Welcome...to my inner circle.
HAHA! ELEVEN BUCKS!
Default, Socialburn, and Blue October
12 November, 2003
"11/11...Newspaper says it's a special day."
-Danny Woo, Witchblade
11/11 sure was a special day! November 11th was the day that I got to see Default play for the second time. Their new album comes out in a couple of weeks, on the 25th, and I must say that based on the songs that they played at the show, it's going to be an AWESOME album...possibly even better than the first.
The opening band was called Blue Epic. These guys, I'm not too keen on, but then I didn't hear that much of them. Kyle, my friend Heather, and I all went out to Applebee's with my mom and little brother, Brandon, before the show and didn't leave the place until about ten minutes until seven p.m. After that we had to go pick up Britt, another one of the guys from The Franklin Theory, before we could get out to the show. We got there about 7:20 p.m., and Blue Epic was already on stage. OH WELL. I was there to see Socialburn and Default anyhow.
Somewhere in between getting to Lubbock for the show, Socialburn and Blue October switched slots on the bill, and Socialburn went on next. Sorry to all the Blue October fans, but Socialburn is SO much better! With songs like "Stacy" and "U," how could any other lesser-known/unknown bands compete with Socialburn? Socialburn's show was as energetic, and amazing as usual. I have now seen Socialburn three times in the last six months, and I am going to miss their shows since they have decided to go on tour with Default. Touring is a great thing, and it will get Socialburn a good deal of exposure that they truly deserve.
The last time Socialburn was in town they played a concert at the West Texas Icehouse with ColdFuse, friends of mine, and their vocalist, Neil, remembered Heather and I from the Taintfest show that they played on May 31st...he gave our friend Kristin his cigarette so he could play properly...and he remembered us because of that. Talk about coolness. That night at the Icehouse I was able to meet their drummer, and talk to their bassist again. At the Default show, I met their other guitarist, so now....
I KNOW SOCIALBURN!
This was my first time seeing Blue October, and I have to say that I was impressed. They certainly are not my favorite band, but they were pretty good. The only thing that really pissed me off, was the fact that people (who were probably drunk by that time) began MOSHING to BLUE OCTOBER. I was nearly pulled into the pit three times, at the least, and Desiree got pulled into the middle of the pit behind Kyle, Heather and I, and Kyle pulled her out. You talk about ridiculous situations, and there's the one that takes the cake. Another thing that angered me was the large women, and the men in general that began crowdsurfing that night. One in particular was a VERY inebriated LARGE man who wore a shirt that said, "Get God out of Texas." Now, I will be the first to admit that I am QUITE a bit less than Christian...but that even offended me. Whose right is it to say that EVERYONE should stop believing in whatever gives them faith and their belief in something? I absolutely abhor people that try to think for other people in the world. We would all be sheep if that happened. People like that man should use the tiny bit of brain that his/her god gave them and think about the impact statements like that will have on other people. Unfortunately, most are too dimwitted to think about anyone but themselves.
Default's show was quite good. I had forgotten that before shows, their roadies come out and lay down rugs so that they don't fall down. I laughed as soon as I saw the three rugs being duct-taped to the floor of the stage inside the Pavilion at the West Texas Canyon Amphitheater. When they began, I had to marvel at Dallas Smith's new image. The last time that I saw him, his hair was cropped short in a very prep look, now the man looks quite "emo" or punk (whichever you choose to call it), and judging by the ring on his finger, I would say that he got married since the last time the guys of Default were in town. They played nearly all of the songs from their first album, excepting the one that I wanted to hear, "Faded," and quite a few from their new album, Elocation, including their new hit, "Taking My Life Away". I expect to be very impressed by this new album, based on the brilliant songs Default played on Nov. 11th, and I cannot wait to run out and purchase the album when it arrives in stores on the 25th!
Ho-hum...I guess the last thing that I should share is that I got a pick from Jeremy James Hora, guitarist for Dafault, and one of Dallas Smith's water bottle that the security guard tried to make me throw away as I walked out of the gates. I absolutely LOVE being a girl...just make a sad face that you have to throw it away and guys especially will give you anything you want to keep you from crying. HAHA! I'm limiting trying that to catching things at concerts...I never do stuff like that. This night was a first for me...but surprisingly enough, it worked. WOO!
I CAUGHT DALLAS SMITH'S WATER BOTTLE!
Addicted to:
Laurel, Broken, Waiting Here, & Not Today by The Franklin Theory
My AMAZING boyfriend! I LOVE YOU BUNCHES!
Listening to:
Taking My Life Away by Default.
(It's available for download on their official website, www.defaultonline.com)
Feeling:
Frustrated that I have to go to work and, thus, unable to go to the studio tonight with Kyle... :(
SEETHER AGAIN!!
AMARILLO MAKES FIVE!
10 November, 2003
LALALALA!
I love my boyfriend! I have to say that right now, just so that everyone knows. I LOVE YOU, KYLE!
Kyle drove me all the way to Amarillo (a two-hour drive) so I could see two of my favorite bands: SEETHER and SHINEDOWN. We got there about fifteen minutes before the show started, but somehow we still managed to get up toward the front. I rocked out like crazy to Shinedown - since I knew all of the songs - and all of the crowd around me just looked at me like I was crazy for knowing all of the songs. And in the first verse of "Stranger Inside" Brent made an "oopsie" and sang the wrong line....there is only one word difference between the two, but to me, who knew what it was supposed to be, it was rather amusing! It just goes to show that even rock stars can make human mistakes. It was cool, though. Thankfully no one else in the place knew who Shinedown was, and they had no clue he sang the wrong lyric. :D After their set, and me ROCKING OUT to "45," Kyle and I hung around down on the PACKED floor for Seether. I even had to shove a rather large man away from me as he tried to cut in between me and the kids in front of me. No WAY was he about to take my AWESOME spot for SEETHER.
SEETHER...rocks the house.
That is all that can be said about Seether. Kyle and I were, once again, Stage Left, right in front of Pat, although we were quite a few rows back. The rest of Amarillo and I jammed out hardcore to SEETHER and had a blast in doing so. Seether played their opener, "Gasoline" and "Needles," the rest of their normal set list, and then played "Burrito," and then a couple of songs later, they played a song that they contributed to the "Daredevil" movie soundtrack, "Hang On."
Now comes my criticism of this move:
I'm sorry guys, but you shouldn't play "Hang On" and "Burrito" in the same set. Period. They sound WAY too much alike. The very first verse in "Burrito" is the chorus from "Hang On," with about one word difference. Jeez, guys. If you like the song that much, then just put "Hang On" on the new CD instead of writing a whole new song that begins with the chorus of a previous song. All would be good! Don't get me wrong, both of them are EXCELLENT songs, but having two songs that say the same thing...it's a bit redundant.
I have to say that I think the crowd in Amarillo is/was a lot cooler than the crowd in Lubbock. The last time that Seether played here, they brought out the acoustic guitar, which is used on my favorite song, "Broken," and tuned it. They never played "Broken" here. But they played it in Amarillo. Now, on the Seether message board, some of the posters on there have said that "Broken" is an encore song. It sure seems to make since, seeing as how the guys from Seether played their cover of Nirvana's "You Know You're Right" and then all walked off stage. "YKYR" is Seether's closing song. The crowd in Amarillo began a LOUD chant for Seether to come back out on stage, and here came bassist Dale Stewart, the acoustic guitar in tow. I freaked. At this point in time, the lights were down, and when they came back up, Dale was sitting in a chair, stage left, and Shaun Morgan was front and center, readying himself to sing another song. *DUMDUMDUM* The first chords to "Broken" hit my ears and I went nuts. I think Kyle was laughing at me because I was jamming out so hard to the slowest song on the album. They finished up, and walked off of the stage.
After Seether was finished on stage, Kyle and I got off of the floor and went to find a drink. We split a Coke and I told him that I wanted to run over to the merch table to see if, by chance, Shinedown was still signing autographs like they were announced to have been in between their set and Seether's. Sure enough, there they were. I got a HUGE grin on my face, and ran over to Jasin Todd, their guitarist and got him to sign my ticket first. then came the drummer, Barry, and then their vocalist, Brent Smith. This guy friggen ROCKS. He's the coolest...well, aside from the guys of Seether. :D He'd cut literally half of his hair off since the last time I'd seen them in Cleveland, and dyed the top half of it a BRIGHT red. I think it looks really awesome! Anyway, I get Brent to sign my ticket, and he smeared his signature :(:( and then I get to their bassist, Brad. Brad is just....AWESOME. He shakes my hand and asks me my name, and then personalizes my ticket...after asking me how I SPELL my name. No one has EVER done that to me before. When I got my Default autographs, Danny - their drummer - personalized my CD booklet, but I was still calling myself "Amanda" then...that one is self-evident. But to ask how I spelled my name....WOW. My ticket, on the top, says "To: Mandi". I feel super special! Maybe I can scan in my ticket and put a link on here to show it off....:D
SHINEDOWN ROCKS!!!!
Of course, Kyle and I went back out to see Three Doors Down, even though Kyle absolutely hates 3DD...(once again I say, I LOVE YOU, KYLE!) We sat up in the seats this time and watched the show. The seats weren't too bad at all.....and the set list was pretty good....even though they STILL didn't play "So I Need You," which is my favorite 3DD song ever. 3 Doors Down does put on a lame stage show, but their drummer just...ROCKS. He had at LEAST a ten-minute drum solo and it seemed pretty lame for the first five minutes, but after that it picked up DRAMATICALLY. He lost me there, and I was amazed. It was a GREAT solo! The rest of the show was pretty good, and was over about 10 p.m. or 10:30...we got home about 1 a.m...talk about a trip to remember. All I know is....
I KNOW SHINEDOWN!
