Traditions

So it was again, today, that I found myself at the back of a large crowd of people. There was the sizzling of anticipation roaring silently through the crowd, and then- the moment I think I might possibly live for- the crowd surges forward in anticipation of the band which is yet to reach the stage. As if a black hole or some other vortex draws people inwards, there is suddenly that much more space that it becomes possible to move three feet forward in what had previously seemed a loose but solid mass.

I thought of that paragraph while witnessing this familiar sight today because I was struck by it and how this sort of experience never fails to make me feel. I suppose I should start from the beginning-- but that's probably just my need for proper chronology & full comprehension.

I had not even planned on going to warped tour; or, I had, but had recently given up on this plan. This is because the only person I could find to go with me was my friend James, and we have gone to tons of concerts together and stuff.. so I had told him like a month ago we should get tickets early cuz they are cheaper then, and I was bothering him every time we talked to go get tickets but he never committed to doing so... so I gave up. Then he called me last night at around 9pm and is like "so you want to go tomorrow?!" and I'm like "I guess, but we don't have tickets..." so then we were kind of screwed. They decided to try buying them online but that didn't work so we drove all the way to Milwaukee on the hope that they would be selling tickets there. Luckily they were.

We got in and as usual headed for the board posting what bands were playing when. When we finished our lists, James' and mine looked almost nothing the same. There was nothing really to watch at the moment so we went and stood in the crowd for Relient K. They were allright. As with quite a few of the bands I saw today, I hadn't listened to them in a while and therefore had forgotten a lot of their stuff. They were allright though.

James took off to see Oregon Falls and I went to get prepared for a leap for the front at the stage Motion City Soundtrack was playing at at noon. First I bought a gatorade (cost$4--- FOUR dollars). The saleswoman had the effrontery to ask if she could keep my $1 change for the $5 I paid with, she said, "Is it ok if I keep this? I'm really needing tips. I know [the gatorade] already cost a lot but its only a dollar more." and I just looked at her like.... are you JOKING me? and I said No, despite how my conscience would think of it.

So once I made my way away from the gatorade stand, I inched in from the side during Anberlin (who were decent for being a band I've never really been into), and then when they finished I landed a lucky second row spot. Well somehow by probably the first song I was in the front right up on the gate, so I was pretty happy to get front row viewing of Justin Pierre's antics, which never disappoint. I love Motion City Soundtrack a lot, so it was really great seeing them for about my FOURTH(!) time. hehe :D although last time I saw them I got to meet them and get autographs and stuff.. hmm..

Anyway since I had gotten lucky enough to be right in the front, I was unwilling to relinquish my spot so quickly after MCS finished so I sat through the band playing on the stage next to the one I was at... lets see it was All That Remains.. not that great. From First to Last played next at the stage I was in front of.. this older lady asked me, basically, for the 411 on who FFTL were, so I told her what kind of music they were and stuff but I hadn't heard them in ages so I was concerned I was telling her wrong information. I wasn't wrong; and they weren't that great either..although I think I have seen them play before.

Anyway, once they finished I was still pretty content and cozy in my spot since I didn't have to worry too much about bodysurfers breaking my neck because all I had to do at the front was duck down and let the security people haul people out. Convenient. On the other stage, Every Time I Die played and they weren't so great either so I was like.. hmmm...

Reel Big Fish was up next on my stage and they were pretty sweet. I don't think I've ever seen them live before but I had heard some of their songs at random so it was nice. They did a lot of covers mixed in with their own songs, which is really actually waht they do normally.. but I was amused by the first one they did: Metallica's Enter Sandman (which I love) ska-style. It was awesome. If the people in Metallica were dead they might have rolled over in their grave to hear Sandman in trombones, etc. But no, it was awesome. Haha. They had a nice set and I enjoyed it even if the lyrics to their own songs are fluff. Some of the other covers I remember them doing were Take on Me by Aha and then Kiss me Deadly by Lita Ford. They did a little addition of a spoof on Katy Perry's idiotic song, too. haha.

Cobra Starship was on the opposite stage next and my back was near breaking for standing for three or so hours... but they were interesting to listen to. Kind of pop-y but then similar to The Academy Is... who I like mostly just because their songs are fun and sometimes have something interesting to say. William from TAI, of course, came out during Cobra's set because of that one song from the movie, Snakes on a Plane. This heralded the arrival of The Academy Is... at the stage in front of me, and I of course enjoyed their set. My camera's battery began to lose the good fight during this set so that was rather upsetting because I still had a few more bands I wanted to take pictures of!

I got out of in front of that stage, then and set about to look for James; my search ended unsuccessful and I settled down to listen to Story of the Year who were disappointing not as great live as in some of their songs. Norma Jean played on the opposite stage while I waited for Angels and Airwaves to set up and then play. As I sat there I realized that it had been weird and not as much "fun" in a certain sense, being in the front for all those bands before, and this was when I had the thought about what I wrote at the beginning of this post. I realized I hadn't fully enjoyed the front position because there had been no fight for it. The crowd had just conceded the spot to me and I took it, lazily and cozily.

Now this seems odd but I am used to being a part of the pulsing crowd itself, in an indescribable way it is like finding a way to "fight for survival." Its a silly concept to think about outside of the actual crowd,- or mosh pit, if you will...but nonetheless when you are in this crowd of compressed bodies and heat, you have to stay upright and be strong to make it without being trampled, knocked out, etc., in order to be able to see something you want to see. I was thinking about this sitting on a curb looking out into the crowd arrayed in front of Story of the Year. And that is how I ended up back in the pulse.

Angels and Airwaves... well I like the music just because. But Tom Delonge was a massive asshole, and then he was slightly off on the songs.. like he sang them slow, I was like.. what the heck. But yeah, he was bitching at first that we were "asleep" and then he later was like "do you guys want me to sing a song for you?" and we're like "yeah" or whatever and he goes "well you have to shut up before I'll sing it for you." I was like... what the hell.. So, overall not to impressed with AVA but oh well.

Anyway, during this set I had started in the back. First was the surge I mentioned at the beginning of this post, and because of this magnet, I found myself inexorably drawn towards the front for no real reason. It started with edging upwards, to the brink of the most tightly compressed persons, and then a mosh pit opened up for some reason, which always shuffles people around. Then suddenly I was entangled and the crowd throbbed in its usual way, from side to side and forward to back as bodysurfers came crashing down on us and we constantly rearranged. Suddenly I found that I was pretty much three to five people from the stage and of course this only made me want to get closer. I got to second row and enjoyed the music and then tried to get a setlist. I asked a security guard for it and some dousche in front of me grabs it so I hold on as he twists and virtually destroys it, bitching at him that he was a fucking asshole because I had fucking asked for the fucking sheet.

Here now, I feel like I should have the entire day- gross and sweaty, hot and on the brink of passing out, hair tangled and disorderly from a struggle to stay afloat throughout all of the people falling on my head.

So the last band on this stage was Say Anything, who I find endearing because of their lyrics. I stuck around in the front for them and that was pretty fun. I was surrounded by people who this was their first concert and they were bitching about getting squished to death. I told them thats what always happens.

In any event, I enjoyed Say Anything's set. Once they finished there was nothing else to see.. Well I would not have minded watching Gym Class Heroes but I had to find James and Tom who I hadn't seen all fricking day. I thought this would be relatively impossible until I remembered that I just had to look for James because he was wearing bright yellow shorts so those would stand out. I finally gave up looking and went to the amphitheatre to stand in line to get a drink of water at a fountain. While waiting I happened to look up and see James and Tom standing not far away, so I go get them and we head out.

Now I'm just thinking of all the other trips I've made to Warped Tour and how it seemed different today.. it seemed weird. There were a LOT of really young kids there and that was sort of odd, plus none of the usual folk were there like Jeremy or Kim or anybody so that was equally different from the usual of what Warped Tour is.

Oh well, I guess.