Being "Warped" in Boise

I originally posted this on a private family site on Aug. 11, but thought why reinvent the wheel. LOL I will add notes and photos, too. I neglected to mention that when Lauralee and I arrived at the hotel at 5 mins. to 6 one of the first things we did was figure out our World Wide Moment photos. We took a pic of each other, simultaneously. It seemed appropriate. Here is my pic of Lauralee:

On with the show...




"Thursday night, I left for Warped Tour in Boise. Initially, I had a room at the Hampton Inn in Nampa, ID booked. IT sits practically in the venue parking lot - at least they are adjacent. I found out Brittany and Ann were going to the Boise Warped tour and asked if they had a room yet. Ann said, "no", so I offered to share mine. Then a friend I meet here at concerts a lot said she was planning to go, so there were four of us. When Ann and Brittany got to the hotel around 9:15 p.m., Ann tells me they are picking Kara up at 11:16 at the airport, and that she is staying in the room with us. Needless to say, we didn't sleep a whole lot. We also terrorized Wal Mart at least three times. LOL Mostly just with silliness. Lauralee (the friend I went with from UT) and I had gone to Wal Mart earlier, and the gal at the front couldn't seem to figure out that Lauralee's Glaceau vitamin water, and the smart water were both on the receipt and from the same company. Yea.. now we're water thieves. Sigh...

SO, we did finally sleep a little. In the morning we ran into John Warne in the hotel lobby. He went to do his laundry and we "accosted" him later in the laundry room. Brittany was too chicken, and I wasn't going to bother him, so Ann did. LOL We all followed, of course. He said it was o.k. I left my Smart Water and he caught me later to make sure I had it. Lauralee was working at the show for ecogreen (which got her in free, basically) and Kara was working for RK's merch table and she took the road manager a cup of coffee with messages from Relient K boardies written all over the cup. I was trying to figure out how she would get a cup of hot coffee into the venue, but apparently one of the crew she knew arranged it. She also was able to be on the side of the stage when RK played. I was front and center, but left because I had a photo pass. The stage was extremely tall, so photos were difficult. Then instead of the usual 3 songs to shoot, I was only told I could shoot for 2 songs. But I was able to take pics from the side of the stage. I really didn't think I had much, but I ended up with some decent photos after all. When RK was done, Matty came over to where I was and gave me a big hug. Then he was mobbed by 50 other people all wanting hugs. It was kinda silly. Afterwards, I went to the Kia tent for a Relient K signing, and I had some things for them. I found a really adorable Spiderman pj set - 12 mos, and Jon is a big marvel comics fan who has a 6 month old son. He loved it. We were able to hang around a little after the signing, and Matty showed me his iPhone and scrabble game. The graphics are really amazing.
Really bad pic at the Kia tent, but it was fun:


Then I met Fred of The Color Fred really briefly, hung out at the RK merch tent, watched a few other bands, and left a little early after hearing about a song and a half of Reel Big Fish. They weren't bad, but I was beat. Ann and Brittany were back at the hotel since Ann wasn't feeling well. So, I left early so as to be able to say goodbye to them. The hotel was booked, but Ann managed to get one due to a cancellation so we stayed at the Hampton again. I was lucky enough to get Motel 6 in Twin Falls to cancel my reservation at 8 p.m. at no charge. I think it ended up cheaper in the long run. The only downside was that it was a smoking room, so I just bought some claritin to be safe. WE all went to get food. They all ended up at Taco Del Mar, except Brittany who went to Walmart to get something to eat. I went to a sandwich shop. Two of the guys from All Time Low came in and we chatted a bit.

Ann, Brittany & Kara left really early (like 4:30 a.m.) since they were headed for Warped Tour at the Gorge in WA. Lauralee and I slept in a little bit longer, had breakfast in the lobby, then headed for home. We stopped at Jack in the Box at Twin Falls for lunch, and I took her to Perrine bridge to see the Gorge and to Centennial Park to see the snake river a little closer, and the waterfall there.



Then we made it home around 6:10 p.m. It may take me a bit to recover. IT was fun, though. The only downside is that my 50 mm lens came apart. Those things are great low light lenses, but they are too darned fragile!

I think my "mini tour" is over for now. I saw The Fold on the 21st of July and the 22nd, then on 23-26 I was at the Gorge in WA for Creation NW, on the 30th to see Switchfoot in Rock Springs, WY (not really as far away as it might sound), to USANA in West Valley to see James Taylor on the 2nd, and Warped Tour on the 8th. Jerome of Switchfoot said I had my own "mini tour" and I said, "Yea, I don't know how you guys do it!"

Anyway, it's kept me pretty busy and in trouble of late. I'm tired though. LOL "

Now for my addendums:

I don't mention the "Pizza Party". Not sure how I left that one out. LOL Kara and Brittany bought frozen pizza at Wal Mart, and I bought the Dreyer's fruit popsicles. Almost all of the popsicles had multiple sticks. It was really odd. The other thing I didn't mention was that I got into a conversation with a guy from a band called "Allura" in the elevator, and when he got off on the second floor, I started to follow him out. I was on the 4th floor. Pretty embarassing. hahaha
And, I knew All Time Low's merch guy. He's a good guy, even if I keep wanting to call him Alex instead of Andrew, which is pretty funny since the lead singer of All Time Low is Alex.

Anyway, Ann put together a video here for our pizza party:


It's what happens when you put a bunch of silly RK fans in a hotel on the same night.
Did we really sleep at all?

Girls just wanna have fun:


Yes, I did see other bands besides Relient K:

My Warped and Wacky Weekend

The problem with long, fun-filled days is trying to remember and recount every detail and not bore everyone to tears. :) The other is trying to decide where to begin. This tale begins on a Friday night, the night before Warped Tour, or more accurately, extremely early on Saturday morning when I finally got off work at 1 a.m. I still had to head for my daughter's place to feed her dogs and check up on them, finish getting my camera gear ready, run to Wal Mart and pick up a memory card to replace the one that went bad the night before. All those goals were accomplished, but by then it was close to 4 a.m. I finally was able to hit the sack and try to catch some zzzzzzz's. It took a while for me to drift off. At 6:30 a.m. my daughter and husband returned from Phoenix and I was awake, sort of. I took care of some business with my daughter, and went back to sleep for a couple of hours as best I could. So much for my plan to actually get enough rest first.

My intent was to set out by 8:30 am. By the time I actually got out the door, it was past 9:30. I also wanted to get a Coldplay ticket which went on sale at 10 a.m. and a ticket to see Bob Dylan, which also went on sale at 10 a.m. When it rains, it pours. I had convinced my beloved mother to take care of the Coldplay ticket for me. She was to call me if the seat wasn't in the first 10 rows so I could decide what to do. I had pulled up row 21 in the presale, and had hoped to do better with this one. So, the natural thing for me to do was to forget my cell phone. I turned around and went back to get it and got out the door at about 10 mins. to 10. I figured the line would be huge. I was worried about missing someone I really wanted to see. As it turned out, I ended up with Row 24. My mom pulled up row 21, and I decided just to get a cheap seat. They were out. We tried again, Row 24 came up. I took it. At that time, I was already well on the road to the Salt Lake Fairgrounds for some hot summer fun. Through the graciousness of friends, I was able to get a photo pass for Warped Tour, so I was pretty excited about it and definitely happy to finally be there.

I don't recall exactly what time I finally arrived at my destination, but it was probably around 10:30 a.m. The line was getting longer by the minute -- no, make that by the second. I ran into someone I always see at concerts right away, and he told me he was considering paying $5 to bump the line. It sounded good to me. I was ready for it. We chatted and I headed up to the press table to get my photo pass. It all went really smoothly. I was supposed to have a photo only band, but they forgot to cross of the "press" part, so I had a photo/press pass. I was told that I didn't have to go through the line. As it turned out, I wasn't even searched, so it went really quickly. In the end that was a huge blessing and relief as Relient K was playing first. I was really surprised that they were playing so early, but apparently this year at Warped the play order was determined by drawing and RK drew early.

My first stop, of course, was to the big red balloon to find out the schedule. I discovered that on too little sleep, remembering any of it was more than a challenge. I took a photo to help me remember, but then it was too bright to read it most of the time. LOL Then I headed for the Main Stage to see my favorite band, Relient K. When I arrived I went up to security so I could try and find out what I was supposed to do. She looked up what was on my wristband and said I could go backstage if I wanted to, so I did. I'm trying to remember who I saw first, but I think it was Warne. Eventually I was able to have a nice conversation with everyone. I probably seem kinda weird and chatty, but to me it's like running into someone you know that you only see once every 6 months or so and trying to fit everything you want to say in 30 seconds or less and you can't remember half of it. LOL

Finally it was time for the show to start and I went around to the barricade. I was nervous about getting anything good in the bright sun, and shade combo that is Warped. At the end of the three songs I went back to the front of the barricade. I asked security if I could still use the camera from the pit, or if I had to use a different one, and was basically told, "I don't know." So I just said if there's a problem let me know and I'll stop and swap cameras, so I was able to keep taking pics with my DSLR. I had a secured a spot in the front before the show and told someone I was there and I would try to get back which I did. My friend, Lauralee, was pretty much dead center, but I couldn't make it that far and was situated to the right of the stage near the piano. At one point Thiessen seemed to notice me in the crowd, and he said later that he did see me there. I guess I am like most people and it's nice to be recognized. LOL It's also nice when you are told that you weren't imagining things. ;)





Relient K's set was longer than I expected, but as always, it just seemed too short. They played Sadie Hawkins Dance, which I wasn't expecting and it was very well received indeed. I headed off to find something to drink and another show. If I remember correctly the next show I wanted to see was "We the Kings". I stopped at a few merch booths first, purchased a Relient K tee, preordered a cd from The Maine (which reminds me, I need to take care of that online with a code), etc. and hunted for the stage. I cannot recall the exact order of things at this point, but I saw, "The Maine", couldn't find the stage for We The Kings and missed half of their set. I was looking for the stage for the Color Fred and found it just as they started, and took pics from the barricade for the first three songs, and then stood to the side and watched the rest. I really enjoyed Fred's set a lot, and the sound for that set was probably the best for some reason.


After seeing The Maine, We the Kings and The Color Fred, I did a major search for the Kia tent to see RK again. I was pretty much next to the last person in line, and I squeaked in. I wanted to get something autographed and send it to April. (Now I need to write her!!!) All I could get was this huge, weird poster, but I got it signed. I stuck around for a photo. The gal wanted me to go outside, and I thought she meant without a photo, so I said something to her and ended up staying and she didn't make me leave. When I left, there was a photo line, and I felt bad because I kinda bumped it. That wasn't my intent. LOL I hated leaving the Kia tent, though, because it was cool in there.

After bugging RK some more, I headed back out into the hot sun, bought a smoothie and started looking for the stage with Between the Trees. Along the way I discovered a band called 1997 on the Friday Says stage and loved them. I stayed for their set. I finished my smoothie and headed out again. Along the way I took pics of a band on the Smart Punk stage because the gal with the painted stand up bass was just way too interesting not to take a few snaps. And somewhere in that stretch of time I believe I saw the Aggrolites, and took a few photos. They were a bit of fun and talented. At some point in time I ran into my friend Lauralee, and she was getting ready to go to the Myspace Tent for an acoustic set with Between the Trees. I definitely wanted to see that, so I joined her. I took quite a few photos during the set, and really enjoyed it quite a lot. I had a pic taken with two of the guys after the set (only the lead singer really played, though) and went to their merch booth to meet the whole band. At 6:35, I went to see Between the Trees again, but the sequence of the day's events escapes me completely. Somewhere in the rest of the day, I managed to watch a good part of Cobra Starship's set and take pics behind the barricade, and some other bands here and there. I talked to one guy quite a while about music. He loved RK and missed their show, but we liked a lot of the same things. Now, I know the order is completely jumbled, because he headed off to see Gym Class Heroes which was one of the last bands to play. I stopped to inquire about a hat. I ended up at Family Force 5 instead of GCH, but they looked like just to much fun not to photograph them. At that point no one really seemed to care about any photo time limits and I just took pics. I didn't get anything spectacular that I know of, but a few passable shots. Afterwards I went back to the "hat" venue and played "Let's Make a Deal" on the hat because I couldn't find which pocket the rest of my money was in. I paid $13 instead of $15 and promised I would give the guy $2 if I saw him in Boise. He's like, yea (just go away so I can leave.) LOL

Then I headed for my car, which looked rather lonely out there in the dirt, the gas station and 44 ozs. of heavenly Sprite; and finally home sweet home.

Now I just have to sort through the pics and see if I have anything. I did get a few good pics of Ethan Luck and Jon Schneck, but the rest I have yet to determine.

Now I'm just waiting to see what August has in store.

Peace out,

--Melanie

Current Events

So much has happened lately, and yet not much of anything. I'm really not sure where to begin relating current events in my life (or maybe it would put you to sleep anyway), but I will give it my best effort.

I'm going to start with the most recent event which happened probably less than an hour ago on my way home from work. I was navigating my way through the usual construction mess in the dark as I do every evening after work. I noticed a car on the right that was about to "overtake" me and then saw something in the road, probably slightly illuminated by his lights. He was difficult to see, and at first it almost looked a bit unreal, but there in the road, was a deer - a mere fawn by the looks of it. He stood there for a sec. and for a minute I thought the UHP officer to my right would make contact in a most unfortunate way. Fortunately the deer turned and ran. Now I've lived here for nearly 9 years, and I have worked at my current job for 5 years, and this is the first time I've seen a deer on the road here. I would have more expected it just a little further north on the freeway, and I'm not at all surprised that there are deer about, but it isn't really the usual thing to see them so close to the general population. :) If it were only daylight and I didn't have to drive. But the photo is still etched in my mind.

Shortly after the deer incident, the UHP put on his yellow lights, and crossed over in front of me, eventually turning all his lights on and pulling into the left lane. I thought the way the road looked, I should probably do the same, but then quickly realized I had it backwards. He was stopping for an accident. I could see past the emergency vehicles and flairs to a car almost turned completely sideways, and I could see a young lady in the driver's seat sitting and writing (probably filling out paperwork for the police report.) I hope everyone was o.k. It brought back memories - and not necessarily all of my favorite ones. LOL

I started physical therapy last Wednesday, and my third visit will be tomorrow. I was told that I could do some therapy in the pool if I wanted, so I'm looking forward to that. I love the water. I have this stuff called theraband that I use for a couple of exercises. It is comprised of a strip of stretchy material that looks and smells much like a thick ballon and is about 4-5 inches wide with a knot tied at each end. The smell caught my attention as I was typing.

Work is coming along well, for the most part. I am working on a different document now (I am a data transcriber) and it is one of the longer, slower documents. At the end of the night, my rates amounted to about 11.2 docs per hour. I thought I was going along at a pretty good clip, too. LOL Not long ago we met an important deadline and the entire section was being rewarded with a nacho dinner. We bring the food, we get no extra time. I'm still trying to figure out how this was a reward. LOL By the time I heated up the beans I brought in the microwave, got my food and ate, I used up my lunch break and 2nd break, so it made for a very long night. My last thoughts before leaving were, "Is it Friday yet?"

And for those who are wondering what my concert plans might be for the near future, I do have them. The next show I have plans for is the Warped Tour in Boise. I know for certain that I am not missing Relient K for anything. I am still trying to sort through what bands I want to see, but other than RK, the two I most want to see are probably Between the Trees and The Color Fred. Fingers crossed (and prayer to be said) that they will not be playing on opposite sides of the venue at the same time, as is often the luck of the draw with Warped. LOL It's a week from Saturday, so I'm getting a little excitedd about it. :) Two days later I am going to see The Spill Canvas. They are having a bowling party before the show for Aids awareness, so I've signed up to attend. I have'nt been bowling in years, and I wonder with my wrists as they are (too much keyboarding) if I can pick up the ball. LOL Please.. no video. LOL On July 19, I am seriously mulling over the idea of driving to Henderson, NV to see The Fold. I haven't seen them in about a year, and that's just waayyy too long! Although, there is some possibility they may come closer before then, and if that happens I will be a happy gas saver. At the end of July, my travels will take me near George, WA to the Gorge and Creation NW. Usually when I go I have a plan. This year, there are so many bands I want to see on both stages that it will be tricky. I'm especially looking forward to The Myriad, Esterlyn, Switchfoot and Ruth among others. On July 30, I am most likely going to head for Rock Springs, WY to see Switchfoot. The show is free with the entry to the fair. Free is good, since gasoline is far from it. I hadn't really thought about going until I decided to look up the distance and discovered it was only 2-1/2 hrs. from my place. In August, I have a ticket for row 6 for James Taylor, and will be at the Warped Tour in Boise. Unfortunately, I have had to cut back on a few shows simply can't afford all that benzene. Still, I have plans to visit my daughter in Sept. and catch Third Day, Jars of Clay, and Switchfoot all at the same concert. I have a meet/greet for Switchfoot, so I'm pretty excited about it. I met Jon in CA and was quite impressed.

In other news, I am trying to help promote The Worldwide Moment and will probably blog about that in the next day or two. If you haven't checked it out, I urge you to check it out and get involved. http://worldwidemoment.org

On myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/worldwidemoment

On facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=22582875002&ref=mf

And just I promised here is the link to hear my lyrics put to music by the lovely J.S. James. If you would like to hear the song Jennifer created out of my lyrics (with a few small alterations), check it out here:
http://www.myspace.com/jenniferscottjames
Doesn't she have a pretty voice?

And so another novella is brought to a close.

Peace out,

--Melanie

Lots to say, but nowhere to start...

There has been so very much going on lately, that I have no idea where to start. LOL

I'm back at work. This is a good thing, overall. I have to get out and live in the real world for a while, and the pay definitely doesn't hurt. Things have been a bit tight, but I'm still supporting my concert habit. Just when I think I'll cut back several of my favorites will come to town. I love it too much, I guess.

I'm very excited to see Mute Math this Thursday! I'm also excited to see Angels & Airwaves, The Color Fred and Meg and Dia on Tuesday, but I don't know them quite as well and we haven't met yet. LOL I've been listening to TCF's cd this week a little and I think I'll like Fred's set. The downside is no photo pass. I'll request one this weekend, if I can figure out who to ask. LOL But this Thursday, I get to see one of my very favorite bands open for Matchbox 20. Roy says they will be at the merch tables after Alanis' set, so I'm double excited to actually get to see them!!! I not only love their music, but I'm quite fond of them as well. I don't know if they'll understand why, but I did blog about that very issue once. And, I found out some really good/happy news for a certain someone in the band, so I'm way more excited than I probably should be. Again, the downside is the camera thing. I hope they at least allow point and shoots. I can usually photograph Mute Math, and I would so be excited to get to in some decent lighting for once, but it would have to go through Matchbox 20 this time. Anyone know how to contact them? I just want to take pics of Mute Math (not that I wouldn't love the opportunity to photograph the others, just MM is more important to me.)

This week I had to put in 46 hours so that I could go to the shows. I was sweating it for a bit as work is denying all leave until March 14. I finally got approval last night, so it's a huge relief!! I had to turn copies of my tickets and my receipts.

In addition to the 46 hours last Saturday I was up at 6 a.m. (after working until 1 a.m., getting home around 1:30 and staying up until 4 a.m. to prepare) to work at the Steven Curtis Chapman concert. It was a very long day, but one with some good memories. I really wish I could have met Steven, but I had the opportunity to meet his sons and I thought they were very nice indeed. There wasn't a lot of time to chat, but it was really a pleasure meeting them just the same. I worked in catering, so I helped set up and prepare food. I made a trash run once.

One thing I can say about this tour is that it cemented my impression of tour bus drivers. They continue to be some of the nicest people. I guess bands wouldn't want them around otherwise, I suppose. I talked to one of the bus drivers a bit during breakfast. We are both lactose intolerant and he was looking for something he could drink. We talked about Lactaid and Soy Milk, and he had a runner take him to the store a little later and came back with some Lactaid and said it was for me. LOL I thought that was really sweet! So, you know I had to have some with my lunch.

For the concert I purchased a reserved seat in the front row. Someone made an error and treated the seating in the VIP section as open for the first few rows. So, I had a little argument with the person in my seat to no avail. I spotted a seat between 2 couples dead center front row and finally gave up and sat there. I felt badly for the person that should have had that seat, though. Anyway, it was only the second time at that sort of venue for me, and overall things went well. Word has it that Steven and company were quite happy and want to come back, so that makes my day! He said they were treated like gold. That's how it should be.

After the show, I hung about outside the meet/greet for a few minutes, but only a few. I was sort of hoping to be able to go in but there was work to be done, so I was feeling I should help. It was good, though, because I got to talk to a few friends there, met Will Chapman and others. During the concert there was a collection to help offset expenses for an adopting family. I met them before the show and afterward they were in the catering area and I got them all drinks. I really enjoyed meeting them a lot and hope I can see them again sometime. They are a beautiful family. I managed to get some pics of them on the stage at the end of the show as well.

It was a very long day. I don't think I can remember being so very tired but it was worth it. So many good things happened. As usual, I have to struggle with my more selfish side of things sometimes which I always hate, but it's probably a good thing to work through this somehow.

As for the rest of my life, I have my days and nights totally swapped. I was up until after 7 a.m. and woke up around 3. It's 6:43 p.m. and I'm still at the computer in my nightgown. Don't get too excited, it's cutesy but that's all. ;? My feet are cold, but inertia has set in, so I've done nothing about it. The plan was to go to Olive Garden tonight with our gift card, but Ed has settled in for the day, so it's unlikely. As I thought about it, Sunday evening would be better as there are fewer crowds and Ed hates crowds. I love the OG, though. :) If I could eat there twice a day I'd be happy except I'd probably look more like a blimp than I already do.

Things are busy, but I just want to sit here a while. A nice warm shower sounds good. I think that's my next stop.

God's blessings,
Melanie