Bamboozle LEFT

On April 5th and 6th I can now say that I have attended my first multi-day festival type event, The Bamboozle Left. The first advantage I noticed is that it was only a few minutes away from my house, in addition to it being the beginning of spring break so I had no school to worry about. Fantastic start to springbreak if I do say so myself. The days were jam packed in band line ups so the tricky thing is fitting who you want to see, hoping they dont overlap and allowing yourself enough time to get there. The set up of bamboozle was pretty far spread out along the verizon wireless ampitheatre parking lot and up into the main center area of the ampitheatre. Best part about it, was that they had real bathrooms from the ampitheatre that they let people use, and that the stages were spread enough apart that you didnt hear the grumble of the other stages when listening to your band, unlike Warped. So in many ways this festival outbeat warped tour by a mile, which had better bands and location.

A night of Red Heads

Nov 9th, a cold night, ended Hot and amazingly great. I was looking forward to the great line up that night which included, The Almost, The Starting Line, and Paramore! Located at the grove I situated myself in the second section in order to avoid being killed by the crowd and give more opportunity for me to just enjoy the great music presented to me. I was glad to see that the acoustics at The Grove of Anaheim had improved since I have previously been there in April. The First band to play was the Almost. I had heard much about the Underoath member who had formed his own band and went solo. Aaron Gillepsie is a musical man indeed emerging from behind the drumkit to front and center lead singer. They played a decent set and did a pretty good job for it only being their second night on the tour. After the Almost was The Starting Line whom I was particularly excited to see that night. Having had their newest single Island stuck in my head for a running few months hearing it live would be a fasinating opportunity. The Starting Line put on a great set that stirred the crowd up and excited everyone in the room. My favorite moment of the whole concert had to have been when Kenny sang The Best of Me and everyone in the crowd sang along to the words. The set ended beautifully when the band walked off stage and the crowd finished the song alcapella. It was one of those moments that proves just how powerful music can be.
It must have been a strange feeling for Kenny to have his fairly well-known band open for the newly and ever so popular Paramore, but nevertheless there is no denying Paramore's talent. They have made a huge leap of improvement since their previous record All We Know is Falling. My personal favorite "pressure" off of their first record will always have a special place in my heart. It is one of those addictive songs. My other personal favorite would be Decoy which didnt appear on the band's new record Riot! either but rather as a bonus track. It is a great song to hear live which I did that night. Paramore played an energetic set and played mostly new songs from Riot! but also a fairly decent amount from their previous record. They surprised the crowd by playing a cover of a Sunny Day Real Estate song which seemed to have some past meaning to the band. One of the coolest parts of their set was when Jeremy the bassist somehow managed to do a back flip over Josh who was playing guitar. I dont know how he did that but I can assure you it takes a great deal of talent to do a backflip while playing an instrument! The night at the grove was a proved a sucess.

The Academy is...

Yes that is right, I finally saw them live. After a long anticipation, I found myself enjoying their performance very much. It was one of the most enjoyable concerts I have had the pleasure of going to because I was able to avoid the hot squishiness of the bottom floor crowd, instead we headed upstairs and after some manovering found ourselves pretty much situated front and center on stools over the stage with a great view. It was also great because the bar was right behind us incase we needed a drink or something to eat. An order of fries sought my friend and I well. The show quickly started and before I knew it Sherwood had hit the stage. They were the same friendly group of guys I had remembered last April with Relient K. The crazy keyboardist with the fro was back. After Sherwood Bryce from the Rocket Summer hit the stage and made quite an inergetic appearance. Jumping around the stage as always Bryce got the crowd going and singing along like a lifelong group of fans. I had the pleasure of hearing some of my favorite rocket summer songs off of the new album such as Save, and of course the single So Much Love. He puts so much heart into his music and one can certainly feel it when hearing him perform live. After a set filled with friendly keyboards it was time for The Academy is... to hit the stage. The crowd went wild and William ran onto the stage and the music started playing right away. In addition to the chaos happening in my personal life, their set was absolutely fantastic. I don't think I have ever heard so many people including myself belting out the lyrics of a song so passionately than at that concert. It felt refreshing to be able to let go of all my burdens through the hype of a concert. Filled with immense energy William sold the crowd, its safe to say they sound better live than on their cd's. They played all the songs I loved and many more, they exceeded my expectations, leaving me wanting more and excited for the opportunity to see them live again.

It's Not For Sure

So last Saturday evening my friend and I went on a little adventure down to the newly opening shopping center called "The District" located in Tustin. There were a couple bands playing that evening and I thought why not check them out? I was already a little familiar with the first band that played, National Product. They were originally from Hawaii but now reside in Huntington beach, I wonder if the good waves there had anything to do with them choosing to move to Huntington? Anyway as we were walking up to the outside shopping center from the parking lot I could already hear one of my favorite songs by National Product playing, medicated. My friend and I both thought they sounded good from what we heard just walking up to the stage area. We took a moment to settle down on the ground and then I pulled out my camera. I observed everyone on stage and saw who was playing what instrument. I was a bit surprised by the amount of people on the stage, it isn't everyday you see a 6 member band! We both enjoyed the performance and were laughing at Danny's funny actions on stage. Free Hugs? By the end of the set we were both excited to pick up a copy of their cd, just like Nathan who bought his own cd in borders earlier that day! After their set ended we walked up to the side stage and waited to personally buy a cd from Danny. They were all really nice and friendly and talked while signing stuff for everyone there. Apparently it is a weird thing for them to sign in "green" sharpie because when I handed it to Dan and Stan they just couldnt do it, they felt to weird signing my cd with a green sharpie instead of a normal black one. And now Stan is somewhere and has my green sharpie seeing as he put it in his pocket and forgot about it. After we left that scene we rested and waiting for the next band Quietdrive to hit the stage.

Now I unfortunately until then didnt know much about Quietdrive other than a few songs I reckonized later that night after hearing their songs live, but they were pretty great and exceeded my expectations. I really enjoyed myself, it was like our own private show condsidering not many people new about the show. I taken by surprise when Kevin the lead singer of the band pulled out a violin and started shreading on it as an intro into a song. It was certainly impressive. My favorite song that night was maybe misery and take a drink as I really felt myself get into those. Maybe misery since then has become one of my top favorite songs. It is just so catchy its hard not to love. I would see both bands again if I have the chance. After the show they were having a cd signing at borders so my friend and I quickly ran over there to get in the front of the line. Meeting them was great, they were pretty nice and friendly, not to mention Kevin's goofiness. Thus ending the night on a great note.

Check my Flickr for pics from the night.


Pic of Kevin and I

Summer August 07

So just as I was thinking that I haven't been to a show in a while I go to three in a row. Starting August 1st with my friend inviting me to see Buckcherry, Paparoach, and Hinder. Now that is not a show I would normallly go to but it turned out pretty good. Not knowing much from Buckcherry I thought that they were pretty good live also. The next band playing was Paparoach which definitely rocked. Lots of energy and great songs were played. They stole the show. Then Hinder came on and I think most people that night would agree that they weren't all that great, for the lead singer was out of tune and sounded like a dieing frog during slow songs. Yet entertaining to say the least to listen to. After that interesting night of music, tomorrow August 2nd was time for a change. We were going to see The Honorary Title together with The Format. The show in the HOB started with the band Steeltrain, they were a fun group of guys that all appeared to have a curly fro of some sort. Then after that was Limbeck which I didn't particularly care for only because they weren't entirely my style showing some alt country roots. The band I was waiting for was next. The Honorary Title was even more amazing than I thought, Jarrod's striking vocals left the whole venue reverberating with sound. The new songs played from their upcoming album were awesome to hear and left me excited for the release of the new cd. Meeting Jarrod afterward was an added bonus. By the end of the night The Format still had yet to perform and my friend was getting tired of standing on the floor, so we headed up to the upper floor and sat down to watch. We found the view just as intreging if not better. The Format played some catchy tunes, having everyone in the crowd singing along. By the end of the night I was glad to have been able to go to the concert! The next day Friday, at last minute I decided to head over to this local church to see a benefit acoustic show that went towards Habitat for Humanity. The room was packed with people, much more than I had expected to show. All the artists that played were great, Molly Jenson whom I had heard much about played a nice set in which one song almost brought me to tears. Then played Drew Bray and AJ Degrasse which both had some great vocals. Last to perform but certainly not least was Jon Foreman of my favorite band Switchfoot, accompanied by Keith and Brad on stage playing Cello and Percussion. Jon played his usually acoustic songs as well as the hit singles of Switchfoot. My favorite part would have to be when he played a new song he had written the day before and then a song people call "your love is strong" or so the chorus says, know one knows the actual song name. Its so simple yet so beautiful. I was very much impressed by everyone's performances and excited to hear that the event reached a total foundraising of 20,000 dollars for the organization. That week after attending three very different shows I have to say it was very interesting to see how different the people act and dress from concert to concert. Have I found my place yet? who knows.

Underrated Bands

10 Great Small Underrated Bands
1.Years Around The Sun
2.This Holiday Life
3.Ryan Ferguson
4.The Moog
5.Reeve Oliver
6.Miggs
7.Future of Forestry
8.Moses Mayfield
9.The Cinematics
10.Timmy Curran

Top 5 not so small, great underrated Bands
1.The Honorary Title
2.Cold War Kids
3.Mute Math
4.Brightwood
5.OneRepublic

These are all fabulous artists that deserve more credit than they get. There is far to much great music in the world to get a chance to thoroughly hear it all. Feel free to check them out, you wont be disappointed. And here are a few more that werent on the list but definitely worth a listen.
1. Molly Jenson
2. Lindsey Cook
3. Lovedrug
4. Ellington
5. Tracy Johnson
6. Brighten
7. Parker Theory
8. Regarding Jack

Looong Time no write.....Bro-am

I have been gone for a rediculously long time lol. My apologies, I forgot my password and then what email I had associated with this etc anyway...I'm back and I have got it figured out! :)
Alot has happened since, infact a few big events which include my birthday, a number of concerts and (drum roll) Bro-am!

More on Bro-am,
This past Saturday I found myself caught in a cloud while staying in the beautiful city of Encinitas, San Diego right on the beach to attend Switchfoot's annual Bro-am. Encinitas is the place to be let me tell you, I felt at home as soon as I drove up to the beachhouse watching The Foremans pulling out of our soon to be parking spot. Friday night before the event was fun, wandering around downtown Encinitas eating at the oh so recommended by Tim "Filibertos". Apprently the carne asada was to die for haha. Cruising through thriftstores and trying on an array or wigs and sombreros was a night satisfier. Fairy Dust is key ;]. Later that night we decided to make brownies for the people helping out at Bro-am, and what do you know we run into Jerome at Albertson's while getting more brownie mix lol. At midnight as the brownies cooked Jo and I headed down the hill to moonlight to do the out of the ordinary yet childishly enjoyable activity of swinging on the swings in nothing other than our pjs and sweatshirts. I tried not to stay up too late for I knew we had to get up early next morning to finish packaging the heartshaped brownies in their bags and help set up for the event. Bro-am was quite an experience, not to mention the ironic oil leak that occured the day before resulting in some minor changes to the surfing portion of the day. Instead there was a dodgeball tournament, which turned out to be a huge sucess like I knew it would lol. The amazing array of music played through out the day on the beach had to have been my favorite part, there is nothing like sitting or standing on the beach having your toes buried in the sand listening to great San Diego music. Some of the artists that appeared on stage during the day to support the carehouse kids include, (in order) Alex Woodard, This Holiday Life, Reeve Oliver, The Jade Shader, Escalara, Timmy Curran, Tom Curren, Jason Mraz, Jon Foreman with special guest Sarah and Sean Watkins and Keith, and then Switchfoot (full band). The day came to a close when everyone joined on stage to play a cover of Weezer's Surf Wax America including Angels and Airwaves' guitarist Dave. Everyone looked like they were having a blast on that small stage filled with 20 or so people. I have to give a shout out to Drew for being a great M.C. He is really quite funny and plays the part well including his random remarks about the raffle and the texting song. I was suprised to find that I had indeed won something, it was a beautiful skateboard. A longboard with blue wheels just like one I had ironically been looking into buying months before. I was glad to see my friend Ellie won an even bigger prize, a surfboard by pnature, nature with a p ;]. As that once early morning day pushed into evening the event was ending and I couldnt be anymore surprised at how fast everyone packed up their belongings and abandoned the beach. I too after helping various stations pack up made my way back up to the hill to the beach house I had the pleasure of staying at with Jo. From there we talked about the day's exciting events and enjoyed our dinner while watching the sun set over the petroleum filled ocean. The next day as we had to leave and head home was a bit sorrowful for nobody wanted to leave, but the excitement for next year's experience and upcoming activities kept us going. I drove home that afternoon calmly listening to the music coming out of the car speakers contemplating the amazing set of events that had happened the day before and planning for that big future I have ahead of me.




currently listening to Artist: Years Around the Sun
Songs: Heart Delay, Dead Mans Sea, and Sinclair

wow, I realize that ended up being far longer than I had intended. I will post pictures of my mini trip to Sandy Eggo soon. :)