Bayfest 2008

My second Bayfest was awesome! I saw Saving Abel, P.O.D., Puddle of Mudd, and Buckcherry. Saving Abel performed first and they opened with In God’s Eyes. Afterwards, they played Beautiful You, New Tattoo, Trying To Clear My Head, 18 Days, Drowning (Face Down), and Addicted. They are not the best band I have ever seen live but they were not awful either. After Saving Able was P.O.D. It was the first time I had ever seen them and I did not really know what to expect from this Christian Rock band. In 2008, I was only 13 and I was alone in the pit. When the all of the moshing started I was extremely scared. I will always be thankful for that one dude that started shielding me from everyone. Out of all of the shows I had been to up until that point, that was one of the bloodiest pits I had ever seen. I was fortunate enough to come out with a small bruise on my leg. P.O.D. opened with Boom! Afterwards, they played Set It Off, Addicted, Kaliforn-Eye-A, Without Jah Nothin’, Youth Of the Nation, Lights Out, Shine With Me, Condescending, Southtown, Celestial, Satellite, I’ll Be Ready, Alive, God Forbid, Bullet In The Sky (U2 cover), and Rock The Party (Off The Hook). They also played a song with Deftones that I forgot the name of. They put on a solid set. After P.O.D., it was time for Puddle Of Mudd. Kid Rock was playing at the same time as them and there was hardly anyone there for them. So that made it a lot better. I had a feeling that they would open with Control, and what do you know? They did!! Afterwards, they played Away From Me, Famous, Nobody Told Me, Blurry, TN.T. (AC/DC Cover), Livin’ On Borrowed Time, Out Of My Head, Breed, (Nirvana Cover), then they encored with Psycho and She Hates Me. What little crowd was left went absolutely insane for Psycho. Not going to lie, it was funny. And the last band for the night was Buckcherry. Their humor was insanely funny and they were very dirty. If you have small children, I do not recommend taking them to see Buckcherry. They opened with Dirty Mind and followed it with So Far, Broken Glass, Lit Up, Rescue Me, Don’t Go Away, Too Drunk, Next 2 You, Lawless and LuLu, Onset, Everything, Sorry, Crazy Bitch, and they encored with Cream. At some point during Crazy Bitch, Josh Todd started talking about reproducing and procreating. Like I said earlier, if you have small children, think twice about letting them go see Buckcherry.

Hanson Birmingham, Alabama October 7th, 2008

I never would have thought that less than a year after my first Hanson show, I would ever see them again. I remember asking my mom for the tickets for my birthday. I was at my birthday party, in front of all my friends. I was opening my cards and I opened one without a name. I asked whom it was from and no one answered. I opened the card and something fell into my lap. I read the card first and it said “Hope you have a rockin’ birthday. Love, Mom and Dad”. I opened the paper in my lap and it was Hanson tickets. I warned everyone at my party to cover their ears and I proceeded to scream and jump up and down like a little girl. Then I hugged both of my parents and thanked them profusely. When the day finally came, once again, I was extremely excited. When the day came, of course, I ran out of school and went on my way to Birmingham for the show. When we got there, we waited in line for a while. Then the doors opened and I ran into the venue and stood in the crowd. The first band, Everybody Else, was on. They were so adorable! When they were over, I went out and I met their dorky drummer. He was nice. I went back in and I waited for the next opening act to come on. They were called The Veronicas. They were not my favorite band but it was probably just because I wanted Hanson to come on stage. But of course, they were on Hanson time and were late coming out. When they finally came out, they opened with Something Going Round. Then, they followed it I Want To Take You Higher, Been There Before, Follow Your Lead, Where’s The Love, Great Divide, Strong Enough To Break, One More(?), Love Me, On The Rocks, Where Did It Start, Blue Sky, A Minute Without You, Cried(!), Running Man, Oh Darlin, MMMBop, Can’t Stop, Hey, Crazy Beautiful, and Watch Over Me. They encored with The Ugly Truth. Holy cow was I excited for that encore. That is one of my favorite Hanson songs. The show great but it still can not top my first Hanson show.

Projekt Revolution 8/3/08 Atlanta, Georgia

I never would have thought that a year after I saw Linkin Park for the first time, that I would be seeing them again. Not only was I excited for Linkin Park, but I was incredibly stoked for Hawthorne Heights, 10 Years, Atreyu, aSHES divide, The Bravery, and Chris Cornell. The first band of the day was Hawthorne Heights. They played Niki FM, Ohio Is For Lovers, Rescue Me, This Is Who We Are, Pens and Needles, and Saying Sorry. This was their first tour after Casey Calvert passed away, so the screaming songs did not scream. They talked about him a lot, too. After HH was 10 Years. The played Russian Roulette, 11:00 AM (Daydreamer), All Your Lies, Prey, Beautifu, lDrug of Choice, Actions and Motives, So Long, Good-Bye, Waking Up, Wasteland. After 10 Years it was time for Atreyu. They played Doomsday, Right Side of the Bed, Falling Down, The Crimson, Bleeding Mascara, Slow Burn, Blow, When Two Are One (Told the crowd to start a circle pit), Ex's and Oh's, Becoming the Bull, Lip Gloss and Black. You never forget the first time you ever see a band. That is all I will say about them. After Atreyu was aSHES dIVIDE, but before AD, was Street Drum Corps. They were loud and gave me a headache and I do not normally get headaches. Ashes Divide played The Stone, Denial Waits, The Outsider (A Perfect Circle), The Sword, Forever Can Be, Stripped Away, The Prey, Enemies. After them was The Bravery. I do not know all the songs that they played but I do know they played, An Honest Mistake, Time Won’t Let Me Go, Believe. Believe was really good and I wish I could go see them again. After them was *drum roll* Chris Cornell. My mom and I were so freaking excited. He played Cochise, No Such Thing, Outshined, Spoonman, Hunger Strike (With Chester Bennington. AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!) Watch Out, Like a Stone (Acoustic), Fell on Black Days (Acoustic), Show Me How To Live, Be Yourself, Long Gone, Black Hole Sun, Blow Up the Outside World, Rusty Cage. Then it was time for Linkin Park. They played
One Step Closer
Lying From You
Somewhere I Belong
No More Sorrow
Papercut
Points of Authority
Wake 2.0
Given Up
From the Inside
Leave Out All the Rest
Numb
The Little Things Give You Away
Breaking the Habit
Shadow of the Day
Crawling (Chris Cornell AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!)
In the End
What I've Done
Faint
Bleed It Out

Disturbed Five Finger Death Punch, and Art Of Dying Birmingham, Alabama 2008

So my first Disturbed concert was good. I was really surprised with the guy to girl ratio. In the security line, they split us by gender so we could be searched. There were probably 15 girls at the entire show, including me. I was not as surprised with the kid to adult ratio because most parents would not bring their children to a concert like this. I honestly think I was the only kid there. I was 12. Anyway, the first band was The Art Of Dying. I had never heard of them at that point (I have now) but I thought it was really cool that they drove all the way from Ontario, Canada to play for us. They played Crime, You Don’t Know Me, Raining, Let The Fire Burn, Fits Of Clarity, Die Trying, Them Bones (Alice In Chains cover), Completely, and Get Thru This. I really wish they would come back around so I could see them again. After AOD, was Five Finger Death Punch. When I saw them, the only song I knew by them at that point was The Bleeding. I later found out that they played Ashes, Salvation, The Way Of The Fist, White Knuckles, Bad Company, and The Bleeding. Their first album, The Way Of The Fist, is honestly one of my favorite albums ever and I have seen them once since this show and they still bring it. After 5FDP, was Disturbed. They opened with Prayer and followed it with Liberate, Perfect Insanity, Voices, Just Stop, Remember, Deify, Stupify, Land Of Confusion (Genesis Cover), and The Game. They encored with Inside The Fire, Stricken, and Down With The Sickness. During the show, David [Drainman], started talking about ghosts and how the venue was haunted. It was not that scary, though. This show was really loud and there were a few thousand people in a steel shed the size of a school gym. Can we say awesome?

My Chemical Romance 2008

My second time seeing My Chemical Romance was absolutely great. I was so excited because someone good was finally coming to Birmingham. There were two opening bands: Drive By and Billy Talent. Drive By had just released a new album and I found a really cool promotional poster on the ground so I kept it. Billy Talent was just… brilliant. The set-list speaks for itself.

 

Then it was finally time for MCR. Their set-list was great, of course. 

At some point during the show, Gerard told the crowd that when you are moshing and someone falls down, make sure you pick them the fuck back up. good job, Gerard. I salute you.