Lovely Things (thank you, Eisley!)...Part 1

(struck speechless by the weekend...here follows random thoughts that I couldn't seem to organize)

So, the frenzy started weeks ago. Months, if you're counting the concert. Matt and I had bought tickets for the Switchfoot concert, and later discovered that our family would be moving that weekend. Ohhhhhh boy. Friday was crazy, since it was the last day of fencing training camp and we had to inform four people that, though they worked hard and definitely should have earned a spot on the team, we simply did not have enough spots. I cried that night, but the Adventures in Odyssey episode didn't help the semi-weepiness. THEN began the frenzied last-minute packing. I felt like a refugee. "Hurry! Put all your valuables in these boxes, throw them in the car, and let's hightail it out of here!"

HOWEVER, as a much-appreciated parting gift, our old house let me sleep for 10 hours straight that night. Ahhh...wonderful...and then the morning started at 8 AM. Packing and loading boxes and trying to preserve some of my delicates (Thanks, Wes, for taking care of my violin. I really do appreciate that) and finding out that SOMEONE had stuck 1,000 plastic forks in our front yard along with a "welcome" sign and many forged signatures and then I rode to the new house to help Mom direct the whole process and and then rushing back and forth and then to the Behrens. Meanwhile, Matt managed to get one of those forks stuck into his chin, leaving some interesting marks on his face.

SO, we got to Behrens, loaded our stuff, and got in. AND THEN WE WENT TO THE MOON!!! Seriously, we went to pick up Katie. Aaah, sweet, sweet road trips, I love you. Thank you, John, for all the driving you did. You were definitely the responsible adult-in-charge, and acted accordingly. Thank you for being willing to fill those shoes. I really regretted not being able to drive on this trip in many instances. Hmm. I can drive now, but my parents informed me that if I get my license, I have to pay for car insurance. Oops. No gots the dough. John, next time we take a trip somewhere, and I have my license, I'll make up for the driving. Thank you so much.

ON the way to Cleveland, we did many things. The coolest of which was to mosh in the backseat. Unfortunately I didn't sit there, but I did have a camera to record the action. 'Twas sweet, and it made the van's shocks groan, I'm sure :-) Swedish fish taste really good. Oh, and we saw a car full of Indians (haha) who we recognized, but they didn't recognize us until we got their cell phone number. Then we thought it would be really fun to drive circles around their car, but...you know. Highways+silly things like driving circles around a friends' car=bad decision. It was fun to see them.

THEN we finally got to Cleveland, which wasn't anything like Columbus. Guys, I have news. Columbus, OH is my favorite city in the world. Sorry, Cleveland. We drove around, found the line already forming at the venue, and then some relatively cheap parking. Many phone calls were being exchanged at this point in time between the Akronites and the Pittsburghians to designate a meeting point. Meanwhile the guys and I played on these 4-foot high marble balls in front of some stadium.

SO we got to the concert venue. We decided to wait and send three guys off looking for a cheap and fast restaurant. After 45 minutes, nothing came up. Well, John, Dan, Craig and I were pretty hungry (at least, I sure was) so we went into the little bar/restaurant associated with the House of Blues concert venue to find food. They had 3 turkey wraps. For $30. Ouch. I still owe John. They did have a lot of meat in them, but I certainly wasn't expecting a $30 dinner for 4 :-P

THEN we actually got into the concert venue!!!! We had general admission tickets, but there were no seats except at the bar and upstairs, so we kinda mulled around in a huge mass right in front of the stage. The venue was very intimate, and I started out about 20 feet from the stage. However, I decided to buddy up with Katie, and the two of us drifted back a little bit (we wanted the protection from standing next to some of the big guys that came with us...the other big guys were really, really close to the stage). So, I was maybe 30' from the stage. But that didn't matter, 'cos I was definitely above the average height, and had no problem seeing over people's heads. Boy, was it crowded. I was leaning on guys that I had never seen before or ever talked to, and stepping on toes that seemed to have no owner to whom I could apologize. Katie and I stood for a while and compared the different colognes we could smell, since there were so many people in close proximity :-P Josh Putnam won.

Revolver was the first band. I really don't have much to say about them. The drummer's hair was really cute, but their music didn't appeal to me and seemed ordinary. Sorry, guys. ...then came a long wait while the stage guys changed drum sets & stuff...

Then EISLEY came on!!!!! *screams her head off* I LOVE those guys. I've written about them before on this blog. Well, their live performance was interesting. The guitars definitely had more distortion than their album, but hearing those voices live was amazing. Simply amazing. Boy do I want to learn how to sing like they do. They didn't sing "Trolley Wood," which is one of my favorites, but I really liked their new song. Another excruciating long wait ensued after this band. 'Twas really annoying, and Katie and I decided to sit on the floor to give our backs a rest.

Yeah, yeah. And then we saw Switchfoot. There were some things I liked about them, and some I didn't. I was impressed that all 5 guys actually added to the music, because I had been under the impression that the other guitarist (I forget his name) just did rhythm guitars (which aren't always useful, but sometimes they are). Not so. I didn't like how the crowd responded to Jon's reach toward them. Um, guys, this is a FALLIBLE HUMAN we're talking about! He's even declared himself as such in his songs! GOSH. And then the music began.

I don't remember the song list. I don't even remember the opening song, which we had discussed briefly on the trip there. But I do know that it was really sweet. Aaah...Everyone go read John's blog. What he said about the concert and heaven being really sweet...Amen, brother. Though Eisley and Switchfoot definitely have Christian influences, this concert was not geared toward God. However, in the midst of satisfying my carnal desires, I did experience God. How can you not know who God is and who you are and then feel that the song "Stars" has no meaning for you? Yes, I honestly was worshiping God while jumping up and down and pumping my "rocker fist" in the air while screaming out lyrics. "When I look at the stars, I see someone else!" Oh, such a sweet melody. And, you know, on Sunday night I was looking at the stars at my new house (there's a much better view), and I sang those lyrics softly...imagining soft guitar fingerpicking in my mind...and it was just as fitting then as in a crowded dark concert hall.

There was another song that really spoke to me, "The Shadow Proves the Sunshine." Amazing song. Definitely made me feel like a speck of nothingness trapped in a crowd of nothingness, trying to give something to God. Wow. Words don't suffice. I shouldn't even try.

Oh, and the SOUND!!!! They may have said that "nothing is sound," but this sound was so great that at times it was easy to forget about it. And yet, as a budding sound techie, I couldn't. Low frequencies so strong, I could feel my pants vibrating around my ankles. And, yet, nothing was muddy or too distorted or undefined...the vocalist sounded amazing, and it was easier to understand his words there than just listening to the disc. The drums had punch, but ring also. The compressor on the vocalist's mike definitely helped keep the feedback to a minimum, but it didn't constrain his voice too much.

This Cleveland crowd was tough, though. I was expecting to mosh and jump and scream and really rock my face off. No moshing!!! I should have pressed forward, 'cos I heard that the other half of our group which was right next to the stage moshed. Bummer. I think it was Brian Chima who noticed me bouncing around, so we crashed around a bit. Then he waved at me with a "let's mosh" message, and I promptly gave him a push, not intending at all to shove him over or hurt anyone else. Oops. It was really crowded, so I guess he couldn't brace himself against anything to resist my push, and consequently he took out about 10 surrounding people. I had a lot of apologizing to do. I don't think anyone was seriously hurt, but it sure was embarrassing!