Sep 13, 2013

We picked up where we left off in Ohio and finished the long drive to Chicago into the afternoon. Once we found the train station we wanted to park at and figured out which tickets to buy we got on the train and headed into the city. Our first stop was Chicago Diner for some delicious vegan food. I had to go with the reuben to start. It had been too long. It was wonderful. After we were stuffed we walked the mile to Humboldt Park, passing empty parking spaces all along the way. I guess we should have driven in.

We got to the entrance to Riot Fest at the park and there was no line to get in, so that was nice. We wandered around inside for a bit, getting a feel for the layout. It had been quite a while since I was at a festival. We watched a video at the FARM truck and they gave us a fresh dollar bill and talked to us about vegan living for a while. We watched a little of the Smoking Popes before we went to the Riot Stage to see Yellowcard. I never know how the first band at a fest will be, especially in the daytime with a cold crowd that just showed up. Yellowcard killed it and really kicked the weekend off right. They played an awesome set; so much better than the last time I saw them. Everyone was super enthusiastic and Sean even did two backflips! Fantastic.

Bad Religion was up next on the Roots Stage and that was quite a change in atmosphere. Older crowd, big mohawks, kilts, and a real mosh pit like they used to have back in the day. It was pretty sweet being in that crowd. I felt slightly more at home even if I'm not as into the faster punk music anymore. Regardless of my general leaning, I do love Bad Religion, and they played a kick-ass set. They blaze through songs like a chainsaw through butter. They must have played about 30 songs in their hour slot, including "Atomic Garden," "21st Century (Digital Boy)," and "I Wanna Conquer the World" back to back. It was pretty insane. They still know how to rock a crowd.

After Bad Religion I wandered for a while, watching GWAR for about a minute before I realized I didn't want to watch them. I met Joanna in the intersection and we went over to see Masked Intruder play the small stage. They were actually really fun and entertaining. Definitely a band I'd like to see live, but can't imagine getting into otherwise. The park looked pretty cool lit up at night. We didn't take advantage of any of the rides, but I guess we probably should have.

The crowd was huge already for Fall Out Boy. No surprise, but I squeezed up about halfway as they started the set. It was a very similar set to the show they played in Philly, but it was mostly enjoyable. A lot of songs from the new album again, so I felt like that slowed things down a little, but I was into while I was there. Once the last screams of "Saturday" were finished we filtered slowly out and I went to our meeting place by the merch booths which turned out to be a lot of other people's meeting place as well.

It seemed like a very long walk to the car, and once we found the Metro station, it seemed like a long train ride back to the car. Being tired didn't help. We got to the car and had a bit of drive ahead of us to the hotel where Joanna stayed when she was on tour in Chicago. This time she had to sleep in the back of the car with me though instead of having a nice bed. At least we had a safe, free parking spot.

Nov 3, 2011

A pretty easy day at work again as we watched Beetlejuice and the band practiced their parts. It was a little boring, but I've gotten to know some of the students and it's easy. I met Ryan at the gym after work and then we did a 20-minute interval run at the park.

I picked up Christy and we headed to South Street where we got falafel at Maoz. It was her first time and I hadn't had one in a really long time. She approves. We walked around for a while before the show and got some frozen yogurt at Phileo.

We went into the TLA and stashed our jackets before Yellowcard came out and got right into a great set. They are always so much fun. They played a good variety too, even throwing in "Avondale" after talking about how people always want to hear old stuff.

What I don't get it why they play nothing from One for the Kids. Ryan even mentioned one of the songs before telling a story about his aunt recently passing away from cancer and her being the reason the band exists because she encouraged him to do what he wanted. It was really sweet and a nice break before the rest of the energetic set.

We couldn't really do anything after the show so we headed home. It was a good night and I was tired from it all!

Jun 20, 2011

I met Ryan at the gym for some exercises after getting pumped up watching Spartan Race videos. We did some things that might relate to it and then did this short, but exhausting little course while carrying 90 pounds. We are so not ready.

When I got home I felt like going for a run. The weather was really nice and I took the usual route around the neighborhood and down the river trail back to the house.

I picked up Dave a little later and we headed to Baltimore. We got there early and found out we had a lot of time before the show started so we got to drinking at the bar next door.

After the specials were done, we went back to the car to stash some of our stuff and Dave got out his homemade wine. That's where things started to go wrong.

Here's where they just went all wrong. Dave wanted to do some shots and I was not of sound mind to object so we did some. Lucky for me, I won a bet so I didn't have to pay for them. It's called "Way Away."

Speaking of Yellowcard, we went in a little before they started and they played a super energetic set as they always do. I didn't stop moving much during their time on stage. I was exhausted and we went out for a break and some water at the bar.

We came back in to see Good Charlotte take the stage and play through a bunch of great songs. They played a ton of old stuff and some things I never expected to hear. Great set!

The drive home was long, but at least it started with a quesadilla from Sheetz. Dave slept for the ride home, and I was in the zone. It wasn't as unbearable as I'd have expected.

Mar 23, 2011

When I went up to school I had to do a bunch of stuff all at once. Leighanne asked me to help group in Sculpture film something. They were melting a pile of gummy bears. They're going to speed up the video. Not sure of the concept. It was cool though.

We acquired our final jewelry piece to shoot for the publication and spent some time in the little studio shooting it. We got a couple of other things done and then gathered in the computer lab before it was time to go.

Me, Alex, Jackie and Steph headed up to Starland Ballroom in the rain for the show. We watched The Summer Set. I was not a fan and I went to the bar area with Alex while Hey Monday played and we watched on the screen.

The beer tasted like salt water to me. I think there is some residual sickness in me. It wasn't very good.

This was Alex's first show ever so she was getting excited for the bands she knew.

We went up front for Yellowcard. They played a great mix of new and old stuff. I wish they had a longer set, but they did a great job with the time they had. They're still the same great band and it will be nice to see them headline next time.

All Time Low played last to a jumping crowd of energetic kids. They played a nice, fast-paced set of songs that I mostly knew. I only know the one album mainly, but I knew most of what they played. Even the stuff I didn't know was enjoyable though.

Alex enjoyed her first show, though she's not sure about going up front again. It's not for everyone. It was a good time for me.