In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night

SO THIS IS TOM CONRAD.




( ONTO THE PRIMER )

So if Empires plays a show in Madison, who would all be willing to come?

Cause if they do play, then I sorta helped book them? Maybe a little?

I can't actually believe he responded.

So I was driving home from a doctors appointment today, and Welcome to The Black Parade comes on the radio.

Gosh, I forgot how much I love that band. Oh MCR, you will always be my first and my favorite.

So, I forgot how much I like The Mars Volta until I heard Frances the Mute again.

That guitar work is sick.

Seriously, how do I manage to crash Opera?

My work schedule is all still up in the air, but at least I got off for Warped and the family stuff I have going on. Empires shows right now are still up in the air, since I probably won't get off work until 5, and for the 7th, the show starts an hour later then that.

Work itself isn't bad, just has loooooong stretches of doing nothing, which are the worst. There is only so much to do in a small store in a mall.

FRIENDS WORKING WARPED! I'M FLOCKING THIS ENTRY AND WILL POST MY PHONE NUMBER, SO I CAN HOPEFULLY FIND WHERE YOU ARE WORKING AND STOP AND SAY HI. MY NUMBER IS 262-442-2853. ANYONE ELSE THAT WANTS/NEEDS MY NUMBER, FEEL FREE TO TAKE. I HAVE FREE TEXTING, SO TEXT AWAY.


In a less capslocky vein, online returns suck hard. I got three shirts and a scarf from an online retailer since there are no stores in my general vicinity. I decided that I wanted to exchange one shirt for another of equal price, and exchange another for a different size. However, my return info is only for one shirt, not two, and the fucking number they gave me to call and cancel an incorrect return is WRONG. So I emalied them again and explained the situation, gave them my info again, and asked that they cancel the previous return, so hopefully things will work out. Keyword here is hope.

Major band LOL going on over at ONTD over Panic.

Apparently the bassist for the Jonas Brothers really liked Pretty. Odd., but sees Panic as the band that one loves to hate/hates to love (in regards to the makeup and Fever), and kinda rags on them for ripping of Sgt. Pepper's, calling the Beatles album the greatest of all time, but gives them props for at least ripping off the best.

Of course this gets on ONTD, and thus ensues the massive Panic vs. JoeBros debate, the majority calling the bassist out on how he's playing for a manufactured Disney boy band and has absolutely no room to talk.

The whole thing is pretty hilarious, go check it out HERE.

Okay, so I might have massive love for the band Powerspace. GO CHECK THEM OUT NOW, ESPECIALLY IF YOU WANT IT TURNED UP TO 11!

So, this is part of my Epic Chicago Adventure, you guys.

Drove down, got to the club around 9:30 or so, and hung around watching Fight Club, feeling like a dork for having come alone. Eventually, a group of people come in and meet up with some other people, and I keep looking at them cause one person looks really familiar. Eventually, I go up and ask, and it turns out it's berserkide! So I end up meeting the internet, which was freaking awesome (and yes, I friended everyone that gave me their ljs).

The show finally started, with Empires being the only band playing. I was actually kind of suprised that there weren't as many people at the club, but that was probably because it was Tuesday and the club was 21+.

The setlist:
-Valmont
-Modern love
-All Night Long
-Blood
-Warning Mark
-Under the Bright Lights
-Anywhere
-Midnight Land


I was actually pretty excited that they didn't play all the same songs as they did on Wednesday. And while I got a great listen to Max and Al, it was kind of hard to hear Sean. Or anyone else trying to talk.

After we all hung out and chatted with Sean and then Ryan. Sean actually remembered me, but still l thought my name was Lynn for some reason. And he asked about you, Natalie. He missed you at the show. I missed the rest of the convo though.

Ryan is super nice, and we all chatted about him being "short", met his friend Matt, and joked about how him falling off the drum kit is on youtube, which is highly amusing. And if I remember correctly, he also said that yes, the band knows about the blogs, which is terrifying, seriously.

So I eventually wandered over to Tom to say hi for Natalie, and he introduced me to George, the guy who is actually doing the hosting for the album and is helping track it. He was the guy in the green threadless shirt with the curly hair, so go thank him next time you see the guy. Tom actually did remember my name, and asked me if I got home okay last week, and Tom told George about how Nat and I met in line and me driving her back and all that. That somehow led into Tom telling us this cool story about how this women sent the band an email last week about how she's a single mom, and was down on her luck, and had met all these people on the internet/lj, who when they found out, sent money and helped her out. So it turns out that she's a fan of the band and is a big believer in the idea of "paying it forward", and sent them like 300 dollars worth of groceries. Which according to Tom is amazing, since he has never had a full pantry ever (my god, someone feed this band, PLEASE!). Tom Conrad, seriously, I have never had a band really inspire me to do good for people because I can like you guys do.

And then the best part of the night happened. Tom asked me about clubs in Madison that the band could play at (he knew of the union since he and 504plan, i believe, played it years ago). I mentioned the Annex and High Noon Saloon, and he mentioned that they're looking to maybe tour come August, since they're now pretty established in Chicago. Which rates a "HOLY FREAKING SHIT THAT WOULD BE AWESOME" if it actually happened. I would so take off work and become a roadie for a week.

Went back and hung with the internet until last call, which then we went outside, ended up chatting up Max, smoked, and generally were entertaining and vaguely drunk (at least some of us). There was some comparing of schools and putting down the Red Sox, and I got the shit for having the Wisconsin accent, and Max being really adorable with his fluffy hair, and deciding that the reason Ryan always comes and talks to the girls is that he's single, and then watching Ryan get carried off for some reason, and finding out that Max is a huge ER fan, and people talking about Chicago things.

And then we all went home a little before 2. And it was awesome.

FLIST, IF YOU NEED ME TO CUT THIS, THEN JUST COMMENT AND I WILL.

Apparently I'm going back down to Chicago on Tuesday for the Empires show at the Debonair. At least the show is free, so that'll save money on tolls.

And I got my state refund check! So I'm not completely broke yet!

And damnit, now I can't stop reading Nick Scimeca's blog. I didn't know that they were opening a Angels & Kings Chicago. Thank god for being over the drinking age.

NEW ICONS, YAY!

AND MY LOVE FOR JON/SPENCER KNOWS NO BOUNDS. I THINK I'M MORE ADDICTED TO THEM THEN I AM BOB/FRANK, AND THAT'S SAYING A LOT. I'VE GIVEN UP ON PRETENDING THAT I DON'T LIKE PANIC AT THE DISCO.

Also, my mouse is on the fritz, and keeps locking up, which is the most annoying thing ever.

Two weeks left of school, and then I'll just be working and relaxing for summer. Which will hopefully free me up for concerts, hanging out with people, and working on that psychic!Bob story I promised Mandie.

Ugh, I still need a job for summer. Luckily there are a billion coffees shops, restaurants, and random stores in the area, so I should get at least one of the jobs I'm applying for, especially since I have both retail and food service XP.

Going to the Chamber Orchestra concert tonight. I forgot most of what they're playing, exept for the Brandenburg Concerto, which will be awesome.

EDIT: Anybody planning on going to the Milwaukee Warped Tour on august 1st?