Nov 14, 2009

I picked up Joanna from Rowan when she was done work and we went into Philly to find Justin from Motion City Soundtrack. I was following his tweets and he was running a little late, which was good for us. We got there early though and took some pictures around the art museum steps waiting for him to show.

Justin updated more that they were stuck in traffic because of an accident. A van pulled up eventually and he jumped out with his guitar and ran over to apologize and quickly start playing "Everything is Alright."

His crew was telling him he had to go but he stuck around and played a great version of "Attractive Today." It's one of my favorite songs and it was really awesome with crowd participation, everyone yelling "I like you!" He's really entertaining, I wish he could have stayed longer.

We got on the road to find the Exton Mall where he was headed next to play songs off the new album. We weren't exactly sure where to go but we saw this car and decided we should follow it since we probably had a better chance of finding the mall that way than guessing.

I turned out we were right to follow the car right to the mall and she even knew where the Hot Topic was! Plus, we made a friend. We got there before Justin somehow and hung out waiting for a little until he showed up.

While waiting to get everything set up, he hung out and talked to us, answering questions and joking around. And taking pictures, obviously. He's a really awesome guy and he just seems like he's having a great time doing what he's doing. I would be too.

They got the iHome set up and started playing some tracks from the new albums that sounded really great. They sound like Motion City Soundtrack. And Mark Hoppus produced it so of course it's even more awesome. I think it's a great pairing. I can't wait to get it.

After the songs were over, he hung out and talked to us for a while longer and the Hot Topic staff offered him this Edward cutout which he graciously accepted. It was a nice, fun listening party.

We went back to Philly and got Gianna's. They didn't have the vegan chicken steak that I wanted and had been craving all day but I got the bbq vegan cheesesteak instead and it was quite good.
Joanna's vegan sausage sandwich was not as good...

Everything was timed pretty well. We only waited a little while before it was time to go in to the Electric Factory. We saw the end of Crime in Stereo before we moved up and saw Thrice. It seemed like they didn't play for very long but they were good, of course.

Brand New came on after a seemingly long wait in the huge crowd of people. They played a lot of songs. A lot of old and new. They even played "Jude Law.." and "Seventy Times Seven" which is very unusual but a nice surprise.

It was a long and awesome set that ended with "Play Crack the Sky." I feel like I always enjoy them but this was a great performance. The new songs really fit in with everything else as well. The video screens behind them and the lighting were awesome as well. It really set a moody ambiance.

After an awesome day of music, we headed home, not quite ready for sleep but I tried anyway.