NJ shows

[Minka]

Going from the Rzeznik ballad "Become" to the Takac rocker "Tucked Away" was a strangely schizophrenic experience, like putting Bryan Adams on the same stage with Kiss. ;D

Thanks

[katelyn]

Ok, so who else is going to the Atlantic City show on Friday? I'm so exciteddd! ;D

[katelyn]

I'm planning on getting there early and just hanging out until the show starts. As for cameras...I'm not really sure. I've never seen a show at Borgata before and I couldn't find their policy on cameras anywhere. I'm going to bring mine, worst comes to worst I'll leave it in the car.

[mbrown83]

Glad you had a great time!!!!!!

Look forward to seeing the pics and video!

[katelyn]

Sorry for the delay, my house was struck by lightning in a really bad storm yesterday morning. We got hit pretty bad (the computer system in my dad's truck is fried, no internet, phone, cable, or hot water, plus it ruined our one of our tvs, a computer, and my brother's Wii, and a couple other things) but I think it could have been a lot worse and at least my family's ok. Anyway, my review. It's long, sorry, I tend to be really detailed when I tell stories. Hope you enjoy!

We (me, my friend, my sisters, and my sister’s best friend) got to Borgata and found the Event Center around 1:30. The day started out in chaos so although we had planned on getting there a little earlier, I was just happy to finally be there. We arrived prepared to camp out until the concert started but when we got there we found out that there was no line. No line. Why was there no line? Because Borgata is stupid. Even though it was a GA show, they didn’t want us lining up beforehand. There was a fan going around who was making an unofficial line (she had been there since 9am) so she took our names and gave us number 14. So we decided to walk around the casino and to keep checking back so we could be around when people started gathering. So we took a trip back to the car to put some of our stuff down then decided to do a little exploring. We decided to get some gelato and while we were there one of the guys next to us asked if we wanted him to take our picture. We said sure and as he got up we realized he had a GGD all-access pass on which made my sister really excited. We continued to walk around and met up with two of my other friends from school who were planning on gambling until the show.

So we went back to hang around by the entrance to the actual venue. We were standing there and I looked down the walkway to the right and I see this tall guy with long blond hair. Then I look and the guy next to him is wearing a black hoodie. I said to myself, “omg, that’s Jason and Bryce.” I pointed them out to my sisters and friends and they all started freaking out. I didn’t want to be a crazy stalker, but I did want to say hi to the guys considering it was my seventh show and the only other time I had met them had been at a meet and greet/cd signing after one of the other shows. After I spotted them they snuck behind some slot machines but we finally found them and caught up with them. By that time Ben had met up with them so I got their attention and they turned around and said hi to all of us and signed a couple things. By then we had attracted a few more people so I asked someone to take a picture of all of us (I got so lucky, right in between Jason and Bryce!). I don’t remember exactly what we talked with them about, but Ben did remember us from when we talked with him in Milwaukee a few weeks ago so that made me happy. They seemed like they were in a hurry, they were on their way to soundcheck, so they told us to enjoy the show and we made our way back to the crowd gathering in front of the venue entrance.

The rest of the afternoon consisted of a horrible cycle of security coming and making everyone leave, then everyone would come back, then they would make us leave again, it was ridiculous. Eventually we decided to find some food so we found a little deli place then went up to meet with my two other friends who were down in the food court. They weren’t the only two people there, Bryce and Ben were down there eating too. I really didn’t want to bother them while they were eating so despite a couple objections we went back upstairs to see what was going on with the line situation. It’s a good thing we got there when we did because now it’s 6:00 (doors opened at 7, show started at 8) and there’s a whole crowd of people standing around. Again, security came through and forced everyone to leave. They were yelling and threatening to take tickets so we tried to stay out of their way. Eventually it just got ridiculous and a group of people refused to move and we joined in with that crowd. The scene was absolute chaos, once they realized we weren’t leaving, they tried to get us to back up, but there were people everywhere and nowhere to go, it was a mess. It was soooo disorganized, the worst system ever. The whole thing could have been avoided had they just given us somewhere to line up. So from the casino floor there was an escalator that led up to a big room and then from that room there were two doors that led to the venue itself. So we made it upstairs and hopped in one of the lines. There were probably about 20 people in front of us, which wasn’t too bad, just frustrating because not everyone had been there as long as us. We waited in that line for about forty-five minutes then they opened the doors. We made it through security quickly then ‘walked’ up to the stage as fast as we could. I ended up right in the center of the stage, three people deep, pretty good considering what we had been through. I expected the crowd to be pretty crazy because everyone was so riled up because of the incompetent security guards but overall they were pretty good, except for the couple to my right. They were the rudest, most inconsiderate, obnoxious people I have ever met. They were pushy and loud and absolutely horrible. Luckily they were quiet once the music started which I was very thankful for.

I was so happy when Colbie Caillet finally came onstage. My opinion of her hasn’t really changed, I like her voice, I like her songs, I think she has potential, but she has no stage presence. My sister was excited to find out that the guy who took our picture in the gelato shop was actually her keyboardist. I don’t know if anyone else has picked up on this, but I think she has a bit of a love triangle going on with her bandmates, me and my sisters all noticed. She seems totally into the guitarist (she was singing and smiling at him an awful lot) but the drummer would not stop staring at her! There seemed to be a lot of sexual tension on that stage, it was kind of funny and weird at the same time.

We were psyched when LH finally came on stage, especially since Jason’s mic was directly in front of me. Their setlist was:
Spin
HBAM
WIT
WWA
Beast of Burden(!)
The Joke
YAM
First Time
Broken
As always, they sounded incredible. The show was rockin’. Beast of Burden was even better live, I was really excited to hear it. When Jason introduced it he said something like, some of you may know this song. Once they started singing people realized what it was and started singing along. It sounded amazing, I was really happy I got to hear it. It seemed to me like there was a pretty decent turnout of Lifehouse fans, more so than some of the other shows I’ve been to. Broken was intense, I love that song so much and nothing compares to seeing it live. We all had sooo much fun, I definitely converted four more people into LH addicts, hehe.

I didn’t want LH to leave the stage but the GGD put on a really good show. Johnny was in a really good mood, he was jumping and bouncing around all over the place. I got a couple funny videos of him talking to the audience. He messed up Acoustic #3 AGAIN. He messed it up at the other NJ show last week then messed it up again last night. This time I caught it on tape, ha. I actually got a couple good vids of Johnny talking to the audience.

Despite the hassle that security gave us and the idiots standing next to me, the show was a huge success. Lifehouse more than made up for everything that went wrong. I can’t wait until the headlining tour! ;D


Pictures:new.photos.yahoo.com/kateydid514/album/576460762405057487
My LH pictures didn't come out too great, some did, but a lot of them were blurry for some reason. I don't know, maybe it was the lighting during their set because my GGD pictures were a lot clearer.

[Minka]

at least nothing happened to you and your family.

Thanks for the review and pix. Will you also upload your vids? I'd love to see Johnny messing up Acoustic #3 ;D

[gogonutz]

csicsi said:

Hey, nice review! Thanks for sharing your pictures.
>Pic< *lol* I love Ben's expression on this one. since when does he play drums? XD

that's the "Bang-Standard" basically a standard with iron strips on it that he just bangs the crap out during the intro of Who We Are

[meesh]

I would have flipped OUT if I had been at that show and had to deal with that line mess! I'm glad you survived it.

I'm sooo jealous that you guys got to hear Beast of Burden!