And the Cherry on Top was the rain

Two weeks ago we took the train downtown to go to the Big Ass Show. Now, every year it seems to get more and more lame but Blue October was going and so was Panic! Two years ago we went and Panic! was supposed to play but Brendon Urie got sick and couldn't perform so some of the other local band singers sang with the band. As cool as an opportunity as that was for the aspiring local artists it really wasn't that cool. They came back this year to make up for that. Now these guys aren't my favorite band by far but I do really like them and Brendon is one of those super charismatic leaders who are fun to watch. When they performed Miss Jackson it was really fun and this was at the end of the show so I wasn't even drunk either ;)

The first band that we made en effort to see was Capital Cities. They were pretty decent. I don't remember much other than that.

†

We took a pretty chill approach to this show which means we sat around and made fun of a lot of people. As I try to write this I'm having a hard time trying to remember who all of the middle bands were. Pepper and Ed Kowalczyk. Yes that's right Ed the lead singer from 90's band Live who I didn't even care for back then. The only thing I remember about them was that damn placenta song that is really popular yet I can barely stomach. Props to him for trying taking advantage of the 90's trend and make a come-back - with out the band that made him famous. Although, I'm sure he sees it as the complete opposite. We were sitting on the steps watching him and his band prepare to take the stage and  you could just feel the "diva" exuding from him. What wasn't surprising was that he was late 15 minutes. You don't do that at shows like this. You don't have much time to perform so just get your shit together and DANCE MONKEY! He was the band next to Panic! which didn't make a two-shits sense why?? It's not 1994 anymore. (Rant over) 

I was probably just bitter because my band, Blue October, was a middle band which makes even less sense than the bald diva's ego. It did make me happy to hear Justin say when he first came out on stage that he was surprised the promoters asked them to be apart of the show but that he was glad they were there to bring some rock into it. That made me happy. You can probably guess their performance was my favorite part of the whole show. As soon as they started playing it was just pure craziness. There were so many people crammed into the small section they ram the "second stage" into but the shit was PACKED and it poured up onto the stairs and back which was WAY more people than Mr. Live or Pepper had BY FAR. After their first song the weather started changing and it got really dark. As they began Into The Ocean, the lightening and thunder cracked and he said, "let's make it rain!" and right at that moment it just started pouring. It was amazing and I got a bit emotional because the first time I heard this song I was in the parking lot of a F.Y.E music store where I had just purchased the Foiled album and I cried my eyes out. It was a pivotal and very hard time in my life and I held on to this album with clenched fists. 

A few memorable moments were being able to stand next to some very young kids discovering BO for the first time. One kid was like, "What? They have a violin? This is going to be so cool!" and I was thinking "You have no idea you little sweet babies." In front of me was a mom with her daughter who was literally pushing aside every fat-ass dude who tried to butt them out of the way. She was tiny and tough. The dudes were eventually escorted out. 

We were absolutely drenched by the time they stopped playing and I was drifting in euphoria, despite the crazy look on my face above.

My favorite shot of the day.

The emotion in his face and the intensity of the hands reaching out in archaic magnification.

 This is my usual view during any show. My calves are usually unbearably sore the next day from constantly standing on my tip-toes.

We like going to the Big Ass Show because it was the first show we ever went to when we were first dating. It holds some nostalgia for us wieners.

waiting for the train home

(he's so damn sexy)

From straight to curly hair in 5 seconds flat.

(TOTALLY WORTH IT!)