My Chemical Romance in Portland

W O W. I don't have a clue as to how else to express to you how freaking incredible that concert was, but I am going to try my very best.

Okay. So lets start with the stage and the whole room it was in. Astounding. Breathtaking. It's called the Crystal Ballroom (tight name, huh?) and it's in downtown Portland, Oregon. Ha ha - which reminds me of how people always say "Keep Portland wierd!", right? Yeah, well all of us in our punky clothes and dark makeup and Black Parade T-shirts and "X"s on our eyes and all that waiting outside the Ballroom got some looks from pedestrians that definantly gauranteed Portland would stay on the wierd-map. You should have seen the people who passed by; just walking all casual and then looking over at the big black truck throwing free Monster energy drinks to the people in line and speeding up their pace. It was pretty funny. Sorry, off-topic. The Crystal Ballroom is amazing. People always say it's haunted (which would be pretty freaking awesome), but I personally don't think I felt any ghosts go through me. I few shivers maybe, knowing that Gerard Way and Frank Iero and all the others were standing less than thirty feet in front of me, but no ghosts. It was a very dramatic, theatrical-looking room, though. There were a few large chandeliers and paintings all over the walls, along with a mural on the half-dome behind the stage. It was really pretty. Gerard thought so too, and he even mentioned that they felt lucky because they don't get to play places like that very often. He he... I feel special ^.^

The crowd was pretty cool too. MCR fans are usually fairly awesome. Waiting for the band to come out after the opening acts, everybody was chanting and all that. Accually, just so you know, the openers were pretty good. Drive By and Billy Talent. Drive by played good music but were'nt much fun on stage, and Billy Talent got a lot of screaming and head-banging going. There were only a few mosh pits and only one big fight where security had to pull someone out. Gerard called us well-behaved. Everyone booed XP. The whole concert I was pretty close to the stage, but not front row or anything. I could see Gerard, Mikey, and Bob mostly the whole time (Frank was kind of shoved in the corner and Ray was right up next to the amps - small stage), until some enormous, like seven-foot tall guy stood smack in front of me. Just my luck, right? Still incredible, though.

And the music. Everybody already knows that was stunning. Frank rocked hard core and Gerard sounded amazing. LOL... once between songs he asked "So how do I sound tonight?". Everyone cheered pretty loud. Then he goes "And how about the band? How do we sound?". They got a little louder. And then he asks, "But more importantly, how the fuck do we look?!?" and everybody screamed like crazy XD. They opened with Sleep and ended with Helena, with most of the Black Parade album inbetween and a few older ones, like Headfirst for Halos, I never Told You What I Do for a Living, and You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison. My favorite was probably House of Wolves... or I'm Not Okay. Both were crazy-tight. It was so hot in there by the time they got to I'm Not Okay. With everybody jumping and moshing and everything in that tiny little space? I kept stepping on people's feet, because for some reason I can't stay in one place when I hop. My screaming didn't help to lower the body temperature either; I was accually so loud and high-pitched that the poeple in front of me kept cringing and turning to look at me everytime I did. It was hilarious.

Cancer was amazing live. I was suprised security let people past with lighters, but there were a couple in the air during that one (joining all the lit up cell phones, of course). I didn't really get to hear Helena, though. My friend was about to faint from a migraine and asked me to walk her out right after Cancer. Kind of dissapointing, but that's all right. I was sitting in the lobby with her and I could just faintly hear the song upstairs, and I was just staring at the ceiling lip-synching every word while all the parents stared at me 0.o. OH MY GOSH! I haven't said happy birthday to Gerard yet. HAPPY BIRTHDAY GEE! Okay, I'm better now. I bet the show today (second day at the Crystal Ballroom - wish I were there)is crazy. I probably would have gone today if I'd known they were playing a second night earlier.

So, in recapitulation, the show was... I need another synonym for amazing. There isn't one that's good enough. Frankie and Gerard were delicious, Mikey did some serious head-banging, Ray was insane, and Bob's drum panel fell off. Gerard was just about to throw it into the crowd when he turns around and he's like "Wait... can we fix this?" then he turns back to us and goes "We can fix it. That means you don't get it." LOL... I love him. I'm seriously depressed that it's over and that My Chem won't be touring again any time soon, but it was an incredible show and an awesome experience. Love you always, MCR!




P.S. Do you think this post's long enough? ;)

Happy

Whether or not this concerns anyone else in the world or enriches their life in any way at all, I feel the need to say that I am, in fact, a very happy person right now. Shopping seems to do this to me a lot. So, yesterday I spent atleast 5 hours spending money like crazy. And... ha ha, sorry mom... it wasn't even my money. Mostly. I paid fifty dollars on my own at Hot Topic, but that's pretty much it. First stop was horse-related shopping. I ride hunt seat, and before yesterday I didn't have anything close to a decent outfit, so that's mainly what I was looking for. I found a really super hunt coat, and a pretty nice pair of breeches. Couldn't find tall boots that were tall enough for my legs but still went around my calves, so we're ordering some. My sister and I also found a random assortment of trivial items that we swore were absolutely necessary. Ha ha. No, really, we tried to stay within a reasonable price range, so mostly we only bought thing we accually did need. Until we hit the mall. I like to think I would have died if I didn't find an outfit to wear to the My Chem show, but in reality I think I would probably still be alive if I didn't spend one hundred dollars in a heartbeat at HT. Since there really isn't a meaningful intention to this post, I might as well tell you what I got, too. Almost all of it was to wear to the concert. So, for one, I bought these really cute red and black plaid capris with pyramid studs along the belt line. I also bought a pretty freaking awesome tank top, which is sort of light green with polka dots and Invader Zim all over it, and a sleeveless sweatshirt. The sweatshirt's really long, and it's black with a heart on the left side of the chest surrounded in studs, and lace all around the bottom. Then I also got these super awesome arm warmers that are kind of lace with polka-dot-ish holes all in them that go up above my elbow. It's all pretty tight. I didn't have the money for new shoes, so I'll probably just wear my black converse. Oh, I also bought an FOB t-shirt because I don't have very much will power. Anyway, after Hot Topic we checked out F.Y.E. for a certain DVD which had eluded my grasp for far too long. And, glory hallelujah, they had it. My head was so clouded with joy that I don't remember much of the drive home, but I'd bet anything I didn't let that little For Your Entertainment bag leave my sight for more than two seconds, because I'm sort of a geek like that. We only had a few hours at home before we headed off to cow sorting with our horses, but nearly every minute of my time there was spent watching Fall Out Boy, live in Pheonix and behind the scenes of the Honda Civic Tour. And it was AMAZING. If you all haven't seen this DVD, you have to. Right now. The live stuff was incredible, and the behind the scenes were hilarious. My favorite was the gateway to the Fall Out Boy dressing room. Ha ha... to any of you who havn't seen it, a couple guys from +44 (whose dressing room is beside FOB's) punched a hole in the wall between the two rooms. At first it was pretty small, then they tried to shove Dirty's head through, and eventually it got big enough that Pete accually jumped through it. They tried to cover it up with paintings >.< . Good stuff, man. Okay, so, as you can tell, I am a very happy person right now. I have new clothes and Fall Out Boy merch. If it weren't raining, today would be pretty perfect.

P.S. THREE DAYS until MCR hits Portland. EEK!

TODAY!!!

Today is proving to be special for a few reasons... the main two both of which involve my favorite music groups, My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy. For one, there are only SEVEN DAYS - yes, folks, that's exactly ONE week - until MCR plays their first night in Portland. I'm just excited enough to look like an insane fangirl in front of anyone who stumbles upon the misfortune of being in my presence when mention of said concert arises. In other words, I scream. And I'm sure I won't be the only one screaming at the accual show, but you better believe I am gonna scream loud. Mwahahaha. Plug your ears, Portland-area residents. And, that being said, the whole Northwest dreads the day when FOB comes to our area next. As much as I love My Chem, I would have to say any one of them takes a backseat to a single Fall Out Boy. Long live the car crash hearts! Sorry, I occasionally make random and fortuitous FOB references. Anyway, pertaining to my paramount obsession, Fall Out Boy's latest release came out today. Dissapointingly, it isn't their fifth album (which I'm guessing we shouldn't be expecting anytime soon), but instead is their DVD, **** Live in Phoenix. And I want it. Very, very badly. I'm not sure when I am going to be able to buy it, but I think I might have an aneurysm if I don't get it soon. I havn't talked to anyone who has it yet (obviously, I guess... it's noon and it's the first day of its release), but if any of you watched FUSE's The Sauce last night, they had an appearance by Pete Wentz and also aired a video from the new DVD; FOB's live performance of Beat It (their cover of a song by Michael Jackson). It was really cool. So today marks a milestone in my countdown for the MCR show, and also the release date of my official favorite DVD as of right now even though I havn't seen it yet. Woo-hoo!

I look like a hobo

Well, that was exciting. I'm sitting here right now with a bruised cheek, a bleeding lip and an aching shoulder. Thank you, thank you so very much, Smokey. Smokey is my sister's dingbat of a horse who decided to rearrange my face today. So we (my sister and I) had a riding lesson today, and it was a ton of fun. We got home and unloaded my horse (we have to haul him up to my trainer's barn for the lessons.... Smokey stays at home because he has a bad foot), got him all dressed up in his blankets because its practically snowing, and then let both horses loose. Well, then the weather decided to get all stormy and we heard some thunder, which usually makes horses anxious, and Smokey was hyper anyway because his buddy just came home. Smokey and Casper - my horse - took turns bucking around for a bit and then Smoke decided to roll in the mud. I went over to try and coax him up before he got really dirty, since they were just about to be let into the less-muddy side of the pasture, when he exploded at me with his stupid butt. I don't really know exactly how it happened, but somehow he caught me on my shoulder before kicking me in the head. So along with being a beaten-up mess, I have a massive headache. That's great, huh.... I'm just hoping I'm not still swollen when school starts back up again...

Curse you, penguins...

Alrighty, so it's all good now due to bad weather, which I'll explain later, but besides that... Stupid lucky pengiuns! I am so jealous of those little feathered bird-wannabees who can't even fly. So some of you probably know this, but the most insanely, mind-blowingly indredible band ever, A.K.A. Fall Out Boy, was scheduled to play a show on King George Island in Antarctica on March 25th. I have no clue when the last time they played anywhere near Washington State in the U.S. was, but I'm near positive it wasn't anytime recently. Which greatly depresses me. Anyway, they were going to go play in the freezing cold for scientists and penguins and leave the rest of the world begging for their presence. They accually didn't get to play there, though, because the bad weather prevented them from being able to fly in. I mean, it would have been cool if they did get to play Antarctica (they were trying to set a world record - playing a show on all seven continents in nine months), but I would honestly be perfectly all right if they didn't make a record and decided to... I don't know.... do a show in Portland maybe. Which is where My Chemical Romance is playing in... ten days, by the way. And I'm going. And it'll be pretty tight. But, back to the point. My jealousy of penguins. And scientists. So yeah.... I guess I'm slightly pathetic, seeing as penguins really never accually DID anything to me.... except steal Pete.