I hate going to hardcore shows. I like the music when it's done well, but I hate the fans and the crowd. Think of every douchebag you know standing in a small room feeling violent and add speakers that are way too fucking loud to make any sense-- then you have the idea. And girls in the pit are often not welcome.
I do love punk shows. Same violence, less douchebags, better music. There's sort of a family type of thing going on there. If you fall, someone will help you up. If you fall at a lot of hardcore shows, people will step on you rather than help you because it's a bunch of snotty teenagers. I've gotten hurt at punk shows, but I'd always do it again because it's fun. I'll probably continue to go to see The Casualties and NOFX every time they come to Pittsburgh.
Indie shows make me uncomfortable. People aren't really violent, and there's not as much pushing and whatnot. It's always overrun by hipsters. I always feel like I don't really know how to act there. Brand New (i don't know if you can consider them indie) is the exception. You will be squeezed to with an inch of your life. And honestly, other than the time I saw them at IUP, I'm not a really big fan of them live even though they're one of my favorite bands. If you've seen them once, you pretty much have the idea.
Bands I still want to see but haven't yet are, of course, all the old punk bands like The Adics and TSOL and whatnot. They still play Warped Tour dates in California. I would give my left arm to see Rage Against the Machine even though they're kind of broken up. Also, Death Cab for Cutie, Big D and the Kids Table, The Strokes (though I think they may be broken up too), Modest Mouse and Amy Winehouse. I still want to see Motley Crue, lol.
If I could, I would take a time machine to see Iggy and the Stooges, The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, Queen, Janis Joplin, Nirvana, The Clash and Dead Kennedys, and all the other old punk bands in the 70's and early 80's that I love.
When I say I've seen a band like 4 times, there's a good chance one or two of the times were at Warped Tour. I think I'm missing a few here, but here's all of the concerts I've ever been to since the very beginning. I'm adding little stories to some of them:
1. 8/27/1998 Hanson @ Mellon Arena
2. 7/16/ 00 Nsync @ 3 Rivers Stadium
3. 5/28/01 Nsync @ Hershey Stadium
4. 6/4/01 KissFM Monster Tour, 98 degrees @post Gazette
>>Insert 10/7/03 Good Charlotte, Mest, Something Corporate @ Peterson
>>>Went to this with Meg, Kyra, Angie and my mom and step-dad. My mom was horrified that Tony Lovato was saying fuck every other word and spitting into the crowd. She didn't know that I secretly had their CD already. She saw Tony Lovato walking around before the show and casually came back and said she saw some weird-looking guy with a mohawk and piercings giving autographs. I could have killed her for not telling me sooner. He left by the time I got up there.
5. 11/11/04 Good Charlotte, Sum 41, Lola Ray @ Peterson Events Center
>>This was my first concert without a parent. It was me and Meg and we were stoked. Meg ended up at the bottom of a mountain of people that fell over, and she lost her shoe that we eventually found later.
6. 4/24/05, Green Day, MCR (opener) @Peterson Events Center
>>For all of their faults, Green Day is still a great live band. They played a lot of their good old songs.
7. 5/27/05 Social Distortion, MCR, Unwritten Law, 30 Seconds to Mars @ CA
>>A huge guy with a Slayer tattoo across his chest saved Tina and Jamie from getting killed in a mosh pit. I really don't like 30 Seconds to Mars, but I say them like 3 or 4 times because they kept playing with bands I like. Same with Thrice.
8. Warped 2005
>>I met one of my favorite bands ever, MXPX. They signed a CD jacket and a poster for me. I would've died happy. I got a picture with the guitarist of Bleed The Dream where he gave the camera the finger and the whole band signed my T-Shirt. To put the icing on the cake, I got Tony Lovato (singer of Mest), who I was completely in love with, to sign a CD jacket.
9. 9/9/05 Disturbed, Our Lady Peace, Bloodhound Gang, Cold, 30 Seconds to Mars @ PG
10. 11/26/05 From First To Last, At All Cost, He Is Legend @Smalls
>>I consider this my first real concert. The venue isn't enormous.I went with Brandon, Kevin and Jess. It felt like a lot of the other shows I've been to since. Mikey Way from My Chemical Romance was at the show because his girlfriend was playing base for FFTL... they hadn't replaced theirs yet. I got Sonny More, Matt Good and Mikey Way to sign my Marilyn Monroe t-shirt. I think I also got Sonny More to give me a kiss on the cheek but I can't really remember. This is Sonny More:
11. 12/23/05 Loko Phylum, ClearviewKills, Cali AC @ Smalls
12. 1/11/06 Emanuel, A Fall From Grace @ Smalls
13. 2/2/06 Mest @ Zoo
>> I cried at this show. It was the last tour before breaking up. They've been one of my faves since I was like 13ish. I got a picture with Mest's drummer.
14. 3/28/06 Aiden, Emanuel, 30 Seconds to Mars @ Smalls
>>This was my first experience with "the wall of death." Look it up on youtube. I caught a sweat rag from the bassist, got something signed, and got a picture of Wil Francis kissing me on the cheek. Again, I would've died happy. I loved this kid. I think Aiden is still around, though I believe Wil is wearing less makeup. This is Wil:
15. 6/17/06 MSI, Kill Hannah, ProCon @ Smalls
>>Singer of MSI, Jimmy Urine, licked my face, lol. I'd add a picture, but he's really gross looking, or at least he was back then.
16. Warped 2006
>>Fought to the death to get a half of a drum stick from Aiden. Me and this kid were fighting over it, then we decided to break it in half. Somewhere in PA there is a boy with half of my drumstick. I got elbowed in the face during NOFX's set and bled all over the place.
17. 9/5/06 Rancid! @ Zoo
18. 9/13/06 Def Leppard, Journey @ Post Gazette
>>I went to this with my mom and step-dad. It was raining so hard that the venue started flooding. We didn't get home to 3am and they still made me go to school the next day.
19. 10/17/06 Silverstein, Aiden @Smalls
20. 11/06/06 The Casualties @ LV Moose
>>I think I blacked out at this concert for a few seconds. Someone that was too heavy to be stage diving landed on my head.
21. 11/26/06 Norma Jean, Fear Before the March of Flames @ Zoo
>>Me and Tina pushed this girl we didn't like into a mosh pit. Hilarious.
22. 1/30/07 Thursday, Fear Before the March of Flames, Murder by Death @ Smalls
23. 3/31/07 Taking Back Sunday, Underoath, Armor for Sleep
24. 4/7/07 Missing Pages, DNR @ Smalls
25. Warped 2007
26. 8/21/07 Less Than Jake, Reel Big Fish @ Zoo
>>Paid for Brian's ticket. Still waiting for him to pay me back, lol.
27. 9/11/07 MSI, Julient-K @ Smalls
28. 7/15/07 Fear Before the March of Flames @ Smalls
29. 12/8/07 Brand New, Mewithoutyou @ Palumbo Center
>>So many motherfucking hipsters. The whole place reeked of incense and dirty bodies.
30. 1/28/08 Once Nothing, Oh Sleeper, Our Last Night @ Octane
31. 5/14/08 Circa Survive, Thrice @ Zoo
>>Anthony Green is one of the best front men in the history of the world.
32. 4/25/08 Casualties, Krum Bums @Rex
33. 4/27/08 MXPX, Chiodos, The Color Fred, Protest the Hero @ Zoo
34. 4/30/08 MSI with Birthday Massacre @Smalls
35. Warped 2008
>>Caught a drum stick from Reel Big Fish and a fake neck brace from Less Than Jake.
36. 8/18/08 Cali AC CD release show @ Diesel
37. Ozzfest 2008
>>Don't ever go to a free metal concert. It attracts the bottom of the barrel.
38. 9/24/08 Chiodos, Hit the Lights, Person L @ Smalls
>>I think I groped Craig Owens at this show when he came out into the crowd, lol.
39. 9/28/08 Brand New, The Builders and the Butchers @ IUP
>>Absolutely Incredible.
40. 10/14/08 Once Nothing @Smalls
41. 10/24/08 NOFX @ Zoo
>>Caught Eric Melvin's guitar pick that says Nofx on the front and Melvin Sucks on the back. I was so stoked. They remain one of my favorite bands.
42. 4/5/09 Once Nothing's Last Show!!!! @Altar Bar
43. 6/12/09 Craig Owens, Todd from Once Nothing @ Smiling Moose
>>Craig Owens was over talking to a bunch of fans, but I was too scared to go and talk to him. I loved this show. It was on the second floor of a bar in South Side. The stage was tiny and there probably weren't more than like 35 people there.
44. 6/24/09 Aerosmith, ZZ Top @ Post Gazette
45. 7/2/09 Casualties, Leftover Crack, Trash Talk @ Smalls
>>Nasty cut on my face from some guy's spiked jacket. Thankfully, the scar finally went away.
46. Warped 2009
47. Mayhem Fest 2009
>>Fuck Marilyn Manson. He's a total asshole.
48. 8/11/09 AFI, The Gallows @ Club Zoo
49. 8/14/09 Blink 182 @ Post Gazette
>>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1NpMFoAmdw This was insane. Travis Barker was playing a drum solo from a rotating platform like 50-ish feet up in the air.
50. 3/20/10 Portugal. The Man, Port O' Brien, The Dig @ Smalls
51. 4/5/10 HIM @ Club Zoo
52. 4/25/10 Brand New, P.O.S. @ Club Zoo
>>Introduced me to P.O.S. Love him.
53. 7/29/10 Kiss @ Post Gazette (now First Niagara) Pavilion
54. Mayhem Fest 2010
My roommate is watching Glee and someone is seriously fucking up REM's Losing My Religion. I love that song :(
Edit:
We just had a fire alarm in my building. It's like 11:45 pm. There was an insanely cute boy that may or may not live in my hall, he came out of a door of one of my neighbors. He was wearing a black beater and a green beanie. He had a big upper arm tattoo. He held the door for everyone in my hall. He had a really cute face and great arms. I think people should burn Styrofoam in the microwave more often.
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