Living Legends

Want to know what I did in February?

I FINALLY got to see Liza Minnelli in person! I got chills when she took the stage and almost started crying. She's just one of those entertainers that has become such a legend, someone unreal especially when looking at her talent and who her family is.

It was a great evening with a full backing band, fans all through the venue yelling 'I love you Liza,' and while he voice isn't exactly as it was so many years ago, Liza sounded amazing!

See that glowing light on stage? That's her! It looks farther than the view I had.

Next up, I randomly won Jay-z at Carnegie Hall tickets! Yeah, I was stoked. My assistant had come over to sew and so we had the radio on, I thought it would be fun to try and win and the phone kept ringing, I got through for caller 19, 40, 70 and then...the DJ answered. I've won so many things from radio contests, but this was the first in a long while, so I was shaking and so excited.

It was a great show. I'm not going to go into all the music details, because you can read about it other places. It was the best set list, all the radio hits and what I considered 'an older white person's dream Jay-z set list' especially being at Carnegie where it was a lot of older people (hello, the tickets were for charity and mad expensive).

We were up in the balcony, but front row, which was awesome until I realized I was getting motion sickness from focusing at the stage below. All the fans up there were younger and awesome. It was a big party...probably the first time things were smoked in Carnegie Hall.

It was all the raido hits and Alicia Keys and Nas were guests with Questlove on one of the drum kits. I died over "If I Ruled the World" with Keys filling in for Lauryn Hill. Another favorite was "Girls Girls Girls" with images of Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor included in the projected images over the stage.

While it was so beautiful all the proejected images and taking us on a journey through the NYC skyline, guess who couldn't focus and almost got sick - this girl. Such a great performance with the full orchestra, but I kind of had to close my eyes the whole time. Listening was beautiful because the full sound really solidified this music as music.

You had Jay-Z's mom in the audience sitting next to Chris Rock, some of the players from the Giants there and below us was Russell Simmons and I'm pretty sure one of his daughters. Plus at the end of the night, Jay-Z came out into the audience...literally the balcony below us and I was scared trying to lean over and see.

My Sneakers

My sneakers were resurrected last night. From the depths of my sneaker bin with a pile of others that are slowly fading, they emerged to be reborn with the light and weight of metal pyramid studs.

They are at this time, six years old. Bought in 2005, my first pair of Converses and worn to my first time to Warped Tour. At that tour, I saw Offspring for the first and only time, argued with the singer from Boys Night Out because I'm a crazy fan, witnessed the end of My Chemical Romance ever being an underground band. I wore these shoes for my first photo pit experience. Senses Fail and 30 Seconds to Mars - I died. The amount of venues these shoes have walked over is too long to list.

They stayed with me through almost all of my days working at a coffee place. With mocha powder, milk, soy, coffee and matcha powder covering them regularly.

The bleach stains came from the day I helped out one of my inspirations and mentor at the time bleach jackets in her backyard.

I left mud caked on the soles until it flaked off thinking it had magic powers as it was from outside the venue of which I just saw AFI perform.

They're just sneakers and probably really gross, but when I look at them, I relieve 6 years of my life in one glance.

Get Me Away from Punknews!

Haha, I love that site.

It's just that's one of the sites I scan in preparation for interviews and it's that time again...

So I'm looking up on a band and the comments totally put them down like 'whoa' in regards to the line-up of their current tour. I saw them once or twice and remembered their set won me over and was pretty damn cool.

It was like all the late twenty-somethings on that damn site are complaining about how one of their 'man crush' bands got on the bill and so I FINALLY check out this band they're in love with...Polar Bear Club. Long time coming b/c it's damn good.

But what is it with boys and only liking music where the lead singer sounds like an older dude who's smoked a bunch and comes across as the dude you kick back a few beers with talking about nonsense?

haha - It's music like Against Me!, Hot Water Music, Four Year Strong...oh wait, Against Me! are now 'sell outs' for some reason and I think FYS are appealing too much to the younger crowd, so they suck too. But you get the type of bands I'm talking about.

(For the record...I enjoy any of those bands listed above, but that's basically the shit I read about them).

Back to setting up shoots and researching and I think I'll revisit Street Dogs. I'm a little scared though, going to a Suicide Silence show this weekend - what did I get myself into?

I Tried!

I tried so hard not to like this damn song, but I gave in...

"Egoista" by Belinda ft. Pitbull

Pitbull is mad sexy in my book, then the clothing drew me in and then the song just got under my skin.

Speaking of singers...

Jonny Craig this weekend!

Plus, there's a couple of singers (obviously not Jonny Craig, haha) who I want to get clothing to. Luckily I'm planning on con-ing my way into bombarding them with free clothes at shows coming up. Finally! I have connections, haha!

Bamboozle, you suck.

My sister and I have attended the Bamboozle for the past five years now. Obviously under this name it only lasted one year down in Asbury Park and once transferred to Giants' Stadium's parking lot, went downhill.

It wasn't so bad in retrospect last year. Actually, the line up was really good, though the festival still wasn't the most enjoyable.

This year, honestly, if the tickets weren't free, I wasn't going near it.

Parking was $25 per car (unless you got there after 5pm), water was $4.50 and beer (which I don't drink in the sun) was $9.25. Nevermind the ticket prices.

Plus the line-up for the East Coast wasn't stellar - screw you Bamboozle Left and Chicago, you guys got the good bands. And...the Roadshow sounds way better than both days combined.

Ok, enough complaining. Let's talk about the good parts!

Day 1: THE AQUABATS!



First time seeing them and not the last. They are super heroes and have matching uniforms - thank you!

They played awesome punk rock mixed with ska and kickass-ness.

Then they sung about taco Tuesday

Fought evil crab people

Made fun of security

Then had a pool party! Inflatable whales and beach balls included


Almost kicked some girl's ass b/c she a dumb bitch with a pussy-ass boyfriend. People have NO manners at shit like this.


Day 2: FOXY SHAZAM!

Ok, there was also Minus the Bear, Dear Hunter and Wale who were bright moments of the day and played incredible music and really connected with the audience.

Minus the Bear and Dear Hunter are typical progressive, involved rock that is so pleasant to listen to. More kids should have been at their set than at like Kesha.

Wale and the 'hip hop' stage plus b-boy arena was mad chill and awesome. The crowd was smoking and drinking most of the time, so people weren't annoying and rude and then when no one was performing...break dancing! Those guys were really something from what I saw, especially in the heat.



FOXY SHAZAM is sick and amazing and TRUE performers who get it. They make great music and know how to put on a stage show. So fuck y'all if you wasted your time with Say Anything.



Between their singer's funny commentary and then his eating of 6 or 8 or 4 lit cigarettes and then offering $20 for anyone to kill him (he insulted the white people of the crowd, haha)...you had their singer/brass musician dancing sexily around, their keyboardist smiling, then serious, then jumping on his keyboards and a crowd that cheered and danced along.



Then. The singer towards the end, climbed the side support of the stage, going up to the beam above, swinging like on monkey bars before turning upside down, ripping off his shirt and then landing on his feet on the stage like a cat.



Yea, next thing they were off the stage b/c security got PISSED. There was five minutes left that they could have played, but maybe it really was the end - who knows.

Bamboozle this year SUCKED. But it had it's highlights. Whatever

Anti-Flag at Starland Ballroom

Concert look back...

ANTI-FLAG is great live and the kids who came out for their "The Economy Sucks, Let's Party" Tour stop on February 5th at Starland were great too. We know how quick a bad crowd can make a show suck.

Missed CANCER BATS who I saw a couple months ago in Iceland (yea, had to say that) and was bummed. Those guys were live and interesting - harder punk rock.

AIDEN was a weird choice to put on this tour package in my opinion and I feel should not have been the opener right before ANTI-FLAG. But whatever. I didn't know some of the songs and the vocals weren't that friendly on the ears, but it brought me back three years when we saw them frequently on tour.

I joined the photo pit area right as the first song ended and then frontman wiL invited fans to fill up the space between the barrier and stage - where I was. Thanks. haha, so my pictures suck of them.

It wasn't a sold-out show and left a lot of room to move about in the venue, maybe because of the snow we were supposed to get or maybe because the line-up was a tad weak or maybe, it wasn't a great choice to book this venue. Who knows.

I enjoyed ANTI-FLAG's set a lot and my friend liked it, especially when they ended with three Clash covers. They kept playing even as they started taking apart the drum kit, haha.

I hate when Starland isn't relatively full. Not entirely b/c I get silly and start feeling bad for the bands who should be playing to a larger crowd, but just that buzz in the air from a packed house isn't always there.

Well here's my favorite photos I took. Please remember, I'm not a photographer or have like the best camera or photo editing skills, but it's fun to pretend.

Click to view mad crazy big size!



wiL of Aiden
Read the flip side of his guitar...solo project much? Closest I got to him.



Chris #2
This shot is cool to me in the elements in it, but my camera sucks and this was as light as I could get it without loosing a raw, grainy quality.



Justin Sane of Anti-Flag.
The only shot of him that's somewhat decent.



Chris #2 of Anti-Flag
His t-shirt was hole-ly



Zombie of Aiden
Now, this was the theme of the photos I took (my camera is low quality) - RED. Toned it down a bit and I'm so horrible for saying this, but I got this quick flash of those images from Vietnam during the horrors that went on during the war of the way he looks. Yes, I'm completely insane.

AFI at Roseland Ballroom

I don't have 'rockstar' stories to tell - like those epic lucky moments where a fan finds themselves stumbling upon their favorite band and getting to party with them.

However, I do have my 'really? This is so funny! How cool' moments.

And I did last night at the AFI show here in NYC.

So, a few weeks ago, we caught AFI here in Jersey for the first part of their tour, then I miraculously had the chance to interview his high holy, Davey Havok. Next was the NYC show and I got lucky to have a photo pass.

Was late getting there, so we walked in halfway through Gallows' set, so I didn't get to shoot them - kinda bummed about that, but...I was the one who caused us to be late.

So 15mins before AFI was going on stage, I decide to figure out where to go for the photo pit. Apparently the 'pass' I was given wasn't the 'right' one in the eyes of the security people I talked to.

However I was sent one way and told to find the tables. Next thing I know, I'm outside the bands' dressing rooms with some of the members of Gallows right down the short hall from me and a few VIP people chilling.

ummm...to leave or not to leave this area?

I see people cross the curtain to my right that I thought couldn't be crossed. I'm talking to this one security gentleman and he's telling me to go sit, my friends should be over there and who walks by me, but Fuse's own Steven Smith.

By the time I realized it was him...he was gone to friends and my chances of kidnapping him were lost, haha. Since I had no friends in this area and wanted to shoot photos and not be in this special area, I headed back to the floor.

I go to the other side of the place and the two guys didn't believe my 'pass,' but as soon as the one cute one takes me to the stage security guys, they look at my pass and are like 'OK, you're fine, go ahead.' haha, wtf!

First three songs saw from right there with no pushing or crowd surfers, then hung out on the special side platform and then went back to my friends and had fun singing along to the rest of the songs.

Funny too, leaving the magazine with my interview was being handed out - go me!

Best concert experience!

Blink, AFI, Dance Gavin & Emarosa

What a week!

Well, Blink 182 was a smidge more than a week, but whatever.

So we went to the Blink 182 show at Madison Square Garden and it was so surreal, but awesome. My friend had box seats, so up in the heavens we sat. Only super plus side to it - free sodas & beers, private bathrooms and though other people from her job were there, I could act a fool without a crowd of on-lookers.

Missed Asher Roth, who filled in for All-American Rejects b/c one of them was hurt, bummed, but saw most of Fall Out Boy - my first. They were good.

Blink 182...it was like so surreal b/c I felt as though I was watching a special on MTV about Blink. All the hits, so good. They did play a lot from the last album, which sucked, but oh wells. Travis did a drum solo set where his platform moved in the air, but after that, the sound sucked and made the songs hard to understand.

Oh wells.

AFI. I love them. I stood off to the side of the stage, so while yea, you were on the side, you still were like right there. Plus it's Starland Ballroom - it's mad tiny (in comparision to others), so it's all good.

Gallows were great openers and the lead singer jumped to sing for a bit on the pizza/water bars on the floors - sick. Plus his accent is mad cute.

AFI played some great songs, I'm still not totally familiar with the new album, but they did not play "Days of the Pheonix" or "God Called in Sick Today." What the hell! Seeing them again soon in NYC!

Dance Gavin Dance & Emarosa

Well, School of Rock was like the only area stop for this tour and I was there anyways during the day, so...I chilled to see two of my favorite bands of the moment!

Missed the opening three acts, who honestly, all sounded the same and had similar names. Of Machines, Tides of Men, Of Mice and Men - see?

I had thought DGD was the headliner, but I think Emarosa sold out a previous headlining show, so they let Emarosa headline the evening. I really wish DGD had the last slot.

Before the show, I heard their one guitarist/screamer playing something old on his guitar and got excited. They did "Lemon Meringue Tie" and it didn't hit me until then Jonny Craig joined Kurt on stage and started singing and hugging him. Bro love.

Ugh! I died. "Don't Tell Dave" is my favorite and "Rock Solid" ended the set. Way too short and they had like 'electronic interludes,' which I wish they didn't just so they could play more OR had the last slot.

Emarosa is amazing live. Their singer is insanely talented, but shorter then I thought. I was going to leave early, but kept saying 'one more song...' and then when I was ready, it was over. They did almost 40mins. Jonny Craig made mention his voice was hurting, but didn't give on in his vocals. But if he was sick - let DGD go on and play till 11pm!

Oh wells...

Short and sweet and really good.

Surreal moments going on lately though.

It was like Blink, AFI, interview with the bassist of Paramore, watching DGD from the side/back stage, fitting for a show tomorrow and then we're off to a music festival in Iceland.

word.

Concerts!

This week has slowly become full of surprises!

I had been a little down in the dumps for whatever reasons, but now things are looking up & realy fun!

My friend invited me to go see The Decemberists tomorrow with her. Can't wait to see them - I hear AMAZING things about their live shows.

Then we're heading out for a day in Philly and to see The A.K.A.s open the outdoor concert series for this Sailor Jerry store. Excited as hell. They are amazing as well.

Then, last minute, going to see He Is Legend this weekend and what's this? Meeting them via non-stalker methods? haha, wtf, this is funny and cool at the same time.

I don't know if I'll get to see Taking Back Sunday when they come to town...but Spinnerette is going to be here REAL soon and their album will be dropping the next day - CAN'T WAIT!

Show Review: Bouncing Souls with The Loved Ones

The Crazy Donkey, Long Island, NY

umm...I've never been to the Crazy Donkey, but have wanted to go b/c a lot of cool shows have passed through here.

NEVER AGAIN! Almost as bad as Toad's Place in New Haven.

Toad's Place was fine venue wise, but the people & townies - HORRID!

Crazy Donkey had a 'meh' crowd, but the internal layout was awkward and made the designer for Irving Plaza seem like a genius.

It was hard to work your way into the place for starters - everyone was hanging around outside,smoking & drinking and it felt like we were at a house party - perfectly fine if there wasn't two AMAZING bands getting ready to play.

We came in just in time for THE LOVED ONES and they were great. Played mainly older songs. And then a cover by the dude from Bright Eyes - so my friends informed me.

I got like body checked by this horrid drunken idiot, I think I have a bruise on my lower back. Everyone else did not like him and he got beat up in the pit, haha.

Just wonderful and worth the trip out there.

THE BOUNCING SOULS are always so fun even though I'm not 100% familiar with their catalog. But...something was lacking.

Last night they played in Asbury Park - it's like basically home and I'm still surprised it was not the last show of the tour.

So tonight, it was like something was off. It was their singer, Greg. Now. He's not like the crazy frontman or one that makes a lot of small talk, but you could tell something was off and I felt bad for him.

Maybe I'm wrong, but seriously - he was either really tired, something heavy was on his mind or he was on something.

Vocally, he was fine. It was cool to see how little effort he has to do besides open his mouth and pretty damn perfect vocals come out. But even his smiles felt forced. Didn't help that the people in Long Island SUCK.

Oh wells. They played "True Believers," "Here We Go" and "Lean on Sheena" - that made me happy.

BAMBOOZLE - The Final Day

What a LONG day for me Sunday was!

Got ready to go...huffed and puffed about the rain...and when I got to my door - UGH! Pouring rain. Luckily, it did taper off a little making the day totally barable, but sucky.

Ok! So yet again - $20 to park - screw you Giant's Stadium's people. Tickets were free, so I guess I should shut my mouth...

Saw THE SOUNDS. They are AWESOME! Can't wait for the new album. Their singer (isn't her name Mia?) had on the coolest Blondie/old punk chick outfit - leather jacket, ripped hosiery, short shorts and a tucked in bigger blouse.

We headed over for ULTRAVIOLET SOUND and they were fun as hell and just amazing. I really need to see them perform at a club environment and dance my ass off. They're working on a new album. yay!

3OH!3 was retarded, but not in a bad way. A lot of people crowded the stage for them and most of them came running back when the dance pits started. Whatever.

Saw like three songs by HASTE THE DAY. Again, decent set is all I can say as I don't know their music.

I did hang around the 'hardcore' stages for the most of the day and witnessed some of the most rediculous bahavior ever. Kids are silly. It did make each of these 'on the verge of being huge' bands seem bigger than they were b/c the pits opened up in front of BOTH stages (the two were right next to each other).

Case in point - A DAY TO REMEMBER. They ARE amazing and great - go listen to them! I think they deserved to be on a main stage. Just great music, mainly from the new album HOMESICK but one or two oldies.

Ok, the end of the night - I had lost my original group, but caught up with my lovely sister and her friend. They wanted to see this one song by a horrid band Brokencyde. I usually do not mention acts I do not support, but I just want to say that I can see the draw in one or two songs, but really this band is nonsense.

While they danced all crunk-like, I went to see TAKING BACK SUNDAY. I walked over for one song and left. The main stages were TOO TOO TOO PACKED I coudln't deal. The same with NO DOUBT. One song, but the acoustics were lost from so far away and it just felt fake. You need to be by the stage to enjoy.

Example: MOTIONLESS IN WHITE. I caught their set and yea, new pick for favorite post-hardcore/goth/emo band of the moment. Maybe it's the look and mood they present on stage that keeps my attention, but there's a few songs that stand out and are great. Let's see what direction they go in for the next album.

I was standing around, waiting for my people to come from No Doubt, so I saw this band set up - thought maybe they were an Anti-Flag type deal. Turned out to be teens from California who take a stab at punk. Name: DRIVE A. Cute and the crowd was mainly teen girls taking photos...

All in all one of the best times I've had in awhile. I like that you can go into the Stadium and sit, use the bathrooms, stare at the field. I don't like being FORCED to throw out water bottles if you thought you could bring one in HOWEVER...weed is allowed in and not snuffed when smoked.

So if they can sell it - you can't bring it in. I need to find a music event that's there to support the bands AND pay grounds workers/the venue's facilities WITHOUT raping the fans' wallets.

Flogging Molly's 5th Green 17 Tour

February 15th, 2009
Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, NY

Two hours AFTER doors there was a line halfway down a long avenue outside Hammerstein Ballroom here in NYC. Bottles of every kind of beer also lined the pavement further than the line of people.

For what? To get in to see Flogging Molly on their first stop of the Green 17 Tour. But even two hours after doors was a bit weird to see all these people not yet inside, drinking the venue's beer.

Why the backup? They weren't letting people on the floor anymore - Floor's Filled!

My theory - they weren't looking at tickets and let everyone just go on the floor. Bad ticket people!

So my friend and I, a bit confused, headed to the 2nd balcony and took a seat. MY GOD the floor really was PACKED! While nothing beats the floor, on some level we were happy we were high above.

It was a cool experience because watching exactly what happens down below is fun, eye opening and thrilling.

Dub Trio and The Aggrolites opened the show. We missed Dub Trio, but caught the other act. They're dub, right - ska, punk reggae. Good music, but not what we were in the mood for.

On to the main act...

Flogging Molly was AMAZING. This was the right way to start a tour. They played a bunch of new songs, but I was most excited for those I've already heard live.

With a bird's eye view of the place, it was fun to see the kids running around on the floor and happy, drunken fans doing a jig off in the stairwells.

A typical set list, HOWEVER..."Black Friday Rule"...not to be found.

Maybe they'll include it on warped tour.

Tour I am PISSED I have to miss

WHY are the two tours the AKAs are partaking on not coming to the tri-state area?

I'm insanely mad and the closest date on either of them is in Pittsburg - that's 6 hours from me.

I'm so ready to drive to Ohio or Canada to see the first tour -

Foxy Shazam and Dr Manhattan....First off, Foxy Shazam was AMAZING when we saw them last with Senses Fail. As for Dr Manhattan, I've heard good things about their live show and they were really cool dudes when (funny enough) chatting with them backstage at Warped waiting to interview Mike Ski (singer for The AKAs).

THEN and this is what eats at my soul -

They go on tour with Dillinger Four and THE BOUNCING SOULS!

GRWARA!!

Just a rant. So screw you all who get to go see them on any of these stops.

Senses Fail....my love returns

Did I ever mention I went to the Senses Fail show at Starland Ballroom back in November?

No? Well...It was amazing.

First off, Foxy Shazam is friggin' insane! I was torn whether or not to consider their show smart and genius or just plain retardness. The lead singer was crazy and I love it. He was all over the place, talking non-sense to a crowd that half of 'em loved him, but the other booed and hated him.

He began singing the Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song and it was boring, but funny. Some of the crowd standing by me wanted them gone - but they were the same dumbasses who would late 'mosh' to Sky Eats Airplane.

Anyways, later on, the singer threw the microphone over one of the beams above and proceeded to climb up the cord to the ceiling, swing around and then fall back to the stage. Quite impressive. The keyboardist also wanted attention by standing on his keyboard. They are fun.

Sky Eats Airplane is a Chiodos/screamo hardcore outfit that I wasn't too impressed with. Of course, the lead singer on stage looked hot, but that's about it. I had more fun watching the ceiling fans in the stage lighting that this band had set up.

I was so stoked to see Dance Gavin Dance, but they failed to really give me my fill. I'm most familiar with their older album, but since they have a new singer...nothing from that album, just new stuff. Which isn't a problem, but they fell a little flat.

The last song morphed into a jam, progressive kind of thing and was really nice.

Ok, so I had complained about Senses Fail's new album, mainly b/c it felt like the heart was missing. I remember reading in a blog by their old bassist, who left before this record, something along the lines that he doesn't want to pretend he wants to make music like some others.

So I kind of felt like he was right.

Wrong! My goodness, their lead singer was totally on the ball this show. He didn't seem completely intoxicated (like last time I saw them) and his vocals were so on point and the energy was flowing like crazy. He divided his time during the set between jumping into the crowd and rolling out the stage like a madman.

The music just radiated through me. Maybe with now the talent of Jason Black (originally of Hot Water Music) they can really get into that full-bodied, ambient thing or maybe it's all just clicking.

I loved the fact that they played every hit, not sticking solely to the new record and I was completely satisfied with this set.

They're headed out on the Saints and Sinners Tour in '09 (yea, there's no Saints and Sinners Fest, but that's okay b/c if you saw what they did to the inside of the Convention Hall in Asbury, you wouldn't want it there either).

With them is like hardcore screamo cats and Hollywood Undead. If I get in free, you know I'm going.

Backstreet Boys Show Review

Backstreet Boys!

Wellmont Theatre, Montclair, NJ

10.31.2008 (Halloween!)

This was a last minute concert venture and it turned out the be the best idea ever.

We headed out to the newly restored Wellmont Theatre in Montclair and bought tickets at the door. No extra fees and unfortunately, but fortunately, the place was not sold out. Poor Backstreet Boys.

The venue is small, i would say a tad bigger than the blender theater in Grammercy, and we sat in the balcolny maybe 5 rows up. We had such a great view and I enjoy being able to see a little off to the sides of the stage, the marks on the floor and I thought it was funny how, unlike the stadium venues, the stagehands had to revamp the set-up while the boys were still on the stage.

So, earlier that day, I caught the Angie Martinez Show on Hot97 and that Donnie Klang, solo act of the Making the Band shows, and totally fell in love with this kid. Reason why he was on the show? Well one, he has a new album (um, I'll just listen on myspace), but he was in town and opened for BSB!

We were a little late and walked in on him doing his new single, "Dr. Love." My friends made fun of the title, as they should. He finished up with a slow song and threw roses out to the audience. He's got heart and the girls love him (especially when he removes his shirt, as he did after the set real quick off to the side), but I think it's hard for any R&B solo act to really make it and stand out.

It wasn't an eternity for BSB to take the stage and it was pure awesomeness from the get go. They opened with "Larger Than Life" and for some reason, were in a boxing ring. They even had like boxer's stats on the screen as they came out. So corny, but that was the endearing factor of the show - the guys are not too into themselves to be serious and seemed to just let go and not worry if they were being total goofballs.

They kept the hits coming and I had a smile on my face the whole time. When new tracks from the last album came on that I didn't know, I just looked to my friend and we both shrugged and continued dancing.

BSB's slow songs all have this same melody, but they're substantial in the words (no, seriously, listen a little closer to some) and just pretty. Everyone's vocals were showcased to their full potential.

To cut up the set, each boy did their own solo, basically because they all have or are working on their own records. It just goes to show how the music clearly reflects the personalities of these guys that the media has built for them.

Howie went first - I think he feels people don't know he's Spanish, so he did a mellow track with a salsa backbone and (I think) Carmen Miranda dancing on the screen. It wasn't the greatest.

A.J. was next - He did this "Drive By" song and it was a catchy, fast and over-sexed rock n'roll tune. It was fun and kept my attention more than the others.

Nick was third - Oh, Nick...he did a slower song and was OK. I just feel bad for him b/c I always think he probably felt he was to have the same success that Justin Timberlake did, but it never happened. Poor guy.

Brian was last - I liked his song. He's a Christian rock musician and his song was really sweet and I teared up a little. He's the nicest sounding one of them.

The show as a whole had lots of energy and they mixed things up just a tad and it felt as though I was back in high school. I jumped up and down when "The Call" came on and I got the chills when they played the old videos on the screen during songs like "Quit Playing Games" and "I'll Never Break Your Heart."

Being that it was Halloween, they did "Backstreet's Back" in costumes - it was cheesey, but who cares...it was Backstreet!

Big Giant and The Extravaganza

Big Giant and The Extravaganza
Crocodile Rock
Allentown, PA
October 25, 2008

Originally, the draw of seeing The Casualties and From First to Last play on the same stage on the same day was too much for me to stay in Jersey, wondering what exactly was going on at The Croc.

Turned out that FFTL had to cancel, but we still feared the rain and headed over as my sister enjoys Jet Lag Gemini & Just Surrender.

It was an all day thing, with some really great bands and even if you went not familiar with any of them, there was always someone playing who was interesting. Advertised were 4 stages, but there were 3, maybe due to the weather. I felt bad for the downstairs stage as it seemed out of the way and I only passed it to leave the venue or head to the bathrooms. Upstairs was the main stage and right outside the doors was the outdoor mini performance area.

To start, Throw Money was on the Main Stage. They were a fun rock band that held my attention. Double Entendre was next and they are really something. Great vocals and you could just feel this band is heading somewhere, so check them out.

Kelsey and the Chaos strated setting up and my sister said they were like Paramore. Maybe b/c it's a girl-fronted band, but the music is a tad heavier and she pushes her vocals a bit to have more growl and bite.

Halfway through - The power went out for almost an hour. It was kind of cool though.

Their set got cut short and the lead singer entertained the crowd by starting sing-a-longs. The next handful of sets had to have songs shaved off to catch up on time.

So, Jet Lag Gemini was the first band back after the outage and this was my first time seeing them. Jersey love for this band. Great rock music, with an entertaining lead singer, but tough talented, the moments of shredding by their guitarist seemed cheesy. Still awesome though.

There were a few bands here and there, but the two to take note of - Nobody Yet and Motionless in White.

Nobody Yet comes across as a suburban band who nods towards classic punk bands like Buzzcocks, but remain relevant in today's rock scene. I was happy we stepped outside to check them out.

Motionless in White was the highlight of the day as any meoldic screamo-faux metalcore bands today crack me up. The lead singer was a tall Davey Havok, the other members were styled just right and the keyboardist rocked out as much as a keyboard player can. It was great. But hey, the music wasn't all that bad either.

Punchline was up and I was hoping to hear some old favorites. They basically stuck to songs from their new album and being that I haven't heard it yet, I must pick it up. They're still the same poppy, upbeat rock band and the new stuff sounds even better than what I remember.

So we headed out and went to Friendly's. This was probably the greatest thing about the day - They left you LEAVE AND COME BACK. Unlike Warped or Bamboozle, you could park for free and leave to eat somewhere nice.

We returned to see Just Surrender and The Casualties - yea, odd huh?

Never listened to Just Surrender till this show. They had a hype man, who either worked at the venue or was tour manager/roadie or band person, who knows, but he was so excited about them. They were really good and I completely got into their music and danced along. They're on tour with The Higher and two of their members came on stage to sing along.

Ok, now I'm not a real 'punk' kid or know their entire catalog, but The Casualties are a band I'll never pass up seeing. We hung out in the back and watched the punk kids make a circle pit and dance around. Unlike the other pits of the day, the kids here picked each other up and looked out for one another.

The one band member had to open the show by explaining who they are and how they're different from every other band of the day. It was all true, but all the kids on the floor were there for them and not waiting for the last band, Mae.

We left halfway through, as their songs runs right into each other and the noise was bothering the ears (did I mention I'm going deaf?).

All in all, the festival was good. Mainly younger kids, so I felt old. It was just weird b/c it felt like half the people of the already tiny crowd, were band members. It was cool. Wonder what's in store for next year.

SO STOKED!

Tour I need to go to -

Alesana, Motionless in White, Greeley Estates & A Static Lullaby

faux-metalcore, screamo, eyeliner and dyed hair with corny as hell tattoos!

I'm there with pvc on, red lipstick and tons of black eye shadow.