In this Discussion
- basenotify33 September 2007
- canoe7grape August 2007
- DJRose September 2007
- dollarflame6 September 2007
- dust33rain September 2007
- firexpert6 September 2007
- KristaMichelle September 2007
- LolaBert September 2007
- manx9shrine August 2007
- plane8order September 2007
- sackrose55 August 2007
- sherib September 2007
- sureeyesawake September 2007
- Surfer Rosa September 2007
- target35ghost September 2007
- Tempe Arizona August 2007
- thephantommilk September 2007
- walk2sock September 2007
- ytel82 September 2007
Comments
There are two things you need to know:
Striped shirts hanging in a van can be the most exciting thing ever,
And Catholics are SPECTACULAR people, willing to give up their ID's, freely, to anyone that wants them (strangely however, this is not how we got inside).
Rachel - be prepared for a great show, but bring your boxing gloves for the freshmen.
*collapses*
If I weren't doing the same thing on Saturday I'd be very jealous of you fabulous three. Good luck!
I am very jealous of you - but I still hope you had a great time
And T-Dog - OK Go followed by amusement park? THAT'S MY DREAM!!!
YAY! I'm so glad they found a way inside.
For now, a couple of my favorite quotes from the night (more later):
"And guys, it's a million ways to be CRUEL. This isn't a fucking Pepsi commercial."
"There's nothing quite as satisfying as the fucking wave."
Oh- and they did the Million Ways dance. Which made my life complete.
Tdog, I'm intrigued. I MUST KNOW MORE!
Have a great time at King's Island!
About the Shirt Thing
Toiletdog is remarkably observant. As we’re walking from the car toward the student center, she sees some students wearing Event Staff T-shirts rolling carts through the back door of a low building (not the venue). I know from past football weekends that this building is a restaurant/bar. She wonders aloud if they could be working our event, but on any given day there are dozens of events going on on this campus, so I express doubt. Then we pass a van parked a short distance from the building. Without stopping or changing pace, she says coolly, “That van had shirts hanging in it that looked like they could be theirs.” I very uncool-ly stop dead, look at her wide-eyed, turn around, walk boldly up to the side of the van and look in. Eeee! Green & white stripes and floral-print cuffs! It's Damian’s shirt, plain as day. (Then it was her turn to be uncool, because she squealed when I told her.
How We Got In
Toiletdog and I arrived at the student center about 5:15 (Sheri joined us around 6) and set about asking students if we could borrow their IDs so we could go to the show. We were only partly successful, and as it got closer to 7 pm (door time), we were getting a little desperate. We had already decided that either we were ALL going or we were all NOT going, so we had to make this work. Because I had already snagged an ID, I left sheri and toiletdog at the doors and went around back to see what I could do. Fifteen minutes later I called toiletdog, who answered the phone with, “Give us some good news.” I said, “There are three tickets for us at will call right now, under your name. I’m coming to meet you. Stay there.” We got in through a connection I had made at last year’s Cincinnati-Fountain Square show. Unbelievable. When we got through the doors, I jumped and kicked in the air like Damian after the treadmill dance at the VMAs. I was THRILLED. We all were.
Sureeyesawake’s Concert-Going Tips
Concert-Going Tip #1: At a general-admission show, if there are chairs set up on the floor with barricades down a center aisle, take seats in the front row, even if you’re way on the end. You can move toward the center once the lights are down. If you take seats in a further-back row, even if you’re near the center, you’ll never get to the front. Remember, GA concert venues are not like movie theaters! You are not obligated to stay in your seat, and other people cannot be counted on to stay in theirs.
Concert-Going Tip #2: Once you’re there, find people in front row center who are there to see the opening act and don’t care about your band. Explain that you’re huge fans of the headliner and ask if you can have their spots when the opening band is finished. I’ve never had this not work. We did this for some Snow Patrol fans back in April, so this was our good karma coming back to us, I guess.
Concert-Going Tip #3: At GA shows, expect to put up with other people’s sweat and rudeness. Hold your ground with planted feet, strong shoulders, and occasional elbow jabs if necessary.
The Show
A DJ played a warm-up set, then Lupe Fiasco put on a good show. As Sheri said, it felt like we’d wandered into some stranger’s party, but we were happy to see people as excited to see Lupe as we were to see OK Go. He performed for about an hour; OK Go came on about 10 pm.
They opened with The House Wins, then Television Television. The sound was terrible in the front row where we were. This was not a concert venue, but an athletic fieldhouse. I hope it was just a problem in the front rows and not everywhere. None of us took pictures, because the venue was serious about no cameras or bags. It was nice to be unburdened, though, and taking pictures often makes you miss out on the experience. (Some good shots will probably pop up online soon, as there were half a dozen pro photographers up front for much of the show. Someone please share links if you find any!)
It was a good crowd – they were into it and there to see OK Go. They knew the words and sang along. About 5000 people, sold out. It’s so great that OK Go is drawing bigger crowds – it bodes well for them being able to make a living doing music. I’m really happy for them! I think a lot of the students had never seen OK Go before, or maybe just once. I’m sure they were all blown away and won over, just like we have been.
Between songs, Damian told us that Tim’s brother went to Notre Dame. Tim was young then, like 8 or 9, and he used to draw the ND emblem on the back of his left hand, retracing it as soon as it started to fade. “So if Tim dies young of ink poisoning, you all can take credit for that.”
The biggest surprise of the night was probably Dan coming over to talk to us during the acoustic set. (!) The stage lights were a dim red at that point, and we saw him standing at the back, alone. Sheri and toiletdog yelled his name, and we waved our arms. He must have recognized us, even in the dim light, because to our surprise he crossed the stage, crouched on the lip between the monitors, and talked to us over the 4-foot gap for like 5 minutes while the other three played A Million Ways in the back. It was awesome – funny and totally unexpected.
The set was the same as at other recent shows. And yes, they ended with the Million Ways dance!! Hooray!
Final Thoughts
So again, I’ve driven 5 hours for an OK Go show, which is crazy. I debated a lot before I decided, but in the end, I went partly because it *was* a crazy thing to do. This is the freedom I wanted when I was 17 and my parents wouldn’t let me do things like this. (Are you hearing this, all you teenagers? Your parents are right. But you will have chances later, if you still want them. Don’t lose heart!) I couldn’t imagine sitting at home that night, wondering what I was missing. Still, we had to go into it knowing that we might not get in, and be OK with that. With luck and determination, it worked out for us. I really liked this show. I love watching them play, watching them perform. They seemed to enjoy it. And for me, it was a great closer – much better than my experience at Columbus in June. So I’m grateful and SO glad I got to be there. It was worth it. Thanks, sheri and toiletdog, for being there. You are the only people who would go to an OK Go show with me and then listen to OK Go for three hours on the way home.
Thanks, everyone, for being so excited for us. Can’t wait to hear your recap, frielanor! I’m so happy that you were there, too! DJRose, I’m looking forward to your recap of GWU.
Ahasjfu842urSdl! So cool.
I second this tip. It really works!
I'm looking for some now.
That's so cool!
Yeah, they probably decided to because the crowd seemed really into it... spontaneously, as AMW should be!
Aw, thanks. I guess part of the reason I wasn't so upset about not being able to go to this show was because I knew I'd have chances in the future. I love doing crazy, risky things... but they can wait. I was at a friend's house during this show, playing Apples to Apples, and every time I drifted off, my friends were like, "hey, come back from Notre Dame!"
I wanna be like you guys when I grow up.
yup.
sounds great, I'm glad you all got to see them one last time!
Too bad we couldn't catch him at Starbucks after spending most of our time in the union, attempting to snag ID's.
"Hmmm.....those kinda looked like OK Go shirts."
I ate a lot of carrots as a kid. I'll never need glasses. I probably should have eaten more protein though; maybe I would have had courage to peer into the van myself.
Like you guys, I didn't take pictures. I did get my camera in with me (hidden pocket in my purse...) but I wanted it more in case I saw them afterwards, not for during the concert. So it stayed in my bag. Like sureeyes said, I think it's nicer not to be worrying about a camera during the concert.
I got there just past seven, and sat in the 4th row, about 10 seats from the center. I thought about the front row thing, but decided to go a bit back because I was with somebody who wasn't a hardcore fan. (He is now, though, I guarantee it
I literally almost cried when Andy came out and started "The House Wins." I was that happy to be seeing them live. I knew from hearing so many stories that OK Go are awesome live, so I was expecting a lot, but as soon as they started playing I knew that my expectations didn't even come close. The boys have SO much energy (especially Damian, he's like a five-year-old on Red Bull) and really seem to love performing.
I'm not sure of the order of songs, but I think these are the songs they played:
The House Wins
Television, Television
What to Do
You’re So Damn Hot
Don’t Ask Me
Get Over It
No Sign of Life
A Million Ways
It’s a Disaster
Oh Lately It’s So Quiet
A Good Idea at the Time
Here it Goes Again
Invincible
Do What you Want
Plus a Violent Femmes cover and an ELO cover. Poor Andy, got outvoted twice. He wanted one by The Damned but nobody in the crowd did. The first time we voted there was absolutely no cheering for The Damned, and Andy looked out at us and mouthed "What the fuck?" The second time he managed to get us to at least make a little noise.
When they came back for the encore, the first thing they played was the Violent Femmes cover. Then they played one or two of their own songs. One of them was Do What You Want - I remember because it was my date's favorite OK Go song and he was worried they weren't going to play it. After they played that, Damian started talking and the other three started moving stuff. At which point I started squealing "they'redancingthey'redancingthey'redancing!" and jumping up and down.
And now, for my favorite moments and quotes from Damian (or paraphrases, I can't remember all the exact quotes.)
Near the beginning, he asked how many freshmen were there, then how many upperclassmen. And then, "Upperclassmen, now you’re going to take good care of the little runts, right?"
Right before Oh Lately It's So Quiet: "Would you like to hear a love song? The first week of school is the greatest time for love. Well, no, let me amend that. The LAST week of school is the greatest time for love. Then you get to come back after the summer and see if they remember you at all. So this song is dedicated to all those people out there, whose crushes don’t remember them."
After they played Get Over It, Damian made us do the wave. Which prompted Damian to say, "There's nothing quite as satisfying as the fucking wave" and "Thank you for indulging me in my sports fantasies, Notre Dame." (he was holding a big spotlight thing right next to his face when he said that one, and it was ADORABLE.)
At the beginning of the acoustic set, when Damian wanted people to hold spotlights for them: "Are you really, really tall, or are you standing on your chair?"
When they did the acoustic AMW, Damian stopped in the middle to explain things to us. He apologized to the guys, then said "We've been on tour in Asia for a long time. So I forgot that I can actually communicate with you guys." And "Thank you all, for speaking my language." And "When we were in Asia, I had to learn a different language each night. Mostly I just learned how to say “Sorry I don’t speak your language,” but in Korean that’s like 57 syllables."
Then he asked us to do the "one-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero cruel" bit in the chorus. "One, zero, zero, zero, zero, zero, zero. That’s a million, for you math majors." "And by the way, guys, it’s a million ways to be CRUEL. This isn’t a fucking Pepsi commercial. We get all these emails and stuff saying, 'We just LOVE your song all about being cool!'"
One of my favorite quotes all night, in response to something somebody yelled between songs: "Did you say you wanted some snacks over there? Wouldn’t that be neat if Notre Dame was a place where you could just go, ‘I want some snacks!’ and they’d bring you some? If they bring you any snacks, let me know, because I might want to try that."
The story about Tim and ND: "You know, Tim’s brother went to Notre Dame, back in the day. Oh yes, Tim spent many a night in St. Edward’s Hall. And Tim, you were only what, eight, when your brother was at Notre Dame? The thing about Tim is, he was a very obsessive-compulsive child. And for three hundred sixty-five days, Tim drew the Notre Dame seal on his hand. Every day.” Tim: “Yeah, I’d draw the ND on my left hand, I was right handed, and even if it didn’t wash off overnight I’d still draw over it again."
(St. Edward's Hall is a men's dorm at ND.)
And at the end, to introduce the dance: "You might have noticed, we like to make asses out of ourselves. But a few months ago we decided to take a break from the ass-making-of-ourselves-ing for a while. So we decided that we wouldn't do what we’re about to do. See, it isn’t on the set list. But you know what? Fuck the set list!"
I could barely speak, and couldn't hear at all, when the concert ended. I ran into a couple friends, whose OK Go fandom I had not known about. One of them was pretty much crying when I saw her after the show. None of us had seen them in concert, and we all agreed that our love of OK Go had grown astronomically after seeing them.
To the three girls who went: I think I may have seen you afterwards at the merch table, but I don't know if it was you. One of the girls I saw was saying something about having seen like 30 concerts or something. Then I saw them again at Reckers, the restaurant in back of South Dining hall. Did you guys go there after the show? There was just something about the three I saw that seemed very boardie-ish to me.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see any of the boys after the concert. I'm guessing they took off right away since they had the DC show the next night. I did, however, leave something for them at the merch table. I made brownies, which were delicious but kind of falling apart...ha. And I made a paperclip sculpture of the Matrix bit in the AMW dance. I made them over the summer on one of my days off of work when I was really bored.
Anyways. That was a long post. But I pretty much had the time of my life.
Rosa
I don't know if you saw it, but after that great quote someone THREW (as in: aiming) a wrapped granola bar at Damian's head. And they missed by mere inches. I don't remember asking if Suzanne and Sheri saw it, but I did and I was amazed at how many immature people were in the audience (despite it being the standard, college atmosphere).
Well, it's probably a good thing I didn't go up to them and ask if they were boardies then.
Thanks for correcting bits I had off. I'm definitely trying to remember as best I can after a crazy weekend and very little sleep, so I knew I was bound to miss parts.
I completely missed the granola bar.
I also missed Tim messing up. I was probably watching Andy recover from his goof when it happened. Oh, and I forgot to mention, it was really fun to see how much the four of them seemed to enjoy doing the dance. It seemed to me that they were smiling the whole time.
It's funny, about St. Ed's hall, because after I thought about it a while, Tim seems like a St. Ed's guy. So if his brother's anything like him, it totally makes sense that he lived in St. Ed's.
AllTheGoodNames, thank you!
I think the reason almost no one saw was because Damian didn't even FLINCH. It wizzed by his head, he paused, looked around quickly, and continued talking. I think he chose to remain quiet mostly because Tim was talking at this point and he didn't want to interrupt (there's always a first...). I was on the ball that night (i.e., shirts in van).
Dan later found the granola and threw it back into the audience, right before they danced.