-TwentyOneRest, Londons Falling, Saving Madison, Paloma-
I spent the last week in Palm Springs, and I was supposed to come home on the 9th. Well, luckily I came home a day early on Thursday the 8th, so I didn't have to stress about that. Erin and I were going to go see XXX today, but we didn't. So sad. Either way, she ended up at my house around three in the afternoon. I had just come out of the shower, and she decided that I had to eat something before I was allowed to have my Red Bull, considering last time I didn't sleep for a week after the show. That was kinda funny, if you don't mind being freezing cold and shaking as an after affect of four Red Bull on an empty stomach in the course of an hour. It's like cheap drugs..
Anyway. So, Erin and I went to Carls Jr. and got some food. Then, we headed over to Stephen from Psychology's house and picked him up. There was this cat in a window as I was walking up to his house, so as opposed to singing the song "How much is that doggy in the window", I altered the lyrics, and it became "How much is that pussy in the window".. His neighbors didn't really like that. Oops.
After we got Stephen we got coffee and headed to Jill's house to get her, but ended up back at my house so we could get my Tenacious D CD and "Something Productive" the Green Day Mix that Media Steve and myself cut. Then, we had to go to In-N-Out so Erin could get her glasses which she lost a few days prior. The whole time all of this was happening we were listening to this CD that Erin burned of all of the good stuff we ever listen to on the way to TwentyOneRest shows. It was great.
Wow, that's a lot of aimless running around. Oh well. So, we finally get on the freeway, and there's traffic. Nothing new. I don't even remember the trip down there. I was drinking my third Red Bull at one point, and Stephen decided he wanted some, and then started pouring it out the window.. That was harsh. I thought I was going to cry. No, not really. It was just harsh. Ohh, Stephen from Psychology says "There's a beast..." I forgot the rest, but when I get it from him, I'll put it up. And, Erin says that she doesn't want to fuck Sean anymore. She says that she still would if the opportunity arose, but she doesn't desire it anymore due to this whole thing with a bug being in his dreads.. I'll explain a little later.
So, yea. We made it down the freeway, and finally get to Mira Mesa Blvd. As we were driving we waved in the direction of where Nick works and 'Hi', then went down the street a little more and parked at the Epicentre. No one was there, duh. No one is ever there when we get there. It was around 6:30, and Forever February was setting up their stuff, and Kevin White from London's Falling was there putting some stuff inside and what not. As he was heading away to go get something to eat, I gave him some comics that Lori had for him concerning his old band Static Cling.. So, they were a little late in getting to him, but hey.. It's better late than never, yes? Of course.
Kevin left, and Erin, Stephen, Jill and myself decided to walk down the street randomly and see what "Mira Mesa had to offer" as I think Stephen put it. We ended up in Target. And, that was.. interesting. Oh wait! Before that we bought tickets. Erin stood in line waiting for the ticket box window to open, and there was this guy in line in front of her, but it was ok because he was buying tickets to see 21Rest as well, so all was good. His name was.. Uhh.. Daniel? No? Yes? I think it was.. Whatever. He saw Rest at Cane's for the first time, the June 25th show, and fell in love with them. Yay. So, he's been promoting the band and what not, so that's awesome. He's a good person.
Anyway, so we were in Target, right? Well, we found my unicorn's.. Long story. You see, they have these cool hooves and there are four different ones. So, if you hold them in front of you and run, their hooves bounce up and down.. It's just cute. You'd have to see it. And, there were these small little stuffed babies and animals and what not, right.. Well, I started throwing them at Erin, and it ended up to be this combat across like ten aisles. I was running with an entire box of these little stuffed things, chucking them at her, and all of the other people in the store were like 'wtf?'. It was hilarious. Erin almost ate shit running around this one corner away from me. It was funny.
We left, obviously, and went to Frudrucker's.. For water.. And, Jill got one of those GIANT sundae's. Erin, Stephen and Jill ate that. Then, we were leaving, and Jill and I went to bathroom, and there was this girl in there puking all over herself.. That wasn't pretty. We left, and went back to the Epicentre. I saw Weston's car.. It still needs to be washed.. So, so sad.. So, I knew that he was at least there. We headed inside, and Paloma was still on. They weren't half-bad. They had a Dashboard Confessional sound to many of their songs, but they weren't bad. They did a few covers, and those were alright. I think I'll have to see them again to truly decide if their good or not.
Nick showed up. He looks good. Beside the fact that he's hott, he looked good. I'm happy for him. Damnit.. I didn't notice what color his shoes were. He was in a black wife-beater, and like grey pants or something.. But, I didn't notice the shoes. I hope that they weren't white.. Rrr. Long story. Anyway, and Erin and Stephen were outside smoking.. Erin needs to quit, and Stephen.. Whatever. He's lost in a bubble. LoL. Yea, so Erin and I were sitting on the floor watching Paloma after that, and she was staring at Nick, and mocking him as he was talking to.. I don't know who he was talking to. Paloma went off, I talked to Ally and Marissa about what they wanted for Christmas, and they didn't know. Girls need to think of something, everybody has to want something. Hehe.
Londons Falling went on. Erin and Jill stayed for a few songs, then wandered off. Stephen and Erin probably went outside to smoke.. Again. And, Jill was talking to Brittany and Lauren, so I sat on the floor and watched Londons Falling by myself. They were good. Truly a punk band band, but they were good. That whole jumping around on stage, and getting really into the music, that was what it was all about. Four guys from Ramona of course, in a band, and it was relly quite nice. Not as great as TwentyOneRest of course, but no one is. But, they were good. I bought their CD, and god the old one. I'm listening to it right now, actually. It's really good. Kevin has a unique sound to him. I understand now why Aaron liked his vocals. It's nice. That sounds lame, but it really is nice. Check them out on their site at www.LondonsFalling.cjb.net. They'll apprciate it.
Londons Falling went off, and Jill, Erin, Stephen, Brittany and Lauren all came back. We applauded and chatted while Rest set up. I went over to ask Nick to see his new tatoo, but he wouldn't show it to me because it was "too dark" to see it and since "it's black", I guess that meant I couldn't see it. Fair enough. I asked him what his middle name was, and he said, "I don't have a middle name." He has to be difficult. Fine, fine. I'm simple like that.. But, I will find out. LoL. TwentyOneRest finally set up, and so, we all positioned ourselves at the front of the stage. There were a lot of people there, surprisingly. The band wasn't prepared for that. They weren't expecting a lot of people to stick around, or even show up, to see them, so they weren't really prepared. The whole show kinda went like a derranged band practice of sorts. It was good, but not great, mostly funny, but terribly unprofessional.
Guys if you want to make it as a huge band, you have to play every show like it's your last. Play every show like there's an agent. You never know, one of these shows with only three people in the audience, might be the one to get you signed, and you'll have played a frumpy set.. Just a little heart-felt advice. I love you all to death, but sometimes I worry about if you're really serious about making it. I'm sorry that Aaron was ill, but.. Well, try to keep that professional edge all of the time. And, no I'm not blaming any single one of you, it's a group effort. The band isn't a one man show, obviously. Take care. :)
They opened with a new song.. The title was 'We All Want'. It was pretty. It kinda reminded me of the style of 'Burn Purple', which they did end up playing later. Maybe all of then new stuff is heading in a general direction. The 20/20 CD had a certain sound to it, as well as the tracks that were on the split CD. They followed up with 'Lightshow', which I particularly enjoy. It's got a unique sound to it. More emo. It's really nice though. After that they fell into 'Know Me', and all of the girls started swooning. That was guranteed. It was so great though! Weston and Aaron were beautifully harmonizing. It was great. I was happy. Yay. 'Puddles' was up after that, and some girl behind me was like "I love this song, it reminds me of my boyfriend".. That kinda worried me, but it's ok. Aaron was working his guitar during the song, and the Epicentre turned off the white lights, so there was this unique color cast across the stage. It was cool.
Weston decided that they were going to take some requests. So, he was asking the audience what they wanted to hear, except for 'First Summer'. Mostly, people were yelling 'Moon-Calf Friend', 'She Said', and 'Shutting Down'. Weston couldn't hear anyone and was mocking the sound of everyone yelling, so people slowed down in their yelling. Aaron was like, "What do you want to hear", and then he'd play some loud guitar chords so he couldn't hear anyone, and then he asked "Wait, what did you want to hear", and did it all again. It was funny. They followed that up with 'Eating Tinfoil'. God I love that song. Aaron was totally working the mic as well. Yay for Aaron. "Stop living your life for someone else".. Yea. That line almost hurts to hear. No, it does hurt to hear. Doesn't matter though, the song is beautiful. Truly beautiful.
So, they did take requests after that, and admitted that they weren't really prepared tonight, so it's alright. Aaron was sick, so I'm cutting them some slack, but the show was kinda sketchy. They weren't prepared. They held it together on stage, but they weren't really all there. Aaron was sick, as I said, and you could see it in him, but he fought it off and played the night away. Weston was, well, I dunno. Weston is Weston. Sean was out of it. I don't know why. Stoned, tired, wasted, not all collected today, I don't know. But, he wasn't there. He was kinda off in Sean-land. It's okay though because he took off his bandana after 'Lightshow', so you got the whole floppy dreads thing going on. It was cool. And, Brant.. Gotta love Brant. He was his typical self. Arms flailing, playing for life of him. The drums always sound good with him. It's a Brant thing.
Where was I? Ahh yes, taking requests. They played 'She Said', and Aaron didn't forget his lyrics. Yay. But, he did drop his guitar pick in the middle of the song and have to pick it up and come back into the song.. It was bad.. But, Weston, Sean and Brant kept on playing.. So, yay for them. I'm forgiving Aaron though.. He held it together. Erin, Jill and myself were all doing our little hand motions to the chorus of the song.. It was funny. We were laughing. Let's see though, that went into 'Moon-Calf Friend'. Surprisingly enough, though Aaron was sick, and they were totally unprepared, the song went well. It's possibly the hardest song they've got to play live because of the notes Aaron has to hit, but they hit it. It was as on as in 'Know Me' and hitting that pause, they did it. It was great. I don't want to accuse anyone, but I think Weston slipped on some parts on the guitar. It wasn't that you could hear it really, it was more watching him, something didn't seem right in his playing. I dunno. Maybe I'm wrong.
They went into 'Burn Purple', one of the newer unrecorded songs. It was beautiful. "Put your mind at ease".. Yea. That line almost hurts to hear as well. Erin was standing behind me and she kept on poking me in the back every time Aaron sang that line, insinuating that I should listen to Aaron's lyrics. I know. I should. I can't. Long story. But, anyway. 'Burn Purple' was beautiful. It's pretty enough as is, but it was good. It was better at the Scene show, but nonetheless it was still good. Aaron was fighting off pain through most of it, you could see it in him. Sad, but it still turned out well. After that they went into 'Sorry', that song is sad. It's not sad as in it's just a pathetic display of lyrics and music, it's sad in the way that it can make you want to cry because of how good it is. Lyrics and music. It's great. Yes, it gets to me, too. But, it didn't until tonight. Erin was pointing out random lyrics to me.. Yea. I've got a mess of stuff in my head. LoL. It's okay though. The band makes it all okay because their good. If they weren't good, I wouldn't be here. And, that's the truth if there ever was any doubt.
After that, the Epicentre turned the lights on and that was the 'the bands over so leave' move.. LoL. Weston was like can we play another song, and then the lights went on, and he was like "Oh no, lights are a bad sign". He started to yell something about the lights, but the Epicentre shut off the power to the stage, so they had no mics or guitars anymore, so you couldn't really understand what he was yelling about. They started packing up their stuff, and I said my good-bye to Brittany and Lauren. I went off and got Nick to show he his tatoo. It's sick, as in good, but creepy.. It's a little wierd. And, not to be rude, but I don't think it's dark enough. It's like it's cheap black or something. Maybe it was just me.. But, that's what I saw. But, it does look cool. Don't get me wrong. It fits him, perfectly, because he's Nick. If he were Drew or Lonnie it wouldn't work. But, since it's Nick, it works. So.. Yea.
We left after that. Erin, Jill, Brittany and Lauren all went outisde, and I stayed in for a while to say 'bye' to everyone else. I saw Weston, and things are good. That's all that needs to be said. Brant and I agreed that the show wasn't terribly super, but it was good, just not anything special. Well, I still think it's special because it's them, but you know what I mean. Aaron's sick, physically not mentally, so our 'bye' was brief. I told Sean that Lori said 'hi' and he says 'hi' back to Lori. It's funny, he thought she didn't like him because she was fighting him back when RxDrama played at my house on May 19th, but I explained it to him. And, he was sad that she never comes to their shows, but there's nothing I can do. The waterpolo coach from UCSD was coming to watch her play tonight, so I couldn't do anything. She needs that.
After that, I said my 'goodbye' to Ally and Marissa. They're so sweet. Then, went outside, said 'bye' to Weston again, and was telling him about this guy that has the same car as him but with the Japanese imported front. Then, Weston and his asshole-like self, went all into how I shouldn't drive it because once you drive an Acura Type-R, you never want to let go, bla bla bla.. Creep. He knows how much I love Acura's, and he does it just to pester me. Rrr, but then we left and I went home to write this. It's officially 4:23AM, and I'm cold, and tired, and totally bruised from Alex, but that has nothing to do with the show. Tata.