All Time Low at Towson Center Arena 7/11/09

Who: All Time Low w/ We the Kings, Cartel, and Days Difference

Where: Towson Center Arena at Towson University

When: July 11, 2009

This show was so much fun. Sold out, 4 sick bands, over 3,000 people, tons of shitty crowd-surfers, it doesn't really get much better than that. In the afternoon, I tried to see All Time Low at my mall, but I found out that you needed some wristband or some bullshit to get in from Hot Topic, so I didn't get to. I got a couple photos from inside the store, though, even with Mr. Dick Mall Cop over there. Apparently I was blocking the whole walkway. I mean, I know I'm big, but Jesus. Anyways, that kind of sucked because I looked liked a total goon without a wristband around hundreds of under-age girls screaming to get in All Time Low's pants. Back to the show.

There were 2 lines (one on the side entrance and one in the front entrance), surrounded by thousands of people, mostly 15-year-girls. I got to the front entrance and immediately scalped 2 tickets to the show with my friend Donnie even though it was sold out. We waited for about 30 minutes until they opened up 2 separate lines which I really thought was funny: the Ladies' line and the Men's line. I didn't really understand that, but since the line mostly consisted of "ladies" I got in the arena pretty quick. I got a great spot, meeting some of my friends without even having to call them to meet up. They said the show was sold out, yet it seemed like all of the people that I knew were coming anyways I saw during the show. Days Difference that I had never heard of before came out first, and were alright and a respectable band in general, but I wasn't that in to the music. Cartel was great, they weren't as energetic as I saw them at Bamboozle a few months ago, but put on a good show. I wish they had played "Runaway" and "Lose It" though. We the Kings was crazy. When they played their cover of "The Middle" by Jimmy Eat World, claiming there should be 134 crowd-surfers out there during the song. Let's just say if Warped Tour saw this, they would be sad. No one knew how to crowd-surf, and the crowd didn't hold them up. I saw at least 10 girls get dropped, including a girl who flipped a shit when she found that someone had dropped her. I guess they were all too young or something. But anyways, We the Kings played all of their songs they played at Bamboozle from their debut album from 2007. I'm getting kind of sick of it, personally.

Then All Time Low came out with a computer-talking intro by some guy named "Fred." Rian Dawson's SJC drum set lit up brightly as it got pitch black. The crowd roared. When the first song, "Lost in Stereo" starting playing, it felt like the floor was gonna collapse below and kill us. There was so much shock to it because it was for basketball players. All Time Low was hysterical as ever with their shitty jokes, comments about shit thrown on stage, and their conversations with their parents above them in the bleachers. They played a great show, I really enjoyed it. I could tell they didn't have a lot of practice playing their new songs from their new album yet, but it was still fun. In general, I don't think All Time Low is the best live band I've ever seen, but definetly one of the most fun and energetic. I can reccomend their new album, Nothing Personal, to anyone out there who enjoys pop-punk music.

Taking Back Sunday at Sonar 6/21/09

So after almost a whole year without updating my blog, I've decided to dedicate it to all of the shows that I go to from now on. Considering it's the summertime right now and I don't have school, I will be going to a lot more shows during my free time and will be able to update my blog more frequently.

So, to start off my new blog about shows, I'll tell you guys about when I saw a band that I have been listening to since 4th grade and that has influenced me a lot.

Who: Taking Back Sunday w/ Anberlin and Envy on the Coast

Where: Sonar

When: June 21, 2009

This was my first show of the summer. This was also one of the (many) shows that I didn't tickets for, sold out, and gave me a very hard time to get them at the door. Plus, you just look like a dick asking people that you don't know for discounts on sold out tickets. I did get lucky though, when some idiot (mother in her mid-40s only going to the show to supervise her kids) sold me a ticket for $20, even though the show was sold out and the original ticket price was $25 (not including Ticketmaster's $10 service charge). Once I got my ticket, I asked the doorman what band was on, and he said "Anberlin" so I flipped out and ran inside, while I found out 10 seconds later that Envy on the Coast hadn't even finished yet. They were on their last song that was their first single though that I liked, called "Sugar Skulls" from their debut album. And it's not that I think Envy on the Coast is a bad band, it's just I wanted to help my dad get in too and get a ticket. Yes, my dad goes to shows a lot of the time with me. And yes, I know that I am more than capable of driving myself down to see the show without my father. He eventually got in too though, getting his for $2o as well. But enough about me, this is about the show.

Anberlin was amazing. I had saw them last November opening up for Motion City Soundtrack at Rams Head Live!, but hadn't known them that well until after I heard them at that show. This show I knew their songs and really could appreciate their singer's great songwriting. I went crazy when "Feel Good Drag" came on, as well as the mosh pit. They definitely know how to put on a good show. They even had the balls to cover a song from the '80s that no one knows the words to. Then came Taking Back Sunday. Huge upset. Adam Lazzara, their singer, could barely hit any of the high notes from their records and spend tons of time talking about how he got punched in the back of the head by some hater on the street the night before, and his favorite animal was. The band playing awesome, but I missed his microphone tricks that he did when I saw them co-headlining a show with Angels & Airwaves at Merriweather Post Pavilion when Fred was still in the band. Generally, I liked their show at Merriweather than this one. Hopefully the next time I see them (at Virgin FreeFest that I couldn't get tickets to goddammit!), they will be better.

Valencia at Ottobar

Last night, I saw Valencia at the Ottobar, and they were amazing. They were ten times better than when I saw them at Rams Head Live! with All Time Low. Plus, their new album just came out (which is awesome by the way) Tuesday, so they had tons of new material to play there.

The opening bands were pretty good too, including Sing it Loud, which I've known about for quite some time now (they put on a great performance); Single File, which had a great Indie Pop/Rock threesome sound (like VooDoo Blue); Cash Cash, which had catchy melodies but terrible song-writing; and North Col, which weren't on the tour but were twice as good as Cash Cash and gave all the money they made to cancer research. We met one of the promoters of Single File, so we got to really talk with the band and get autographs on their "No More Sad Face..." EP (which I recommend anyone who likes Pop/Rock to buy). Afterwards, like last time, we went to the Papermoon Diner, and had one of the best sandwiches of my life. It had chicken tenders smothered in mozzerela cheese and marinara sauce on top, on toasted white bread. I also learned to not eat late, because I feel sick now. Oh well, it was worth it. Reptilian Records was great that I saw before the show too, even though it didn't have exactly the kind of music that I liked.

By the way, Underoath just put their new LP, "Lost in the Sound of Separation," to stream on their MySpace, which is awesome. Much heavier than their last record, though.

Orioles vs. Yankees

Today, I went and spent my last day with my cousins at Oriole Park at Camden Yards downtown to see the Baltimore Orioles to play the New York Yankees. It was good game for the most part, but it was so scorching hot out! We tried to find shade, but really couldn't find any place good near the seats we already had. We got some good food, and had a good time. We had to leave at the top of the 8th inning because my cousins had to leave, but we knew the Yankees would win. But, even so, I got a $26 Orioles t-shirt with the old-fashioned bird on it which is sweet! I'm so stoked to wear it...

Captain Jim's Boat

Today, I went downtown again with my dad and brother and my cousins who were visiting this weekend to my dad's cousin's and boyfriend Jim's boat in Federal Hill. First, we passed the Fort McHenry bridge, and went to Bahama Mama's for lunch. While leaving the restaurant, we had an incident that wasn't pretty. My uncle Bob went to the back of the boat to check the water temperature, and fell in. We didn't think it was a big deal at first, considering my cousin's face when he told us didn't look very convincing, but then luckily he got back on the boat pretty quick, and we saw he soaking wet climbing up the ladder into the boat, we knew he fell in. It was actually really funny, but at the same time it was pretty serious considering Captain Jim said if he had gotten close enough to the rudder, if would've pulled him in. His phone broke, and everything in his wallet got wet including all of his credit cards, money, and driver's license. Even worse, he lost his shoes in the water and even though he didn't care about them, Jim turned the boat around and my dad dove in and got them with the boat hook. It was hilarious watching him half-naked extending his arms out to the water to get my uncle's shoes. Afterwards, most of us (not including me) docked the boat up to a water slide where people could swim. A bunch of hicks were there at the time smoking, while laughing at my dad going head-first down the water slide and begging my cousin Janet for drinks, too. After that, I got the steer the boat part of the way back to Federal Hill to dock (it was a lot harder than I thought!) and had chicken and beef spiedies for dinner. Pretty packed day for being on a boat! At least I got to crash on a bed and watch the Olympics while people were still up drinking and talking.

Body Worlds

Today, I went downtown to see the Body Worlds exhibit at the Maryland Science Center in the Inner Harbor. At first our plans almost got ruined because of my cousin being scared, but he just went around the harbor with my uncle for a little while we were checking out the exhibit. It was absolutely incredible. It was so creepy, yet so amazing. There were tons of preserved organs of the human body with descriptions, and actual whole bodies where you could see bones, muscles, and other parts. I learned so much, including things I didn't even want to know. I thought it was really cool how after them showing the exhibit of a smoker's lung compared to a non-smoker's lung, there was a box that you could drop your cigarette box in to start quitting. I recommend anyone over the age of 2 (there were some cryers in there) to check out that exhibit. Afterwards, after getting some pizza on Light Street, we saw this fire enthusiast who lit himself on fire, jumped a flaming jump rope while balancing on a bouncy ball, and escaping 2 straitjackets in less than 2 minutes while balancing on the ball again. I'm still trying to figure out if he was cooler than the Body Worlds exhibit or not! This was only the beginning of my busy weekend.

Paramore at Festival Pier at Penn's Landing

I'm still debating over whether or not this was the best show that I've ever seen, or this was the second best show I've ever seen, behind Fall Out Boy at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD. Last night, I saw Paramore live with Jack's Mannequin, Phantom Planet, and The Paper Route at Festival Pier at Penn's Landing in Philadelphia, PA with my dad. Taking us practically 3 hours to get there from Baltimore, with almost an hour back-up at the Delaware Memorial Bridge junction, I can say that it was totally worth it. As soon as we got there, seeing tons of idiots walking miles out of their way to pay for parking, we stopped right near a Lukoil gas station and parked on the street for free, right next to a parking lot that wanted $20 for parking. What a deal. Plus, I got to hear the worst riddle I've ever heard from a bum. "What's the best nation there is?" "Uh, Kenya?" "No, a donation." Wow. Wonder what he wanted. Anyways, after waiting for 20 minutes in the line for the bathroom at the gas station, we were inside. The ticket guy didn't even check me. We missed The Paper Route, but I didn't care considering I checked them out on MySpace beforehand and didn't really like them anyways. We were starving, so we got the essential chicken tenders and fries, not as good as Merriweather's though. Before we knew it, Phantom Planet was on, and God did they put a good show on. Everyone was singing along to "California." If it wasn't for that song, they wouldn't be nearly as known as they would now. After Phantom Planet, we checked out Paramore's merchandise table, and I bought their new "yearbook," that showed tons of photos of the band, lyrics, tour dates, and tons of other cool stuff. Then Jack's Mannequin was on. I checked them out for a bit at the Vans Warped Tour a few weeks ago, but I barely knew them then. They put on a great show as well, they were one of the best opening acts I've ever seen. Their singer is great, especially at piano. Then, it was time for Paramore. After I saw them in Washington D.C. at the Bender Arena in American University with Jimmy Eat World, I couldn't wait to see them again. They changed up a lot of their songs, with really cool intros and outros to the songs. Some they even played acoustic. My dad got tons of awesome photos, including when their bassist Jeremy did a front-flip during "Pressure." They put on such a great show, I think it determined that they were my favorite band. Although I did make a truce with myself that because I was listening to so much Paramore before the show, that I would take a break from listening to them for a few weeks. After the show, my dad and I stopped at South Street to get a cheesesteak at South Street Steaks. They even gave us free fries because we had our ticket stubs with us. The best I've ever had. They were really friendly, too. Afterwards we walked back to the car, and I crashed until 2 am when were were finally at Cape May, NJ to stay with my cousins for the weekend. What an experience!