***stardust

Right. So anyways....
Yeisch. Am quite sunburned. Didn't *mean* to be, *did* actually have sunblock *with* me...but I'm like, oh, well, I'll get a *bit* sunburned, *then* put some on, cos I've been getting all white. Partway thru the afternoon: well, I *could* put it on, but I'm just barely pinkish, so I think I'll be alright.
Yeah. Right. Bought a Creed shirt, it's like, a spaghetti-strap tanktop, I changed into it...
"Oh CRAP."
...I'd been wearing my glitter-edged black tanktop, which, y'know, dips down narrowly at the neck? Yeah. MAJOR linage. >_<# (Hurray for it being *dark* at conerts---! ^^;)

Ok. Well, actually, this morning got of to quite a rough start. Went to bed later than intended (as usual) last night, with a headache (but figured that'd go away after getting some sleep). Set my alarm for 9.30, since Heather was gonna pick me up at 10, 10.30 for Darien Lake.
Woke up. Looked at my watch.
10.33.
"Oh SHIT!!!!!!!!"
Five seconds later, the doorbell rang. Ananda ran down the stairs...realising that her headache had only gotten worse. (Pounding down the stairs at top speed didn't help at all, either.) "Heather! I'm so sorry!!!! I *totally* overslept!!!!!" Said she'd be back in half an hour or so, she had to pick up Karin etc. anyway...so, I got all ready... ("Matt, do you know any like, sure-fire way to completely get rid of a headache?" "A minimum of three ibuprofen." [note: bottle says to take TWO] "No way! I am NOT gonna overdose when going to a Creed concert tonight." "No, it's fine, I've taken like, six at once before." "What!?" "Brian! Isn't it okay to take like, a whole bunch of ibuprofen?" "Yeah, man." "Well of *course* DRUG-BOY's gonna say it's fine!!!" (I took TWO. And brought like, eight with me. ^_^)
So yeah. Heather pulled in, I took off...yet again, I got stuck sitting in the back - there were four of us, Heather was driving me, Karin, *and* Greg, it turned out...
Got to the park, I dunno, noonish? Went on the Superman, some other stuff...but not really a whole lot, come to think of it. At least, I didn't go on much, cos I sat out the wet rides. Was *not* about to go around with sopping wet jeans all day again. Not comfortable at *all*. So I got to be a bag-lady all day and watch everyone's stuff. I'd brought my sketchbook, tho, and so, was guy-watching, with the intent of sketching any particularly nice ones I saw. ~_^
Noticed several things in the process, tho. 1.) It's basically impossible to accurately draw a guy who walks past you, staying in sight for only approximately five seconds. 2.) Almost ALL GUYS HAVE THE SAME HAIRCUT. It's seriously annoying. Short, with/without spiky bangs. Now, I'm not completely complaining, cos usually it looks pretty good. But it gets *sooo* dull to draw. I got *SO* psyched when I spotted a guy whose hair was kinda like that...but then with two *long* like, chunks (I dunno what to call them! bunches of strands of hair all together! *g*) hanging down by his face. Was very cool. *g* 3.) Guys with bods like Harley's *do* exist. O_O ...*low whistle*...maaan...there was one such guy I saw, standing in line for one of the rides I was sitting by...and he was wearing a tight white wife-beater shirt......*drooooolness* 4.) There were a lot more cute boys there today than hot guys. Which, y'know, was okay, but cute's harder to draw than hot. *shrug* *g*
Right. Heather left to go pick up Daisy, we met up with Donna, Meghan, and Heather S...went on Superman again (Heather and I sat in the *very* front...which's terrible going down the first hill, but..I dunno. Everyone says the back's the best on that one, but I thik the front's just *fun*. Maybe you get more g's in the back, but it feels so much faster in the front. ^_^). And there were Creed roadies on right before us. ^_^
Heather was late coming back, we were all getting worried - cos she and Greg were supposed to go do the Skycoaster (bungee-thing) soon.
She showed up just in time, we all gathered to watch. Wow. Could *NEVER* do something like that, it's up *sooo* frickin' *HIGH*! And as I've said before, am *not* about to trust my life to a gaint rubber band. Nuh-uh. ...but it was *GREAT* fun watching them do it. ^_^ ...Donna and I found the *perfect* place to take pics and stuff...it was sooo funny, they were just *screaming*...it was hysterical, seeing the look on their faces when they were told to grab onto the loop-thing to stop, they looked *SO* impossibly *relieved*!!!! *laugh*
Was great.
Did another ride or two, then went over to the conert area... Daisy and Karin'd decided to come with us, tho they had to get lawn seats (which they later said really weren't too bad...'cept they were surrounded by marijuana smoke like, at all times...). We were *totally* determined to sneak cameras in, tho. I think Heather had hers in a second bag inside her purse I think, Daisy had hers at the bottom of her bag. Me, I took Christy's advice and pulled up my sock, stuck it in there. YAY for bell-bottoms. ^_^
Only trouble was...got just inside the gates, and it fell out. Quickly grabbed it up, then pretended I was tying my shoe, while Heather etc. covered me. ~_^
Everyone else got mean gate-guard peeps. Who found the cameras, and would *not* let said cameras in. Mine? Had just come out, asked me to open my bag, which I did. Take out the sketchbook, which I did. "Ah, I'm never gonna see anything down in there, go ahead." *Score!!!!* So, went up...but then stupid ticket-tearer guy's ticket-checking-device-thing BROKE. Right when I got there. So, I'm standing there for like, forever, *praying* that my camera doesn't fall again! ..which it didn't. They never fixed the thing, decided just to let us go. ^_^
Got in, then Karin and Daisy, who were still outside, passed their cameras to us thru some space in the fence.
We're so evil. ^_^
Got in, Heather and I spent *forever* trying to figure out what shirts we wanted - *all* the designs were pretty cool. ^_^ Heather got a big dk. blue one with a really cool pic of the band, I got the afore-mentioned tanktop (cos I liked some of the big shirts, but I don't *wear* giant shirts a lot). It's like, pale yellow, with Creed written on it in dk. red, and a cool little circle of flowers (not like, big cartoony ones, but detailed little pretty ones) in orange. Fits pretty well, I like it. ^_^
Then went off to find our seats.
Which got me PISSED. Remember, I got online as *soon* as the tickets went on sale, the site glitched etc, but I still ended up with tenth row seats? and I ordered within about a minute of them going onsale? Yeah. We were *still* like, halfway back in the tent!!! We're like, wtf, how do you get up close?! ...then I noticed. Closer areas were all marked "box", followed by a number, and the name of a company. *sigh* So either these're sponser-seats, or gold-circle, or contest winners, or something...but that *really* pissed me off. Doesn't matter how fast you are or anything, unless you have connections or pay a LOT, you can't get within three hundred feet of the stage.
>_<#
...when/if I'm ever in a band, I will *NOT* play Darien. EVER. I *HATE* the way the venue is set up, I truly do. No water bottles, no cameras, no frickin' *BLANKETS* when you've got lawn seats! HATE it.
But yeah. So, was kinda pissed, but Heather was okay with it.
First band was Twelve Stones. *Very* very good. I liked them a lot. They were *great* onstage, too, the singer was all over the place, screaming and dancing around and singing and....gah. Awesome.
And the drummer?
Looked rather cute.
And...
...was drumming *shirtless*
*dies*
...and he was *good*, too, I like the way he played. Hard, but not trying to *kill* the drums, like the next band did. No mind-blowing technical skills, but definitely some style, and he was playing from the heart, I could tell by watching him.
...I had no heartbeat of my own, it was all his bass drum....*mmmmm*... *smile*
And the bass player was all dancing around too, kind of odd but definitely cute, Daffy. *g* ...but they're a really good live band, the interactions between them onstage, the engagement of the audience and all...and the music's kinda a little similar to Creed's, but I like it better, it's a bit hard, but not too hard for me. What I could get of the lyrics, I liked, too.
Dude, and just checked out their website, to get a closer look at the drummer? ...oh man...*he looks like Larry*. Not so much the hair, but the face. O_O ...and he's drummed shirtless at least several times.
...I'm likin' this band more and more....^_~
(Oh yeah. At the end of their all-too-short set, they said they'd be out doing autographs and stuff afterwards...so while they set up for the next band, I talked Heather into going out and looking for them, so I could go see the hot drummer. *g* Sadly, we couldn't find them, were prolly too early... ;_; )
But yeah. Next up was Jerry Cantrell, which was odd for two reasons. One: we didn't know he was gonna be playing. Two: he was the second opening act for Nickelback. Meh. So I knew some more of his stuff this time...but it's the same as last time, and Karin actually agreed with me - while the music was kinda okay (and I few songs I *do* really like), they weren't good onstage. They just all kinda *stood* there... ...and yeah, like I said, the drummer? Just beat on the things like he wanted to kill them. Which isn't right, you can hit them hard, pounding for all you're worth, but not with the intent to kill. (Does this make *any* sense to anyone besides me? *wry grin*)
(Drew a pretty decent guitarist during that set. *g*)
And then...
..a very long wait. Then...
...a very long bit of intro music. (Was thinking of the U2 concerts, the remix of "Elevation" playing, while we all waited so very excitedly...*g*) *Then*...
Creed. ^_^
Was pretty good, tho would've been *incredible*, had we been as close as I thought we were gonna be. Ah well. Could actually make out their faces from where we were, so it wasn't too bad. ^_^
Knew at least bits and pieces of most of the stuff they played, nearly all the lyrics to some of the others, so that was good.
Have decided that they *definitely* *do* borrow from U2 - which I've known, and tho Karin chalks up all my proofs to my obsession with U2 (which, admitedly, *does* tend to colour things, but this time I'm pretty sure I'm right), I know for a fact that U2's one of Creed's influences. ..it was terrible, tho, Scott Stappe came onto the stage, shoulder-length brown hair, a darker brown(?) shirt...and all I could think of was Joshua Tree-era Bono, with a brown leather jacket (not the shiny kind he wore later, more like the fringed one he wore *then* *g*) or something on...and then the drummer had on a white shirt (wifebeater? not sure), which just made me think of Lar...*g*
Obsession aside, however...they did a video-screen thing like U2, and while I *know* that's not at all exclusively U2's invention..the first one they did had a bunch of b&w clips, looking like news-kinda...shots of a gun...and all I could think of was U2's montage for "Bullet the Blue Sky" on the Elevation tour, the whole anti-gun thing, it was really kinda similar to that.
Pyrotechnics, flames, etc. like last time...I've decided I don't like flames shooting up onstage. Too obvious, too flashy, overdone. *shrug* but that's just me. *g* But music was better...
...tho I *did* finally determine why I've never really liked Creed's music so much, tho I *love* the lyrics (some incredible stuff in there). It's the guitar. It's all powerchords and things. And I like Edge's, Sugizo's, Cactus World News', etc. style better, where it's *notes*, singlely, not just...oh, you know what I mean.
Scott Stapp's great, tho, he really is. While he wasn't *jumping* all over like the guy from Twelve Stones was, he was...acting more like Bono. *g* Crouched down on stage, closer to the fans, spreading his arms wide, inviting us to sing so many times...just...*emoting* is the word, I suppose. Which the guy from Nickleback didn't. Like a good lead singer *should*. *smile* ...and while I'm not a huge fan of the guitar style of Creed, they've got a great singer. ^_^
Heather was psyched, they did "My Own Prison" which's like, *her* song...(tho I don't know it that well, I know the lyrics are *good*). Like I said, most of it I knew... they did "Hide" and "Stand Here With Me" off Weathered, two that I really like...and of course all the main hits, "Last Breath" (and *yes*, I *so* thought of Edge....how could I *not*?! "and I'm six feet from the edge and I'm thinkin'..."..*g*), "Arms Wide Open", "One" (which somehow, had slipped my mind as Creed...*love* that song...), "Higher" (which's the one I'd been waiting for...was *very* good...), finished with "My Sacrifice".
I think it was "Higher" and "My Sacrifice" that were the highlights for me, anyway..tho "Last Breath" wa really good, too. Some of the stuff, like "Bullet", I kinda like, but..it's just the slightest bit on the other side of my hardness-liking. Like, I can listen to it, kinda like it, but not really get into it. *shrug*
...I don't know...can't really think of a way to elaborate on it...the lights etc. were very cool, fireworks and things (which I've covered), stage set-up was nice, had pseudo-columns backing it, with vid screens in between, that was pretty cool...(also nice cos they often did close-ups of band members' faces...the singer had the biggest smile when the audience sang...*smile*...) Scott talked some between songs, couldn't always make out all that he said, but most was about the songs, the band, some just praising us as being a great audience (which he made sound pretty believable - some bands, it just sounds like they're saying it, don't mean it...Scott pretty much sounded like he meant it *g*). Very cool.

So yeah. Main downsides: drunk people. Had some loud ones behind us during opening acts...fortunately, they finally figured out that they were in the wrong seats, and left. Heather and I were very happy - I'd been sitting there just *waiting* for someone to spill beer all over my back. Then the two women next to Heather were rather drunk - we moved down a seat. Then the two girls next to *me* had stuff to drink, but weren't too bad, tho I inhaled a bit of smoke from the one right next to me... x_x

Took us forever to...well, first to *find* Heather's frickin' truck, cos she couldn't remember where she'd *parked* the bloody thing! Then took another forever to get out of the parking lot...took Daisy home, then headed home...listened to Creed, then the incredibly cool free cd they were giving out by the t-shirts, then the radio...Heather and Karin talked about a lot of, ehrm, *stuff*...o_O;;; ....Ananda got terribly more educated...*wry grin*...and at some point Heather told me that Blake has apparently declared he's gonna change his haorstyle before going off to college. And it was *Rose* who talked him into it.
"Why'd you have to mention him!?!?!? I was doing *fine* *ALL DAY*!!!!! *pout*...*falls into lovesick melancholy*"
Meh. Did a lot of staring out the back window (as I was stuck in the back seat the whole time *yet* again..!!!!!..."I hate you all."), singing along with stuff...talked with Karin some...was largely fun.
Then Heather's like, "Wait. Why does that sign say one mile to LeRoy?" "HEATHER!!!!!!!!!" ...baka'd taken a wrong turn, so we, uh, got a bit *more* behind schedule. Then we just *had* to take Karin over the awesomest intersection *ever*, cos she'd never been. Yay for flying. ^_^
Got home...oh gees, I don't even remember. 1.30 or so, I think. Funness. Still semi-wired on Code Red, which's how I've managed to get allll of this written up.
Gonna finish an e-mail to Meg, then go to bed. I think. *g* (Will prolly go get some more green goop (trans: aloe gel) first, tho...ouch....)

*Ananda Daydream * 2:34 AM * *

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