Nov 13, 2013

I had a good day at work, in for a science teacher at Memorial. The students were good and they worked quietly on bookwork and then we watched a video about ocean life hosted by Leslie Nielsen. It was as silly as you'd think. Probably would have been better to show Planet Earth. I need to watch those again. I also got a bunch of blog updating done so I've backdated even further now.

After work I had lunch and finished watching New Girl and Son of Anarchy then I went for a walk along the river trail. I wanted to shoot some foliage, but it wasn't so colorful anymore. I got a few shots, but the sun had already dropped below the treeline so I couldn't even get the light. After shooting a few photos and dropping my book at the library I headed home and got ready for the night.

I picked up Chuck and met Kate and my sister and then we headed to The Abbaye. We got a good parking spot and a table for six and ordered our food. I got the summer salsa rice veggie burger and split some wings. The burger was good but super filling and I couldn't even eat more than one wing unfortunately. Stoudts was having their U Buy the Glass night and we sampled five beers. The Four Play IPA #4 was very good as was the Scarlet Lady ESB. The Pils and Revel Red were quality also, and the Big Nasty IPA was strong and hoppy.

Jamie got there right after us and Tracy showed up a little later. We had a new waiter and I think we like him. We rarely had an empty glass. The food was great and we spent some time guessing what NFG might open with and debating whether or not anyone besides my sister was happy that they weren't playing second. I asked Meaghan to do the raffle a little early since we had to leave, and Tracy ended up winning a mixed six pack! Good thing we stayed.

We headed to the Electric Factory in time for a brief wait until New Found Glory played. They definitely mixed up the set a bit from previous shows. It was nice. The crowd was hit or miss (ha!), but I was surprised they weren't into some songs but were into others. There were a few jerks in the pit that were being really obnoxious and swinging. I got hit a couple of times and then hit in the face intentionally because someone thought I was hitting his friend. So many assholes always appear at a NFG show. I have no idea how this happens. In any case it was a great set and enjoyable except for the facial abuse.

Alkaline Trio came on next, playing a bunch of really old, somewhat old, and newer stuff. I ventured that I knew about 70% of it. I wasn't feeling like getting into anything after the previous incidents so I stood with Chuck and watched. While they are a great band and they play well live, the room really lost a lot of energy after NFG played. They just have a more upbeat, fun set and crowd participation that lends well to a headliner. Ohh well, we got to calm down before getting in the car.

The drive home was good as I wondered how my face would look. It doesn't look that bad yet, but I iced it a little bit as I watched Oz awkwardly. Icing your forehead isn't the easiest thing to do. Once my head was nice and cold I gave in to my sleepiness.

Jan 28, 2012

Kate, Chuck, Shannon, and I went to Philly and found our way to The Piazza. We went to El Camino Real for a short time for a drink and then went over to Standard Tap for a better selection of beer.

I went to the main area with Shannon to get my press pass before the concert began. I ran into Mark and talked to him for a bit. It was filling up quickly. I went back to the bar to hang out and drink while the local band played.

I went back for the first few songs of fun. They were really great. I wish I had known more of their music before I saw them. I had a nice vantage point to shoot from in front of the barrier for the first three songs.

After a short break it was time for New Found Glory! I got the same deal with them, shooting from up front for the first three songs. It was great to see them from that perspective.

The crowd had certainly filled in by this point and they were going crazy. It felt like longer than three songs that I was up there.

Once my time was up I gave my camera to Shannon and went back to where I belong in the pit. They played a great set with a few surprise songs I didn't expect. After they finished we sat in the parking lot for a while trying to get out.

We dropped off Shannon and went to The Pour House for some food and drinks before we headed up the road to Delran for a house show. Gardening, Not Architecture was playing in the attic and we got there a little late, but still saw a good portion of her set and it was great.

Speaking of great, her backing band, Dinner and a Suit played next and they were awesome. Chuck and I really liked them and they were really cool guys as well.

We hung out talking to Sarah Saturday for a while. She's always super friendly and talkative. I got a book of photographs she took while on her trips across the country.

We eventually left and came home. It was a great day of music!

Oct 29, 2011

Ryan and I went to the gym to do pull-ups and other arm exercises since we missed Thursday. We did the assisted pull-ups that help me do them slightly but I'm not very good.

Chuck and I headed up to the Flying Fish Brewery in Cherry Hill for a tour of the facility and some samples. The guy giving the tour was one of the founders of the company and gave an amazing tour. He talked about very complex processes and made them understandable for the lamen. He also described why cheap beer companies want you to drink their beer VERY cold: because it inhibits the taste and you won't notice how bad it really is.

We got some samples of all of these beers. There were some really delicious ones in there, including the Belgian Dubbel and the Exit 4 Trippel, the two that Chuck and I got six packs of. It was a really interesting tour and a lot of nice people work there.

Next stop was Blue Monkey for paninis and a glass of something new. I wasn't too fond of the beer I got. Its name implied much more hops than I got. The panini was delicious though. After eating we returned to the snowy October weather and drove north.

The drive really wasn't bad at all despite it snowing the whole time. Parking was a little tricky and walking to the venue from the VFW lot got my feet wet. We hung out in the bar area as The Wonder Years were just finishing. Too bad we missed them. Set Your Goals played next. I'm not really fond of them. New Found Glory came out and played basically the same set as last week.

Chad talked a lot and they added a couple different songs and got rid of "Radiosurgery" which made us happy. The set was good and the crowd was not too bad besides a few people. It was fun but felt somehow lacking. Maybe I just wasn't as into it this time.

The drive home was also not bad though I thought it might be. Chuck went to sleep.

Oct 22, 2011

I got to Tracy's house at 5am so we could leave for Maryland. It wasn't a bad drive, but we got a late start after Wawa took forever. The parking situation was in a muddy field and we had to catch the bus on the road near there to get to the race. It was very cold, but we weren't worried until we got on the bus and were told there was a backup of buses that had to travel one at a time down the small road to drop off racers.

With less than ten minutes until our heat time, we rushed through the packet pickup lines, checked our bags and then I realized that I needed my flags and Tracy didn't have her monitor. We met back at the starting line and got running about five minutes after everyone else.

I was still putting my belt on when I encountered the first field of zombies, allowing one of them to snag two of them with one hand. Not cool. So I was down to one flag at the very start. The race was through the woods, up some mild grades, and over bails of hay obstacles. The hardest part was sprinting full speed past fields of zombies so they couldn't steal my only flag.

I didn't even hesitate when it came time to jump in the water and cross. It got really deep at some parts. While running down some forest paths a zombie would pop out from behind a tree and try to grab me. I managed to avoid them somehow.

After a very large hill we came to The Gauntlet. There were tons of zombies and, much like the rest of the race, I was mostly by myself to get through them. I zigged, zagged, and spun my way through them all and got over and under the obstacles then dunked in the big pool of blood red that I needed to cross before the final wooded path run to the finish line. After ducking under a chain link fence that said "Safe Zone" I was done the race and they separated the dead from alive. I lived with one flag!

Tracy was waiting for me by the tents. She took a different path than I did. That's one of the interesting things about this race: you can go different ways and still end up at the end. We took our drink tickets and got a pretty crappy free beer and then perused the clothing tents and tried some salsa. There wasn't a lot to do there after the run. The bands didn't start until afternoon so we decided to get back on the shuttle and go.

I looked up a nearby brewery called DuClaw and we went there for lunch and drinks. I made a good choice because they had an amazing blackened tuna sandwich. Best I've ever had. They also had a ton of good beers I wanted to try...

So I did. I got the sampler of all of their beers on tap. So many amazing ones. Very different. One was made in whiskey barrels and had quite a kick to it. I was pretty loaded after drinking all of those. Not really drunk, but not very far from it. I wouldn't have let me drive. Luckily Tracy had the wheel so I was free to drink at my leisure. I wrote up a nice post for it at Beer Me That Blog.

Not very long after getting home we headed right back out to Philly to JD McGillicuddy's for some pre-show drinks and food. I got one Golden Monkey-yeahhh and some Old Bay fries that ended up being free because the waitress gave mine to the wrong person first.

We went into the Electric Factory a bit before New Found Glory came on. They opened up with a surprise and got into a set full of all kinds of songs. They played a few new ones, two of which are my favorite tracks. They played a few songs I didn't expect but skipped some I did.

The encore was the big surprise. They covered "Basket Case" by Green Day and added a nice little NFG-riff in there. It was a good cover followed by "Blitzkrieg Bop" and "My Friends Over You" of course.

It was a great show as always and a crazy fun day! From zombies to beer to New Found Glory. Can't complain about any of that.

May 21, 2011

I rose somewhat early after spending a lot of time in bed and went out for a run at the course. I was going to go to the gym, but I just wasn't feeling it after running in the sun.

Chuck and I went to Wildflower for a deliciously vegan lunch before heading north.

Probably the only time you'll ever see that sign. We found a place to park and then wandered through the labyrinth of the mall trying to find the stage.

We finally came upon it by following some people that seemed to be going to the show. Sparks the Rescue was opening and we got out there to see them play most of their set. It looks like they're playing underwater in this photo. Their set made me want to get their new CD.

Between bands there was a motorcycle sideshow. They did some cool stuff, but it was right toward the sun so it was hard to look for too long.

The always-great New Found Glory came out after a long wait, opening with the same song as always, but who can complain? They were full of energy and so was the crowd even in the hot heat.

They played through an hour set worth of great songs, even though they played their Ramones cover again. Hope that doesn't become part of the routine. They closed just as the dark clouds rolled in and it started to rain. It was a nice way to end a fun set.

Chuck and I headed back south and stopped to grab some beers then went to Alex's. It was going to be a party, I thought, but it was just us, Alex and Caitlin. That was fine with me. We got out the wine and jam and had a good time.

Alex and Cait dressed up. New hats are good for small home gatherings. Bringing the spirit of the south back to Jersey.

We really just sat around chilling in the kitchen and living room talking and drinking wine. I had a lot of jam and salsa. It was just so good!

It was a really fun day and night. Goooooodnight!

Apr 30, 2011

It was a nice morning for tennis so Ryan and I played on the courts near his house. It seemed really strange for whatever reason. The balls were not very good and all courts feel a little different. We played a couple of good games before I had to run along.

I met Tracy at Rowan and we headed north to the Meadowlands Sports Complex to Bamboozle. After a strategic parking spot and some walking around following a large fence to the entrance, we found our way in and wandered around planning our day.

We had some time before the first band so we wandered and then took our place toward the front of the crowd at one of the main stages. In a very short period of time I got yelled at for standing in front of a couple of girls because I'm too tall, told that I'm ridiculous because all guys with beards smoke and I should have a lighter for this guy, and got a suggestion to put my camera in my little secret pocket that apparently all girls' pants have. That was exciting.

Anberlin came out to "Godspeed" to the delight of the sunbathed crowd. People were not really moving around too much, and it generally felt a little strange. I wasn't in the zone for a show yet. They played a good set, including some great old tunes.

We wandered over to the other stage to see Rx Bandits, who were somewhat disappointing because they don't have horns anymore and didn't play anything I knew at all. They weren't really bad, just not not what I was expecting.

Streetlight Manifesto was basically my welcome to the pit. Everyone was dancing and it was hard to not get caught up in it. I didn't know all of the songs they played, but I still had a great time dancing and jumping with the other sweaty peoples.

We left Streetlight a bit early to get to Thrice in time. They played a lot of new songs from Beggars amid a great selection of songs from older albums. Nothing from the EPs, but that was my only complaint about a really nice set. They closed with "Deadbolt," clearly pleasing many people.

I made my only visit to one of the smaller stages to see The Movielife for a short time. I was only there long enough to see them play a few songs, but it was all good and I hear they might actually tour so I'll check that out.

I ditched to go see Alkaline Trio, who were underwhelming again. I always expect them to be amazing, but they have been disappointing the last couple of times I saw them. I should have stayed with The Movielife. They did play a couple of good songs toward the end of the set.

I ran over to get to Circa Survive, who played the best set of the day so far. I don't know what it was about it; the atmosphere was wonderful and they just played great songs. It was better than anytime I've seen them at a club show before, which is really unusual.

The sun was setting over the crowd as they played and Anthony commented on the beauty of it and made some comments about appreciating what we have and that we're here. He always has something inspirational to say. "We can talk for days about what we hate, but take a minute and appreciate this. Don't let anything get lost." - Anthony Green

Though I was enjoying the transcendental experience of seeing Circa, I had to leave as they played "I Felt Free" to get to the other stage for what I was considering to be the main event: New Found Glory. They opened with.. you guessed it! "Understatement." They powered through a fast-paced set of great songs, including a cover of "Blitzkrieg Bop" with Marky Ramone on drums. I had no doubt they'd be good and I had an awesome time in the crowd.

I got to the other stage to see Chris Carrabba on stage playing "Swiss Army Romance" by his lonesome. This excited me that he might be playing alone or at least playing old stuff. The latter was true. He played a lot of old stuff; "Stolen" was the newest song he played so I was thrilled with the set.

We took a break to sit down for a while as we waited for the last band of the night. When the time came we came back to the stage and made it about halfway through the crowd before it was just a solid wall of people. Just before it was time for Taking Back Sunday to come out, the Exit 152 banner dropped down and the crowd pushed up. They opened with "You Know How I Do" followed by "Bike Scene" before revealing that they'd be playing Tell All Your Friends in its entirety!

It was amazing to see the whole album played on a beautiful night with the old lineup back together. Some of the songs they haven't played in almost a decade. They played a handful of other songs after the album set, including a cover of "Existentialism on Prom Night," which I was not thrilled with because Adam sang it even though John was right there. Regardless, this was the best set of the day. It was just awesome and exciting.

We got out of the parking lot with not problem and headed down the Turnpike home. The day was awesome and nostalgic; seeing so many bands that I've listened to forever play together and have such amazing sets was great. The TBS surprise at the end was a perfect ending to a superb day. Best festival show I've ever been to.