+lampshade

best shows of 2009

so, here we are. the last few days of the decade. it doesn’t feel like the end of a decade, but i suppose when the first decade-ending new years eve you celebrated was also a millennium/y2k/end of the world event, a simple decade seems kind of insignificant.

anyway. i’m about to list my favorite shows of the past year, but before i do, i realized that last year i forgot to add the tom petty & steve winwood show at the american airlines center in dallas to my list. i don’t know how this one got overlooked since it. was. awesome. but alas, it did. but now it hasn’t. on with the show…

#1 - BLUE OCTOBER - DFest (Tulsa, 25 July)

justin furstenfeld (photo credit: me)

it’s hard for me to put this show into words. they are quite possibly my favorite band. my friends and i used to see them at the small venues in tulsa and stillwater back in the day right as “calling you” was becoming a hit. they opened with “independently happy” which is one of my favorite songs. they didn’t play as many old songs as i’d like (though they did play “chameleon boy”) but they also didn’t play a ton off their newest album which made me happy (i don’t like it much. it’s lacking in the substance that their other albums have had).

there are so few bands anymore that can capture me and take me away from everything else and get me in that zone. you know where nothing matters, you feel like you’re connected to the band and you just want to scream “i know EXACTLY what you’re saying.” i just feel so….connected when i see blue october. i’ve been pretty depressed (in the past and in the present) and listing to them just does the trick. they have never failed to raise my spirits and make me feel better. so it’s already a great show and they’re totally on and they start playing “into the ocean” and when they get to the bridge and justin opens his arms and sings “let the rain come down”…

it starts POURING.

literally.

it was magical. that’s really all i can say. it gave me chills.

for the rest of the set i was basically in blue october euphoria. i only have two downsides: one, they didn’t play “a quiet mind” and two, during “hate me” (i think) when justin sang “i’ve been sober now for three whole months” he visibly crossed his fingers which made me kind of sad. i only met him once or twice back in the day, but i know that he’s been through a LOT of shit in his life and has and is battling lots of stuff, and the thought of him slipping back make me a little sad. i’m not completely sure why, but maybe when you put so much store in a person’s words and give those words healing power…it doesn’t make you feel like they were empty words, but…i don’t know.

#2 - FLEETWOOD MAC - BOK Center (Tulsa, 3 May)

stevie nicks & mick fleetwood (photo credit: sherry brown - tulsa world)

if there was ever any doubt in my mind that music is the greatest thing in the world or that it wasn’t the best form of therapy, that doubt was eradicated after two songs. i just…i think a lot of it (as is the case with all of my “all time greatest concerts”) has to do with where you are at that moment. what’s been going on in your life, what state you’re in. in this case i was pretty down for a number of reasons, one of which was the looming $2,000 i was going to have to find since my transmission croaked the night before this show.

fleetwood mac just played amazing song after amazing song. “the chain” “tusk” “rhiannon” “sara” “landslide” “big love” “gold dust woman” “go your own way” they even played “oh well” which is circa the bob welch incarnation of fleetwood mac! that was probably the biggest surprise. you could not stop your foot from moving or your hands from tapping or your body from swaying. mick fleetwood and john mcvie are quite possibly the best rhythm section in rock and roll. i was inexplicably emotional for the first couple of songs. i don’t know if it was because i’d had such a string of bad news the past 24 hours or if it was because i was seeing one of my all time favorite bands, a band that is kind of in that category of “will i ever get to see them live before they stop playing for good?” i don’t know what it was, but it was an absolutely magical experience.

mick and john were absolutely solid. stevie sounded fantastic, especially for her age, and i rarely like female singers. (actually i can count the female singers i like on one hand: stevie, christine mcvie, chrissie hynde and tori amos). and lindsey buckingham… you know, he seems so full of himself and i remember how pissy he was before his solo show at the brady a few years ago. normally that conceitedness and gallivanting around the stage drawing out applause would annoy the hell out of me but you know what… he’s that fucking good.

so it definitely knocked someone out of my “top five greatest shows i’ve ever seen” i’m just not sure which yet. i might have to change it to a “top six.”

#3 - THE FEDS Final Show - The Marquee (Tulsa, 10 January)

matt slider & the feds (photo credit: mike hulett)

the feds are the best band you’ve never heard. they are so fucking good, but it just never clicked for them. their last show was a huge deal and it was even cooler that they had it in tulsa. i saw pretty much everyone i’ve ever known in the music scene there. they sounded so fantastic and had all the old members there, rotating in and out depending on the songs. at one point they did a justin/glen/ben triple drum solo. simply epic.

it didn’t really start to get emotional until aidan got up on stage and started talking about the feds and how they renewed his faith in music and made him believe in rock n roll again and how they’re all amazing, generous people on top of it all. they played a few more songs. played “a touch of panic” for the encore. and that was it. the end of the last great rock band of my (relative) youth.

#4 - OSO CLOSO CD Release - Hailey’s (Denton, 4 September)

(photo credit: me)

yet another show whose impact has a lot to do with circumstances surrounding the event. i know i say this every time, but i absolutely cannot put into words how happy this band makes me when i see them live. just…pure joy. for the release show they had a full orchestra and shaun, the keyboard player from snarky puppy. sick. absolutely sick. they played pretty much, if not the, whole album plus “sheila” and “ruiner” from rest…and they played their chipotle song!!! (they entered a contest where the goal was to create commercial for chipotle. the jingle alone is catchy as fuck and the video is hilarious. they ended up winning the contest, receiving $10,000 and their own burrito (oso closo burrito) on the menu. they told us this news at the show.)

so the show was mind-blowingly fantastic. my brother, geoff, and i picked up our custom-painted cigar boxes and cds (and i finally got my oso closo pillow from the fabulous amy donaldson) and we left for home. on the way i was perusing the liner notes and saw that the boys thanked me. that on top of the show and the pillow and the cigar box and the show again pretty much made my night. so. happy.

#5 - KINGS OF LEON - Ford Center (OKC, 3 October)

(photo credit: kraviz - filmmagic - rollingstone)

i love the genuineness that emanates when a band plays a hometown show. they speak, they care, they play harder, their faces light up when the crowd sings their songs back to them. at one point, caleb caught himself getting too sappy and said, “sorry, i don’t mean to sound like bono.” the setlist was perfect. they played everything i wanted to hear and then some. however, the encore was the highlight. they opened with “closer” which is my favorite song. i was worried that they weren’t going to play it even though that song is absolutely built for a big arena show (the echoing guitar and the drums in the beginning!). but they played that and “use somebody” and a couple other old ones that i knew, but couldn’t name. the entire show was absolutely fantastic and invigorating. it made me happy.

#6 - ERIC CLAPTON & STEVE WINWOOD - American Airlines Center (Dallas, 23 June)

(photo credit: kubacheck)

our seats were good…for shitty seats, if you know what i mean. the show was good. it was definitely not the “eric clapton show” it was blind faith, 1970s blues rock at its best. it all felt very authentic. it didn’t connect with me as much as fleetwood mac and i was surprised by that, but it was still pretty amazing to not only get to see eric clapton live, but see him play and trade the lead back and forth with someone as talented and storied as steve winwood. the highlight was their cover of “voodoo chile,” the original track four from electric ladyland. not “slight return” but the full 15 minute jam. amazing, and dad and i checked wikipedia after and found out that steve winwood played the hammond on the original recording. so amazing.

#7 - RENT - Music Hall at Fair Park (Dallas, 10 May)

anthony rapp & adam pascal (photo credit: broadwaysd.com)

yes, rent is a musical. but it’s a freaking ROCK musical so it counts. AND this tour featured adam pascal and anthony rapp! for those of you who don’t know, adam pascal and anthony rapp are THE ORIGINAL lead characters (roger and mark, respectively) in rent. they also reprised the roles in the 2005 movie. i mean, they ARE these characters. not only were they the first people to ever play these characters, the ones who performed rent for the first time days after jonathan larson died, but anthony was actually part of the workshop before the show was even cast. i mean, these guys are the closest you can get to the heart of rent without jonathan larson.

i mean, rent was such a huge part of my life in high school. i NEVER thought i’d get to see any of the original cast members perform. EVER. but to watch as adam and anthony sang “what you own” and to see them both on stage…it felt like what i imagine it would be like in new york at the nederlander in the ’90s. just…. $^&@#$

#8 - DAVID COOK - Firelake Grand Casino (Shawnee, 6 November)

neal tiemann (photo credit: me)

almost two years after i last saw him, i finally got to see dave and the boys play again. my friend alexis and i took a mini-roadtrip down to the tiny town of shawnee, oklahoma. despite the room (it was like a hotel ballroom) they sounded really good. i’m kinda bummed i didn’t hear “lie” since that’s by far my favorite song on his record, but i can’t complain. he played a couple old songs, threw in a verse from “hotel california” at one point, had an elvis impersonator jump on stage, and let andy sing lead on “til i’m blue.” the latter made me really miss the late nights at boston’s. all in all it was a great show. i still can’t really grasp the fan reaction that’s happening, it’s crazy. but congrats to him and the boys for all their success.

#9 - DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE - Brady Theater (Tulsa, 12 April)

ben gibbard (photo credit: me)

missed ra ra riot. saw cold war kids. they didn’t play “hang me out to dry” but they were good. just not really a band i’d want to see live again. i prefer them on the album. death cab came out and were AWESOME. played all my favorite songs except “what sara said,” but that doesn’t really surprise me. they didn’t play many piano-oriented songs, on most the piano parts were tracked. i can’t decide if the highlight was “i will possess your heart” or “i will follow you into the dark.” while the latter was beautiful, i think i have to go with “i will possess your heart.” after months of cranking up the volume in my car or getting lost in my headphone during that INCREDIBLE intro, hearing it live, having the sound encompass the whole room… it was amazing.

#10 - PAUL McCARTNEY - BOK Center (Tulsa, 17 August)

rusty anderson & paul mccartney (photo credit: tom gilbert - tulsa world)

honestly, i was a little disappointed in the setlist at first. paul mccartney is one of those cases where, yes, i understand that there is so much more to you than just being a beatle. and you have recorded a ton of music since the beatle days, but let’s be honest, 99% of the crowd wants to hear you play beatles tunes. myself included. thankfully the show picked up by the second half and i had a good time. i’d also seen paul mccartney on his last tour in oklahoma city, so maybe the “OMG it’s paul-freaking-mccartney” shock had worn off and i was a little harder to impress. but a bunch of my friends ended up getting to sit right in front, and i was really happy for them. they are HUGE beatle fans and really deserved that treat.

#11 - THE REMUS LUPINS - Hardesty Library (Tulsa, 2 July)

alex carpenter (photo credit: me)

hey. there’s this genre called wizard rock where bands write music about, inspired by, and sometimes from the point of view of harry potter. and this genre is AWESOME. i was entirely too excited about this, but you know what? i don’t care. i fucking love harry potter and i adore the fandom. it’s the way the music scene should be: fun, friendly, and unpretentious. it’s just a group of people sharing a common passion and there’s no hierarchy. there’s no, “i’m in/know the band, so i’m better than you.” really cool people.

i shot the show, but it was hard to not lose yourself in it. it’s so high-energy and fun. i won’t bore you with the details (like how toby played “hedwig’s theme” on the saxophone as the intro to the amazing song, “remember cedric”) but i had such a great time.

#12 - OSO CLOSO & PARACHUTE MUSICAL - Boiler Room, 51st Street Speakeasy, & Exit 6c - (Denton, OKC, & Tulsa, 12-14 Februrary)

parachute musical (photo credit: me)

let me tell you, this was probably one of the worst weekends in my life. absolutely the lowest point of my year. BUT the three days i spent with these bands were also one of the highlights of my year. i went down to denton on a thursday for some birthday celebrations (belated and one big 2-1 party) and a kick ass rock show. the first night i was introduced to parachute musical. i missed a lot of their set, but what i did hear made me fall in love. this amazing jazz collective called snarky puppy also played in denton. this was also, i believe, my first time seeing oso play in their hometown. totally different (better) vibe than any other time i’d seen them.

i’d intended on spending the weekend in denton with friends, but when everything crashed down on me that night after the show at the boiler room, i decided to head back to oklahoma. i met up with my brother in oklahoma city (about half way home for me) and we had dinner and hung out. as it turned out i was getting ready to leave town about the same time that parachute musical was supposed to go on across town (but on my way home) so i made an impromptu stop by the speakeasy and caught their and oso’s sets and got to hang a little bit more.

the next night they played exit 6c in tulsa, i called everyone i knew to get them out and they didn’t disappoint. i had to get there really early to sneak my brother in (he’d come home for the weekend) so i hung out with the guys and got to know them more. they played. everyone loved them. and the new friends i made and the new music i discovered provided a really nice bright spot to an absolutely shitty past few days.

#13 - RYAN ADAMS - Brady Theater - (Tulsa, 28 Februrary)

(photo credit: mrphoto)

i was lucky to see this show. it was originally scheduled for last october and it ended up falling on the same night as one of my best friend’s bachelorette parties. seeing as how i was in the bridal party, there was no way i was going to be able to go to the show. then, by some luck that i’m not accustomed to, the show was postponed until february. when the time finally came, the show was fantastic. my seats were great. the sound was impeccable. and ryan even seemed to show a little personality during the second set. i also found a great recording from the soundboard a few weeks later.

#14 - OZZY OSBOURNE - Sunset Strip Music Festival - (LA, 12 September)

(photo credit: nate christenson)

alexis and i went out to LA to visit our friend jen for a week. we’d originally planned on going to vegas for the weekend, but when that fell through we hit up the sunset strip music festival. while i wish that my current favorite band, thenewno2, hadn’t canceled, it all turned out to be pretty fun. but the highlight was seeing ozzy freaking osbourne. i can’t say that i’ve ever really been a big fan of him or sabbath or anything. i know of a lot of his songs, but i never thought i’d get as into his show as i did. we were up a hill on a side road off the strip with this perfect view and a perfect breeze…i just got lost in it. he was simply fantastic.

#15 - JONATHAN TYLER and the NORTHERN LIGHTS - House of Blues Pontiac Garage - (Dallas, 10 April)

(photo credit: me)

this was a really last minute show, but i’m glad i went down for it. once i got there my friend beau and i realized it was sold out so we’d already made plans to hang out elsewhere when our wonderful friend lesley somehow procured not one, but two tickets and we all made it anyway. this was the first time i’d seen JTNL with their hometown crowd and, like i mentioned when talking about oso closo, that made for a totally different (better) vibe.

#16 - U2 - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium - (Norman, 18 October)

(photo credit: me)

in protest of having to have the black eyed peas open instead of muse (and because i really can’t stand the black eyed peas anyway) geoff and i went to get dinner at freebirds (this amazing burrito place) instead. with our tummies full we walked across the OU campus and to the stadium. i hadn’t been in there since high school (when we’d sat in the empty stadium all afternoon and film random shorts instead of going to our OIPA classes). our seats were a thousand times better than i thought they’d be. they were behind the stage but practically dead center. we were just high enough that you could see the entire stage without having to turn your head back and forth. that was nice because we got to get the whole picture. and a small but very cool bonus, our row was the first row of actual seats (it was all benches in front of us) and divided from the row in front of us by a rail. the little bit of extra distance between the rows meant that, even with the people in front of us standing up, we could still see sitting down. totally made my day. haha.

the show was fantastic. i still don’t really like U2 (“i still haven’t found what i’m looking for” was awesome) but the spectacle of it all was pretty cool. the stage was mammoth and the video screen was really cool. i just don’t know how bands can perform on that big of a stage. you lose almost all the band member interaction that is, to me, one of the most important parts of a live show. it doesn’t feel like you’re watching a band but four individuals doing four different things to the same song. when i go to a show i want to see the band play together. interact. really become one entity, totally in a groove with one another. but that’s just my opinion. i really did have a much better time than i thought i would (i almost didn’t go).

and that’s that, kiddos. sixteen of my favorite shows from the past year. favorite albums coming in the next few days.

a shot from dfest i really like. nathan price playing with vandevander at the IDL ballroom. (click on the pic to see the rest of my shots from dfest.)

dfest 2008

…or “double-fisting-tallboys-and-redbull-vodkas-til-5am-fest” as my friend jay pitts so perfectly put it on his blog.

as i mentioned, the kick-off party was pretty awesome. but it was nothing compared to the real deal. take thursday night, multiply by 100, and then add copious amounts of ROCK. that was the dfest weekend.

i began friday night with a hefty dinner at hideaway. it killed two birds, my hangover waned and i was ready for heat, drinks, and rock n roll.

my dfest strategy was this: if you’re local and/or i’d seen you before, you took a backseat to a band i’d never heard of. it worked pretty well, but not at first.

i went to see two bands, love in october and the cringe that just disappointed me. love in october started late. they were all standing together, ready to go, but took the stage late…voluntarily (or maybe not, what do i know?).

but look, i know that it sucks to play the 7pm slot when the festival starts at 6. i know that you were hoping more people would show up. but don’t fuck up the schedule. my schedule. i would’ve left right then, but i’d run into some friends from when i worked at the bank and we were catching up.

anyway.

they finally started and weren’t any good live (i like the stuff i’ve heard on their myspace though). so i walked over to the continental to hear the cringe who were better, but didn’t stand out to me. maybe if i’d been able to catch more than two songs…

take two. 8-840 time slot. i went to the blue dome diner to see hey hollywood. they were really really good. take a listen. i do, however, wish they’d avoided the long period of dead time where the lead singer tuned only to play a slow song. nothing against slow songs. i’m a fan. but you’ve got forty minutes to impress everyone who walks in that door. IF you’re going to pull out a ballad or acoustic number, don’t spend three minutes tuning in front of it.

from hey hollywood i went to catch my buddies admiral twin. yes, i missed phantom planet, but i’d seen them a few months before and i’m kind of adverse to the crowds at the big outdoor stages. (yeah, it’s a problem i should probably get over. whatever.) when i saw phantom planet in march, they kicked the bravery’s ass and i was one of only a couple hundred (i doubt the turnout was more than 1,000) to witness it. it was one of those unexpectedly intimate shows that just…hits you. it’d be hard for their dfest set to beat that diamond ballroom show.

but anyway. admiral twin’s set was plagued with sound problems which seems to be something of a constant at dfest. (for all the bands, not just admiral twin.) despite the technical pickiness, they played well and had a pretty good crowd considering they were playing opposite phantom planet AND moe.

i left immediately after their last song to catch the end of phantom planet’s set at the new-main stage. unfortunately i missed them (WHAT was going on with all the bands ending early this year!?) but i was intercepted by my good buddy john estus who said “blank slate. now,” and drug me after him.

what handwritten, meticulously detailed list of bands-to-see? this is rock and roll, and i don’t want to be william miller at the beginning of almost famous.

at the blank slate was the ugly suit. (is that a proper sentence? no.) the ugly suit is from oklahoma city and i plan on seeing them again as soon as i can.

next. sounds under radio at the blue dome. another good pick. yay me. estus said the singer was trying too hard to be jeff buckley. i only heard that in one song. but hey, i’ve said it before, i little imitation is ok. he wasn’t ripping off buckley’s vocal style point blank, so i say point: sounds under radio.

then came apples in stereo. uh, i remembered i liked them a lot. did i mention i’d been drinking. it’s a good thing i don’t get paid to write this blog.

when apples in stereo finished, mollie, estus, and i ran over to see those reject boys. i mean, the all american rejects. i don’t think i’d seen these guys since they used to play curly’s to six people. oh yeah, we did book them once to play the state student council convention at my high school. this was back when AAR was just tyson, nick, and a drum machine. it was pop magic. i think i have a picture of it some where on my computer. maybe i’ll look for it later.

the rejects were good, but again, the sound problems were noticeable. AND THEY DIDN’T PLAY ‘TIL 140! i don’t remember exactly when they ended, but they had plenty of time to keep playing. what the hell. last year all the stages ran late and this year everyone’s cutting it short.

after the rejects, myself and an ever-changing band of crazies dawdled in the middle of detroit (avenue) and tried to communicate (as best as a bunch of drunkasses can) as to what we were going to do next. somehow we ended up at the redbull-sponsored afterparty.

(on a side-note: the dude working the door at the afterparty was totally one of the guys from that discovery channel show where those six-or-however-many tough guys went to live with tribes and compete in their indigenous games and stuff.)

the afterparty was fucking awesome and included lots of redbull vodkas (duh) and picture-taking and an impromptu dance party/singalong with the glister guys and other assorted okc friends. i also apparently missed brittani climbing into a cooler and eric losing his shirt in all the dancing excitement.

so that was day one.

day two began with mercy street at the old-main stage. then brit, jen, mollie, and i went to mcnellie’s for dinner to A) prep ourselves for the night ahead and B) to find out what the hell we all did the night before since we all pretty much went our separate ways, only intersecting sporadically before ending up together at the afterparty.

because of dinner i missed all but one song of vandevander’s but i know they’re awesome. you’ll be hearing more about them soon as their new EP, the great state of denial, will be released on august 8th (release show/DVD filming on the same day at the colony in tulsa). it’s the second EP in what’s going to be a fucking EPIC trilogy, so please please check it out.

after vandevander it was off to the new-main stage for the effects. i’ve seen these guys play since they were little high school kids but i’ve just recently got around to catching their shows again. they’ve grown SO MUCH and have really found their sound i think.

next. the fiddlebacks at mcnellie’s. funny story about the fiddlebacks, they’re really good but i can’t seem to remember them. brit saw them one night a few weeks ago at the colony and texted me: “i just saw the oddest assortment of people in a band at the colony.” all these guys from the most random bands (even a couple from the t-town wusscore scene) are playing together in this country-tinged southern rock outfit that kicks ass. it’s so weird. but i went out with brit a week or so later to see them and thought they were really awesome.

so. in my geeky, pre-dfest, listening spree, i like what i hear and make a note to see this band called the fiddlebacks. and brit and jen and i go to mcnellies on saturday night to see their set and it finally hit me. same band. fiddlebacks. colony. weird assortment of ex-wusscore-band members. ok. gotcha.

i’m sane. i swear.

from the fiddlebacks, we went to see PDA. i’m not a rap fan, but PDA is good. and he’s fun to watch. so if rap is your thing, check him out, he’s awesome. but get to his shows early ‘cause he apparently is a big draw (blank slate was at capacity).

yet again there was a problem with the PA and it actually cut out in the middle of a song. it took a few minutes to fix whatever the problem was and all was well from then on. also, points to PDA for not being a baby about it like some bands would’ve done.

next. back to mcnellie’s for taddy porter. i’d heard about them from my friend brandon of the time travelers and was super excited to finally see them live. and damn, it was a good thing i went straight there after PDA’s set because mcnellie’s was PACKED. i’ve never seen that many people in that room (not counting st. patrick’s day, for obvious reasons). taddy porter rocked everyone’s faces off and held the crowd the whole time. but the music wasn’t the most amazing thing about their set. they could’ve made a killing in merch sales, but what did they do? THEY GAVE THEIR EP AWAY.

finally a band that fucking gets it.

look, i know that merch money is likely the only way you’re getting your van and gear from town to town. gas sucks. the money sucks. it’s hard to tour right now. BUT if you’re going to play a gig like dfest (big, multi-venue festival) you’ve got to find a way to get perfect strangers to go see you instead of the other guy. and once you’ve got them there, you’ve got to find a way to make them remember your name the next day. it’s sensory overload at dfest and and even those of us who are actively trying to find bands we’ve never heard of have a hard time choosing who to see and remembering who we did see. but i guarantee you that everyone that saw taddy porter remembers their name because A) they blew our faces off and B) gave us something to remember them by. it doesn’t have to be a CD (though that’s the most effective option), but just remember that flyers and postcards and stickers etc. are thrown around like confetti at festivals and usually just end up in the trash.

and BONUS reason why you should take the initial financial hit and give your music away at these things: people will spread the word. i don’t know about the others, but i’ve been telling everyone i know how awesome taddy porter was.

taddy porter. taddy porter. taddy porter.

ok.

after taddy porter i thought i’d found my highlight of the weekend. theeeeen i went to see jonathan tyler & the northern lights.

“music, when done right, cannot be described.” - bob lefsetz

just click the link and listen to them. here, i’ll give it to you again. jonathan tyler & the northern lights. click it. listen. buy. go see them. love them. you will fall in love. i bought a stack of CDs from the bands that i saw and liked at dfest, but i haven’t listened to any except for jonathan tyler & the northern lights. hot trottin’ has been in my cd player, on my ipod, and my itunes since saturday night.

at 1am, i went back to mcnellie’s (again) to see glister. i like the guys, but i was still in this post-epiphanic (yes, it is. look it up.) haze and don’t remember much about them. but i’m going to see them and the feds in OKC at the end of the month, so i have another chance.

sometime during glister’s set i do remember being informed that the roots had gone on an hour-and-something late and that they were still playing. so i headed over there and met up with brittani and haden.

i’m not a big roots fan. i think the musicians in the band are great. (the guitarist and drummer especially. the former took over a song and it was the only time they ever really had my attention.) but, i don’t know. not my style i guess.

when the roots finally finished (at 230 or something in the morning) i guess word had spread about the redbull party because we had to wait for matt to arrive and escort us in. (thanks again, dude.) however, redbull afterparty part deux was more crowded and just not as fun. (plus the alcohol was running low, the redbull was kind of lukewarm…as was the food.)

so in the end, it was another awesome dfest weekend filled with rock, beer, rock, redbull, rock, sweat, and more rock.

# of bands loved: tons
# of bands hated: none really
# of redbulls consumed: 9
# of beers consumed: uh….
# of wine slushies consumed (not counting thursday): 1
# of cds bought: 4
# of cds given for free: 1 (taddy porter)
# of times sick: 0!
# of personal items lost: 0!
# of friends lost: 1 (no worries, we found mollie the next day.)

i’m ready to do it again.

bands mentioned: love in october, the cringe, hey hollywood, admiral twin, phantom planet, the ugly suit, sounds under radio, apples in stereo, the all american rejects, glister, mercy street, vandevander, the effects, the fiddlebacks, PDA, taddy porter, the time travelers, jonathan tyler & the northern lights, the feds, the roots.

if the kick-off party was any indication…

i meant to make a post about who i’m going to see at dfest tonight and tomorrow, how i spent way too many hours writing all over my dfest schedule and coming up with a number system/code to remind myself who i want to see more and why i want to see them. but time has gotten away from me and it’s now 2pm, day one, and i still need to shower off the hangover from last night’s dfest kick-off party and have dinner before heading downtown.

so. instead of a preemptive dfest post, expect a recap sometime next week.