, that is, except the Starbucks card that was on the stage that I had for Ethan. It never turned up during the show.

About that time my friend just behind me said she felt like she might pass out. I could feel the heat emanating off her body, so I tried to get her to put her head down, and I started fanning her with some Batman stickers I brought for Ethan. She started to lose all of her color, and she became unresponsive. Her lips even got pale, and I got a little scared for her. I started trying to see if I could spot Scotty or security or someone to yell at from the stage to get her out, but I couldn't see anyone. RK's came onstage and started playing Devastation and Reform, and Nicole's friend drug her out of the crowd. Fortunately, she was o.k., but boy did she have me worried!!! I was ready to call 911.

I tried my best to take pics, but wasn't having much luck at all with the pushing. It kinda made me sad. But I was enjoying the music too much to be too melancholy. :) After the third song, I swapped cameras to my point and shoot. I had a little bit better luck with it, partly because there were at least a few less pushy moments, and it was just easier to maneuver the smaller camera body with the crowd the way it was.

Relient K's set was going by so quickly, but I was enjoying it all. I think this was their best show that I've ever seen. Their stage presence has improved 1000% since 2003, and the crowd seemed to know the words to every single song. There were raucous cheers for "The Distance" when it was announced. Thiessen told people not to diss his rapping (probably not the exact words, but I have a faulty memory card.)
Before long, they were playing "Be My Escape" the last song on the set list. I knew what was coming next -- Deathbed! The crowd cheered wildly and chanted for one more song. This was my first and only time hearing Deathbed live and I was definitely impressed. It was also pretty amazing that a good part of the crowd knew nearly every word of the saga. Then it was over. :(





I, again, looked for the Starbucks card, with no success, and headed back to the merch table. Ethan was back there, so I told him what happened and gave him the stickers. Then I ended up purchasing three stickers and a Relient K hoodie (very comfy, too, I might add.) Then I went to look for Owl City and The Classic Crime's merch. I found Adam and waited to have a pic taken. Then I found the merch and they were starting to put it away. I quickly bought an Owl City tee. I couldn't resist as it was pretty darned cute. Then I went over to see the Classic Crime and Nicole was there talking to them. She was fine. I ended up buying a cd, but never did get a pic with them.

Then I headed outside to try to talk to Matty, et al. I talked to Hoopes quite a long time. I talked to Thiessen for a bit and had a pic taken with him. He was eating a little pancake and using a little bit of syrup from a tiny syrup bottle. I talked to Warne a really long time about anything and everything. I spoke with Ethan briefly and had a photo taken with him. April found me and said, "guess what I found, and she had the Starbucks card in her hand, as it had fallen in her bag. So I was able to give it to Ethan. I had my pic taken with April, and somewhere in the mix I took a photo of April with her hula hoop.








And so it went... Finally there was a group pic going on, so I went over and snapped a couple quickly (I nearly missed it) and then people began to filter away.

They ended up across the street for Mexican food. I said goodbye to April, and I went into Alberto's to get something to drink as I was exceedingly thirsty. I knew Thiessen would be there, but didn't realize everyone was over there. The place was humming. But I tried to be cool and not bug anyone, bought a Sprite with mostly ice since I'm trying not to drink high sugar drinks and there weren't really any good options, put my camera in the camera bag a little more properly, and then headed for the door. Matty said, "Oh are you leaving" and I said, yea, I am putting it off, though because I hate driving home. Someone tried to give me a churro, and I must have been tired because I can't remember who now, but I'm pretty sure it's not on my diet. LOL Somewhere along the way, Warne said I should drive home with the windows down (can't recall if it was before or after I went to Alberto's) and I said, well, I could put the top down, but not sure about doing that late at night. But I thought about it and decided "why not?" I climbed in my car, plugged in my cd player, put down the top and took off for home.

I got to about where the refinery is and was paying so much attention to the barricade, that I missed the lane was turning right only. So, I inadvertantly got off the freeway. I'm probably dangerous at night. ;) There is no north bound entrance, so I figured I'd hit the southbound entrance and turn around. I wasn't looking forward to backtracking. The entrance was closed. Someone waved me down the road. So I had no idea where I was. But I did encounter the most interesting smells on the journey with the top down. First was baking bread, something floral, then the refinery which was definitely in the "not so pleasant" category. I did smell flowers again somewhere closer to home. But at the refinery, I made a mental note to remember the smells. ;) I got to the end of the road, and turned right and saw an entrance to 215 North. That was a relief. I was back on the road to home again.

I finally made it nearly home and made a pit stop at the post office before heading for home. I was definitely one tired old lady by the time I arrived home. But it was a fun day. I hope the guys enjoyed the stay here and come back soon. :)

Love, peace, and concert sagas...

--Melanie

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm pretty sure all 60 of them DID take my spot, they tried to at least.

And I'm glad Ethan's Starbucks card wasn't lost to the pit.

(got another chunk of the video done! just a few more to go!)

Allison said...

Wow, sounds like a LONG day! Nice shirt, btw :) Glad you had a great time! Did you give Jon the cape?

Melanie said...

I was definitely tired at the end of the day. And I did give Jon the cape. He liked it. :)

Anonymous said...

Haha that's awesome. My friend Erica was the one who gave Thiessen the pancakes and syrup. So she just NOW found out that he actually ate them :]

And I bet it was Ethan who offered you a churro. He kept talking about them, and he even posted a tweet about it :]

We were there at Alberto's too. I didn't remember seeing you though.