March 27, 2010
The day before the concert:
I am in my room, packing for the concert. Glasses- check, money- check, sketch pad- check. Now for the hard part- the camera. I placed my camera inside a little pencil case and on top I put a lot of sharpies. I put the pencil case on the bottom of my backpack and put a flannel shirt on top. Hopefully it will get in.
Day of the concert:
We (me, my mom, and my friend) drove into the Angels Stadium parking lot and all I could think about was “How could I sneak in this camera?” We got out the car and went into the security check line, anxiously awaiting our turn to security to see if I could sneak in my camera. As we got closer to the security we noticed that one of the security wasn’t really checking anything in peoples backpacks, so we quickly changed lines. “Can you open up your bag?” he asked. I opened, he felt around and let me through. Phew! We walked in to the stadium hearing an unknown band play. Not many people had arrived yet since it was 12:00, almost 1. We walked around and stopped at most booths. The first booth we stopped at, wasn’t really a booth. It was a tour bus with a “Macbeth” sign on it. I bought a Macbeth shirt and after I paid I received a bracelet which was a front of the line pass to the “Say Anything” signing which was at 3:30 at the Macbeth bus. So until 3:30 my friend, Kayla and I walked around to booths in search of free things. We went to the Peta.com booth. It had free stickers, informational DVD’s about animal abuse, torture, and on the booth was a laptop showing a video of “Canadian Seal Slaughter” which showed people in Canada clubbing seals. Not a fun thing to watch. But some of the stickers had some cool slogans such as “Club Soda, not seals,” and they also had mini pins with an anti fur sign. Kayla and I signed a petition that was there which would stop seal slaughtering in a non humane way. There were many booths at the concert which were non profit organizations to raise awareness. One that comes to mind right away was the “Invisible Children” booth. I think they have a website called InvisibleChildren.com and the guy at the booth told us all about it. He said “In the spring of 2003, three young filmmakers traveled to Africa in search of a story. What started out as a filmmaking adventure transformed into much more when these boys from Southern California discovered a tragedy that disgusted and inspired them, a tragedy where children are both the weapons and the victims” He explained more, “The filmmakers recorded what was the tragedy where children in Uganda were forced to be in the military and fight for their lives for the longest African war.” So they gave us some free stickers and they also had the video that the filmmakers recorded on sale. The proceeds would go to Uganda to help gain quality education, mentorships, the redevelopment of schools, resettlement from the camps, and financial stability. You should check their website out.
http://store.invisiblechildren.com/
The link is above.
It was 3:20, time to go to the Say Anything signing. There was a huge line of people and luckily I had my pass to be in front. I was 4th in line behind the other front of the line people. As we waited 2 guys approached me and asked a favor. It was to sign him. They said I can sign anywhere, write anything, So he bent down and Kayla and I signed him. I really didn’t know what to write so I just wrote “AFI rocks!” They really appreciated it for a strange reason and thanked us. Finally “Say Anything” arrived. The Macbeth people gave us posters and we all went down the table and got them signed. Nothing really to exciting unless of course you are a fan.
When that was finished “The Bouncing Souls” were playing (4:45-5:25) and we sat down in the shade to the side of the stage. Behind the fence was “backstage” It had a black cover on so you couldn’t see much. But still I saw some one jumping around, stretching before the show.
Next thing I know, I see Mark! He works for Buzznet.com and he won an AFI contest to sing on their record. So we said Hi Mark. “Hi, hmm, you look familiar! Where do I know you from?” He thought for a moment, then, “ROXY!” He was referring to an AFI show where he stood behind me to my left. He said he had to go photograph the next band for Buzznet and promised to be back. After he finished photographing I talked with him and he almost took me to meet AFI but all he had was a photo pass, no backstage. But it was okay. He was really nice. So by then “Circa Survive” was on and I noticed the singer was the one I saw through the fence jumping and stretching.
I went back to the fence and noticed someone had a camera and was recording over the fence. We asked why and she said “Davey is back there!” I freaked out! I immediately got out my camera, zoomed close and recorded Davey, who was in a white suite, standing with his girlfriend Brittany, talking to someone.
When he stopped talking, he, his girlfriend, and Adam the drummer of AFI started walking toward us. The walked along the fence, and like a stalker I followed them. On one side of the fence I saw the black cover ripped and I saw Davey. He went through something; that something was a security from the parking lot. He, Adam, and Brittany walked into the Bamboozle area. They walked casually and no one noticed them! We followed them and here is what I caught on tape
watch?v=diISN3fEa-s&feature=channel
Of course at the end of my recording someone notices them and starts screaming!
We wait outside for AFI to once again come out since there is one way into the dressing rooms and one way out. We weren’t really being stalkers because we rather sit there and wait then sit outside in the sun and wait for them to come on at 9:00. Smith (AFI’s manager) kept walking in and out with his girlfriend. We said hi back and forth each time. Hunter walked out with a red jacket and sunglasses and walked around Bamboozle and then Brittany, Davey’s girlfriend walked out and walked around. Eventually Smith and his Girlfriend thought we were so desperate that they gave us this little necklace which had no point. It holds backstage passes. But I asked Smith to get something signed by them. First he hesitated but then took it up and got it signed. We went back to the show and Say Anything was playing! It was a really crazy audience! So full of energy. Most crowd surfing I have ever seen. People were getting picked out by security every 15 seconds! Some people where breathing really hard, sitting on the floor because it was so intense. People stepping on your head kind of hurts.
“Just a few more bands to go!” I thought to myself as Say Anything finished up their set. We walked around some more. We went to this booth called “To Write Love On Her Arms” I got a little card with info and this is what it says, “This Began as an attempt to tell a story and a way to help a friend. Today, To Write Love on Her Arms is a non profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery.” It was a booth to help treat depression and such. TWLOHA.com is the site.
Another booth was a little less sad and depressing. They gave Kayla and I wrist bands. One of them said “ISMFOF” which means “I set my friends on fire” which is pretty funny. I think it is a name of a band.
One booth I really liked was I think called The Canvas ______ I don’t remember the rest of the name but this is what it was. One table, filled with pieces of cardboard with paint. Behind the table, 6 huge canvases and people painting on them. A guy covered in paint from top to bottom greeted us and let us know about the booth. He informed us that when he was in High school his art programs got canceled because of cuts. And today lots of art programs in schools are being removed and he said “All kids need to paint” so he let us know that when someone donates, the money goes to help schools get art programs and they bring canvases to schools so the children can paint. He said any donation will be appreciated. We gave him $10 and in return he gave us cardboard with paint, a paintbrush, and the painting began! The first thing Kayla and I painted was AFI <3 in huge letters! Then we went to another canvas and Kayla painted “Nicole and Kayla” and I wrote “Candyseller29 Youtube.com.” Yes, I am in fact advertising. It was really fun! People where really talented. Some one drew an awesome moon, someone drew a robot, and all the canvases looked really cool.
It was now the time for “Angels And Airwaves” to start their performance. We were next to the stage on the right. There was a HUGE line and Kayla and I walked up to the booth and asked what the line was for. One of the guys in the booth told us that they were Youtubers and that he had 200,00 subscribers and his friend on the right of him had 400,000. So I said.. “I only have 400 subscribers.” and he said that deserved a high five, so we high fived.
To the right of the Youtube booth was another booth which sold clothing. I bought this jacket from a guy in the booth who was also in a band called “Artist VS Poet” and he was wearing the same jacket that I bought. It was pink and it was a dinosaur jacket because on the back and on the hood it had like spikes which are on dinosaur backs and tails. It was pretty cool. They also had the most stickers! Lots and lots of them!!! They were skeleton animals and I got about 70 of them and then they had more colorful ones which said something like “Robots need Love To” and stuff like that.
Finally, the moment I came to Bamboozle for, AFI! We were in the middle of the crowd. AFI came on a little over schedule at 9:10 instead of 9:00 but that’s okay! They opened with Medicate, just as I predicted.
watch?v=FfoXEcOxNOA&feature=channel
And overall the show was amazing! A lot less pushing and shoving then I would have imagined but that’s not really a bad thing! I didn’t see one crowd surfer and you could tell the audience was into the high energy show, that AFI did. You could tell both the band and audience where having a great time! Every time Davey ran out of breath the crowd continued the song with enthusiasm! Amazing show, amazing.
They ended the show with Miss Murder and thanked the crowd.
watch?v=-qup3JOmNzk&feature=channel
After the show, we went to the bathroom. I think that bathroom experience was the best one ever. Kayla found a Artist backstage pass inside the stall. We wanted to go backstage and my mom doubted we would get in. So I tried. They let me, only me in. One pass one person they said. I went inside and there was an elevator. On the wall it said “SS dressing rooms” so I went inside the elevator and the man inside asked what floor. I said “SS” hesitantly. I walked out the elevator and it was an empty room. a Huge Angels sign on the wall and 2 guards in front of 2 doors. The left door said AFI and the right door said Angels and Airwaves. I asked the guard if AFI came back in but he said not yet. I waited for about 5 minutes, texting my mom and Kayla. Then Hunter and Adam walked in. I stopped Adam and asked for a picture. His girlfriend took it with my phone. “1… 2…. 3… say cheese” said Adam’s girlfriend “cheese” Adam said. “SNAP!” picture taken. “Cheese” I said. I was a little late. They laughed though! Next Smith, his girlfriend, Davey and Jade came through the elevator and Smith and his girlfriend made a kind of face like “How did you get in here?!” and there like “Hmm, okay, cool!” Because they were used to saying hi to me outside the dressing room and suddenly I am in the dressing room! I stopped Davey and he signed my Zu Boutique shirt. (His clothing company) and he dropped my sharpie and we both went to pick it up but then I thought he would pick it up, he thought I would pick it up so we both got up. Then we bent down again to pick it up and thought the same thing again and came back up. The 3rd time we went down Davey picked up the sharpie. Haha! It was funny.
Overall the show was great. Even though I didn’t know any band except AFI it wasn’t boring. All the awesome booths, all the games, and the free things was really fun! I got the most clothing at Bamboozle then ever before at a concert. I got a Free 98.7 Rockaholic Tee shirt, a white AFI shirt, the dinosaur jacket, and a Macbeth shirt.
-Nicole
