In this Discussion
- anglecopper21 August 2007
- basenotify33 September 2007
- canoe7grape November 2007
- DJRose November 2007
- dollarflame6 September 2007
- ezorvera September 2007
- firexpert6 September 2007
- hail9fat August 2007
- KristaMichelle August 2007
- LolaBert September 2007
- manx9shrine September 2007
- plane8order November 2007
- pvcstore0 August 2007
- rice62witch September 2007
- sherib September 2007
- suit6lion September 2007
- sureeyesawake August 2007
- target35ghost September 2007
- thephantommilk September 2007
- walk2sock September 2007
- yak63geese September 2007
- ytel82 September 2007
Comments
I am so jealous!!
I'm so glad you had fun.
Sounds AMAZING! Can't wait to see the pictures and such... and it's okay if you want to keep parts of the experience to yourself; I'm just so happy you got to see them and had a great time.
I just wanted that repeated.
It *should* be repeated, over and over. Because I've never met someone so obviously grateful to his fans. He actually said "It's an honor to have you listen to our music" to me last night. And while that's somewhat out of context, it doesn't change the meaning - he really appreciates all of us.
I'll post a few pictures now, because they make me happy. And then I'll set about writing a recap.
AW! What a sweetheart. We all know the "asshole" thing is just an act, but it's so nice to have moments like that to remind you.
Great pictures! I'm super excited for your recap.
Your shirt is amazing, by the way.
I seriously love Damian's shirt.
and your shirt, by the way. <3
EDIT: oh, and that bit about Damian: asdgsdfgjhagghaghaghasjklghaildg <3<3<3 LOVE
I knew there was a reason I chose this particular band to adore.
Whoa - Gorgeous! And Damian looks pretty good too!
!!
Btw, I love the look on your face.
(I'm not making fun of you, if it's coming across that way. You managed to get the look and still look cute!)
And I have to say- Andy looks absolutely gorgeous.
I'll be creepy fangirly and say it- he has quite the buff chest. Statuesque
Katie! come quick!
I drove down to Amy's (azulaco) yesterday armed with a brand new hairdo and highlights (I had booked this appointment months ago), my camera, and the stickers that Capitol sent me to pass out at the show. I hit a little traffic between Baltimore and DC, but that's to be expected. All told, I got down there about 4:00 or so. Oh, and I had a gift for the guys - a CD of "The Ping Pong Song" by Optimus Rhyme feat. MC Frontalot. I thought, given the fact that they loved hip hop and ping pong, a nerdcore song about the latter would appeal to them. Amy, her husband Chris, her dog Jazz, and I hung out for a few minutes before we headed over to the GWU campus. Chris was wearing a P-Funk t-shirt. This is relevant for later.
Chris dropped Amy and me off a few blocks from the field because we weren't entirely sure where to go. But we found it quickly enough. We got to the gate and sure enough they *were* checking for school IDs, but since I had the stickers from Capitol, they let us go in. SCORE! We walked in and wandered over to the merch table, where they hadn't even really finished setting up. But my eyes immediately settled on a white cigarette lighter with the old OK Go logo on it that said "There's a Fire" in tiny print. I had to have it. I asked the guy how much it cost - $2. Yeah, no problem. So Amy and I both bought lighters. No neither of us smoke. Don't judge me.
It was *really* hot, and I was very hungry, so seeing that there was no other sign of the guys, Amy and I walked back down to a Starbucks we'd seen on our way to the show. We got drinks/snacks, and went back to the field. Eventually we settled onto this park bench to chat and kill time. And then, I saw Damian come out of the building where I assume their dressing room was located. How could I miss him? He was wearing a bright reddish-orange shirt - you could see him miles away! And then, he walked *right* past us. I smiled, gave a little wave, and said "Hi". He said hi back and smiled but kept walking. I figured he was going to Starbucks, and I later found out that I was right. It didn't feel right stopping him from going on his way, so we let him be.
Then we saw that Dan was walking around, and Amy and I went over to say hi to him. He was really sweet (as per usual), and we had a nice chat in which I told him my name, because I hadn't ever told the guys my name before. He was such a sweetie about it. I also told Dan that I was the person in charge of the UFC, and that got us talking about Milosh (Mike Clark). He said "Oh yeah, Milosh is here." "Really? Where? I'd love to meet him!" Turns out Milosh was the guy who sold us our lighters. HA! So we eventually wandered back over to him to introduce ourselves and chat - Milosh is also a super nice guy, and I was glad to meet him. He's been really fantastic to me with the whole UFC thing, I have to say.
We made our way back to the bench, and a few minutes later, Damian came back by. I smiled at him again and this time he walked over to us to talk. I just barely got through "Hi, nice to see you" and a handshake (Nice to see you too, was his reply), and then stared blankly for a moment while I grasped at what to say next. I just lose all grasp of English around him, I'm amazed he doesn't think I'm completely insane. Damian, if you read this, I'd just like you to know that I'm a very intelligent person, I swear. Honors student, Good standardized test scores, all that. But I regained my nerve after a moment, and we had a really nice chat with him. I told him my name (because once again, in the loads of times I've spoken with these guys I've never actually told any of them my name), and that I was in charge of the UFC. He heard that and said "Oh!" and shook my hand. It was sweet. Amy said that I was able to maintain composure relatively well, even if I was a little more smiley than usual. But I think that's apparent in my picture... Ha! OH, and also I said "Yeah, I don't do it anymore, but I was the one who used to yell 'Run's House'." Damian really laughed at that. He knew exactly who I was then, I think.
After Damian left I sat stunned for a minute, while Amy ran back over to Dan to see if he'd pose for pictures with us. He came over to the bench area and talked for a minute again, and we took pictures. Amy did most of the talking this time around, I was pretty stunned still, I think. Oh, although we did discuss the fact that the UK Surf Mix of HIGA was on Grey's Anatomy. Dan didn't know that. Oh, and also, I told him that "Oh Lately It's So Quiet" is the greatest song ever, but that the song played more than any other on my iPod was SDR's "23".
A little bit later, the show was due to be starting soon. Amy and I had to beat a rush of students to the stage, because all the kids who had been sitting on the lawn, chilling out for the opening act ("Derek James" I think) got up and rushed the barrier for his last two songs. We were able to squeeze into a spot against the barrier off to the side of Andy. For that reason, I'm sorry, I only got a few good Tim pics. Jordan comes onstage and starts setting up, and Amy gasps. Jordan was wearing the EXACT SAME T-SHIRT that her husband Chris was wearing that very day. So we had Jordan pose for a picture, and told him that he was wearing her hubby's shirt. While we waited, the sound system had some great music going, most notably Quit Your Dayjob's "Look, A Dollar"! Amy and I started dancing and singing along - I think the students around us thought we were nuts.
The guys came onstage. Here's what they played, brought to you directly from Andy's Setlist:
HOUSE
TV
DON'T ASK
NO SIGN
GOOD IDEA
FIX
YSDH
COVER (Set to a vote, and try as I might to get Neat Neat Neat, The Femmes came out on top. I think the problem there is that no one's ever heard of The Damned at these shows, but what college kid hasn't heard of the Femmes?)
GOI
ACOUSTIC SET (which you all probably know is AMW and What to Do - Damian said the same thing about it being Cruel and not Cool, not a fucking Pepsi commercial as he apparently said at ND)
DISASTER
OLISQ (Listed as OH NO, but in case people don't know)
INVINCIBLE
HERE IT
--------------------
COVER (ELO, because not enough people had voted for The Damned. Silly College kids)
DWYW
No dance. But hey, that's okay.
A few brief notes. Damian made a lot of the same jokes he made at the previous night's show about the first week of school. He also made a comment about how he had this roommate who would meet "the love of his life" during the last week of school every year, and then he'd get back at the end of the summer all excited to see her but she'd have forgotten who he was. Poor guy. Also he talked about being from DC, and not knowing anyone who actually had gone to GWU. He asked how many people were at the show who were actually from DC and only a few cheers came out. "Ahh, so, like 6 of you, then, huh?" That was mentioned again when we voted on the cover and only a few people voted for The Damned ("Wow, sounds like the same 6 of you who are from DC"). He talked about how it was their last show of the tour and they were finally going home. Amy and I cheered.
A few minutes after he made that remark about it being their last show, I leaned over to Amy and said "Amy. We gotta yell Run's House." I could hear the skepticism in her voice as she said "Didn't you retire that?" "Well yes, but it's their last show of this tour, and now I'm all nostalgic, and Damian *did* smile when I mentioned it before" *skeptical pause from Amy* "Oh come on, I won't do it ever again. And besides, I didn't get to do it at the show where I was going to retire it!" "Oh, alright." So when they played Oh Lately, the cell phone lighters were up, and we reminded everyone that it was, in fact, Run's House. Damian smiled when we heard us. It was well received. Amy even admitted that.
I have video of the "It's getting hot in here" part of GOI, btw. I'll put that up on youtube.
So after the show ended, a guard waiting by the stage handed Amy a setlist. I wanted one too, so we got Jordan's attention, and he handed the setlist off Andy's keyboard out to me. It was briefly snatched away by somebody with longer reach than I had, but we appealed to their kindness, telling him how Jordan had meant that setlist for me. It worked! (Thank you, GW student!) Amy and I waited around to see if we could chat with Tim and Andy, while passing out stickers for Capitol. We were leaning on the security barrier on the side of the stage, when Milosh walked by. I asked him if there was any chance of getting back to see the guys, and he said there might be, and to let him see what he could do. While we waited, Theresa (dietpepsidrunk) called me. I talked to her for a minute, then she asked how Amy was so I put her on the phone with Amy. Then Dan walked over and said "are you ladies having fun?" Amy said to Theresa "Oh, here comes Dan" and Theresa thought Amy was lying, so Amy said "no, wanna say Hi?" and hands Dan my cell. So Dan stood there talking to Theresa on my cell phone for a minute. Then they hung up and Dan talked to us for about 5-10 minutes until he was called away. So I took a chance and asked if we could follow him back behind security to say hi to Tim and Andy. And He Agreed! So we went up on the porch where they were.
I walked directly over to Andy, said hi, and introduced myself by reminding him of some details he might remember. He recognized me as having been at the London show. :-) I told him my name this time and he said it was nice to meet me again. I told him just how much I love "23". We talked Baseball too. I said that I wouldn't tell him who my favorite team was, and then he said he knew exactly who I root for. So I asked if it would make him feel better that I'd been a Yankee fan since 1982, and that they were the worst team in baseball my entire childhood, and he said that it actually did help. That made me happy. See? If Red Sox and Yankees fans can get along, there is hope for humanity.
Eventually we got to talk to Tim. We didn't get a lot of time to talk to him, but we told him that we called him "the Ever-Elusive Tim Nordwind" as we always had the hardest time getting to talk to him. Ha! Amy said "But we saw you at the London show" and Tim said "Oh, are you the ones who yell Run's House?" I proudly raised my hand and proclaimed that I was "The Run's House Girl."
Then the guys were called away, so Amy and I thought it best to just duck out. I'm still just blown away by how amazing the whole evening was. Both of us kept saying "Did that *really* just happen?" and I'm still kind of incredulous.
So there you have it. My crazy long recap. Hope you enjoyed it.
!!
Btw, I love the look on your face.
(I'm not making fun of you, if it's coming across that way. You managed to get the look and still look cute!)
No no, Make fun all you want. I'm a complete smiley ass whenever that man is around. Remember that boy you liked in High School who you were friendly with but things just weren't ever going to happen? And every time you talked to him your face just lit up and he totally knew how much you adored him, but again, things just weren't going to happen? Yeah. That's me with Damian. Happens every time. He looks back at me with this look of amusement/pity/flattery, which only makes me worse. It's just plain pathetic.
Thank you for the compliments though, guys. I'm feeling awfully vain about my hair. And the t-shirt was a b-day present from an awesome friend (the one who took the picture in my avatar, actually). I <3 that t-shirt.
And yes, Sally, Andy *is* adorable. While I'm not as stupid over him as I am over Damian, I'm still pretty stupid.
Thank you so so much for sharing the experience! I really appreciate it- it was awesome!
Must add that Dan is, oh, incredibly sweet! I really hope my little cousin grows up to be like him.* Yay for Dan the Man! Dan is so wonderful
*should clarify that I think my little cousin is going to be like Dan when he grows up. My little Dutch boy cousin, 4 years old, is ridiculously friendly. He talks readily to strangers and never stops smiling- this led to him getting kidnapped and not even crying at all...I hope he grows up to be as sweet as Dan, tho of course Dan's rockstar coolness cannot be emulated.
Rachel, you looked so damn hot in those pics. Seriously. Amazing & cute. And I never thought a man could look so hot in a red shirt. I mean, i drool over guys in a nice black shirt. But Damian has made red the new black.
Sally- I'll be a creepy fangirl next to you and say that I totally agree with the statuesque comment about Andy. Like, OMG! I totally love him! eek!
http://www.dailycolonial.com/go.dc?p=3&s=4409
Thank you. Thank you so much.
Rachel, that sounds absolutely fantastic! And the pictures are gorgeous - your new hair is lovely (I'll admit, this morning as I got ready for school, I thought of those pictures and curled my hair in an attempt to emulate yours!).
Those boys are so sweet - and you are so LUCKY! It's great that they all remember you
Rachel, that sounds absolutely fantastic! And the pictures are gorgeous - your new hair is lovely (I'll admit, this morning as I got ready for school, I thought of those pictures and curled my hair in an attempt to emulate yours!).
Those boys are so sweet - and you are so LUCKY! It's great that they all remember you
Awww, you're welcome. I'll post it tonight when I get home from chorus practice, okay?
The woman who does my hair is named Tateum, and she works at Trilogy Salon and Day Spa in Newark, DE. She's a genius - I give her a vague idea of what I want done and she does it and THEN some. She understands me about music too, which is the best part. The only bad thing is that I can never get my hair to look as good as when she does it, and it's back to it's normal straightness today.
I am still pretty floaty... Saturday was just too good.