Friday, June 8, 2002
I Love This Picture
Me, Josh (the crazy mohawked freak) and Nikki after the show.
Now, I have to describe this "Ampitheater" before I go any farther. We expected someplace with at least, um, seats or something, but it was basically an empty swimming pool. When we got in there (I was literally the third person through the entrance) we decided to set up camp in the very front, which we quickly named the "Private Room." It came complete with some bling-bling-ing water, a scary bouncer (played by Josh) and a secret password (at first it was "West Michigan Mullet," then "Snorkles") The best part about the "Private Room" was, without a doubt, the fact that we were literally about 3 1/2 feet from the feet of whoever was singing on stage.

So, opening for Brian was Molly, who I'd first seen at the Verve Pipe's State Theater show in December. I fell in love with them then, they're sorta punk-pop, and all three of us were really excited to finally be seeing them again.
Molly puts on a really great show. Johnny, the lead singer who a certain friend of mine has a huge crush on, is really expresive and funny when he sings-- he makes they great faces and is great about interacting with the audience. He made eye contact with me a few times, and I thought that same certain friend was going to faint when he winked at her :) They recently got a new guitar player, and he seemed to be having some problems. After the show, Josh told John, the bass player, that it was a great set and John replied that "it sucked." Ah well, we liked it anyway :) Nikki yelled at Johnny to give her his guitar pick and he gave her three, which made her pretty happy.

So Brian took the stage probably about 10. He was looking pretty casual in a polo shirt and jeans, plus the red white and blue leather bracelet thing that
about 2 1/2 feet from where Brian was standing. When Brian first took the stage, I was holding up the digital camera to get a shot, and out of nowhere, I realized he was striking a pose especially for me! He stuck out his tongue and held the guitar pointed toward me, mimicing a gun or something.  I was shocked, and delighted, and ended up with a pretty funny picture :)

The setlist that I can remember (which is just a list, not an attempt at the correct order) is: Photograph, Happiness Is, Miles Away, Reverand Girl (accompanied


During the encore, Brian brought everyone back on stage and proceeded to go into a long medley/jam session. They tried to stump each other with old songs, and took requests from the audience as well. The songs I can remember are: Crazy Train (suggested by Josh, which made a second rockstar, after Lisa Loeb, who has taken this request from him), Play that Funky Music, 99 Red Balloons (also suggested by Josh-- its hard to ignore a mohawk in front row), Ice Cream Man, (I think you're) Just What I Needed, Wayward Son and Wanted Dead or Alive (sung by from Molly). One of my favorite parts of the night came when, while singing "Ice Cream Man," Brian spoke the line "I drive by here every night, but I never stop." Without thinking, I yelled out "Why not?" He was stunned, and said something like "She's answering me?!" He couldnt finish the verse then because he was laughing. I felt kinda bad for messing him up (I've always been annoyed by the fans who yell things just to try to divert the attention to themselves) but it made me smile anyway :) The whole show was amazing. Brian seemed really relaxed and, although it was small, the crowd was really into the show. He was making jokes and having a good time and I think the whole vibe of the show was really fun.

Afterwards, we hung out to get autographs and such. I'd hoped to talk to Todd, the drummer from Molly, who've I've corresponded over email with a few times, but he left early (he emailed me later and apologized, saying he had to run because he worked the next day), but we were able to meet John and Johnny anyway. They were really nice, signed our poster and posed for a photo with Nikki and Josh.

We talked to griff for quite a while. He signed my hournal for me took pictures with all of us. He was so nice to us-- we told him that we'd seen at the State Theater show and were really excited when we'd heard that he was going to be at this show, too. Someone gave him a cigar and while we were standing there, I told him that he had a very Groucho Marx look going, and he started doing a "How would you like a
We drove to Portage really early, afraid that we wouldn't be able to find the venue, but ended up having no trouble at all, and two hours to kill. We walked around the mall for a bit, then got some dinner, parked across from the Ampitheater and listened to sound-check. We could see Griff watching, and saw Brian walk out at one point, headed near us across the street. We all jumped out of the car, determined that we were going to go talk to him, but then all three of us freaked out and realized that it would be a little scary if we
ambushed him, since we were 2 hours early. Its always strange with famous people: you think you know them, so they assume the feeling is mutual, when in fact you're just some random fan to them.

So, after that "run-in" with BVA, I attempted to play off my mad jump out of the car as trying to go across the street to ask the "Security" people where and when we could get tickets. After we got our tickets, we met some cool chicks (isn't everyone who likes BVA cool?), Sara, Lisa and Sarah, who invitied us to play "Go Fish" with them. They were pretty cool, and we ended up hanging with them and another girl, Jen, who we met inside.
he's he wore in December when I saw him. I was amazing how close we were, especially after the dorky security guard left and we moved up, which put Josh (who was in front)
by an amazing woman named Serita), Underneath, Out LIke a Lamb (incredible!), I Will Never Let You Down, Someone Like You, Martyr Material, Hero, Freshman and Colorful (which was prefaced with "speaking of mullets," after we yelled "West Michigan Mullet" earlier in the show). On songs toward the end, Brian brought on a few friends-- a guitarist named Craig and Griff. A note about Griff: we saw him at the State Theater show in December and he plays a mean harmonica!
draw a picture when they sign their autograph. He actually remembered drawing the moose and when I said that he started it all, he said that he would have to finish it, and proceeded to draw me a very funny and elaborate self-portriat. It's so great! He's just one of the nicest people I've come across is a long time.

After talking with Griff, we made our way over to where Brian was. Nikki talked to him first, and she and Josh got autographs and pictures. I got a picture with him, too (which turned out great!). I told him that the show was great, but next time he'd have to sing "Sheffield". He said he has to be in a well-lit place to place it right, so I suggested the next time he played somewhere with flourescent lighting, I'd be there, expecting to hear it. He said next time he played "a cafeteria" he'd be sure to play it :)
nice Valasic pickle" routine. It was very funny. Later, I went back to talk to Griff because I'd forgotten to ask him to draw me a picture. I explained how the moose he drew me after the State show started my habit of asking people to
Overall, it was a great evening. Both Molly and Brian seemed to be really "on" and I had a great time!


Want more? Check out the links below to see more photos from the show!
More Molly Photos
More BVA Photos
Click here to sign my guestbook!
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