Amber and I got to the show a little late, in the middle of the flashing light's set, because my mother made me eat something before i left, so we didn't get to leave on time. so anyways, we heard the last 15 minutes or so of the Flashing Lights' set, and it was awesome! we managed to squeeze our way up to near the front. then i'm rocking out to the lights, and i turn around, and i notice Lonny from j. englishman's band was standing right beside me! i said hi to him, and i poked amber, to tell her that lonny was there. then lonny pointed to a little boy that was with him, and he said "this is my little brother!" (his brother is absolutely adorable! he looked as though he was about 3-4 years old...) So then, i didn't want to bug lonny anymore, so i went back to enjoying the Flashing Lights.
so then, the flashing lights were over, and i looked down beside the backstage area, and i noticed that j. was there, talking to some girls, so i decided to go over and say hi. so, as soon as j. sees me he looks up and he's like "hi katie!" and i said "hi j!" (and the conversation went on from there...) then i noticed that he was wearing a Britney Spears button, and we had a big discussion about how she was FAKE and her music SUCKS, and he said "it's not her music that i like!" and started laughing. (it was VERY funny) then someone (i can't remember who) asked him if he likes Christina Aguilera, and he's like "christina just doesn't have the depth of britney!" and i laughed and said "you think Britney has DEPTH?!" and he laughed at me. then he said he doesn't like Christina's hand-thing that she does whenever he sings, and he sang something in a girly voice (that was even funnier!)
so then, i wanted him to sign the picture that i drew of him, so i pulled out my book, and i handed it to him to sign. he looked at it and he's like "wow, this is good!" and i'm like "thanx" so then, while he's signing, Lonny walks by, and he says "wow! did you draw that?" and i'm like "yep!" and he's like "wow, it's really good!" (he especially liked the circular part, the lyrics, at the bottom) so i said "next time i'll draw you!" and he's like "nah, i don't look too good in pencil!" and we all laughed. then, lonny went to talk to some other people. i wanted to get another picture of j (to add to my collection!) so i asked him for a pic, and he's like "you're gonna have all kinds of pictures of me looking stupid now!" so then he puts his arm around me to take a picture with me, and he had his hand on my arm, and it was SO cold! i was wearing a tank top, and his hands were like ice on my arms! so i said "holy jeez!! your hands are FREEZING!!!" and then he laughed, and he put both his hands up and down my arms to make me cold, and i screamed, and he laughed at me :) so then, we took our picture together, and i took a pic of amber with j too.
then i wanted a picture with Lonny, because the one i took at the CBC show turned out really dark. so he came over and posed for a pic with me, and amber and i noticed that he still had the red pen on his bag, from when it exploded (while we were walking with him down the street, after the CBC show) so we commented on it, and he's like "yeah, i know...it won't come off!" and then i'm like "well, at least it came off of your hands!" and he's like "yeah, but now i have this stupid watch that bleeds!" (he had a red leather watch/bracelet thingy on his wrist) so then, junior came over to where we were standing, and we talked with him for a bit, and i got another picture with him, and he even bent down, so i appeared to be slightly taller than what i was! then i asked junior for a drum stick for me and amber after the show, and he said he only has 4, so he'll see what he can do.
so at that point, it was just about time for starling to go on, so we went back to the front of the stage, and i noticed Spanky standing up on stage, so i'm like "i wanna go talk to him!" but amber wouldn't let me. then, a song or two into starling's set, i said "i'm going to go talk to spanky. is anyone coming with me over there?!" so we all (amber, savine, her friend, and i) walked over to the other side of the stage. we saw a few members of the flashing lights standing around talking to people, so i decided to talk to Matt Murphy for a bit, because there weren't too many people around him, so i talked to him for like, 5 min. then Gaven saw me standing there, so he waved to me (cause he remembered me) but i didn't want to interrupt his conversation, so i didn't talk to him. so then, i went over to talk to spanky, but amber and savine wouldn't come with me. so i tapped him on the shoulder, and he's like "katie! oh my god, i haven't seen you since like, forever!" and he gave me a huge hug. so then we were talking, and he notices amber off in the background, and i said to him "oh, she doesn't want to talk to you" (laughing) and he's like "why not?! just cause we had a little disagreement?!" so then she walks over with savine, and we were talking 'n stuff. so then, i ended up watching most of Starling with spanky...then we decided to try and get a closer spot, because it was getting to the time when j. was about to go on. then spanky comes over to me, and he's like "what's the name of starling's new album?" but it was SO hard to hear him, cause it was SO loud, so he had to repeat himself many times...then i finally heard him and i said "sustainer" (and i had to repeat myself too!) then he's like "can you buy it anywhere?" and i'm like "yeah, i think so". so then he said thanks, and he went back to his spot right near the steps to the stage. then, starling played Don't Deflate, and i absolutely LOVE that song. i was so happy when they played it, i sang at the top of my lungs! then they played 2 more songs (including this cool little rap thing that Danny did! it was great!!), and they were off. so then, after they finished, spanky went up on stage and he said "that was Starling! their new album is called Sustainer, and you can buy it in stores everywhere!" (i just found that funny, because he had to ask me about that!)
so then, a few people left from the front, and amber and i ended up with front row. savine and her friend disappeared (we found out later that they went back to meet Starling). so then Lonny & Junior came up on stage to set up their instruments. while Lonny was setting up, he brought his little brother on stage with him, and he picked him up, and put him up to the microphone, and he says to him "say hello, bailey" so his brother goes "hello?" and it was so adorable. everyone in the audience was like "awwww"
so then, they were just about done setting up, and Spanky comes out on stage to introduce the band. he looks down into the front row, and he points at me and he goes "hey! i know you!" and i smiled and laughed, and then he goes "so, how's that rash? did the cream help?!" and i was so freakin' embarassed! (*L* umm..just incase you're wondering, i don't have a rash....) i started laughing so hard after he said that. so then, finally he says "here's j. englishman!!" and the band came out.
they started with Breaking Down, which sounded SO amazing! every single one of his songs sounded SO good. he did a really cool, extended version of Abused, and he blended it in with another song (i'm not sure what the song was) but it sounded really cool! he did the same thing during More that he did at edgefest, by getting the crowd to sing along at the end, and instead of "i want something, i need something..." he said "it's your turn now, here we go now..." Then, after More was over, they go, "this is gonna be our last song. it's actually a song that we've never played before in concert" and at that point i just started FREAKING OUT, cause i KNEW that it was going to by My Song, so i screamed so loud, and everyone in the vicinity of me just turned around, looked at me and started laughing. then i screamed out "oh my god! my song!" and right after i said that lonny laughed at me, and j. goes "this one's called my song!" it was SO great. i just closed my eyes and sang for the majority of that song. i love it so much!! then, after that, we decided to go back, behind the stage, so we could go talk to j, and hopefully get junior's sticks. then, we realized that they were doing an encore, so we watched it from the other side of the stage. they played an extra long version of Don't Mean A Thing.
the setlist:
breaking down
the hero
tripwires
fade
abused
pure
staring at the sun
more
my song
encore:
don't mean a thing
so then we went to the side of the stage, and we were waiting for the guys to come off, and there were a whole bunch of little teenybopper girls yelling "j!!!" then, esthero (j's sister) came out, and these girls are still yelling "j!!!" so she turns around and she's like "he's coooming!" in this little kiddy voice, mocking them...it was great! so then, i went over to talk to Esthero, cause i absolutely love her, so i got my pic taken with her. while savine was taking my pic, amber said Junior winked at her, so she walked over there, and he gave her his drum stick. she asked him if he had one for me, but he said he only had one. so then amber comes back over to where we were, holding the drumstick, and i go to her "oh i hate you!! i wanted the stick!" so then esthero goes to me "oh don't worry! i'll get you a pair of j's underwear! he wears britney spears thongs!" and then we both started laughing. so then she signed my autograph book and she asked me if i like basketball, and i'm like "uhh...not really" then i looked at what she wrote, and she wrote "katie, vince carter rocks! *heart* ESTHERO" (she rocks!!)
so then, we went over to where j. was standing, and he looked at me and laughed, and he's like "now what?!" so i said "i just wanted to say that my song was incredible! i was so happy when you played it, i almost started to cry!" and he's like "aww, thanks so much...i thought it was a little too slow...i tried telling lonny to speed it up a bit!" and i said "no! it was perfect! i loved it!" and we were like, and we'll probably never hear it again, right? and he said that they were trying to the set list, but he already had so many slow songs in there already, that they didn't know if it would work in the set. so then we chatted a bit more, but we had to get going, because it was starting to get late, and i had to be home by 12:30 (we left at 11:30-11:45, but i didn't end up getting home until 1:30, because there was SO much traffic, because of the Symphony of fire!)
so all in all, i had a pretty incredible night. j. is awesome to see live, and you should definetly check him out if you get a chance. BUY POOR LI'L ROCKSTAR NOW!! YOU WON'T REGRET IT!!
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