Hanson Birmingham, Alabama October 22, 2007

Good things come to those who wait. Up until 2007, I did not believe that until I found out that I would finally get to see Hanson, my favorite band, after 10 years of waiting for them to come close. I remember the day I found out about the show. I had gotten home from school and I got on Myspace. (Yeah, in 2007 it was cool). And I saw a bulletin from Workplay (The venue they would be playing at). It said “New shows including Hanson!”) I read the bulletin twice to make sure they were not talking about Birmingham, England for some odd reason. When I found out, I ran through my house screaming and crying like a little girl. I told my mom and she was like “Heck yes, we are going!” I found out in like April and the concert was not until October. It was really difficult to wait, but I figured if I waited 10 years, I could wait a few more months. I was in 7th grade at the time and it was very hard for me to contain my excitement. My friends even got tired of me talking about it. When the day finally came, I could not calm down. No one except my mother could understand why I was so excited. Birmingham is about two hours from where I live so I left school at exactly three o clock and we were off. When we got there we waited in line for a little while then we ran to get a good spot. We ended up on the side where the tables usually are. Luckily, they took out the tables so I could stand the whole time. The opening band was called Locksley. They were from New York and it was their last night on tour with Hanson. Before they came on, someone on stage handed out newspapers and plastic forks and spoons. We were told to throw them at the band when they started playing their first song. I never found out why and quite frankly it did not really matter. When they were done, I could not contain my excitement. But I had to, because, of course, Hanson was running on Hanson time (in case you are not familiar with Hanson and their ways, you should know that they are always late and their fans have dubbed their tardiness “Hanson Time”). But when they finally graced the stage, I thought I was going to cry. Heck, I probably did cry. They opened with Great Divide and that was enough to make me freak out. Immediately after that, they played A Minute Without You and I cried again. Then they proceeded with Been There Before, Can’t Stop, Georgia, Crazy Beautiful, Hole In My Life, I’ve Been Down, Go(?), MMMBop, Strong Enough To Break, Fire On The Mountain (Zac’s Birthday Surprise), Got A Hold On Me, Blue Sky, Running Man, Let Love Rule, Your Illusion(?), Watch Over Me, Sweet Home Alabama fake out into Hey, Lost Without Each Other, and Something Going Round. They encored with Never Been Too Spain and It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock And Roll) featuring Locksley. At the end of the show, the crowd sang Happy Birthday to Zac and his brothers brought him out a cake. Then they smashed it in his face. The best way to end my first Hanson show.

Linkin Park Projekt Revolution Atlanta, Georgia 8/7/07

Linkin Park has been on of my favorite bands for as long as I can remember. Even though I was young when they first started, I remember hearing In The End and Breaking The Habit on the radio as a child. And that is where my love for Linkin Park began. It would not be until years later that would finally get to see one of my favorite bands live. When I found out I was going to see Linkin Park, I was beyond excited. I was even more excited when I found out I would get to see My Chemical Romance, Taking Back Sunday, and H.I.M. too. When I got to the show, I was so excited. The first band of the day, was a band I had never heard of called Julien – K. They were techno/electronic. I later learned that they played Death To Analog, Someday Soon, Look At U, System De Sexe, Spiral, Kick The Bass, and Technical Difficulties. When they were over, the two singers walked out to meet people. Surprisingly, they were not far from my seat. I got a picture with them. They did not really say much. I thanked them for the picture and walked off. After Julien – K was Placebo. I had actually heard of them because of an old local radio station. They played Pure Morning, Because I Want You, Meds, Nancy Boy, Every You Every Me, Special K, The Bitter End, and Taste In Men. I love Special K. After they were done with their set, they had a meet and greet and I got my poster signed. After Placebo was H.I.M. I was so excited about them because I had listened to them for a long time and I was finally getting to see them. They opened with Passion’s Killing Floor. Then they continued with Wings Of A Butterfly, Wicked Game, Killing Loneliness, Dark Light, Soul On Fire, Dead Lover’s Lane, Vampire Heart, and The Kiss Of Dawn. Ville freaking smoked through their whole set! For some reason, I found it funny. I wish I would get the opportunity to see them again. After Him, it was time for Taking Back Sunday. I was so excited for them, too. Adam, their singer, is from Alabama. That is awesome. He does this super cool microphone swing around his neck. They opened with What’s It Feel Like To Be A Ghost (MY SONG!!!). They also played Liar (It Takes One To Know One), Make Damn Sure, Cute Without The E (Cut From The Team), and A Decade Under The Influence. I have been lucky to see them again and they bring it every time. After TBS, it was time for the two main reasons that I even wanted to go to this show in the first place: My Chemical Romance and Linkin Park. When Gerard and Mikey Way graced the stage with their beautiful selves, I thought I was going to swoon. It was already hot outside and they just made it ten times hotter. (Sorry, I felt obligated to add that.) They played This Is How I Disappear, The Sharpest Lives, I’m Not Ok (I Promise), Famous Last Words, Give ‘Em Hell Kid, House Of Wolves, Heaven Help Us, Welcome To The Black Parade, Mama, You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison, Teenagers, Helena, and Cancer. I swear Cancer leaves me in tears every time. During House Of Wolves, Gerard did this really funny walk thing. It was sexy. When they were finished, it was finally time for Linkin Park. I could not contain the excitement. I was restless and I had been waiting all day for them to start. They had a big curtain over the stage and they started playing Wake. The shadows of the band was visible through the curtain and it was really cool. When the curtain dropped, the crowd went insane. Then they went straight into Given Up. Chester’s vocals were really rough sounding but it was absolutely awesome. After that, they start playing the intro to No More Sorrow. Mike says “Atlanta, what’s up? We’re called Linkin Park.” During the chorus it looked like a big wave of people flying everywhere because everyone was jumping up and down. Then Chester said “You Sing!” And we did. The next song was Lying From You. Mike told the crowd to put their “Hands up like this” He made us wave our arms back and forth. He told the back “I don’t see them in the back!… There you go!” Then later in the song he said “all the way in the back, what the fuck’s up?” at the end of the song, Mike simply said “Thank You.” Then he told the people in the pit that the next song was theirs. It was Don’t Stay. (AHHHHHHHH!) I was so excited because that was one of my favorite LP songs. After that song Chester asked “How y’all feeling out there tonight?! Well you’re looking fucking good!” The crowd screamed in response and the band started playing Somewhere I Belong. Chester screamed YYYYEEEEEAAAAHHHH and proceeded to sing. Chester thanked us and the band went into From The Inside. Chester belted out a really loud and long scream. Then the band started to play Papercut. While the music is playing in the background, Mike said “Just wanted to put it out there this is the first time we’ve played Atlanta since we dropped the new record, Minutes To Midnight. But, I know some of you guys have seen us before. How many people have been down with Linkin Park for a long ass time? This one is going to be our tenth year together and we thank you guys. This one’s for you. Let’s go y’all. In the back, are you feeling that shit? Now my people up front.” At the end of the song, the crowd sings the “Beneath my skin!!” lyric. After that, they started playing Points Of Authority. Mike does the Bloc Party intro. That dude can rap. The crowd sings the “My Life My Pride Is Broken!” lyric. Mike said “Make some noise for Mr. Hahn.” and “Bring it back Rob, come on!” during the song. After that song, Mike asks, “You guys feeling good? So are we man. Hey it’s really fucking hot out here. I’m sure you guys are used to it but the bands out there, the bands out back have been just dying and the thing is they really work, they really worked their asses off today I have to say. So can we make some noise for all the bands on this tour please? Hell yeah. We are really happy about this tour. It’s a good tour, and they are all good guys.” Then Chester said, “You know, I wanna say for everyone that got here a little later during the day, you guys have to fucking check out Madina Lake. You have to check out The Bled, Styles Of Beyond man those fucking bands shred fucking ass and they’re really fucking great people so check them out if you didn’t see them today. Show them some love.” Mike then said “This is the fourth year or, the fourth Projekt Revolution it’s the best. What do you guys think? Sorry, Chester, I’m just taking an extra second to get situated over here.” Chester then ends it with “I’m fucking melting. I don’t give a shit dude take as much time as you want.” I laughed for a good while at that because it shows just how awesome the band’s dynamic is. Then they played In Pieces. At the end of the song instead of just ending with the “Don’t Lie” lyrics, Chester added “To Me.” I loved it. Then they went into Shadow Of The Day. Mike said “If you guys got anything that makes light, can you put that in the air for us? There we go. That’s beautiful.” Chester added “yes, it will” to “The sun will set for you” lyric. Then Mike says “Thank you guys very much. Hey, Hold on a second you guys. Rob hang on a second. I just wanna, I know it’s not patting myself on the back it is our band but it’s, well I’m conflicted about what I’m going to say here obviously. I don’t wanna pat ourselves on our backs, I wanna pat Joe Hahn on the back the VMA nominations came out today. We got nominated for a couple but, uh, in particular, we got a nomination for best editing and nomination for best director so I just wanna shout out to Mr. Hahn real quick. Good job, Joe. That has absolutely nothing to do with the song we are about to play. I just wanted to shout him out.” Then they went into Numb. Everyone in the crowd went insane, except for me, since that is not my favorite LP song. Mike’s backup vocals are awesome in this song, though. When the song was over the crowd was still freaking the crap out. When it was over, Mike started playing the piano. They did a piano version of Pushing Me Away. If you did not think that was beautiful, then you do not know beauty. The piano songs continued with Mike playing Breaking The Habit. The crowd tried to clap with him, but failed miserably. Then the piano playing quit and they played the song just like on Meteora. Then they played Crawling. Chester asked if we were ready to sing with him. The crowd screamed in response. In the middle of the song Mike asked “You said you’re going to sing, right? Here you go” Chester and Mike both did their parts. Then the crowd screamed “SO INSECURE!!!” It gave me chill bumps to scream that at the top of my little 12 year old lungs. Mike said “That sounds beautiful you guys, all the way, front to back lets hear it!” Then Chester screamed “YOU SING! EVERYBODY!” When the song was over Chester said “You guys sounded great. Thank you very much.” Then Mike started talking for a little while and said “I don’t wanna say too much. I don’t wanna, you know, get preachy or crazy with it so is anybody here from New Orleans? Got some people in the house from New Orleans? *few people scream* This song is for you guys.” He honestly sounded like he was about to cry. The band started playing Little Things Give You Away. Whenever I listen to it, live or studio version, it makes me cry. It is just that emotional. The tone of Chester’s voice and the sound of Mikes backing vocals at the end are just enough to make me cry like there is no tomorrow. When the song was over Chester asked, “How you guys feeling out there? You doing alright? You know every time I come to Georgia I swear this place gets more beautiful and more beautiful. You know it’s like, it’s like to me it’s like this place that almost doesn’t seem real. Its such a beautiful landscape everywhere you look there’s just beauty everywhere and the people here are fucking amazing you know what I mean? If the world wants to know how to live in a better place they should come to Georgia you know what I mean? You all have treated us with such respect and such kindness that you know we love coming here and we’d love to thank you guys for sharing this day with us.” I thought that was really sweet of him to say even though I am not from Georgia. What I’ve done was the next song and it got a big crowd response, oddly enough. At the time, most people did not like Minutes to Midnight. I love the album but WID was not my favorite song. They let the crowd sing most of the song which I thought was really awesome. Then the intro to Faint come on and I thought I would pass out from excitement. Chester said “You know, I wanna see this fucking place go off right now.” And then the song really started. Once again, the place looked like a huge wave going from front and back and from side to side. Then the whole crowd got to scream “I WON’T BE IGNORED!!!” Oh, the amazingness of that. Then the band went off for an encore. They came back on stage and went straight into One Step Closer. And, once more, the place looked like a wave. In the middle of the song Mike said “Let’s see if you guys can take it up a notch and get a little crazier than before. You ready?!” They finished the song. Mike said, “Thank you guys so much, you guys wanna hear some more shit? I think we can do that.” They went into In The End. The crowd sang the “I put my trust in you” part and Mike said “That’s fucking beautiful!” and they finished the song. When it was over, Mike said “You guys are fucking awesome thank you guys very much. Loud as hell out here. Chester said it was amazing and he thanked us. As the band went into the last song, Mike said “Thank you guys very much for doing your thing today. Thank you for being fans. Thank you for coming out to Projekt Revolution. Make some noise for all the bands that played today! This one’s going to be our last song!” During part of the song, Mike told us to give Rob some love while he did his “Thing.” Rob Bourdon is one of my all time favorite drummers so I was excited to hear his epic drum solo. Chester and Mike got the crowd singing the main line in BIO back to them. Mike said “What do you say we say goodnight in the right way? We’ll start it slow for you then we’ll speed it up. Alright here we go! You guys sing it with us!” They started slow and gradually got faster while they were singing the main line. (I bleed it out digging deeper just to throw it away.) The song ended, Chester said Thank you very much, and then… they were gone. My first Linkin Park show was over and it was great. Goodnight.