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Joel McHale
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Benjamin Button-Gay-Skinny-Clean Version of Patrick Stump
(lol, I am SO GREAT at taking screenshots #toolazytofix)
But, yea, just wanted to share this. I thought it was strange, worth acknowledging. And usually, people who are/were Panic! fans are/were-at-some-point fans of Fall Out Boy.
Indifferent/ Irrelevant
(Again, just posting this because I'm a bamf or something, don't worry about it)
It was 3:20pm on a lovely Saturday afternoon in Tinley Park, Illinois. I had a meet & greet with my favourite band ever, Panic! At the Disco. I'd seen photos of the experience on the internet but I didn't know what to expect. To say the least, I was scared shitless, but I was uuber excited. The one and only Zack Hall came out to greet our group of 14 Northern Downpour fansite meet & greet contest winners. He went through his list on his black iPhone and confirmed the people that were permitted to go in.
Zack wouldn't let me take a picture with him because he told me that he doesn't take pictures with females (He doesn't want to get in trouble with his girl) but he let me take one of him. He was exactly what I expected of him. No surprises. He's a real genuine guy.
After waiting 7 minutes for a no-show for the meet & greet named Megan, Zack decided to take us in. He told us that we weren't allowed to take pictures inside the backstage-area. He didn't want us taking pics of any of blink's kids or anything creepy. As we walked towards the place where the meet & greet would take place we walked past Andy Hurley, the drummer of FOB. It was sooooo weird. He was just playin' football with a girl. No shirt. He was just like, 'hey'. It was epic.
We got to the room which was kind of like an outdoor balcony with a roof. It was hot outside with a really nice breeze. I felt like I was going to throw up. There was a guy with curly orange hair. I assumed it was Chester French. Nobody else noticed- they didn't know who he was. He just asked Zack, "Are the meet & greets always only girls?" Zack said, "No, we've had two boys." It was weird. Then, after another speech from Zack about not hugging and how things would work out, he went inside to get the boys. We were all standing in a line, I was in the middle. Brendon would start on one end and Spencer would start on the other and they would criss-cross.
When the boys came out, I was speechless. I'm shaking just thinking of it. It was one of the most nerve-racking moments of my life. But soon after seeing how chill and nice and relaxed they were with everyone else, I calmed down a little.
I always thought Spencer was a little pudgy. I loved him for the way he was and it suited him. When I met them, he was so thin! It was mind-boggling. He was about 3 inches taller than me and I'm 5'7 so he was around 5'10 or 5'11. He had really white teeth and one in the front was slightly crooked. It was cute.
Brendon was surprisingly shorter than I imagined. He was about an inch taller than me, so about 5'8-5'9. It was weird because is all of the pictures you see of him you can't really imagine what they'll look like right in front of you. He was pale, like me. I felt less left-out. He was a happy person and his hair looked nice.
I was dieing. No joke. I was about to hurl and die at the same time. But I didn't.
Brendon slowly made his way to me first. He was very sweet and was obviously used to this. He knew everyone was nervous so he played it cool and started conversations instead of having it be an awkward silence. I love him for that. He asked me how I was doing and I was like, 'really good'. He laughed. I melted. I asked him to sign my Pretty. Odd. booklet.
I also asked him to sign something for my friend Sara who lives in Minnesota. She had to sell her ticket that was her birthday present because she didn't have anyone to go with. It was the least I could do, she's my friend. He thought it was nice.
Then I met Spencer. He asked me how I was doing and I was like, 'good'. I asked him to sign my Pretty. Odd. booklet.
Then I said, "Could I ask you a question about a track on the album?" Spencer was like, "Sure." He casually flipped through the pages in the booklet which I later would rub on my face. "In 'Do You Know What I'm Seeing' it sounds like someone's walking through your headphones, is it actually someone walking?" He said, "Yea, that was actually me, it's cool that you picked up on that." *die*. "I had these shoes that when ever I walked in a room they knew it was me so we decided to put it on the track. We had two microphones on the floor and I just walked in between them." (That was me para-phrasing I don't know EXACTLY what he said, it was along the lines of that- he definitely said the 'cool that you picked up on that part' though) It was great. I had him sign my friend's paper and he was on his way to the next person.
In the line, I heard them talking about some other things. Brendon is still dating Sarah, which I'm happy to hear. She bought him the shirt he was wearing. It's a Kenny Powers shirt, baseball player. Who Brendon has quoted before.
"Found out it's not called cheating if you're Mormon, which is why I'm wondering if my fans know some good online baptism shit" -KP
It was cute :)
Spencer uses whatever conditioner that they have in Hotel Rooms. He just takes it out of there. I thought it was kind of a strange question to ask him. But, now we know. He said he doesn't condition a ton but, yea, that's what he uses.
Brendon isn't really thinking of adding to his tattoo arm, he doesn't have any ideas of what to put on there.
Oh yea, and Zack uses the term, "Brencer." It was hilarious.
After they did signing, Zack took individual pictures. I was one of the last to go up so I took pictures while they were with other people. A girl wanted to be able to photo shop her friend in so they took a picture with their arms around an imaginary person, I didn't get the picture. *smacks fingers with ruler* I did get a picture of them with a set list, it was funny.
Then, the moment of truth, I got to take my photo with them. Everyone else was just taking smile pictures. I thought those were cute, but not awesome. I had always imagined myself taking a picture with them doing the Sins-Not-Tragedies face, so that's exactly what we did. :)
I love this moment. Thank you Zack for taking this picture. I made it my computer desktop. I'm also going to put on up in my room, in my locker when school starts, and in my nightstand. I want to remember the best day of my life.
After that we took group pictures. Zack took it with one of the other member's cameras and she'll post it on Northern Downpour and I'll post it when I get it. Zack told everyone to group together and everyone went to the sides of the boys and since no one else was, I went in the middle. It was epic to no limit. We took two pictures. In the first, Brendon had his hands to his sides. In the second, he brought them up to do a thumbs-up. His hand grazed my butt. It. Was. Awesome. Ha ha. It was nothing. An accident. Sarah Orzechowski, if you're reading this, DO NOT GET MAD AT HIM. So yea, that was the highlight of my life.
After that, I met back up with my cousin Amanda and we waited in line to get into the theatre for an hour and a half. It was an outdoor concert but it had poles to support the upper levels and the stage. It's called The First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre.
We decided to buy tickets right before the concert because they're usually cheaper. I wanted pit tickets. It cost more than 500 dollars for two tickets together. It was so worth it. We were really close to the stage, in the center of the pit.
Chester French was first. Nobody liked him. I felt bad. People wanted to see the bands they came there for. A lot of people swore and they got so bored to the point that they brought out some pot and started smoking. It was gross. But I loved it. It felt like I was at an actual rock gig. I felt bad ass.
Then Panic! came out. I was so excited. I found the set list on the internet and they preformed the songs in order as suspected. Time to Dance, But It's Better If You Do, The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage, That Green Gentleman (Things Have Changed), Lying Is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off, Camisado, New Perspective, Nine In the Afternoon, and lastly I Write Sins Not Tragedies. Unlike in past concerts, they had the parts they couldn't play with their instruments playing in the background such as the intro to Time to Dance or the Cello in I Write Sins Not Tragedies. It was cool to hear the songs like they were on the album live. It was great. Brendon introduced Lying Is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off with, "So who likes fucking here? I, myself, enjoy a good fucking now and then. This next song is basically about fucking." *sigh* Just like the good'ol days. Right before they started New Perspective, Brendon dedicated the song to his girlfriend Sarah. It was sooooooo sweet. I melted onto the floor. It explains why I was so dirty after the concert. They were great. The vocals were outstanding. The instruments were right on the dot with everything. Ian, Ryan's replacement, sang Ryan's parts in the songs and it was cool seeing him again. Dallon, Jon's replacement, was just kind of there. He sang some back up but not enough to really hear him. Panic! was great. The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage's chorus, the moshing began. I looped arms with my cousin and we stayed together. She lost a flip flop/ got her butt grabbed 3 times and I got my feet stepped on multiple occasions. It was great. The moshing continued during other songs at high-energy parts where the tempo quickened and what not. I loved every minute of it.
Ashlee Simpson-Wentz was watching from the right side of the stage (by Dallon). It was pretty exciting.
Then Fall Out Boy came out next. I always thought that they were mediocre in their live performances. I had never seen them live but I had on television and I didn't expect much. I don't know if they just wanted to do their hometown proud or maybe television doesn't do them justice but they were fantastic. So much energy. I was feeding off their enthusiasm and everyone was jumping to the beat. It was great. I knew most of the songs- I'm no FOB expert. And I loved it.
Then , as I suspected, they covered Don't Stop Believin' by Journey. Also, as I knew would happen, Brendon came out and sang it with them. He was wearing his Sarah shirt. Too cute. He was great, his vocals always sound amazing, even if they're not on key, it's crazy.
Then, Fall Out Boy was over and I was in so much pain. All I had eaten that day was a bowl of Cheerios and a banana with some peanut butter. My lower back hurt like hell. I was hot and dehydrated. I like blink, but they're not my favourite band. I really wanted to stay and see them but I didn't think I could take anymore. I told my cousin we should wait for one song that we knew and then we could leave. We waited about 20 grueling minutes for the stage to be re-set-up and we made our way to the back of the pit because there was no way that we could've gotten through during the set. Finally they came on and opened with a song we didn't know, I believe it was called Dumpweed. It was really cool. I wish I had known some of their songs- I'm sure I would've enjoyed this experience more. I'm sad I didn't stay longer but I knew my body couldn't take anymore.
The next song they played was Rock Show. We knew that and I thought we'd leave after that but I was feeling so horrible that we just left during the song. We were both physically spent. I had been standing up for 6 hours straight and I had consumed probably 300 calories and it was 10 pm. I'm sorry blink. :(
We went to the merchandise stand and they had the cutest Panic! shirt. I saw it on the way in but we decided to do shopping after.
I ! PATD. It's so genius, I wanna die. They didn't have my size so I got a Medium. It's too big but that's okay. I didn't want any other shirt. It was perfect.
We walked out of the theatre. The security told us, "No re-entries." We understood and gladly walked our way to my mother's car. For the first time in 6 hours of hot, sweaty, pot scented, routy hours, we sat down. It felt so good. We went to Friday's for dinner and then we went home. It had been the best day of my life and I wouldn't have changed it for anything. I love that day. There was supposed to be a FOB/ Panic! after-party at Angels & Kings but we assumed you'd have to be 21 to enter and my mom wanted to go to bed. Another day Panic!, another day....
First of all, I bought these tickets a good 2 months ago. I was probably the first to get tickets because I waited for the exact time and did it super quickly. Finally, April 10th comes along. We needed to get there early in order to get a good place to stand up front. And remember guys, they are a small band right now so they were playing a tiny club. There was a room about the size of half a school gymnasium, the stage was 3 ft off the ground, and there was no backstage. The band had to walk past the crowd, no barrier, to get on stage. I've made a map for your refrence:
The doors opened at 7 but we got there at aroung 5. On the way there my friend and I were listening to TYV songs and we also looked up the headliner, Foxy Shazam, the lead guy had a SICK mustache. We got a rockstar parking space and walked up to get around to the main door for will call. As we're rounding the corner BAM. A huge blast of mustach fierceness slaps us in the face (the lead singer of Foxy just waltzed out the door).
My friend Lillie and I went "WHOA!" and jumped backwards because we almost ran into them. For just first seeing his face for the first time in the car 5 minutes ago she gasped a huge breath and I dragged her away as she screamed, "THAT'S THE LEAD SINGER OF FOXY SHAZAM!!!" REALLY loud. I looked behind us and they were smiling at me and I just shrugged apologetically and they gave me a thumbs up with a goofy smile, lol.
My dad got in line (yes, I brought my dad, this is a bar, you know) and Lillie (my friend) and I walked further to see what was going on by the alley. All of a sudden my eyes landed on a sight so ultraviolet that my lungs shriveled into the size of my ears. My knees turned into noodles. My heart started beating as if it were afraid of the dark and wanted to bust violently out of my chest cavity. I felt like I was going to poop, throw up, and faint at the same time. I saw Ryan Ross loading things out of a trailer 20 feet away from me. I kinda blacked out for a moment. Lillie had to hit me in the arm to get me to say anything. I seriously have butterflies right now just remembering it. He was wearing his soldier-looking jacket, some striped pants, blues brothers sun glasses, a yellow shirt, and his pointy shoes. Then out of nowhere I see a guy with the same hair but in a maroon shirt and pants- Jon Walker was pushing some amps into the staff entrance. And then I saw Nick White and Andy Soukal and Nick Murray. All I could say was "Wha......?????" I seriously couldn't comprehend that my idols that I've loved for 2 and a half years were standing right by me. I needed a moment.
After I cooled down, standing by my tree, I took out my blank CD case (I was going to have the band sign the black case and then when June 8th comes around, I'd put the CD and the jacket in that case). I started small. I was going to ask Nick White, the newest member and pianist, to sign the case first. He started to walk from the trailer to the door and I called out, "Nick?" and he stopped and turned, kind of suprised, I guess not a lot of people were able to recognize him yet. I asked, "Would you be willing to sign this for me? I'm going to put the album in it when it comes out." and he was like, "Sure, sure.". He signed, said thanks for coming, and went back to his buisness. I forgot to take a picture (god damn it). But that's okay, he was nice.
Okay, one down, 4 to go. Next I saw Andy, the bassist, and called out his name. Again, kind of not expected. I asked if he would sign my case and take a picture with me. He said he could only stop for a miinute and I said, "Oh, yea, sure.". He signed my case and Lillie took our picture and he, also, was on his way.
(LOL, he blinked. "My Name Is Earl" much?)
Ryan and Jon were busy setting things up inside so they weren't coming out for a while but I DID see Nick Murray come out. I called his name and asked if he could sign my CD case and he said, "Um, sure, just give me five minutes?". So a couple trips later, he, himself came back to us and said, "You wanted to see me right?" and I was like, "Yea, I wanted to know if you could sign this and take a picture, I'm going to put the album in it." and he said, "The album?" and I said, "Yea, you know, Take a Vacation." and he was like, "Ohhh, yea." and then my IDIOT friend said, "No, we're going to put a Jonas Brother CD in it." I gave her a posionous look and quickly said, "Haha, yea, no. Definately not.". He told us that he appreciated us coming out and Lillie said, "this is like the first legit concert that I've been to where the musicians have talent, I've only been to, like, a Jonas Brothers Concert." and I quickly and desperately added, "But, that was just her, not me." He was like, "Oh yea, yea *smile*" and I said, "We're really excited to be here, I've really been looking forward to this." and (OMG) he said, "Really? Thanks. That's hot." and we told him he could get back to what he was doing and stuff and he thanked us again and was on his way.
(He was sooooo nice)
Finally I had the courage to talk Jon (My courage was also fueled by the fear that he wouldn't come out again). He was so handsome and like and inch taller than me (and I'm 5'7), and thinner than I expected, and he was just Jon Walker. He walked past us and I said, "Jon?" and he came over and I asked him to sign the case and take a pic ect. And then I said, "So is Ryan being sneeky? I haven't seen him in a while." (p.s. I'm a creeper). He giggled and said, "Yea, well, Ryan's always sneeky." and I just said, "Haha, yea." and he thanked us for coming out and went on his way.
(eeeeepp)(p.s. that's their white trailer in the alley behind us)
Finally Ryan came out again. I HAD to talk to him. He walked past and I said, "Ryan?" and he was like, "Hi.". I asked him to sign my CD case and stuff. He was kinda busy so after a picture and a very breif amount of small talk about being excited and thanks for coming out and stuff he was on his way. I imagined him taller, but he WAS thin, now I can believe it. They, for some reason translate not as thin in pictures, I guess because it's 2D. But he was thin and handsome. When he open the marker to sign my case, I noticed his legendary long fingers (is that weird to say? yes, it is. but I did. they were beautiful)(I have a facination with hands, that's all. I always notice and study people's hands. Jon's were stubby as I expected and studied in pictures).
I refused to walk away from our tree though. I wanted to just watch the guys walk back and forth because I was having trouble comprehending the whole "standing in front of me as an equal" thing. I saw Cassie (Jon's GF, duh) walk in the building and Jon came out to say hi to several friends of his that came to the show (cuz, duh, he lives in Chicago). Cassie was so cute. She looked so nice and sweet and her little summer dress and boots were adorable. She had Starbucks which I later saw Jon share with her. He also looked through her bag for something and that made me go "Awwwwww" barely quite enough to not be stared at.
I finally went back to see my dad and right text to him was a table filled with Jon's friends. I asked my dad to take a picture of me and Lillie and I sneekly snuck (lol) in front of their table to get them in the shot (I'm weird and can't help myself).
(My theme song is "Creep" by Radiohead)
So we finally got in and we saw the merch and I told my dad to buy me one of everything of The Young Veins' and ran off to get a place (later we found out that Nick Murray was helping sell the merch and he sold my dad the shirts= PARENTAL WIN). We were behind 2 rows of people but we squeezed our way to just behind 1 group whom also were TYV fans and we talked to them as we waited for Bad Rabbits to play . They were really nice and that's good because you should ALWAYS make friends with people you'll be dry humping for the next 2 hours. Jon was at a booth in the bar having a pre-show-drink with his friends and Cassie which was so amazing and Ryan came into the stage room to check out the crowd and mingle a little bit.
Bad Rabbits played and were really fun to watch. They were really energetic and talented and the guitarist that was in front of me was really good and I loved what he was doing (best run on sentence ever :p). They played for a while, I was digging them.
The Young Veins came on and got their equiptment ready and fixed their sound and stuff for 10 minutes. 10 minutes I got to watch Ryan Ross and Jon Walker from 2 feet away, just doing exactly what they were born to do. I was so happy.....(Whoa, I was just thinking of how I was happy this very second and I kind of just blacked out, not kidding. I came back with my eyes really wide open and singing "The Other Girl". Them boys DO SOMETHING to yourz mind).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atBC4ywgfJs
They went through their set, Jon sang two songs. I ruined the audio on all of my videos because I was singing out of tune AGAIN (this happens to me EVERY concert). But I got a small video of Jon singing "Everyone But You":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip9F-jsTrf4
Which is a beautiful song that I am psyched for!!!
After their set I remembered a picture that I drew for them a while back that I left in the car that I HAD to get. We left even before Foxy could get in the room and got the picture. I would've kicked myself if I didn't give it to them.
I was looking at my arm one day and I saw my veins looked like a "Y" and a "V" so I took a picture on my phone and traced it in pencil and then traced that in colours that took me about 10 minutes to pick out. I know you're jealous that my veins are better than yours, but try to contain yourself.
I grabbed my photo and went back to my tree and watched and waited for The Young Veins. They were packing their stuff up. Ryan and Jon started talking with different fans and I was going to give it to them but then I saw Nick Murray. This crazy drunk guy was talking to him about the most random shit and I realized my life's destiny- Save Nick Murray From the Crazy Drunk Guy. Nick was looking very awkward and scared. He tried inching away but tried to stay nice at the same time, this was getting him nowhere. We walked up to them and I said, "Excuse me." The drunk guy and his drunk girlfriend moved aside and we talked to Nick and I finally handed the picture to him and said, "I drew this for the band and I just wanted to give this to you guys." Nick was like, "Cool, cool. This is yours" and I was like, "Yea *confused*, wait, what do you mean?" and he said (OH MY GOSH) "Oh, well, I've seen this before, it's cool." and then I remembered that I sent all the members the picture on Twitter, he read my comment and liked my picture. I'm getting warm and flushed just thinking about it. How cool is that? We talked to him a little more and let him go to mingle with the rest of the fans that left before Foxy (because honestly, I already SAW his mustache and so I don't really need to be blinded by it's magnificence again).
I'm adding this to my "Best Day Ever" list. I have two best days ever, neither better than the other. But this has to be my favourite concert that I've ever been to. LOVE LOVE LOVE. That's all can say.
