spring fever tour: chicago 5/3/13
May. 4th, 2013 06:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
llyrical so, i went to Spring Fever Tour last night and it was seriously the best night of my life.
so, i went to the chicago date, which moved from the Congress Theatre (3,500 people) to the Sears Centre (6,000 people). if you've ever been in there, you know how big it is. if you haven't, it's roughly the size of a football stadium. and it was full.
my friend Sam, her stepdad Ben, and i all drove about 3 1/2 hours yesterday and got there at about 3 pm. we were probably about 1,500 people back in line- it would have been twice that if not for the weather. it was 45 degrees, cloudy, and a really high chance of rain. we were standing there in shorts and t-shirts and had three hours to wait for the doors to open, so that was great. at one point we sort of pussied out and had our jackets, but that was only for about an hour of the time and then we had to take them out to the car because we were afraid the line would move up and we'd have nothing to do with them.
right after we got there, these security guards were walking around handing out blue wristbands that you had to have to get on the floor. damn, we were lucky, because they only handed out 1,800 and so they stopped not too far after us. we were just like, "oh, yeah, cool, we get to be on the floor!", but it ended up being a lot better than that. we may or may not (read: we did) tag onto some people who had early entry and managed to just slip past security. they thought that our wristbands were for early entry, so we just got to get in a lot quicker. and the second we were in, we ran. we got onto the floor and went to the left side and were about six people back, so pretty close to the front.
now, for some reason, before the first band even came on, people just started moshing and crowd surfing and the crowd got EXTREMELY rowdy. for no reason. it really pissed people off and made me worried for what would happen when the actual bands were playing. we weren't even in the pit and we had it bad.
so, You Me At Six came on, and it was glorious. Josh Franceschi is the beauty incarnate. he was wearing a leather jacket at first, then took it off after they played Loverboy and The Swarm. he talked about how Chicago was the first show that YMAS ever played in the US and talked about how big the venue was. he said it was the best night of tour so far. they played Reckless and the pit got super intense and i almost fell down and it was sort of terrifying. after that, they stopped and Josh seemed kind of confused and he said, "um, i think we need a medic. that girl is bleeding from her face or some shit." and then he got really mad because the security guards were doing a shitty job and weren't pulling her out of the pit. Josh was so cute though, omg. and then they played another song after the girl was okay and then had to stop AGAIN because security needed everyone to move back from the barrier a little. the crowd was just being really rough. and the guards sort of blamed it on the band, i guess? like they flipped them off and told them that they couldn't keep playing until they got people to move back. they also told them to cut a song, which they didn't (hashtag REBELS). they also played Bite My Tongue which was AMAZING live and i just felt like everyone was really into it and knew all of the words. it was just a huge moment of unity. i only got like two good pictures of YMAS, but Sam got a bunch, so that's good. i'll have to make her put them on a flash drive for me or something.
after a long changover period, Mayday Parade came on. this is my second time seeing them, and they were just as good. they will seriously never fail to amaze me. they had the greatest setlist last night, too. Derek was just absolutely beautiful and it killed me. and they were playing Everything's an Illusion and Derek came over to our side to sing and he was motioning for everyone to sing out and i did that cheesy heart thing with my hand and he just looked straight at me and started grinning. everyone around me started screaming in my ear, "OMFG HE WAS LOOKING RIGHT AT YOU" and it was probably the best moment of my life. god, they were amazing.
okay, so now we were in between bands and i was starting to feel really dehydrated from having been sick all week and then screaming my lungs out during YMAS and MP. i was starting to feel lightheaded and it was kind of freaking me out, but i knew that if i left the crowd to get water i would NEVER get anywhere near as good of a spot as i had and that i would have a bad spot for PTV and ATL. luckily, this girl noticed that i looked like i was about to die or something and she got all of the other people in front of us to really worry about me and they pulled me up and screamed at security until the guard gave me a bottle of water for free. and i drank it in like twenty seconds. and i felt a lot better, and i was also a lot closer to the front (now about three people back).
Pierce the Veil. god, this is going to be long.
so, they're doing that cool Nightmare Before Christmas stuff on stage, which was sort of awesome. they never even acknowledged it, though?? the confetti cannons were a million times cooler than i expected, and it stayed in the air for a really long time. it looked literally magical, seriously. we were on Jaime's side, and once i found that out i was screaming both internally and externally. he is the cutest thing in the world, ugh. he was grinning the entire set and he just seemed really endearing. he kept jumping and spinning around and doing cool stuff with his guitar and looking out at everyone. there was also a point where Vic got the other side of the crowd to yell really loud and challenged Jaime to get us to be louder, so he swung his guitar off to the side, put his hands on his hips, gave a seductive smile, and just started swinging his hips. i died. a lot.
and then Vic was giving his long speech about how music saves lives and it was beautiful. he said that this was the biggest show that Pierce the Veil had EVER played. then he said that it was easily the best night on tour so far. and then he got really quiet for a minute and then said, "hell, this might be the best night of my life." and yeah, that made me burst out crying. and then they played a bunch of other songs that were all equally amazing. during Bulls in the Bronx, i felt like that was definitely the best moment of my life. i've loved PTV for a while now, but they were never one of my FAVORITE bands, y'know? and i feel like that's definitely changed, seeing them live.
the acoustic of I'm Low on Gas and You Need a Jacket was beautiful and i recorded it and it actually had GOOD QUALITY. on my ipod. wow.
they had the best set last night, hands down. i also got about a million beautiful pictures of Jaime and one particular picture that is really focused and all of the lighting on the stage is so perfect that it actually looks like a professional picture. and i took it on my ipod. once again, wow.
and then there was yet another long changover time in which people went on stage with leafblowers to get rid of the confetti (i'm serious). in that time, Sam and I made friends with the people around us which then led us to get to be at the barrier for All Time Low and i was so fucking grateful to those amazing people around us.
they had these long and dramatic announcements that were so cute and funny and i felt like i was being stabbed in the heart. somehow, our luck just kept getting better because WE WERE ON JACK'S SIDE. Jack Barakat was in touching distance of me. yep. he kept sitting down on the edge of the stage and taunting the security guards and it was amazing.
i threw my friend Kenzie's bra on stage during Damned if I Do Ya and it hit Jack, but he didn't pick it up to put it on his mic stand with the rest, probably because it was strapless. hell, though, he picked up a lot of other ones. i counted 21 and there were more. seriously.
THEY PLAYED STELLA.
right before they played Sheets Were the States, Alex gave a long speech about how we shouldn't be enjoying things through screens and how we need to just enjoy the moments for what they are. he then asked everybody to put away their cameras and phones just for that song. and everyone actually did. i thought that was kind of amazing.
they played Therapy and i got a super high quality video of it. i also cried. a lot.
Jack and Alex made a lot of dick jokes and Jack said that he wanted to lose his virginity that night. cue: more taunting sexual comments to the security guards, most of whom were huge bald dudes. i was sobbing because i love them so much omfg.
out of nowhere, they started playing "I Believe I Can Fly" and we lated found out that it was completely improvised, not planned. it was gorgeous and then Alex ended it with, "I believe that.... I am in a slightly homoerotic relationship with Rian Dawson!" and Sam screamed, "WE HAVE A CONFESSION" and everyone around us laughed.
and then they started playing Reckless and the Brave and all of a sudden i started feeling terrible again. my thoughts were kind of, 'oh, shit, i am seriously going to pass out while one of my favorite bands plays one of my favorite songs. great.' and then i was freaking out about that and kind of having a panic attack and i couldn't breathe. sam helped me get out of the pit and i was sitting on these stairs next to the barricade and a security guard was yelling for the paramedic. i was like, "oh god, no, don't call the paramedic, fuck" and i was freaking out. i was okay after a minute, and Sam and i got water and moved to the very back of the stadium for the last three songs.
also during Reckless, a girl fell down in the pit and they literally stopped in the middle of a song to make sure she was okay. they are so sweet. Jack yelled, "IS SOMEBODY GIVING BIRTH BECAUSE I AM A TRAINED PROFESSIONAL" and Alex was really concerned. after they found out she was okay, Jack was like, "Wow, alright, you made us stop in the middle of a song but you're okay, so I think you need to be punished. Maybe you should get up here so that I can spank you." i was making choking noises and i saw stars. jesus fucking christ.
their last song was Dear Maria and a lot of people were being smart and getting the hell out of there before the whole crowd left. Jack and Alex were yelling about it. they were like, "what the hell, this is the best song! it went gold in its first year! it was the top hit in Tennessee!" and then they started playing Nickelback. it was glorious.
they were all so amazing and i saw my babies live and i am somehow not facing post-concert depression right now. i'm still riding the high of it, i guess. i ended up buying both the All Time Low tour shirt and the Pierce the Veil shirt that had the day of the dead girl on it. we had to go and drive the 3 1/2 hours home last night and got back around 3 am. i passed out pretty quickly.
it was the best night ever.
xx
pictures
so, i went to the chicago date, which moved from the Congress Theatre (3,500 people) to the Sears Centre (6,000 people). if you've ever been in there, you know how big it is. if you haven't, it's roughly the size of a football stadium. and it was full.
my friend Sam, her stepdad Ben, and i all drove about 3 1/2 hours yesterday and got there at about 3 pm. we were probably about 1,500 people back in line- it would have been twice that if not for the weather. it was 45 degrees, cloudy, and a really high chance of rain. we were standing there in shorts and t-shirts and had three hours to wait for the doors to open, so that was great. at one point we sort of pussied out and had our jackets, but that was only for about an hour of the time and then we had to take them out to the car because we were afraid the line would move up and we'd have nothing to do with them.
right after we got there, these security guards were walking around handing out blue wristbands that you had to have to get on the floor. damn, we were lucky, because they only handed out 1,800 and so they stopped not too far after us. we were just like, "oh, yeah, cool, we get to be on the floor!", but it ended up being a lot better than that. we may or may not (read: we did) tag onto some people who had early entry and managed to just slip past security. they thought that our wristbands were for early entry, so we just got to get in a lot quicker. and the second we were in, we ran. we got onto the floor and went to the left side and were about six people back, so pretty close to the front.
now, for some reason, before the first band even came on, people just started moshing and crowd surfing and the crowd got EXTREMELY rowdy. for no reason. it really pissed people off and made me worried for what would happen when the actual bands were playing. we weren't even in the pit and we had it bad.
so, You Me At Six came on, and it was glorious. Josh Franceschi is the beauty incarnate. he was wearing a leather jacket at first, then took it off after they played Loverboy and The Swarm. he talked about how Chicago was the first show that YMAS ever played in the US and talked about how big the venue was. he said it was the best night of tour so far. they played Reckless and the pit got super intense and i almost fell down and it was sort of terrifying. after that, they stopped and Josh seemed kind of confused and he said, "um, i think we need a medic. that girl is bleeding from her face or some shit." and then he got really mad because the security guards were doing a shitty job and weren't pulling her out of the pit. Josh was so cute though, omg. and then they played another song after the girl was okay and then had to stop AGAIN because security needed everyone to move back from the barrier a little. the crowd was just being really rough. and the guards sort of blamed it on the band, i guess? like they flipped them off and told them that they couldn't keep playing until they got people to move back. they also told them to cut a song, which they didn't (hashtag REBELS). they also played Bite My Tongue which was AMAZING live and i just felt like everyone was really into it and knew all of the words. it was just a huge moment of unity. i only got like two good pictures of YMAS, but Sam got a bunch, so that's good. i'll have to make her put them on a flash drive for me or something.
after a long changover period, Mayday Parade came on. this is my second time seeing them, and they were just as good. they will seriously never fail to amaze me. they had the greatest setlist last night, too. Derek was just absolutely beautiful and it killed me. and they were playing Everything's an Illusion and Derek came over to our side to sing and he was motioning for everyone to sing out and i did that cheesy heart thing with my hand and he just looked straight at me and started grinning. everyone around me started screaming in my ear, "OMFG HE WAS LOOKING RIGHT AT YOU" and it was probably the best moment of my life. god, they were amazing.
okay, so now we were in between bands and i was starting to feel really dehydrated from having been sick all week and then screaming my lungs out during YMAS and MP. i was starting to feel lightheaded and it was kind of freaking me out, but i knew that if i left the crowd to get water i would NEVER get anywhere near as good of a spot as i had and that i would have a bad spot for PTV and ATL. luckily, this girl noticed that i looked like i was about to die or something and she got all of the other people in front of us to really worry about me and they pulled me up and screamed at security until the guard gave me a bottle of water for free. and i drank it in like twenty seconds. and i felt a lot better, and i was also a lot closer to the front (now about three people back).
Pierce the Veil. god, this is going to be long.
so, they're doing that cool Nightmare Before Christmas stuff on stage, which was sort of awesome. they never even acknowledged it, though?? the confetti cannons were a million times cooler than i expected, and it stayed in the air for a really long time. it looked literally magical, seriously. we were on Jaime's side, and once i found that out i was screaming both internally and externally. he is the cutest thing in the world, ugh. he was grinning the entire set and he just seemed really endearing. he kept jumping and spinning around and doing cool stuff with his guitar and looking out at everyone. there was also a point where Vic got the other side of the crowd to yell really loud and challenged Jaime to get us to be louder, so he swung his guitar off to the side, put his hands on his hips, gave a seductive smile, and just started swinging his hips. i died. a lot.
and then Vic was giving his long speech about how music saves lives and it was beautiful. he said that this was the biggest show that Pierce the Veil had EVER played. then he said that it was easily the best night on tour so far. and then he got really quiet for a minute and then said, "hell, this might be the best night of my life." and yeah, that made me burst out crying. and then they played a bunch of other songs that were all equally amazing. during Bulls in the Bronx, i felt like that was definitely the best moment of my life. i've loved PTV for a while now, but they were never one of my FAVORITE bands, y'know? and i feel like that's definitely changed, seeing them live.
the acoustic of I'm Low on Gas and You Need a Jacket was beautiful and i recorded it and it actually had GOOD QUALITY. on my ipod. wow.
they had the best set last night, hands down. i also got about a million beautiful pictures of Jaime and one particular picture that is really focused and all of the lighting on the stage is so perfect that it actually looks like a professional picture. and i took it on my ipod. once again, wow.
and then there was yet another long changover time in which people went on stage with leafblowers to get rid of the confetti (i'm serious). in that time, Sam and I made friends with the people around us which then led us to get to be at the barrier for All Time Low and i was so fucking grateful to those amazing people around us.
they had these long and dramatic announcements that were so cute and funny and i felt like i was being stabbed in the heart. somehow, our luck just kept getting better because WE WERE ON JACK'S SIDE. Jack Barakat was in touching distance of me. yep. he kept sitting down on the edge of the stage and taunting the security guards and it was amazing.
i threw my friend Kenzie's bra on stage during Damned if I Do Ya and it hit Jack, but he didn't pick it up to put it on his mic stand with the rest, probably because it was strapless. hell, though, he picked up a lot of other ones. i counted 21 and there were more. seriously.
THEY PLAYED STELLA.
right before they played Sheets Were the States, Alex gave a long speech about how we shouldn't be enjoying things through screens and how we need to just enjoy the moments for what they are. he then asked everybody to put away their cameras and phones just for that song. and everyone actually did. i thought that was kind of amazing.
they played Therapy and i got a super high quality video of it. i also cried. a lot.
Jack and Alex made a lot of dick jokes and Jack said that he wanted to lose his virginity that night. cue: more taunting sexual comments to the security guards, most of whom were huge bald dudes. i was sobbing because i love them so much omfg.
out of nowhere, they started playing "I Believe I Can Fly" and we lated found out that it was completely improvised, not planned. it was gorgeous and then Alex ended it with, "I believe that.... I am in a slightly homoerotic relationship with Rian Dawson!" and Sam screamed, "WE HAVE A CONFESSION" and everyone around us laughed.
and then they started playing Reckless and the Brave and all of a sudden i started feeling terrible again. my thoughts were kind of, 'oh, shit, i am seriously going to pass out while one of my favorite bands plays one of my favorite songs. great.' and then i was freaking out about that and kind of having a panic attack and i couldn't breathe. sam helped me get out of the pit and i was sitting on these stairs next to the barricade and a security guard was yelling for the paramedic. i was like, "oh god, no, don't call the paramedic, fuck" and i was freaking out. i was okay after a minute, and Sam and i got water and moved to the very back of the stadium for the last three songs.
also during Reckless, a girl fell down in the pit and they literally stopped in the middle of a song to make sure she was okay. they are so sweet. Jack yelled, "IS SOMEBODY GIVING BIRTH BECAUSE I AM A TRAINED PROFESSIONAL" and Alex was really concerned. after they found out she was okay, Jack was like, "Wow, alright, you made us stop in the middle of a song but you're okay, so I think you need to be punished. Maybe you should get up here so that I can spank you." i was making choking noises and i saw stars. jesus fucking christ.
their last song was Dear Maria and a lot of people were being smart and getting the hell out of there before the whole crowd left. Jack and Alex were yelling about it. they were like, "what the hell, this is the best song! it went gold in its first year! it was the top hit in Tennessee!" and then they started playing Nickelback. it was glorious.
they were all so amazing and i saw my babies live and i am somehow not facing post-concert depression right now. i'm still riding the high of it, i guess. i ended up buying both the All Time Low tour shirt and the Pierce the Veil shirt that had the day of the dead girl on it. we had to go and drive the 3 1/2 hours home last night and got back around 3 am. i passed out pretty quickly.
it was the best night ever.
xx
pictures
