| "our sets like milk and cookies....nah it's more like a shot of tequila." - Julian |
| You could compare it to 'Riverdance'; it has the same sort of intensity and magic…Well, it's the same thing with us' - Nick...sarcasm much |
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>The Strokes @ Rimac Arena in San Diego on April 30th, 2002. The first Stroke to make an appearance was indeed Nick Valensi, and he was such a bastard. He walked out with his own personal entourage, including his much-older bitch of a girlfriend, Amanda de Cadenet. He walked past everyone slightly waving and saying: "Thanks for coming, good to see you," twice in a row, and then getting into a black SUV helmed by his dumb girlfriend, and they were gone. This was a shitty thing to do to your loyal fans waiting outside for over an hour freezing their asses off, just so they can say a few words to you, and maybe get your writing on a little piece of paper. He just seemed to demean the whole thing. It was really dissappointing. Who knows, maybe next time, he'll be nicer. I'm not gonna give up on him. I'm just gonna say he acted pretty shitty. Well, if Nick was a dick, then Al was a pal. Haha... sorry. Albert came outside about an hour and a half or so after the Nick ordeal happened. Yeah... ridiculous how long you'll wait to touch and speak to a couple of regular human beings that you love from afar. Anyway, Albert was soooooooooo nice that I completely forgot about Nick. He looked really fucking good too. I was surprised. I was like: "Woah, Albert... when did you become one of the foxy ones?" He was too cool. I said hey to him, and went to shake his hand, but he opened his arms, and pulled me into a hug, and I was like right on! No complaints. Then I started to talk to him, and we were interrupted by some fellow with the band. He was saying to Al: "Dude, don't do it." And Al was like: "I'm fine. I'll call you in an hour on our way to LA." The guy was still, like: "No, man." Al was all: "I'm not drunk!" The guy was like: "You sure man?" Al was like: "Yes! I'm not drunk. Look, I'm not drunk", then he stumbled and pretended to fall over, and he grabbed my hand, and I held it for a while. It was so cute! I felt absolutely thrilled. Then he had to let it go, to sign another autograph. Then he spotted this other girl wearing a self-made Strokes shirt, that had like shilouettes of the guys standing up, and Al was leaning in touching heads with Fab, and Al said: "I see you've made Fab and I queers!" It was so funny. I was thinking: "YAY! Albert jokes!" He was so cute. Then I told him that I had to ask him a question, and he said to go ahead, so I said: "I have a friend from Australia who loves you guys, and she hasn't seen you yet, and she wanted me to ask you if you like Blixa, the guitar player from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds." He smiled, and said: "Hell yeah! I love Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds." I was like: "Sweet. Now I can tell her." And he laughed and said: "Now you can tell her!" (There you go Lones! I know it's not Nick, but hey... you love Albert more anyway, don't ya?) I also found out from Al, that the guys are coming to LA in June, and I am so looking forward to that shit! I now fully understand why girls like Albert Hammond Jr. From my brief experience with him, he seemed like one of the best guys ever in life. I think I'm digging him now. Haha... I said "digging". Okay so then... Nikolai appears way over to the right of where I was standing with Al, and all these people ran over to see him. I just hung back. Al shouted: "Be careful with Nikolai! Don't run him over!" It was so funny. Nikolai was smiling, but you know without showing teeth or too much emotion. I didn't hear or see him speak a word to anyone. It was odd. I didn't get to talk to him, because the scene quickly escalated as Julian appeared, and once he jumped off of the platform he'd been standing on, he got mobbed like a Beatle in his hay-day. It was ridiculous. All these girls ran up and latched on to him, screaming: "JULIAN!!!!" It was such a teen scene all of the sudden. It was absolutely horrifying. Julian looked fucked up as always, and he glanced over to where a group of us normal self-contained people were standing with this look on his face like: "What the fuck is this shit?" I didn't know whether to laugh or cry! I think I just stood there, shocked. He almost got pushed over by these chicks, and therefore Security decided to make him get on the bus. It was sooooooo weak! I was incredibly pissed off. I wanted to sock all of those retarded girls in the face. I, cool Jen, the Julian adorer didn't get to meet the Jules. It was so awful. However... I spotted Fab standing in front of me, laughing at what was going on, and I tapped his elbow, and he turned around with a big smile, and said: "HEY!", right in my face, and I could smell the beer on his breath hardcore. I was like: "Hi! I'm a huge fan!" And we shook hands, and stuff. Of course there was the thank you, and the great show commentary, and I knew Joey wanted to leave, so I kept it short, and asked if he could sign my ticket, and he said: "Definitely!" And I laughed, and said I didn't have a pen, and he like patted himself down, and said: "Neither do I." Then some girl called him over to sign something, so he took her pen, and signed my thing, and then handed me the pen. I looked at him strangely, and he looked confused, and I pointed to the other girl, and he laughed and gave her the pen. He was drunk. It was funny. He was also very nice, and humble. I could tell he was a sweetie! He looked really fucking good in person too. But he was shorter than me, and skinny as hell. I was a bit surprised. He's definitely the most scruffy looking Stroke. After that I tried to spot Julian who'd gotten off the bus, but I couldn't see him. Until I saw a gold sedan speed by, and realized that Al was at the wheel, and Julian was the passenger! Then it all made sense. Al wanted to drive back to LA with Julian, and that other dude was trying to convince him not to, because he'd been drinking. I believed that he wasn't drunk though, as he was completely wide-eyed, and aware when I was talking to him. Unlike Fab, and Julian. I recognize drunk people. Al wasn't drunk that night. So yeah... Wish I could've bummed a ride in that car. I coulda made up a lie, and asked them to drive me back to LA, but Joey was like: "Don't make me grive back to LA alone!", after the Jack Black incident. So I said... "Okay. I'll be a good friend." Haha... like I had a chance. Sigh! Well, it was an awesome night for me, and I will not soon, if ever forget it. Next time I see them, I am going to get backstage. I am going to drink beer with them, I am going to talk to them about many things, and goddammit, I am going to kiss Julian! And play with Al. Exactly what "play" means in this case, I don't know. He just seems like the playful kinda guy. There yas goes! I had the time of my life that night, and I just hope I can top it someday, someday... |