My best intention was to get up at 9:15 a.m., hustle like crazy and be out the door by 9:30 a.m. (I was optimistic), get gas, head for Salt Lake City and be at In the Venue somewhere in the vicinity of 10 a.m. It was a Saturday concert, after all, and I figured that the Starting Line would have people waiting early. As it turned out, something went amiss, the alarm didn't go off, and I woke up at 11:50 a.m. instead. I tried to stay calm, got my things together, said a little prayer and reminded myself that God ALWAYS works out timing for the best, even if it's not always the way I want it. It worked. I calmly got ready to go, talked to my husband a few minutes, got dressed and headed out the door. All I know for sure was that it was probably around 12:30 and I had to make a pit stop to get gas.
I didn't look at exact time when I arrived at the venue, but to my surprise there was no line, no one was there except me. I got out of the car once or twice, went across the street once, waited in my car some more, watched some tour band/personnel types swing on a pole at the top of the stairs one by one, made a couple of phone calls, and finally got in line. It was probably somewhere between 3 and 3:30 before 3 people arrived. (Only just now I noticed all of the 3's in that last sentence. LOL)I chatted about music and concerts with the guy and the two young ladies headed to the Gateway for some food and shortly after that another couple arrived.
I handed out my remaining "Mae" stickers and told people about the upcoming show on April 4. (Yes, I'm VERY excited about that concert!) I talked a little to an older guy who had come from Four Corners to Salt Lake City and had been there since 8 last night. He was trying to reach his son with no luck. The couple gave him their French Fries, and he was grateful. It made me a little sad. Then it was just a long wait until 6:30. The weather would have been absolutely gorgeous, but there was a biting, cold, breeze that reminding me there were still vestiges of winter left.
Finally, 6:30 came and went. So, we weren't let in right on the dot, but it wasn't too much past 6:30 and we finally were let into the venue. I decided to take a chance and go for center this time. I prayed that I wouldn't get creamed. LOL It was a good spot, though, overall.
The opening band, Steel Train was really pretty good. The vocals were definitely on and I could hear them really well. They were quite energetic and fun, too. In a few places the singer/guitarist would go into these great guitar riffs, but they almost wouldn't fit with the song. I guess they were good enough that they had to be played somewhere, so he tossed them in. ;) That being said, I still liked their set a great deal, and loved the guy's voice.
After Steel Train, Four Year Strong played an even more energetic set. They were a bit harder than Steel Train, and the only downside to their music was that from where I was the vocals were not easy to hear. The keyboardist went into the crowd more than once. The crowd at In the Venue loved their set and they really did get people going. Towards the end, the Keyboardist decided to surf the crowd, only he used my right shoulder as his step off point. Let's just Ouch, and that I will definitely be feeling that in the morning! Actually, I think there is a little bit of a bruise now. The funniest thing that happened is one of the guys in the band surfed out into the crowd, and security didn't see him go into the crowd and only saw him on the "return trip." Then security did their job and weren't letting him back up on the stage. I think it caused one of the songs to possibly end just a little early. We were all laughing about it. After their set I asked for the set list and got it.
The person standing behind me was probably one of the biggest Bayside fans out there. She was really enthusiastic, bouncy, etc. when they finally came on stage.
I thought it was cute. She also knew all the words which may or may not have been a good thing. :) Anyway, Bayside put on a good show. At one point Kenny came out and sang with them. Gratefully crowd surfing wasn't bad until the last song, and security handled them all fairly well. At one point I did get my face a little too close to the barricade ducking for security to pull someone out and so I'm hoping I won't look too beat up tomorrow. So far, so good. LOL You know, I really do hate pain. LOL Bayside said that they would be at their merch table for a little while at the end of their set. The way they worded it left me the distinct impression they wouldn't be there by the end of The Starting Line's set, so I mentioned this to the Bayside fan. I would have really hated for her to miss them, so she decided to leave and go back to meet them. I hope it worked out for her. My prediction ended up being valid as I didn't see them at the merch table after the show. Again, I asked for a set list and was able to get it. I was on a roll. LOL
After a bit of time for set up, it was time for The Starting Line. The crowd went crazy, and pretty much stayed that way. When Kenny first started on the stage, his eyes looked quite tired in the pics. By the end of the night, I think he had the crowd pretty stoked, and vice versa. :) The Starting Line's set was reasonably long. I count 19 songs. It was a great set. There was a good mixture of the energetic with the more acoustic songs that worked really well. At the very beginning of the set the vocals were a bit difficult to hear, but that changed after a song or two, which was good. I could hear the vocals really well during the acoustic songs and Kenny's voice sounded very good. After Island The Starting Line left the stage to raucous applause. Some people in the crowd started a chanting for one more song and quickly started chanting for a particular song. Of course, TSL came back onstage for an encore. When they came back onstage, they brought Alex of The Almost with them to play bass, and Kenny was free to just sing and entertain the crowd, and he did just that. The show ended, and I tried to get a set list. One of the security guys was going to get it for me, but one of the stage guys went by real fast and grabbed them all and held them for ransom. He wanted the name of three Ramone's songs. Hey, I thought I was doing good to know who they were, but I had no clue. I thought I wasn't going to get the set list after all. No one else knew, either. He said he was ashamed of us. Then he wanted the name of a punk band and any three songs. He gave one to someone who came up with a band name. I went blank.
Anyone I thought of I knew wasn't "punk" enough. In the end I managed to snag the last one in his possession. I love it when a plan comes together. ;)
Anyway, I spent a little time at the merch table, bought a few items, tipped all the merch guys (went to tip Steel Train's merch and then realized they didn't have a tip jar because they were the merch guys, so I gave them a tip anyway. LOL) and headed for the door. On the way out one of the venue guys I often talk to asked me if I got any good pics. I told him maybe a few, but it was my crappy point and shoot. He said he heard I got some really good pics of Colbie Callait (which I did) and I said I was able to get a few really nice ones of her. He said her management was mad and I asked why. He said because they said someone was using a pro camera and selling them (see the implication? It seemed that way to me) I assured him that I took my photos with that camera and I never sell them. In fact, I messaged on my space saying they could use any if they wanted for free. So, now that has me bugged a bit. sigh.... I'm a tad annoyed - not at the venue - so I'm trying to figure out if it is my pics so I can straighten this out. Sheesh!!! LOL One of the guys was laughing when I said emphatically that I give my pics away, I don't sell them. Anyway, after that I left.
The drive home went by quickly, I stopped by my P.O. Box along the way, stopped by the grocery store for a few things, and was home before 1 a.m.
I hope you enjoyed my latest novella. Kudos if you made it this far.
Have a great week!!
--Melanie
P.S. I will add pics once I get them off the camera. :)
