I took this when I saw her on the twenty-eighth. I got in free courtesy of FlavorPill, it was an amazing show…Peaches completely melted my face off, and She’s such a badass babe for crowd surfing at the ripened age of forty-three. Pictures to come…

Is there nothing that Beyoncé can’t do? Not only is she a super successful singer and businesswoman and married to Jay-Z, one of the biggest rappers in the world, she works a crowd by surfing it. Mariah Carey, take note.

OK, Beyoncé. Cool. Now let’s see you do it at a Motorhead gig.

Has to be the best performer out right now hands down… but seriously she better not try that in the States… she might not get back to the stage.. just saying… Pow!

Iggy Pop é o nome artístico de James Newell Osterberg. Actualmente com 62 anos e ainda a marcar presença no mundo do Rock é também conhecido como o Padrinho do Punk. Já tinha feito referência a ele a propósito do Crowd Surfing, porque segundo dizem foi ele o “iniciador” desta tão marcante actividade em concertos. E desde essa minha descoberta que fui procurar músicas do senhor. Eu não sou amante de punk, de rock pesadão, não sou, mas o último álbum dele é muito bom [naquilo que é o meu padrão pessoal de bom] – Préliminaires. Por ser o menos roqueiro dos álbuns dele e com alguns laivos de jazz justifica-se o porquê de ter gostado. Gosto em particular de King of the Dogs – numa voz suja e decadente com sons e letra dignos desta cara aqui ao lado. E como tal, ide ver e ouvir o trabalho do senhor, ide!

[mais de Iggy Pop]

Dois posta atrás, do meu amigo Pedro, li algo sobre Surf, Esporte dos Deuses, mas faz tempo que já não é mais…

Olha o texto original desse vídeo:

Huge swell in Malibu, 7-24-09 & 7-25-09. Great waves, alot of people, but just having a good time.

Good Time????? Isso aqui no Ceará chama rabeada….

Esse eu já postei, mas além de ter a ver com o tema do post, é sensacional…………a covardia do havaiano batendo no magrinho…

Vai entender por que um cara invadiria uma competição no Hawaii?????

Deveria estar chapado….

Esse outro também é boa………se não for com vc……

Outra coisa que aprendi com esses vídeos, é que no Hawaii não tem turma do deixa disso…..

Esporte dos Deuses?????

Last night was amazing! Matt and Kim seriously have incredible shows! Right now I’m getting up to go to the Senior Breakfast that’s at 9:30. This means I’ll be functioning on about 5 hours of sleep. I only got to take about 6 pictures because my camera died. This really made ,e angry because there were points in the show that I wanted to capture but I couldn’t.  The pictures that I did get are of great quality and really good because I was front row. Which I must say was both a good decision and then again had its downsides. Basically because they were moshing and crowd surfing and at times it got really crazy but I wouldn’t have changed it.

The opening act for Matt and Kim, Ninja Fucking Sonic, were awesome. They are a mix between The Cool Kids with a techno feel.They basically got the vibe to the max and it was a party. I haven’t danced that much in awhile. A lot of their songs were somewhat comedic. I can’t remember the exact names, but I know one was about Someone’s having a baby and about using condoms. It started the night off right. My 5 friends and I ended up getting front row and actually right with Kim’s aunt and family who came from Rochester. It was adorable that she talked to us and was telling us of how this is the first performance of Kim’s that she was seeing.Once they got on the stage Kim asked security to escort them to the side of the stage because of all the craziness that had occurred during the opening act. I’m really glad she did this because it got so crazy in the pit of people as soon as they played the first song.

When Matt and Kim first came on the stage and were takign in all of the positive energy I knew this was going to be a great show. What makes a great show I think is when he artist is actually excited abotu performing and tahnkful for the fans for even coming. They played about an hour worth of songs and it was incredible. They debuted two new parts in their set;  1. Kim played the keyboard with Matt and 2. Kim actually sang during a song( I believe it was Turn This Boat Around). Kim at one point even crowd surfed, it was epic. My favorite song that they performed of the night was Good ol’ Fashion Nightmare. This has always been my favorite song of theirs and their live performance made me love it even more. I was glad that they ended the set with Daylight because it was the end everyone was sweaty and tired of the pushing and moshing and when they performed it, everyones energy shot up a thousand. At theend of Daylight Matt crowd surfed, and then jumped down into the crowd right in front of me. I actually got to hug him about 3 times which was so adorable. He actually gives the best hugs. My friend Charlie actually got Matt’s sheet of paper that he kept on his keyboard with lyrics and got his autograph afterwards. The night was such a  success. I can’t even imagine that I at one point I wasn’t going to be able to go. Thank God that changed.

This was totally supposed to be submitted last post, but WordPress decided to do something stupid and not post it.

1. If you’re not wearing shoes, or if you’re wearing open-toed shoes, don’t go in unless you want your feet to be bruised and possibly bloody. No exaggeration.

2. Use your elbows. Elbows and arms are your best defenses against taller and bigger people who will be pressed up against you from all sides.

3. If you fall, GET UP. ASAP. Unless you want your face to be trampled.

4. Crowd-surfers: If you’re doing it, be prepared to be dropped and don’t get angry if you are. People are just having a good drunk time. If you’re receiving bodies, don’t drop them. Easy, right? No? Fine.

5. Go with the flow. Literally, figuratively, it’ll help. It’ll be fun.

This year for Warped I decided to take my big camera, the Cannon Rebel. Seeing as I am not a bystander at any concert I was kind of nervous about its well being as my face was being rocked clean off. Thankfully everything survived, and after a few good cleanings it only vaguely smells like coppertone.

Over 500 pictures later…

One month later…

I only have like, 150 edited down and all that. Work in progress.

Here are a few that are finished.

Quand ce n’est pas le crowd surfing dans les concerts rock, voilà maintenant que les jeunes s’adonnent à du car surfing.

Le principe est d’être debout, couché ou assis sur une voiture en mouvement.

Il faut vraiment être imbécile ou ne pas tenir à sa vie pour faire pareilles imbécilités. Pour prouver quoi au juste? Qu’ils sont pressés de mourir?

Définitivement je suis très inquiet de la jeunesse québécoise. On dit que la relève c’est la jeunesse. D’où mon inquiétude.

Pas plus fin les médias montre le concept aux bulletins de nouvelles.

Le comble de la bêtise c’est la mère de la jeune qui passait en Cour hier pour avoir été la conductrice de la voiture sur laquelle des jeunes s’adonnaient à du car surfing à Drummondville.
La mère a dit “‘Ma fille est une bonne personne”…. Euh scusé madame, quand on est une bonne personne on réfléchi avant d’agir et ce qu’importe l’âge adulte. Une bonne personne et écervelée ne vont pas de paire.

J’espère que le juge président cette cause fera de la jeune dame un exemple pour tous les jeunes du Québec.

The Warped Tour is celebrating its 15th birthday this summer, and yesterday I was lucky enough to see the tour for the first time in my life during its stop in Hartford. The Comcast Theatre (or the Dodge or the Meadows, depending on how old you are) was completely transformed into this crazy  rock and roll summer camp of sorts. The great thing about the Warped Tour is that its variety of acts attracts all kinds of people; yesterday’s crowd ranged from preteens decked out in their Hot Topic finery to see 3OH!3, to people in their late 20s/early 30s who braved the insanity to see solid sets from big d and the kids table and Streetlight Manifesto.

I could have spent all day simply people-watching. I mean, where else can you see a guy in Buddy Holly glasses holding a bong in one hand and a BlackBerry in the other? I saw many teens with as much decorative metal on their faces as orthodontic metal in their mouths. I wanted to ask the skinny redhead next to me during the Maine’s set if either of her two lip rings ever got caught in her braces. Kids of all ages ran around the dusty parking lot, their bodies covered in band merch and free stickers while their parents sipped $9 Bud Lights inside the amphitheater, waiting for the nine-hour day to end. Tattoos were just as prevalent as body piercings; between the artists, crew members and fans, there was easily over $10,000 worth of ink on display. Some notable tattoos included Snoopy looking up at a tree on a woman’s calf and a flaming puzzle piece on a woman’s neck.

Having never been to an all-day festival concert like this before, I was on sensory overload. There was so much to see and so much new music to hear that it was easy to get overwhelmed. It was difficult to pick which of the seven sets going on almost simultaneously you wanted to see, but what I did get to see yesterday was great. We started off the day with the end of Senses Fail’s set, then caught most of 3OH!3. I’ve already aired my grievances with 3OH!3 and their strange brand of electro-rap-rock, but you can’t deny that they have a huge following:

I took this picture at the back of the crowd, easily one of the largest I saw that day. I sat out during Brokencyde’s set,  because I literally could not stomach their music, which is labeled “screamo-crunk.” Aside from being audibly abrasive, the lyrics were more crude than some of the rap music I listen to. The crowd of mostly teenage girls didn’t seem to mind, singing along to lyrics that included “Will you be my booty call?” and other things that I’m too embarrassed to reprint. Fueled By Ramen’s A Rocket to the Moon played an enjoyable set inside away from the hot sun, and Meg and Dia gave what may have been the tamest set of the entire day, with Dia asking the crowd at one point if they liked to read because it was “great reading weather.”

The one band whose appeal I didn’t get was Breathe Carolina, an electro-screamo band made up of the strangest assemblage of people. The lead singer looked like a Daisy of Love reject, complete with a shirt that said “You can’t spell stud without STD.” Classy. The screamer/vocalist was a nerdy guy in a baseball tee, and the keytarist was a small guy with hipster hair and facial piercings. A chubby DJ/keyboardist in mesh shorts and a nondescript drummer rounded out the group. I found their music generally irritating, but their cover of Miley Cyrus’ “See You Again” was entertaining, if not laughable.

After that atrocity, I finally got to see the Maine, one of two bands I was looking forward to seeing that day. (We missed the White Tie Affair’s set since they went on 15 minutes after the doors opened.) It would be easy to dismiss them as just another pop-punk band, but their music is so undeniably catchy. I’ve been a fan of their music for a long time, but this was the first time I’d seen them live, due to an unfortunate concert experience last summer where I missed their opening set. Despite being almost suffocated by the people around me, I really enjoyed their set.

Up next was Saosin, a band I don’t have strong feelings about either way. My sister likes them, and she warned me that crowd surfing might get kind of intense during their set, having seen them before. I’ve never liked crowd surfing or really understood its appeal, but I figured if it got too intense, I could just leave and wait by the fence. It did get kind of crazy, but we were standing near the side of the stage and most of the surfing was going on near the middle. I could see most of the goings-on in my peripheral vision, and every once in a while I turned around to make sure no one was coming up behind me. However, there was one guy who came up right behind me and I did not see him coming at all. The next thing I knew, his foot hit the back of my neck really hard and I pitched forward. My vision immediately blurred and I just bolted out of the crowd. I ran to the safety of the fencing and realized that not only could I not see straight, but I was now dizzy and shaking uncontrollably. A concerned girl who I pushed by to get out and an equally concerned mother came up to me and while one checked to make sure I was okay, the other went to get the EMTs.

Long story short, I spent some QT with the EMTs while I waited for my vision to return to normal and to make sure my situation didn’t get worse. I ended up with whiplash of sorts and a pretty brutal headache, not to mention I got to walk around for the rest of the night holding an ice pack to my neck. (Aside from a stiff neck, I was fine this morning.) We spent the rest of the evening in the safety of the amphitheater, watching the end of  big d and the kids table’s set. We stayed for a few minutes of “Queen of the Internet” Jeffree Star’s set, which left most people openmouthed as he took the stage in a jeweled dress with his neon orange hair in a ponytail to a very crass version of the Black Eyed Peas’ “Boom Boom Pow.” Star is clearly only there for shock value, which explains why he is relegated to the closing set on the Smartpunk Stage.

So we left after that, covered in dust, our backpacks full of free stuff (and stuff that was not-so-free), and I with an ice pack on my neck. Aside from my minor injury, I had a good time, and if the Warped Tour comes through Hartford again next summer, I’d consider going.

It was a perfect day for an outdoor music fest.  It was sunny and in the low 80s.

I took my 7 year old (Thing 2), my 14 year old (Thing 1), and 3 extra kids.  Thing 2 spent the day with my husband and I while Thing 1 and friends ditched us as soon as they could (fine by me, much less expensive and hormonal).

The first band I got to see was Anti-Flag.  They were on the main stage.  They were really good.  I don’t know their music (even though they’ve been around for a long time) but they were energetic and fun and I will definitely be checking out some of their CDs.

line up board

Then I shopped for a while.  I had to get my husband and Thing 2 Vans shirts.  I always buy the Vans Warped shirts instead of the Warped concert shirts (the one’s with the dates on the backs).  The shirt I got myself is so nice, it’s got this great v-neck and the Vans name is so stylized that it just looks like the pattern in the shirt.  It’s super flattering (I’ve gone to so many concerts this year that don’t have nice shirts.  It’s so disappointing). Also, this year, instead of canvas tote bags, they had these nice cotton (?) purses.  I finally found my summer purse (hey, summer weather just started in Cleveland so maybe it’s fitting that I just found my summer purse).

One of the really neat things about the Warped Tour is all the stickers and silly crap that is given away.  It’s especially cool for the kids.  Thing 1 got a bunch of posters that she’s going to use to decorate the locker room where she works.  And both kids have tons of stuff to hang in their rooms.  Plus, it’s cool to be able to get a CDs for $5.  Thing 1, bought 2 or 3 CDs while we were standing in line to get in! I picked up a few too.

The next band I saw was The Maine.  It was so hard to choose between The Maine and Less Than Jake.  In the end it came down to the fact that I was down by the Hurley Stage when The Maine came on and Less the Jake was on the main stage which was all the way at the other end.

The Maine

They were really good.  I loved their cover of Pour Some Sugar on Me.  It was funny because I had just seen Def Leppard do it live 2 weeks before.  It’s also funny that most of the kids in the audience didn’t really know the song.

They closed with Girls Do What They Want.  It was fun.  Thing 2 liked it.  She tends to like the more pop sounding bands (she’s 7, it’s good).

Millionaires

I wanted to see Meg & Dia, but I had written the time down wrong, and I ended up seeing the Millionaires’ set instead.  They were upbeat and skanky.  Good party music.  I don’t think they’d be half as enjoyable without seeing them dance (um, it was actually a bit more like prance and jump, there really was no organized movement) because their voices are a bit grating.  Although, hearing someone who could honestly sing do their music probably wouldn’t work anyway (someone who could honestly sing probably wouldn’t do their music).

We went back to the main stage to watch Bad Religion.  They were great.  I have known their name forever, but before the show I was trying to refresh my memory about who they are and what songs they have.  So I went to Amazon and I was playing some of the clips and nothing sounded familiar (or good).  But when I saw them play the stuff sounded great and I recognized some of them.

Bad Religion

I had planned on checking out A Rocket to the Moon.  But I never made it over there (Smart Punk stage) and stuck around the main stage to catch The Devil Wears Prada.  They are just awful.  The devil must also wear earplugs.  The one thing my husband said (that wasn’t negative) was that they were loud.  I guess that’s one way to stand out, if you can’t be good, be loud, then maybe no one will notice how bad you are.  Hey, wasn’t that on an episode of Spongebob?  Isn’t that when Squidward lies and says he has a marching band and he’s got to train all the Bikini Bottom residents in just a few days?  And they are terrible so he thinks if they all just play really loud that it’ll be ok.  Yeah, it didn’t work for Squidward either.  Maybe the guys from the band didn’t finish watching the episode.  Somebody should send them the DVD.

The Devil Wears Prada (or as just started liking to call them, untalented poseurs)

Attack Attack

I had heard some good things about Attack Attack, and since they were on the Skull Candy stage (which was right next to the main stage) we walked over to check them out.  My husband summed it up pretty well when he called them understudies for The Devil Wears Prada.

I don’t mind screaming.  I can scream with the best of them.  But to scream because you have no musical talent is something else.  Screaming has it’s place in heavy music.  It always will, but it should be one vocal technique among many, not the only thing that the “singer” is capable of.  That’s not a singer, that’s a hack.

Scary Kids Scaring Kids

Next, I saw a bit of Dear and the Headlights.  I enjoyed what I saw, I need to pick up a CD.  I didn’t stay long though because I was off to see Scary Kids Scaring Kids (see, I said that I don’t mind screaming).

Scary Kids were good.  The keyboardist is unintentionally hilarious.  I’m not sure that he’s necessary to the music but he’s so funny to watch, all the preening and posing, they need to keep him for the comic relief.

I was able to be really close to the stage for this band because I didn’t have Thing 2.  So, while I was watching someone tried to pass some giant, fat, sweaty guy.  FUCK THAT! I moved.  And they guy passing this other guy was telling me “no, no, no” that I shouldn’t move.  Again, FUCK THAT! I stepped out of the way.  Let him fall.  I don’t care. There needs to be a weight limit and hygiene standards for anyone who wants to crowd surf.  And this guy was certainly over the weight limit and out of compliance for the hygiene standards. Those guys who stand at the front of the stage and have to grab these nasty crowd surfers have the worst jobs in the world.  I don’t mind getting jostled around a bit.  I expect that it will happen at certain shows.  And I can handle it.  I’m not big but, as my husband says, I’m scrappy.  But you can’t make me touch some smelly fat guy.

About 50% of the people at Warped needed to be hosed down and sprayed with deodorant.  And I swear people were just openly farting while watching these bands. If you want to funk up your own place, have at it, but when you’re out in public you need to bathe, wear antiperspirant and either spring for some Bean-o or hold that in, you stinky bastards.

3OH!3

My husband went and saw 3OH!3 with Thing 2 (Thing 1 also went to see them).  He really would have rather seen Scary Kids with me but he’s so sweet that he let me see the better band. I like some of 3oh!3’s music, but they’re major poseurs.  And I especially think so after hearing what Thing 1 had to say about “meeting” them during their signing.  She said that the band wouldn’t speak to anyone, no one was allowed to take pictures.  They were just generally unapproachable. You’re not stars yet guys.  Don’t get all full of yourselves.

Big D and the Kids' Table

Before I met back up with my hubby and Thing 2 (the 7 year old) I stopped off to see some of Big D and the Kids’ Table.  I like their music but the singer has the worst banter.  His banter is as bad as Tom DeLonge (Blink 182, Angels and Airwaves).  Someone needs to tell the guy.  Someone needs to tell both guys, “You’re not smart, you’re not clever, just shut up and sing.”  I loved the back up singers.  They were adorable.  And I loved the horn section.  Very nice. The lyrics are juvenile but fun.  Pure summer party music.  I can picture this music as great beach volleyball accompaniment.  A few beers and some grilled burgers.  Perfect.

My husband met up with me while I was watching Big D and we walked back to the Hurley stage to watch Bayside.  That was another hard decision because I really wanted to check out Chiodos too.  But I figured Thing 2 would enjoy Bayside more than Chiodos, and really, the Warped Tour is now kind of a family thing for us (I can’t wait until the Monkey King is old enough to join us.  He’s too nutty still, maybe in 2 years).

Bayside

Bayside were good.  I think that Thing 2 enjoyed them too, but she did seek out some shaded ground to sit on (we started our day there at 10:30, so she was getting worn out) and she spent some time eating the rest of the snacks I’d brought with us.

Jet Lag Gemini

At some point during the day, we walked by and heard a few songs from Jet Lag Gemini.  I think Thing 1 and Thing 2 would enjoy them, I’ll have to get a CD.  They’re pop-y and easy to listen to.  The stage listings say that they were to play at 4:35 but I’m pretty positive that I saw them on the way to see The Maine.  I know for sure that I saw them before Scary Kids because of the picture numbers assigned by my phone (some of these pictures were taken on my phone and some with our real camera.  You can tell the difference because 1) the camera has an 18x zoom so they’re really good close ups, 2) the camera is a camera! my phone is 3 megapixels and the camera is 8.1 megapixels, 3) my hubby took the camera photos so they’re actually centered and steady and I took the phone pictures so they suck) are lower numbers for the Jet Lag Gemini pics than those assigned to the pictures of Scary Kids so the pics of Jet Lag Gemini were taken before those of Scary Kids.

Paramore

Anyway, after Bayside we walked back to the main stage to see the “Special Guest”.  Which everyone knew was Paramore.  It was all over Twitter a day or two before the show.  We got relatively close to the stage for this band.  We’d seen them less than 2 weeks before at Blossom, and I was excited to see them again.  But it ended up being too rambunctious for Thing 2.  Even my hubby was pissed because people were chucking drinks and stuff.  There was a crowd surfer who was handed to me and I helped him to the ground because he was getting too close to Thing 2.  I can handle myself, but Thing 2 is tiny.  And if anyone hurt her I’d get arrested, because my fierce mommy instincts take over.  Actually, later on that day some stupid little prick stomped on a water bottle and splashed Thing 2 so I stalked over and started yelling at him and his douche bag friends.  The three friends booked and he shit his pants! I didn’t even hestitate to confront them.  I didn’t think about it.  Someone had been mean to my child, and I turned into the protector.  I was very close to making the little shit apologize. We ended up walking around just outside of the main stage area and listening to Paramore while we bought and ate dinner.  They sounded great.  Thing 1 said it was insane inside.  Endless crowd surfing, even one of her friends ended up feeling too overwhelmed with all the crowd surfers and pushing.  It was much different watching them at Blossom.

I had wanted to check out Gallows but they were on at the same time as Paramore and they were over at the opposite end of the place.  We got to hear a little bit of Shad while we were walking around eating dinner because he was on the next stage.

Saosin

We walked back to the Hurley stage to watch Saosin.  I really enjoyed their set.  Thing 2 was really not enjoying their set.  The Maine is really more her speed.  But she got to sit on the ground and rest for a bit so I think she was good.  Really she did much better this year.  Last year we spent a lot of time carrying her.  It was also around 100 degrees which is obnoxiously hot even when you’re not walking around on asphalt.  It was so uncomfortable.  This year we didn’t have to carry her at all.  But we had to make sure she was able to sit from time to time.  She was very smart and wore a hat and a good shirt that covered most of her arms.  She’s very sensible.

Madina Lake

We saw a little bit of Madina Lake at some point while we were walking around.  I think on the way to see Paramore.  They were incredibly energetic.  I loved what I saw.  Thing 2 was much more interested in the giant ballons they had bopping around in the crowd.  She spent her whole time watching them and was absolutely thrilled that she got a hit in on one.

It was at this point that we confirmed that 95% of all the musicians on the tour were midgets.  Munchkins.  Leprechauns (the two blonde guys from Madina Lake were definitely leprechauns.  Just look at the picture.  I should have grabbed the singer while he was crowd surfing and made him give me his pot of gold).  There must be some weight limit for the smaller stages.  Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the stages are so portable (geez, the ernie ball stage has a license plate on it!).  They’re less sturdy so normal-size people aren’t able to perform on them; they’re weight limit restricts all but the “wee folk”.

After Saosin we walked by and saw After Midnight Project (whose name I will forever mess up).  And they were playing a song I’ve heard enough to know some lyrics.  I don’t know how I know the song.  I don’t know if it was a cover, but I started singing lyrics (and they seemed to be correct).  I’ll have to look into their music and figure out what song it was.

After Midnight Project

NOFX

Next we saw the end of NOFX while we were waiting for Flogging Molly. They were  ok.  I have some of their albums.  It’s good background music.

The highlight of my day was Flogging Molly.  I love Flogging Molly.  Dave King is insane.  I still can’t believe he’s the same Dave King that was in Fastway with Jerry Shirley and the guy-from-Motorhead-who’s-not-Lemmy.  It’s really cool to see how diverse a Flogging Molly crowd is. There are way older people and then there are young teens.  And so many of them can sing the songs! I love it.  I’m so lucky that I’ve gotten to see them live twice this year.  They are so energetic and fun.  Tom DeLonge and the guy from Big D and the Kids’ Table should beg Dave King to teach them how to banter.  He’s great and funny.  It’s sweet to hear him refer to his wife as his soul mate. And it was hilarious to hear him rip on Fat Mike from NOFX and mock the crowd (he asked how many in the audience were Irish and when far too many cheered in response his quip was “I’d like to see those DNA tests”).  It’s all done with such good humor that it’s totally inoffensive.  I can’t wait until they come around again.  They didn’t play Cleveland last year for the Warped Tour, although they did join the tour for some of the dates.  I hope they come to Cleveland on the tour next year.

Flogging Molly

Flogging Molly had great concert tees at the show too.  My Flogging Molly tee is the only band tee I purchased that day.  My hubby got 3 shirts from the show in February (I got one) so instead of a tee, he bought a flag.  My new Flogging Molly shirt is this nice fitted gray and white stripped tee that says Flogging Molly across the right side.  If you don’t know that Flogging Molly was the name of a band, you would never know that it was a concert tee.  I wore it to work Friday.  Thing 2 liked them enough that she spent all her money ($20) on a Flogging Molly shirt! Smart girl.

The last band I wanted to see for the day was A Skylit Drive.  I like that song about hunting the person down and killing them.  I can’t remember the name of it.  It has the line about “the movement in her hips marks the hour when the poison sets in”.  I think I really surprised Thing 1’s friends (who had joined us to watch this band) when I started singing along to that song!

Black Tide

But before we saw them, we watched the end of Black Tide, who were performing on the stage next to A Skylit Drive. They were ok.  Loud, heavy.

A Skylit Drive was good.  But everyone was tired.  There were people just lying on the ground (remember it’s asphalt, you have to be pretty damn tired to purposely lay down on asphalt) to watch them play.  I enjoyed it, but I have to admit, we cut out early and didn’t watch their whole set.  Thing 2 had been tired for hours and I was pretty spent too.

A Skylit Drive

I actually was a bit disappointed this year.  The crowds were especially hostile.  Aside from moving out of the way of overweight crowd surfers and yelling at people splashing water, I yelled at some prissy little girl for pushing. I was walking through a crowd and she was right on my back pushing.  After about 30 seconds of this, I stopped, looked her in the eye (I had to look up at her) and told her that I would push her back.  Funny thing, she followed me for another minute through the crowd but never needed to touch me again.  I think last year was better because it was too hot for anyone to be too big of an asshole.  They just didn’t have the energy.

For all you kids attending Warped:

I know it’s the first time that a lot of you have ever gotten to spend the day unsupervised. But just because you are on your own doesn’t mean that you can act however you want. Even at concerts, there is a certain level of courtesy you should show to your fellow concert goers.  So maybe mommy and daddy bought your ticket, but most of the rest of us paid for our own.  So don’t mess up our good time because you want to act like a punk.

Yes, you can push and shove in the pit.  No, you can’t do that anywhere else unless you want me in your face.  This isn’t tv, there are consequences.  And, no matter how tough you want to act, not a single one of you punks stood up to me when I confronted you.  So don’t make me.  It’s awfully embarrassing to have some short little 30 something woman scold you for your shitty behavior in front of your friends.  And you don’t have to take my word for it, just ask Thing 1.

Now that that’s out of the way, Warped was great.  Thing 1 and her friends spent the car ride home talking about what they’re going to do for next year’s show.  I came home tired and dirty and sunburned and sweaty and happy and with tons of momentos.  I can’t wait for next year!

Warped Tour Booty

dirty, post-concert feet & check out the classy flip flop tan line

great tan lines - my backpack straps kept rubbing off my sunscreen so I ended up with really strange sunburn lines on my back

Hoje no twitter, David Fonseca disse que com os seus 7000 followers já dá para fazer crowd-surf entre o Rossio e os Restauradores.

Eu como sou burro no que respeita a festivais (mas neste caso era mais de inglês) fui procurar: crowd surfing.

Iggy Pop, ao que parece foi o inventor, se é que é o termo correcto, daquilo a que eu sempre vi como: hei grandes malucos ali por cima das cabeças daquela gente toda!

E Iggy Pop é um grande senhor da música e  do espectáculo, de estilo marcadamente rock e com uma presença em palco quase sempre semi-nua.

Mas eu queria mesmo era chegar a esta foto, com ele Iggy Pop e Donatella Versace para dizer uma coisa: grandes dois dinossauros! Vá, apanha sol, apanha!

Ler também: Personas – Iggy Pop

reading festival sign

The BBC are warning us not to crowd surf at festivals this summer. They posted this news article on their website saying that crowd surfing can lead to major injuries, even death! Ok, I know that it can be dangerous but this article really is clutching at straws, their making it out to be a major health risk, even giving tips on how to stay safe while surfing. What made the article for me though is the woman at the end who recommends that instead of banning it there should be an area where they can crowd surf safely!!! It wouldn’t be the same as crowd surfing to your favorite bands but you could still imagine it could be a lot of fun at some festivals. I’m emailing rob da bank after i post this to have a crowd surfing area at this years bestival.

Inspired by this article I’ve created top 3 list of tracks to crowd surf to at this summers festivals!

3) Crystal Castles – Black Panther, either to escape the assault on your ear drums or to get near Alice Glass it will involve a lot of sweaty hands!

2) White Lies – Death, let the epicness(!) of their songs wash over you, lie still and let the crowd take you away

 1) Blur – song 2, in front of the pyramid stage at glastonbury on sunday night, crowd surfing couldn’t get much better than this

With the unpredictable British weather and high-ticket prices, it comes as no surprise that the Brits have caught onto the idea of coming to Spanish music festivals, or that Spanish promoters have started marketing directly to the UK. You can certainly see the attraction of a festival by the sea to British festival-goers who are still airing out their tent after last years Glastonbury. OK, so Primavera Sound or Sonar may not have the same charm or mythical status as Glasto and the food and toilets are no better, but you don’t get much mud on concrete and here you’re almost guaranteed good weather. This British invasion however, doesn’t necessarily sit well with the locals.

Jostling for position down the front for a festival last summer, I learnt a surprising fact. Catalans don’t jostle. At gigs, they find a spot and stay there. Should you endeavour to squeeze in front of them, they’ll look at you like a horrified six year old who’s just had his first bike nicked by the big kid at school. Time and again over that weekend, I realised that the only people pushing to the front were Brits. Each time they did, local fans threw their hands up in outrage and pulled a face like someone had just been sick on their shoes. We seemed…rude.

What was going on? As a Brit who’s lived here for four years, I know our reputation. I know it’s not good. We’re obnoxious, only English-speaking, drunken, badly-dressed, sunburnt egoists who go for dinner at 6pm; but we’re polite. Aren’t we? We say please. We say thank you. We leave decent tips in restaurants. And yet there we were, taking no prisoners in a bid to get down the front. Have I been out of the country for too long? Have all those collective years of alcopops abuse rotted our brains and destroyed one of our saving graces? We’re British. We make excellent music and television, we pay our taxes and we have impeccable manners. Don’t we?

But I got to thinking. Maybe it’s not a question of manners. Maybe it’s a question of expectations. I remember one of my first concerts. It was New Model Army at Rock City in Nottingham, a band whose fans include punks, goths and clog-wearing vegans. I was only 14 and naively thought how cool it was that my friend and me had snagged a place right at the front. Then the band came on. I nearly got clogged to death and my friend lost a shoe. Bucks Fizz at Skegness Embassy Centre when I was 8 had not prepared me for that. A year later at Milton Keynes Bowl, I got the festival experience in full Technicolor. The weight of responsibility my brother must have felt, charged with looking after his little sister, must have been huge. Down the front there were legs and arms everywhere, fights broke out, men pissed where they stood so as not to lose their hard-fought for spot, all of a sudden you’d get a foot in your face as yet another sweaty body crowd-surfed to the front and bottles flew (not all of them full of beer..). It was brutal. It was carnage. It was brilliant.

Going down the front at a gig is a rite of passage and there’s nothing quite like the first time. Queuing up for hours to be first in the venue. The smell of the crowd. The anticipation. The moment the band first steps out onto the stage. It’s magical. At a rock gig, if you’re down the front and you don’t get your teeth knocked out, drink knocked over or covered in beer and bodily fluids, it just isn’t a good show. It’s that simple.

Live music is big business in the UK. Gig-goers are generally experienced and know their place. If you’re a die-hard fan, hard, new to the game or very young, you’ll be down the front. If you’re a techie, you’ll be standing next to the sound-desk because you know that’s where the best sound will be. If you’re getting on a bit, only quite like the band or are wearing something you don’t want to get stained, you’ll be standing at the side. If you’re exceptionally tall you’ll be standing in front of me and if you’re just there because your mate bought you a ticket, you’ll be in the bar.

At the festival, those pushy Brits looked just as surprised to be challenged as their Catalan peers did to be pushed in front of. They wore expressions that said, ‘what’s your problem? This is a gig’. Maybe we are rude, but maybe, just maybe, we’re simply more rock and roll than they are. When a friend of mine saw The Horrors at Razzmatazz, she got knocked to the floor when the singer flung himself off the front of the stage. Brilliant! That’s what happens at gigs and we should love them for that. Rock and roll is supposed to be slightly dangerous. It’s not just about the music, it’s about the experience too. It’s about being part of the crowd. You shouldn’t expect to be able to lay out a picnic and have reserved seats.

So, I’m terribly sorry to ask, but if you don’t mind, I’ll see you next year down the front?

http://www.barcelonaconnect.com/Newsletter/ShowNewsletter.asp?yr=7&mt=6&page=20

GETTIN’ RAD & BRO-ING DOWN IN A TOWN NEAR YOU!

I’m a big fan of rock music, the heavier the better. I have a fairly massive music collection on my computer but nothing beats going to live shows. I dig the ridiculously loud speakers, the vibrations of the bass and drums, and I even like being pressed up against dozens of sweaty, raucous people.

- Dollface

Photo Credits

A couple of days ago, Portishead asked their fans through one of their MySpace blog posts how they should sell their next album. Interesting idea. I would say there are as much fans proposing the Radiohead/NIN model than there are fans demanding they release it the traditional way. Check it out here.

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Memphis’ International Airport got in part closed down on Tuesday because a bicycle with a sticker of a Florida folk punk band named ‘This bike is a pipe bomb‘ (check out their mysapce here, good stuff) got spotted near its Terminal C.
Words fail me on this one.

“After a security officer noticed the offending sticker, airport staff “had a K-9 bomb dog respond, [police] cleared the scene, and [they] indicated that it was not an explosive”. No kidding. And here’s the kicker: “the bike’s owner was brought into custody and was restricted access to the space around the two-wheeled vehicle”. Rumor has it he has been arrested and that the FBI is investigating.

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Here’s a big (enormous might I add) gift for all Elliot smith fans out there. Outtakes from From A Basement On The Hill were leaked last weak. The monstrously breathtaking masterpiece was apparently supposed to be a double album but dropped some tunes for reasons I have yet to discover. Word has it that some of the tracks were written in the early nineties, so before the release of Basement. You can download it here. (MTV news has more)

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‘The Priest‘ are a trio of actual practicing priests who sing together and all have heavenly voices. Nothing very outstanding there. Fathers Eugene O’Hagan and Martin O’Hagan, who are brothers, and David Delargy have been in the priesthood for some 20 years but they’ve been singing together since their early teens. Again, nothing extraordinary here.

Now for the out-of-the ordinary part.

In February of last year, a musician by the name of Liam Bradley sent off a mobile phone video performance of the trio to Sony BMG. The Major replied briefly after and in April sent the priests a record contract worth $2 million to be released by Christmas (one of the contract’s clauses was for the priests’ day jobs to have priority on their musical career). Their debut recording has been produced by Mike Hedges, whose previous work includes best selling albums by U2, The Cure and Dido. Their self-titled album released on November 18th and immediately hit the top of the lists in both European and American charts. It broke the world record for ‘ fastest selling UK debut for a classical act’. They declined the opportunity to do a major 3 million pound tour. A documentary called ‘The Three Priests Singing” (here is part 1. Just follow through up to part 6 to see it all. It’s very interesting) was instantly produced and relates the priests mass-media adventure during their album’s production process. It has aired publicly in December. Since then the trio has been performing live in the most illustrious cathedral accompanied by the most prestigious orchestras conducted by the most esteemed conductors.

Don’t really know what concluding sentence I could use here, so I’ll leave you to your thoughts on the matter.

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This ain’t really news but it’s still pretty damn awesome:

Bark

Ich meditiere soeben über die Vorstellung von beiderseitigem Anilingus mit der Sängerin von Silbermond Stefanie Kloß, sowie über die Frage, warum sie eigentlich keinen Faconschnitt hat. Bekannte u.a. kennen ja meine “These”, dass S.K. unter den weltweit im Rampenlicht stehenden weiblichen Gestalten, defintiv unter den ersten drei Plätzen rangiert. Und bisweilen komme ich nicht umhin, diesbezüglich gar Obesessionsvorwürfe zu vernehmen! Ich habe aber gelernt, mit derlei unreifen Anwürfen zu leben und mich in Würde zurückzuziehen, den PC anzuknippsen und in aller Ruhe nach Kloß’schen Fotographien zu recherchieren, auf die es sich entspannt und würdevoll einen runterzuholen lohnt. Das fällt leicht. ’s ist hingegen schwer, ein Foto der Frau zu finden, welches dem wahrhaft Sehenden nicht zur erektilen Inspiration gereichen würde. Es muß wohl Bautzener Voodoo sein oder sonstwas, die Kloß lockt mich in nahezu jeder Ablichtungssituation. Zwar bin ich ein dirty ol’ Mitdreißiger, aber ich habe durchaus ein wenig Stil und Geschmackstalent genug für wenigstens 18 weltweit aufgehende Kuratorenstars. Inzwischen jedenfalls, bin ich tatsächlich sogar so weit, daß ich überlege, in der nächsten Zeit einmal ein Konzert der Combo zu besuchen und mich bühnennah zu positionieren. Eventuell wird sich Frau Kloß ja auch dann zum Crowd surfing entschliessen und just an meiner Position ihren Gürtel versagend wissen, woraufhin ihre Hose den Popo freigibt….oder es werden zumindest ihre Sneaker abfallen, womit mir ein genauer Blick auf ihre schwarzbesockten Füsschen, verschwitzt und überaus eng anliegend (YEA!), kaum zu entgehen vermag.

Ich gehe nun aber besser einmal schlafen, habe ich morgen/heute doch so manch weltliches Problem zu lösen. Gute Nacht.

I guess they don’t call it a “mosh pit” for nothing…

…as I found out on Monday night.

My Massachusetts lads were back in town again. Now if you don’t know who my lads are, we’re talking Staind, who have become somewhat of a grand musical passion of mine. Seether was opening for them, and I happen to like them too, although not with the same fervour which I reserve for Aaron and the boys.

Luckily, my mate “Alexi” is mad enough to queue up at gigs hours in advance in order to secure a good spot at stagefront. When I arrived at The Forum in Kentish Town at half past 6, I heard my name being called out – and there they all were, my mates from the Staind Hard Rock charity gig last September, including Steve the Headbanging Glaswegian, who’d given me that drumstick Aaron Lewis signed for me.

The heavy steel barrier was swung open for royalty to step through (that royalty being me of course!). And there in the freezing London night, we stood waiting for the venue’s doors to open, having a gay old time snapping pics and engaging in lighthearted banter. I even found a fellow Hungarian in the queue whose smile, when he found out my surname (and knowing its meaning), grew ever bigger. Not sure if anything else grew bigger – that would be a topic for another blog post!

Once inside, I managed to secure a place at the stage right in front of the barrier and right in front of the mike stand reserved for the lead singer – no one save for the security guys and the professional photographers could get any closer. This was going to be great. Or was it? To be honest, I nearly didn’t go to the gig at all, then pretty much decided to on my flight back to Blighty the other day. Having seen Staind back in September, I had misgivings about how I’d react and yes, I’ll admit that when they performed “Believe” I lost it and cried. The song has particular meaning to me, and when it was first released I really DID believe.

Still, it was worth it. I mean hey, when a bloke in the audience shouts out “I love you, Aaron!” you just gotta know these guys are good. Talking about love, I was certain I felt the little Scottish lad behind me pushing his erection into my bum (no it wasn’t Steve!). I figured he was just caught up in the excitement of the gig and the mosh pit (and having my fine self right there in front of him). I didn’t want to make a fuss, as he did seem like such a sweet lad, but enough was enough. It was then when I realised it was probably the box from my earplugs, which I’d stuck in my back jeans pocket. Guess that accounted for the wee laddie’s rather unimpressive… umm… stature?

When Seether first came out, I thought the mosh pit would be a breeze. Yes, I’d been warned by my mate who’d gone the night before that the Birmingham crowd had been a bit wild, but these spoiled Londoners shouldn’t be too bad. I felt confident I could stick it out – and stick it out reasonably unscathed. More fool me! Everything was fine until Seether launched into what lead singer and hair-dye afficionado Shaun Morgan referred to as “a love song.” Well, guess what that love song was? “Fuck Me Like You Hate Me.” This sentimental little ditty set off a near riot, and I had images of myself at A&E with broken ribs and a punctured lung. Talk about Dying For It (Amazon US/UK/Ca)…

This hysteria continued off and on, and I began to hope Seether would finish their set and go back to South Africa on the first flight out. Having been to two Staind gigs already, I thought conditions would improve. I should have known – the lads always get into some of their heavier songs at live gigs (I’m dying to see Aaron do an acoustic show). The moshing began in earnest and, despite signs at The Forum warning that crowd surfers would be ejected, so did the crowd surfing. At one point I had to duck down so low I was nearly on the floor as the very same lad once again sailed over our heads, with the crowd control guy dragging him out of our way. I’m not sure who I wanted to get away from more – the surfer or the crotch of the crowd control geezer, which was right in my face. I can only imagine what this scenario looked like to those who couldn’t tell what was happening.

Of course there’s no greater climax to a good evening out then the commute home. As usual, I’d checked the National Rail website in advance to make sure I wouldn’t be stranded. The only glitch in the system from what I could see was that I’d have to change overground trains at Stratford. I left Kentish Town dying of hunger and in plenty of time to get home, only to arrive at Liverpool Street station to find it virtually empty of people, and no sign of anyone working there except for some bin men who were ready to go home. According to the electronic board, a train was about to depart within minutes to Stratford, but it didn’t say which platform. I ran up and down, seeing no such train. I realised I’d better get out of there and quick, so I raced back to the tube (where I’d just come from) and jumped on the Central Line to Stratford.

Fortunately, there was a train scheduled for when I arrived, but not only was it to be on the wrong platform, but I’d have to stand in the cold for another 30 minutes for it to turn up. I made friends with an irate journalist from the Times, who blamed all these transportation cock-ups on the London Olympics. (All I can say is that I’d better emigrate the hell back out of here before 2012!) We killed time by chatting on the journey home as our train kept stopping for no discernible reason outside nearly every station, with us sitting and sitting as the hour grew later and later. (I’d like someone to please explain to me how I could leave Kentish Town just after 11pm and not get home till half past one. This journey shouldn’t have taken too much more than an hour.) As I despaired of ever seeing my bear again, I heard the sound of angels. Some passengers seated nearby were listening on their camera to the exact same music I’d heard earlier – we’d all come from the same gig!

Anyway, at least I got to hear about the journalist’s night out in the West End, which consisted of seeing an updated version of Romeo and Juliet which, unbeknownst to her and several other members of the audience, was a hiphop hodgepodge of the old version. According to my new buddy, the original cast had walked out due to the musical’s financial woes, leaving the new cast to read from scripts. Apparently most of the audience had walked out too, save for three old ladies, one of whom finally hobbled out of the theatre on one crutch.

And people wonder why I’d rather go to a gig than go to the theatre.

(see the rest of the photos on Flickr: http://flickr.com/photos/mitziszereto/sets/72157613019561795/)

Staind video I shot: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=IFvg69cAlWI

Seether video I shot: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=oHTZNNDrIn4