Last Saturday the BLACKDIAMONDSKYE tour made it's appearance at Sandstone. Apparently not many cared because only 4,000 or so bothered showing up. A lot was going on around Bonner Springs that day: the concert, NASCAR races
and I was surprised to find out the Renaissance Festival takes place out there.
Another thing, what the hell is The Legends? I'd like to go back to that place in the dead of winter.
They had some fancy pants biker's restaurant with American Choppers propaganda plastered everywhere. Made me think of the radio interview I heard on the Rock, not too long ago, talking to the Sr. about the break-up between him and his son. Seemed kinda serious but everyone(the family/producers) was on board to give them a chance with a spin-off show Sr. vs. Jr.
WTF....I used to dig the shit out of the show when it was on Discovery but once they moved to TLC I stopped watching entirely.
Speaking of my disheartening feelings on television shows I heard some old ass(2009) interview with ex-TAPS member Donna spilling the beans on some trickery that went on during the filming of Ghost Hunters. To be honest the EVPs on the new Ghost Adventures episodes have been getting too fucking clear. I'm at the point where I almost don't want to watch these programs anymore and stick to reading books.
Funny thing too is the other day I watched Quiz Show on Hulu.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/178898/quiz-show
Damn, Charles Van Doren was good-looking.
At the very end the message was clear from the INDUSTRY: Hey, who cares if we lie and cheat behind the scenes, THIS IS ENTERTAINMENT, WERE YOU ENTERTAINED?! YEAH, WELL LEAVE US THE FUCK ALONE THEN!!
Major snore-fest. Sorry, love technique but it just went on far too long. The video the were using for their backdrop just reminded me too much of the Renaissance Fest and couldn't help being amused by that.
DEFTONES
Watch Chino dodge a shoe to the face like a ninja.
Shit was insane! Great songs and tons of energy from a much healthier looking Chino.
Friday was pretty busy. Had to stop at work to handle some issue that had risen during my absence. Found out some co-workers and friends had taken ill. Not good. Went to the bank, washed some undies and whatnot. Uh, I think that's it.
Being Friday, the place wasn't banging. Well, it never really is. Saw this guy and his wife that was sitting in front of us in the lobby move, to get away from my line of sight, and drop his keys. He didn't notice. I immediately picked them up and returned his keys to him. What a fucking nightmare it would be to lose your keys at the airport, especially if you were returning home.
The flight was pretty entertaining. We were in the back with this group of about eight dudes on their way to some bachelor party getaway. When we landed, the groom was suppose to crawl all the way to the front in order to get his "wings". I didn't stay around for that. The stewardess's were even getting on the intercom announcing all this shit and just having a blast with them. Out of all the airlines I've flown on, Southwest seems to the most laid back.
Now this airport was banging. Wish I got in touch with A. before I left so I could have gone to the Starbucks she worked at and if someone there gave her shit, give them shit or a thumbs up. Fuck coffee.
So we stopped traffic and got in Alicia's caddy and made our way to Parker. Every time I visit, the town seems to be getting bigger. Buffalo Meat on the Street
She's moved since the last time I've seen her. Haha, when I would talk to her on the phone I would laugh at her because she always sounded like she was dying walking to her apartment from the parking lot. Oh man, my out of shape ass about passed out huffing and puffing my way to her third floor. Sorry Alicia, I now understand. ;-)
Meet up with the man of the house, Big Matt, then headed out to a late dinner.
Wow. I don't think I've been here since I was 16. Very surreal when the waiters would jump on tables then start dancing and singing. Alicia said I should tell them it was birthday. Fuck that, I had had enough.
Had a bunch of samples and one humongous funnel cake. I was a mess.
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We dropped Matt off and made our way downtown. The Taste was messing up the traffic flow, luckily Cha knew the route ;-)
Found a comfy spot to park and made our way to the will call line. Ho smoke. It was a big turn out. Got our tickets and gave Cha and Mark the VIP passes. I wanted to share the experience.
Crazy, they were taking the VIP's in right when I got the passes. Close. Made my way to the end of the line.
Ah man, I'm waaaay back....wait!? Is that a Blockbuster? lol.
I think I ended up in front of the chick who drove all the way from Canada. The internet is unforgiving. I KNOW THINGS I SHOULDN'T
Do you remember the first thing you looked for when you got internet access??
I know it's all getting away and it comes to me as no surprise
I know what's coming to me is never going to arrive
Fresh blood through tired skin New sweat to drown me in
Dress up this rotten carcass just to make it look alive
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VIP
Eh, heard it was good(the same).
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Finally made it inside and found my way to the rail.....balcony rail!!
I had a secure spot with Alicia and Mark had himself a comfy spot in front of Die's rig. Cha got us water. Only $2!! HOB, with their $4 water. Wankers!
Sitting down on a barstool felt extremely weird and lame.
Evaline
I had been hyping up Evaline to both Mark and Alicia the whole time. "Oh they'll blow you mind with their energy." Don't think I ever found out what they thought of them. Well, I think Alicia was sick of the catcalls the drummer got after he took off his shirt. I'll admit, that was a nice looking chest and stomach.
Pretty much the same. Short and sweet.
Dir en grey
I had to get my ass off that stool. It was very difficult for me to concentrate on the onslaught that was going on onstage at first. Crowd was very distracting but in a good way. Finally got to spy on the shit happening in the back of the crowd. Some good shit.
Started off with Hageshisa to...
I thought, yeah this shit's going in a slightly different direction tonight.
A little later we got ROTTING ROOT. O_o
and closed that shit with Saku. Eat your heart out, city that got INCONVENIENT IDEAL.
lol....so anyways, Die seemed to be having some trouble that night. Really don't think they'll be using that roadie ever again.
THE GOODS
|ROTTING ROOT| GROWL!
|WATCHING THE SLAMMING| GODLIKE
|DIE WATER SLASH| AGAIN, QUENCHING
|STARING AT SHINYA WORK HIS SKILLS| A FIRST
|FINALLY TAKING ALICIA TO A DIR EN GREY CONCERT| Priceless and cheesy ;)
Soon as I took this photo it hit me, my ride was over.
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Apocalyptica
How does my sister know some of these songs. I'm out of the mainstream. The show was better then I remembered in Chicago. Stayed upstairs for about half, then made my way to buy some merch. Met up with Mark who said he had to get away from Paavo for some strange reason. He had managed to catch a Die pick.
At the booth some Mexican dude who was a little wasted was trying to speak Spanish to me. Que vas? That's all your getting out of me. Anyways headed back to the crowd. Man, shit's electric watching people enjoy a show. Loved it.
The drive up to Chicago was simple to accomplish in those midnight hours. We stop at the same rest stop I had done so on a previous trip to catch some Zzzzzz's. Arrived at the hotel uh, around 5:00AM. Had to drive by the venue first and I saw those familiar cocoons of people huddled in their sleeping bags and blankets. :-)
The real cool thing about this Best Western was they didn't charge for parking. BIG selling point. I think I saw one hotel when I was trying to find one to stay at asked for $55. What gives people? Anyways I was ready to pay for another night because I wanted the feel of a bed but the clerk said if I waited till 7, I wouldn't be charged. Cool, came back at 7 but the room wasn't ready. I got to know that car real well that day. Finally at 9 i was able to check in.
Snowed like a bitch that day. Like to look back at my old xanga entries once in a while. Good times...
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Ok, got to the HOB and gathered my gear and was told for the second day in a row the wrong place to stand. Ha, confusion. Kinda surreal because there was rehearsal going on. Back in 07 when the band was rehearsing The Final everyone was singing along and the head security guy came out and told us the band needed everyone to shut up or they couldn't do the show. That same security guy was still there. He was much nicer this time around. :P
Hid my wallet chain in case I wasn't allowed to have one on. Chains hurt, fists don't. Stood patiently until it was time to head back.
VIP
When I got my VIP garb in St. Louis, Nora said to me, "Hey, I know you.". Like an idiot I tensed up and said, "Yes, I like to follow you." Christ! So that night she said, "Ah, it's you. Here you go again." Think I said something like, "Sorry" as a response. She seems to really have a good time with the crowds. Very upbeat and on top of her shit. Credit given.
Right, so we did the back and forth and got pictures. Once again Kyo was sincere with his handshake. Maybe it's because he wasn't wearing sunglasses like everyone else and I could make the eye connection.
Apocalyptica was still going on for quite sometime after DEG finished theirs. They were taking some pretty radical pictures with the fans. :-)
Evaline
During the drive up I listened to their CD's Orlando bought at the St. Louis show. Man it sounded so weak but that shit live was so much better. Some music is just like that. They were something to watch. Richard jumped down multiple times that night. Early one when he got in my face, I had my elbows on the rail and my arm was at his ass and I sorta grabbed it. That was the end of him stopping by my side.
One thing I found hilarious was during the set, vendors would walk by offering $10 beer or $4 water. GET OUT OF MY WAY! THIS AINT NO FUCKING BASEBALL GAME!!
House of Blues is so corporate. I also liked the PSA on crowd surfing.
Dir en grey
Come on now. Shit was beautiful. Sound was on par. Everything was just fucking correct this time around. They cut an Inward Scream and switched Obscure and 'Hageshsa to,' around. Other than that it was the same, shit just seemed heavier.
|Kyo in front of riser| WTF?! :D
|Kyo's mini bunny hop| HEHE
|Security's stretch yawn| LOL
Man, this was an amazing show. Band and crowd was just fucking giving it!
Ok, yeah, I did leave the venue after DEG in St. Louis. So yeah, I fucked up because oh my Jesus, is Apocalyptica something to experience. I was honestly moved by the performance. The singer just had that good ass rock n roll voice. Very loud and clear. I wish I didn't have to catch my flight to Denver that Friday or I would have drove to Omaha to see a full set. No bullshit.
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After the show we went to the huge McDonald's with an escalator. It was off when we got there. Little bummed by that. McFlurry time!!
Nothing beats the after concert feeling. Sore as hell, ears ringing, voice is jacked, weather doesn't effect you. Kinda want to cry. God bless concerts.
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The drive back went by quick. Listened to a ton of Howard Stern.
I've been wanting to pop this review(one-liners) shit off since Friday. What happened? Think under my yearbook picture I was labeled 'The Procrastinator'. Eh....whatever.
Deja Vu
Another round of American dates for Dir en grey finishes tonight. Hope A. has a good time ;)
Everything was almost put on super delay because when I went to Budget to get the car my limited credit card was declined because there was some hidden(or I didn't bother to realize) deposit of a $100 extra dollars that went over my available credit and I couldn't use my debit card because "since you live nearby, you must provide two bills in your name at the address the card was issued to" Huh?! So I had to drop my insurance I had on the rental(I had never before purchased insurance, even on my crazy 08 trip) and no fucking lie, came within $1 of my available credit on my credit card. I need to drop this baby ass credit card and get some real fucking credit. Need some real debt!!
Here's the G -Ride I was issued to fly down I-70 to The Pageant. I think we left around 5-6ish in the morning. Sun was still down when we departed.
Decided to walk down Delmar Blvd. The not so pretty half of Delmar Blvd. to Family Dollar for an activity book to pass the time. "WELCOME TO FAMILY DOLLAR. YOU ARE BEING RECORDED FOR YOUR PROTECTION. ENJOY YOUR SHOPPING EXPERIENCE!!" Did only three sudoku puzzles the entire time.
Killer Vintage. I think this place was a record store the last time I was here. Remember they had this GG Allin poster hanging on the wall I was all excited about. Anyways I went in to see if they had any Mesa/Boogie amps. Mine needs some repairs and thought about buying another. This place's prices were ridiculously high. Opted for this fucking awesome shirt instead.
Later that day, while waiting in line, some chick was jumping up and down saying she ran into Toshiya and got a picture with him at Killer Vintage. Yay?
The Pageant has a juice bar for the underage clientele to get in slightly earlier than the posted DOORS OPEN@TIME. Had a horrific strawberry-banana smoothie. Felt bad because it seemed to take some time for the gal to whip it up. Anyways, got to scope out my attack on the merchandise.
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There's something awesome about not having to subject myself to everyone's fucking delight while waiting in line. These adults(?) are always so HAPPY/CHILDLIKE it makes me miserable.
VIP
Just like I'd imagined. Awkward. Gave me chills when people would hand the band items.
Very grateful, it just was a little weird meeting them pre-show: Pre-sweat, pre-adrenaline.
Kyo's little handshake seemed so sincere though. Damn, it did.
Evaline
Ok, this shit was unexpected. I thought it was pretty damn good. Sue me!
Dir en grey
Setlist had been pretty much set in stone like the 10 Commandments at previous gigs so I wasn't expecting anything fancy. One thing I hate about the Pageant is the height of their stage. Good Christ, I thought Richard from Evaline would break his neck when jumping from he stage. Dir's sound was fucking lame for the first half of their set. Who was controlling that shit? They got their shit in gear towards the end. Crowd seemed asleep much of the time. Though something did happen near the finish line. I actually started to get pushed. HARD! YES! Seconds before, I thought I was alone in the front. When I see videos of the show now, it seemed pretty good. At the time though, it appeared kinda half ass'd ;(
Over the weekend I was mistaken for some tubby zombie with a craving for brains and/or Shatto chocolate ice cream(..mmm, oh...uh sorry) and was attacked by someone wielding a box cutter. BLOOD BLOOD BLOOD. The culprit felt bad and started scissoring himself. I aint talking about some Mr. Garrison shit either.
By the end of the night I felt like an extra in the uncensored SIN video. Got kinda gay.
...WELL THEN JUST GIVE ME A TASTE.
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PepsiCo is at it again, releasing their Pepsi/Dew/Dr.Pep Throwback/Heritage to the masses.
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