Post by meesh on Jul 15, 2007 17:07:24 GMT -5
(continued from previous page)
Around 5 I went to the bathroom, and when I got back, the crew was back onstage checking mics and drums and guitars again. Maureen and her sister came at this point and got a spot right behind us in the center. We figured that since the stage was out in the open and there were people around, the guys probably wouldn’t do a normal soundcheck. Well, around 5:15 or so, we see Rick pop up by his drums and sit down, then Jason and Ben walk on stage as well. As it turns out, they were going to do a normal soundcheck after all, much to our happiness, since I’d never seen one, just heard bits and pieces. Jason walked towards the front of the stage and was like, “Hey guys... guess you get to see soundcheck today!” We must’ve cheered or said “yay” or something along those lines, because he then laughed and said “It’s not that exciting...” Ben waved to us, and he completely looked like a skater boy, he was wearing these Dickies shorts and slip-on Vans. I don’t think I’d ever seen him in anything but jeans, so it was kinda funny. Meanwhile, Bryce was nowhere to be found, but he showed up eventually, looking a little worse for wear. I don’t know if it was the fact that he was wearing a white shirt or what, but he looked kind of sick and pale and like he’d just rolled out of bed. Which was probably what had happened, seeing as how he was later than the rest of them. We were concerned for awhile that he was actually sick, but I think he was just tired. Anyway, we got to hear them play 4 songs in soundcheck- first they did AIEGFO, with the extended rock outro. It was funny though, instead of rocking out while they played, they were just kind of standing there, so it looked odd because the lack of movement didn’t match the music. After that, they played Bridges, Disarray, and part of Somewhere In Between, then left the stage and were escorted into Hard Rock Café by Damien. I think that their “backstage” area may have been in there. Winnie and Ian used green tape to mark the location of the pedals, then moved the pedals and mics offstage and started helping the opening band with setting up their stuff. The band was called Jag Star, and we’d never heard of them but I was intrigued by the fact that there was a girl in the band. As it turns out, she was the lead singer and played keyboard on some of their songs. She was like “Hi... you guys aren’t supposed to see soundcheck!” and laughed. They played a few songs and I liked their sound, so I was fairly excited to see them play. We clapped after both songs and she was like, “Thanks! But shhh you didn’t see that!” They left the stage, and at this point, we had a little over an hour to go until the show started . A lot more people had shown up by this point and the area was starting to fill up, so it got the warmest that it had been all day. I really don’t remember a single thing about this time... I guess we just talked and stood there.
Finally, the radio lady came up at 7:30 to introduce Jag Star. According to her, they had a song on the soundtrack for The Hills and were going to be featured on iTunes this week. I had thought they were just a local band, but apparently they’re much more popular than I thought! They brought out setlists and we noticed that they had a TON of songs for an opener, at least 12 but maybe more. I won’t write much about their show itself, just a few things I remember. On some of the songs, Sarah (that’s the girl) just sings, but on others she played keyboard as well. She had a good stage presence, especially in comparison to Colbie Caillat. (Not that I didn’t like Colbie, but she’s got to learn how to work a crowd.) They opened with a song called “Something Different” which I really liked. Overall I enjoyed them and I’ll probably get their music from iTunes or order a cd. If you guys wanna check them out (which you should), check out www.myspace.com/jagstar
We think that Sarah and the guitarist (he also sings) may have a little something going on, but we weren’t entirely sure. There was also a bass player and a drummer, I forgot to mention that. For their last song, she told all the boys in the crowd that they “could sit this one out” and they did a good cover of “Just a Girl” by No Doubt. It was a fun way to end their set, which was over at about 8:35. When they were all done, they started tearing their stuff down and the LH crew guys came back out to set everything back up. Finally, at 9, we see Damien bring the guys out of the Hard Rock Café and the crowd started cheering. I think they had all changed outfits from whatever they’d been wearing earlier during soundcheck. When they got up on stage I got that stupid happy excited feeling I always get, even though I’d already seen them earlier in the day. There were people up on the second level of the area who could easily see us and make fun of us for rocking out, but I decided I just did not care and had a BLAST during the entire show. I’ll try to add details about certain songs, so here we go:
1)Spin- I’m still not used to having this song to open a set, but I think it works well to pump up the crowd. Plus, you can’t help but get excited when you hear the opening percussion that they do when they play it live. It rocked, we rocked out, life was good.
2) Hanging by a Moment- The music never completely stops between Spin and HBAM, it just flows into this one. I’m also not used to this being so early in the set, but again, it works. The crowd sang along decently towards the end when they quiet the music down. At first we were worried about the crowd, but it got really good once Lifehouse actually started playing. After the song was over, Jason greeted Louisville and the crowd went bonkers, so we didn’t really need to worry.
3) Whatever It Takes- Some intro music for this started while J was talking, I’ve noticed it in the past and I think it’s a pedal loop effect cause I don’t recall seeing anyone actually playing. This is where he sings the “ba ba ba” part all by himself and it’s quite lovely and impressive. This song is great live. Especially when he does the “ba ba” in the middle, because he knocks it down an octave or so and really belts it out.
4) AIEGFO- They still play this with Ben’s intro. This is one of my favorite LH songs so it’s always good to hear it. The rock outro of this is really great, Bryce gets a fun little bass part and they all seemed to be really enjoying themselves (you may not be able to see the facial expressions in the video, but they were adorable). Jason came out on the speaker to our left and worked the crowd while he was playing, and stuck his tongue out at least once. In Columbus in April and in Milwaukee, they went from this outro right into Quasi and it was amazing, but this time they didn’t :-( It was still great though. When they finished the song, Jason was like “Just to let you all know, if you were thinking of standing on that speaker, don’t... it’s really wobbly.”
5) Somewhere In Between- For once, J did not tell the story for this song. This is another one of my faves, I’ve had an emotional connection to it for years, especially since I choreographed that ballet dance to it. It’s just so pretty :-) Jason was totally turning us into JIHers on this one. I used to think I was over the whole “eye contact” thing, but when he does it and hasn’t in awhile...yeah. That’s all I’m saying on that, haha.
6) Who We Are- Someone has probably mentioned it, but Ben plays a little percussion thing during the verses on this song. After the second verse he doesn’t use it anymore, so Ian slips out of the shadows like a little stage ninja and takes it away before you know what happens. I really enjoy this one live, it’s a lot of fun to dance to. Especially at the very end when the drum beats become more pronounced, you probably know what I mean.
7) Better Luck Next Time- Gaaaaah this one is so amazing live. I think I mentioned it back in April, but they do the beginning of this one different now, they make it much more dramatic. The music starts all quiet and he sings “Sometimes we fall, ain’t nothing new to me, don’t get me wrong...” but then he pauses and the music swells up for several beats before he sings “I’m the son you gave....” (Another pause and music swelling) then sings “...up for this child now ” then it all comes crashing in on “STOP” in a blaze of rock glory. Haha. It’s amazing. And Bryce completely rocks the chorus when he sings it. He always has, but he was particularly on it tonight.
8) The Joke- Ama and I always screech loudly when he introduces this song, it’s just become a habit. This one is just so fun to dance to, I know the subject matter is really sad but you just cannot help it. The tempo they play this at seems to vary by show, I think it depends on the crowd... if the crowd is lame they play it slower than on the album, but if they crowd is better, then they up the tempo. This crowd was good, so they played it faster.
9) Empty Space- So. Freakin. Gorgeous. When the other guys left the stage and J introduced this one, he said it was a song from their second album that they didn’t play often, but lately he’d been feeling it. I didn’t get to fully enjoy this one in Milwaukee because there were so many screaming girls and talking security guards. He just gets so into it, and he did the ending of this one in a way I’d never heard him do it before. He was doing all these different things with his voice and my jaw just dropped. I keep watching the video of it because I can’t get enough of it. He certainly was “feeling it,” the amount of emotion he puts into it is amazing. He did once sing “amazing” instead of “confusing,” but I don’t think most people noticed, since it’s not a song that a lot of people know well.
10) Bridges- For some reason I don’t remember much about this one at all... I think I was still high off of Empty Space. I do know that Bryce introduced the other guys after this song (“I’d like to introduce these fine young lads...” haha), then Jason introduced Bryce.
11) Take Me Away- This is basically the superfan theme song... anytime I see them play it, it reminds me just how much I love doing what we do. Such a good song.
12) Storm- I really do like this version of the song, unlike many people, but there just does not seem to be a good place in the set for it. That being said though, it was still very pretty. He did something a little different at the end, I just don’t recall what it was, but I think you guys already noticed that in the video that someone posted.
13) Disarray- This was a pretty good set-ender, since it rocks a lot. Whenever it gets to the last song of their main set, I can’t believe that it’s almost over. The guys left the stage to lots of cheering, but the cheering didn’t keep up too well, so we had to keep screaming to get other people to yell for the encore.
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14) You and Me- The guys came back out to lots more cheering. They went into You and Me and as always, while the rest of the crowd freaks out, we were like, “eh....” Haha ;-) When it gets to a chorus towards the end, Jason said “Alright, sing this with me!” or something along those lines. The crowd did sing along quite loudly, and Jason looked back at Rick, and Rick grinned and mouthed “Nice!!” in response to the amount of people singing.
15) First Time- This song is great live, I have no idea why it never comes across as well on tv. I think maybe J gets nervous in front of tv cameras? Anyway, it’s great and upbeat and Jason seemed to be nodding happily during this one too, so I think a lot of people were singing along, which is good.
16) Broken- Nothing will ever top the first time I saw this live, but it’s always still really good. Words just cannot describe the amount of emotion that Jason puts into it. I love the way it builds and how he goes into the slight moaning and the “I’m still breathing” and the “yeah yeah yeah” parts. So great, and it rocks so much at the end. When the song was finished, it actually looked like Jason was about to throw up... he just gets THAT into it, it’s amazing. We cheered wildly, it was just such a great show!
Notes about the show itself, in general:
-Bryce now seems to have two favorite moves– the spin (where he spins in a circle on stage), and the bunny hop (self-explanatory, usually moves backwards when he does it). He did both of these several times throughout the show.
-I have no idea when he said it, but sometime during the show, Jason said that this was the first time they’d ever played sandwiched between a Hard Rock Café and a bowling alley. He said they were going to go bowling later and if anyone wanted to join them, they’d be in Lane 12. (He’s so full of crap.) He also said that he recommended the herb chicken and potatoes at Hard Rock, except he pronounced the “h” in herb... which you’re not supposed to do... so we giggled.
-Jason kept sticking out his tongue during the show, especially when things were really rocking. He made some GREAT faces that night.
-They looked SO incredibly happy to be performing up on that stage. I haven’t seen them look like that in awhile. I think it was because the crowd was good, they were getting to headline, and they were closer together on stage (unlike these massive festival and ampitheater stages they’ve been playing) so they could feed off of each other’s energy. It makes me happy to see them having such a good time on stage.
Anyway, after the guys left the stage, we hung around to try to get a setlist or something, but the crew was nowhere to be seen. When Ian finally came back on stage I yelled “IAN!” and he turned around, kind of confused. I met the guy back in April but barely talked to him, and I’ve seen him many times since then but haven’t talked to him at all. So, it probably freaked him out to have some random chick yell out his name. So he looked at me like “...yes?” and I put on my best puppy dog face and pointed to Bryce’s setlist (Maureen had gotten Jason’s from a security guy) and said “Can I have that?” He leaned down to get it, but then handed it to a security guy at the right edge of the stage. I was like, ohhh harsh... but he was kind of smirking/smiling and looking at me when he did it, and he then walked across the stage and picked up Ben’s setlist. He leaned down to the security guy and pointed to me and asked him to make sure he handed it to me. I was like, aww thank you! So even if I did freak him out, he was still kind enough to joke around and give me the setlist, so a big thank you to Ian. Around this time, security started to make anyone who wasn’t 21 leave. Amanda and Maureen aren’t 21, but we kind of lingered around anyway. We did shift to the area back behind the stage, where there were fewer security guys. We really didn’t know if the guys were going to come out, or where they even were at this point, since the bus had been moved and was nowhere to be seen. Finally I went over to say goodbye to Winnie, and he said he thought the guys might be gone but he really wasn’t sure; he didn’t know if they were on the bus or not. We chatted with him for awhile, then said hello to the singer from Jag Star since she was standing nearby. Since Winnie really seemed unsure about us being able to see the guys, and the bus was nowhere in sight, we sadly decided to head out. Well... that was the plan, until we got out of the 4th Street Live Area and saw the bus parked around the corner. We decided to sit around and wait for a bit, just in case they did happen to show up. About 10 minutes later, the bus started up and pulled away, but it ended up that it was just circling the block so it could back in to load up the equipment. They actually got it backed in on the first try this time. We were kind of unsure about what to do, so we ended up meandering back down the sidewalk to where the bus was and chilled by a big planter. There was still no sign of the guys, we didn’t know if they were on the bus, at a hotel, still in Hard Rock, or what.
It’s always a huge mental battle at this point, because I always want to say goodbye to the guys, but I also hate to look like a stalker creep. But we chose to wait, so we waited... and waited. After awhile, you reach a point where you’ve already wasted so much time that you figure you might as well just sit there looking pathetic until they show up or the bus leaves. This is basically what we did. Whenever this happens, I get incredibly paranoid against my own will and become convinced that everyone thinks I’m a freak. Meanwhile, most of the crew was fiddling around with the driver-side mirror on the bus. Apparently it had been damaged, so they dismantled it and were trying to put it back on. Every time a crew member walked near us, I felt weird again and wanted to sink into the pavement. At one point, I finally did just sit down on the sidewalk. Now, the concert had been over for at least an hour and a half, but we couldn’t make ourselves move. Finally I leaned back on the sidewalk to stretch and see Rick, Ben, and Bryce heading to get on the bus, I’m not entirely sure where they came from. I think I made some really disgusting surprised grunting noise to alert the other girls, then we all stood up and probably looked amazingly sad and pathetic. They actually realized we were standing there at that point, and one of the guys (maybe Ben) said they’d come back out. They all came back out a minute later eating pieces of pizza and gathered around the whole mirror operation, then came over to say hello. (Jason wasn’t with them, and when we asked if he’d come out, they said no... not sure why, but whatever, we got to see him earlier in the day at least!) The first thing we said was “We’re sorry we’re still here....” but they were all like, oh no problem, thanks for staying to say hi, etc. Bryce informed us that that was the best piece of pizza he’d ever had. I doubt this, because it didn’t even look that good... maybe he was just hungry. Ben hugged us hello (oh Ben hugs <3) and Rick kind of bowed at us or something, I’m not entirely sure what it was. I think he was being more germophobic than usual and didn’t actually want to touch anyone.
As I was about to hug Bryce, I was like, this will be goodbye for awhile! In mid-hug, he stops and is like “What? Come on, every time you say you won’t see us for awhile, you show up five days later in the front row!!” So we start to argue with him about how 1) That’s not true [though I love that we have that reputation] and 2) It’s definitely not going to happen this summer because we’re not paying that much money to see them play 9 songs opening for the Goo’s anymore. He still did not believe us and said “I bet you 20 bucks that you’ll go to another show [this summer/during this tour]!” Naturally we accepted the bet because we know we aren’t going to go to any more GGD shows. But THEN we argued that if they add any headlining shows to the schedule during the Goo tour, those could not technically count as part of the bet since they weren’t with the Goo’s. Much more arguing later, he agreed to these terms, but he still thinks we’ll go to another show. He was like, you can pay me while I’m playing. Hah. Can’t wait until we get to hold up a sign that says “You owe us 20 bucks!” in the fall. We WILL hold him to this bet. You hear that Bryce? You better have two $10 bills ready for us.
We decided we should probably get out of their hair at this point, so we got one more goodbye hug from Ben. Somewhere in there I had the three of them sign my setlist, but I don’t recall when that happened. I do know that they all had to borrow my Sharpie since none of them had one on them. Rick was fascinated by my retractable Sharpie and played with it for a bit before handing it back to me. Anyway, we said our goodbyes and walked off feeling quite happy that we’d decided to stay, no matter how stupid we looked or felt. We walked Maureen and her sister back to their hotel, then headed back to the parking garage, crossing paths with the departing tour bus along the way. We got back to the car and headed home, Ama and I slept but I kept waking up since I was nervous that Mom would fall asleep and drive off the road and kill us. We got Ama home safely and I stayed up the rest of the way home so Mom wouldn’t fall asleep. We got home at just before 4 in the morning... ew. Mom and I both had work Friday so THAT was interesting, but it was so worth it. Anyway, I love them and I always will. 18 shows and this still has not gotten old. It was just a great day... getting to give Jase his present, having a nice place to wait and hang out all day, seeing the entire set-up and soundcheck process, rocking out during the fantastic show, and having the chance to say goodbye. I really couldn’t have asked for anything more. :-)
Whew... that was a lot of typing. I don’t think I’ll always put this much detail in the future, it takes so darn long to type out. If you read it all, I love you.
Around 5 I went to the bathroom, and when I got back, the crew was back onstage checking mics and drums and guitars again. Maureen and her sister came at this point and got a spot right behind us in the center. We figured that since the stage was out in the open and there were people around, the guys probably wouldn’t do a normal soundcheck. Well, around 5:15 or so, we see Rick pop up by his drums and sit down, then Jason and Ben walk on stage as well. As it turns out, they were going to do a normal soundcheck after all, much to our happiness, since I’d never seen one, just heard bits and pieces. Jason walked towards the front of the stage and was like, “Hey guys... guess you get to see soundcheck today!” We must’ve cheered or said “yay” or something along those lines, because he then laughed and said “It’s not that exciting...” Ben waved to us, and he completely looked like a skater boy, he was wearing these Dickies shorts and slip-on Vans. I don’t think I’d ever seen him in anything but jeans, so it was kinda funny. Meanwhile, Bryce was nowhere to be found, but he showed up eventually, looking a little worse for wear. I don’t know if it was the fact that he was wearing a white shirt or what, but he looked kind of sick and pale and like he’d just rolled out of bed. Which was probably what had happened, seeing as how he was later than the rest of them. We were concerned for awhile that he was actually sick, but I think he was just tired. Anyway, we got to hear them play 4 songs in soundcheck- first they did AIEGFO, with the extended rock outro. It was funny though, instead of rocking out while they played, they were just kind of standing there, so it looked odd because the lack of movement didn’t match the music. After that, they played Bridges, Disarray, and part of Somewhere In Between, then left the stage and were escorted into Hard Rock Café by Damien. I think that their “backstage” area may have been in there. Winnie and Ian used green tape to mark the location of the pedals, then moved the pedals and mics offstage and started helping the opening band with setting up their stuff. The band was called Jag Star, and we’d never heard of them but I was intrigued by the fact that there was a girl in the band. As it turns out, she was the lead singer and played keyboard on some of their songs. She was like “Hi... you guys aren’t supposed to see soundcheck!” and laughed. They played a few songs and I liked their sound, so I was fairly excited to see them play. We clapped after both songs and she was like, “Thanks! But shhh you didn’t see that!” They left the stage, and at this point, we had a little over an hour to go until the show started . A lot more people had shown up by this point and the area was starting to fill up, so it got the warmest that it had been all day. I really don’t remember a single thing about this time... I guess we just talked and stood there.
Finally, the radio lady came up at 7:30 to introduce Jag Star. According to her, they had a song on the soundtrack for The Hills and were going to be featured on iTunes this week. I had thought they were just a local band, but apparently they’re much more popular than I thought! They brought out setlists and we noticed that they had a TON of songs for an opener, at least 12 but maybe more. I won’t write much about their show itself, just a few things I remember. On some of the songs, Sarah (that’s the girl) just sings, but on others she played keyboard as well. She had a good stage presence, especially in comparison to Colbie Caillat. (Not that I didn’t like Colbie, but she’s got to learn how to work a crowd.) They opened with a song called “Something Different” which I really liked. Overall I enjoyed them and I’ll probably get their music from iTunes or order a cd. If you guys wanna check them out (which you should), check out www.myspace.com/jagstar
We think that Sarah and the guitarist (he also sings) may have a little something going on, but we weren’t entirely sure. There was also a bass player and a drummer, I forgot to mention that. For their last song, she told all the boys in the crowd that they “could sit this one out” and they did a good cover of “Just a Girl” by No Doubt. It was a fun way to end their set, which was over at about 8:35. When they were all done, they started tearing their stuff down and the LH crew guys came back out to set everything back up. Finally, at 9, we see Damien bring the guys out of the Hard Rock Café and the crowd started cheering. I think they had all changed outfits from whatever they’d been wearing earlier during soundcheck. When they got up on stage I got that stupid happy excited feeling I always get, even though I’d already seen them earlier in the day. There were people up on the second level of the area who could easily see us and make fun of us for rocking out, but I decided I just did not care and had a BLAST during the entire show. I’ll try to add details about certain songs, so here we go:
1)Spin- I’m still not used to having this song to open a set, but I think it works well to pump up the crowd. Plus, you can’t help but get excited when you hear the opening percussion that they do when they play it live. It rocked, we rocked out, life was good.
2) Hanging by a Moment- The music never completely stops between Spin and HBAM, it just flows into this one. I’m also not used to this being so early in the set, but again, it works. The crowd sang along decently towards the end when they quiet the music down. At first we were worried about the crowd, but it got really good once Lifehouse actually started playing. After the song was over, Jason greeted Louisville and the crowd went bonkers, so we didn’t really need to worry.
3) Whatever It Takes- Some intro music for this started while J was talking, I’ve noticed it in the past and I think it’s a pedal loop effect cause I don’t recall seeing anyone actually playing. This is where he sings the “ba ba ba” part all by himself and it’s quite lovely and impressive. This song is great live. Especially when he does the “ba ba” in the middle, because he knocks it down an octave or so and really belts it out.
4) AIEGFO- They still play this with Ben’s intro. This is one of my favorite LH songs so it’s always good to hear it. The rock outro of this is really great, Bryce gets a fun little bass part and they all seemed to be really enjoying themselves (you may not be able to see the facial expressions in the video, but they were adorable). Jason came out on the speaker to our left and worked the crowd while he was playing, and stuck his tongue out at least once. In Columbus in April and in Milwaukee, they went from this outro right into Quasi and it was amazing, but this time they didn’t :-( It was still great though. When they finished the song, Jason was like “Just to let you all know, if you were thinking of standing on that speaker, don’t... it’s really wobbly.”
5) Somewhere In Between- For once, J did not tell the story for this song. This is another one of my faves, I’ve had an emotional connection to it for years, especially since I choreographed that ballet dance to it. It’s just so pretty :-) Jason was totally turning us into JIHers on this one. I used to think I was over the whole “eye contact” thing, but when he does it and hasn’t in awhile...yeah. That’s all I’m saying on that, haha.
6) Who We Are- Someone has probably mentioned it, but Ben plays a little percussion thing during the verses on this song. After the second verse he doesn’t use it anymore, so Ian slips out of the shadows like a little stage ninja and takes it away before you know what happens. I really enjoy this one live, it’s a lot of fun to dance to. Especially at the very end when the drum beats become more pronounced, you probably know what I mean.
7) Better Luck Next Time- Gaaaaah this one is so amazing live. I think I mentioned it back in April, but they do the beginning of this one different now, they make it much more dramatic. The music starts all quiet and he sings “Sometimes we fall, ain’t nothing new to me, don’t get me wrong...” but then he pauses and the music swells up for several beats before he sings “I’m the son you gave....” (Another pause and music swelling) then sings “...up for this child now ” then it all comes crashing in on “STOP” in a blaze of rock glory. Haha. It’s amazing. And Bryce completely rocks the chorus when he sings it. He always has, but he was particularly on it tonight.
8) The Joke- Ama and I always screech loudly when he introduces this song, it’s just become a habit. This one is just so fun to dance to, I know the subject matter is really sad but you just cannot help it. The tempo they play this at seems to vary by show, I think it depends on the crowd... if the crowd is lame they play it slower than on the album, but if they crowd is better, then they up the tempo. This crowd was good, so they played it faster.
9) Empty Space- So. Freakin. Gorgeous. When the other guys left the stage and J introduced this one, he said it was a song from their second album that they didn’t play often, but lately he’d been feeling it. I didn’t get to fully enjoy this one in Milwaukee because there were so many screaming girls and talking security guards. He just gets so into it, and he did the ending of this one in a way I’d never heard him do it before. He was doing all these different things with his voice and my jaw just dropped. I keep watching the video of it because I can’t get enough of it. He certainly was “feeling it,” the amount of emotion he puts into it is amazing. He did once sing “amazing” instead of “confusing,” but I don’t think most people noticed, since it’s not a song that a lot of people know well.
10) Bridges- For some reason I don’t remember much about this one at all... I think I was still high off of Empty Space. I do know that Bryce introduced the other guys after this song (“I’d like to introduce these fine young lads...” haha), then Jason introduced Bryce.
11) Take Me Away- This is basically the superfan theme song... anytime I see them play it, it reminds me just how much I love doing what we do. Such a good song.
12) Storm- I really do like this version of the song, unlike many people, but there just does not seem to be a good place in the set for it. That being said though, it was still very pretty. He did something a little different at the end, I just don’t recall what it was, but I think you guys already noticed that in the video that someone posted.
13) Disarray- This was a pretty good set-ender, since it rocks a lot. Whenever it gets to the last song of their main set, I can’t believe that it’s almost over. The guys left the stage to lots of cheering, but the cheering didn’t keep up too well, so we had to keep screaming to get other people to yell for the encore.
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14) You and Me- The guys came back out to lots more cheering. They went into You and Me and as always, while the rest of the crowd freaks out, we were like, “eh....” Haha ;-) When it gets to a chorus towards the end, Jason said “Alright, sing this with me!” or something along those lines. The crowd did sing along quite loudly, and Jason looked back at Rick, and Rick grinned and mouthed “Nice!!” in response to the amount of people singing.
15) First Time- This song is great live, I have no idea why it never comes across as well on tv. I think maybe J gets nervous in front of tv cameras? Anyway, it’s great and upbeat and Jason seemed to be nodding happily during this one too, so I think a lot of people were singing along, which is good.
16) Broken- Nothing will ever top the first time I saw this live, but it’s always still really good. Words just cannot describe the amount of emotion that Jason puts into it. I love the way it builds and how he goes into the slight moaning and the “I’m still breathing” and the “yeah yeah yeah” parts. So great, and it rocks so much at the end. When the song was finished, it actually looked like Jason was about to throw up... he just gets THAT into it, it’s amazing. We cheered wildly, it was just such a great show!
Notes about the show itself, in general:
-Bryce now seems to have two favorite moves– the spin (where he spins in a circle on stage), and the bunny hop (self-explanatory, usually moves backwards when he does it). He did both of these several times throughout the show.
-I have no idea when he said it, but sometime during the show, Jason said that this was the first time they’d ever played sandwiched between a Hard Rock Café and a bowling alley. He said they were going to go bowling later and if anyone wanted to join them, they’d be in Lane 12. (He’s so full of crap.) He also said that he recommended the herb chicken and potatoes at Hard Rock, except he pronounced the “h” in herb... which you’re not supposed to do... so we giggled.
-Jason kept sticking out his tongue during the show, especially when things were really rocking. He made some GREAT faces that night.
-They looked SO incredibly happy to be performing up on that stage. I haven’t seen them look like that in awhile. I think it was because the crowd was good, they were getting to headline, and they were closer together on stage (unlike these massive festival and ampitheater stages they’ve been playing) so they could feed off of each other’s energy. It makes me happy to see them having such a good time on stage.
Anyway, after the guys left the stage, we hung around to try to get a setlist or something, but the crew was nowhere to be seen. When Ian finally came back on stage I yelled “IAN!” and he turned around, kind of confused. I met the guy back in April but barely talked to him, and I’ve seen him many times since then but haven’t talked to him at all. So, it probably freaked him out to have some random chick yell out his name. So he looked at me like “...yes?” and I put on my best puppy dog face and pointed to Bryce’s setlist (Maureen had gotten Jason’s from a security guy) and said “Can I have that?” He leaned down to get it, but then handed it to a security guy at the right edge of the stage. I was like, ohhh harsh... but he was kind of smirking/smiling and looking at me when he did it, and he then walked across the stage and picked up Ben’s setlist. He leaned down to the security guy and pointed to me and asked him to make sure he handed it to me. I was like, aww thank you! So even if I did freak him out, he was still kind enough to joke around and give me the setlist, so a big thank you to Ian. Around this time, security started to make anyone who wasn’t 21 leave. Amanda and Maureen aren’t 21, but we kind of lingered around anyway. We did shift to the area back behind the stage, where there were fewer security guys. We really didn’t know if the guys were going to come out, or where they even were at this point, since the bus had been moved and was nowhere to be seen. Finally I went over to say goodbye to Winnie, and he said he thought the guys might be gone but he really wasn’t sure; he didn’t know if they were on the bus or not. We chatted with him for awhile, then said hello to the singer from Jag Star since she was standing nearby. Since Winnie really seemed unsure about us being able to see the guys, and the bus was nowhere in sight, we sadly decided to head out. Well... that was the plan, until we got out of the 4th Street Live Area and saw the bus parked around the corner. We decided to sit around and wait for a bit, just in case they did happen to show up. About 10 minutes later, the bus started up and pulled away, but it ended up that it was just circling the block so it could back in to load up the equipment. They actually got it backed in on the first try this time. We were kind of unsure about what to do, so we ended up meandering back down the sidewalk to where the bus was and chilled by a big planter. There was still no sign of the guys, we didn’t know if they were on the bus, at a hotel, still in Hard Rock, or what.
It’s always a huge mental battle at this point, because I always want to say goodbye to the guys, but I also hate to look like a stalker creep. But we chose to wait, so we waited... and waited. After awhile, you reach a point where you’ve already wasted so much time that you figure you might as well just sit there looking pathetic until they show up or the bus leaves. This is basically what we did. Whenever this happens, I get incredibly paranoid against my own will and become convinced that everyone thinks I’m a freak. Meanwhile, most of the crew was fiddling around with the driver-side mirror on the bus. Apparently it had been damaged, so they dismantled it and were trying to put it back on. Every time a crew member walked near us, I felt weird again and wanted to sink into the pavement. At one point, I finally did just sit down on the sidewalk. Now, the concert had been over for at least an hour and a half, but we couldn’t make ourselves move. Finally I leaned back on the sidewalk to stretch and see Rick, Ben, and Bryce heading to get on the bus, I’m not entirely sure where they came from. I think I made some really disgusting surprised grunting noise to alert the other girls, then we all stood up and probably looked amazingly sad and pathetic. They actually realized we were standing there at that point, and one of the guys (maybe Ben) said they’d come back out. They all came back out a minute later eating pieces of pizza and gathered around the whole mirror operation, then came over to say hello. (Jason wasn’t with them, and when we asked if he’d come out, they said no... not sure why, but whatever, we got to see him earlier in the day at least!) The first thing we said was “We’re sorry we’re still here....” but they were all like, oh no problem, thanks for staying to say hi, etc. Bryce informed us that that was the best piece of pizza he’d ever had. I doubt this, because it didn’t even look that good... maybe he was just hungry. Ben hugged us hello (oh Ben hugs <3) and Rick kind of bowed at us or something, I’m not entirely sure what it was. I think he was being more germophobic than usual and didn’t actually want to touch anyone.
As I was about to hug Bryce, I was like, this will be goodbye for awhile! In mid-hug, he stops and is like “What? Come on, every time you say you won’t see us for awhile, you show up five days later in the front row!!” So we start to argue with him about how 1) That’s not true [though I love that we have that reputation] and 2) It’s definitely not going to happen this summer because we’re not paying that much money to see them play 9 songs opening for the Goo’s anymore. He still did not believe us and said “I bet you 20 bucks that you’ll go to another show [this summer/during this tour]!” Naturally we accepted the bet because we know we aren’t going to go to any more GGD shows. But THEN we argued that if they add any headlining shows to the schedule during the Goo tour, those could not technically count as part of the bet since they weren’t with the Goo’s. Much more arguing later, he agreed to these terms, but he still thinks we’ll go to another show. He was like, you can pay me while I’m playing. Hah. Can’t wait until we get to hold up a sign that says “You owe us 20 bucks!” in the fall. We WILL hold him to this bet. You hear that Bryce? You better have two $10 bills ready for us.
We decided we should probably get out of their hair at this point, so we got one more goodbye hug from Ben. Somewhere in there I had the three of them sign my setlist, but I don’t recall when that happened. I do know that they all had to borrow my Sharpie since none of them had one on them. Rick was fascinated by my retractable Sharpie and played with it for a bit before handing it back to me. Anyway, we said our goodbyes and walked off feeling quite happy that we’d decided to stay, no matter how stupid we looked or felt. We walked Maureen and her sister back to their hotel, then headed back to the parking garage, crossing paths with the departing tour bus along the way. We got back to the car and headed home, Ama and I slept but I kept waking up since I was nervous that Mom would fall asleep and drive off the road and kill us. We got Ama home safely and I stayed up the rest of the way home so Mom wouldn’t fall asleep. We got home at just before 4 in the morning... ew. Mom and I both had work Friday so THAT was interesting, but it was so worth it. Anyway, I love them and I always will. 18 shows and this still has not gotten old. It was just a great day... getting to give Jase his present, having a nice place to wait and hang out all day, seeing the entire set-up and soundcheck process, rocking out during the fantastic show, and having the chance to say goodbye. I really couldn’t have asked for anything more. :-)
Whew... that was a lot of typing. I don’t think I’ll always put this much detail in the future, it takes so darn long to type out. If you read it all, I love you.
but i highly doubt it will be this awesome! 
. I'd also like to know if anybody has an HD copy of Lifehouse at Pinkpop 2003. BY far their best concert ever