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I can has (fucking expensive) GA tickets to see DISCO BABIES in Newark!! For the FIRST TIME! (that's right, I'm a Panic virgin, what what!) And I has a bluejbird!!!!!! EEEE THIS IS GONNA BE AWESOME.

Dude, that was stressful! I'm kind of nauseous a little. I need to go have lunch. And then maybe get back to actually, I dunno, doing work! :P

Putting the PA in PArty!

This is my overdue Warped report! I won't be too rambly, I hope, but there are a few highlights and impressions I'd like to get down. So without further ado:

Warped Tour 2008: Scranton, PA


I made the two and a half hour drive by myself and met up with enoughoflove and chaneen at Warped around noon. They were both awesome and I was so glad to have fangirls with me! \o/ We first caught the very tail end of Against Me! They were very good, I wish I had seen the whole set. Then we wandered around looking at the merch stands and stuff. chaneen said she had spotted an Alex Suarez at the Cobra tent on her way to meet us, but we didn't see him again, alas!

( Wandering about photos )

So then I wanted to see Anberlin. I had about 6 songs of theirs on my iPod and I really liked them, so I hoped seeing them live would fully convert me. It did! It was a fun, energetic set, and they seemed like really sweet guys. I was particularly fond of the bassist, flopping his hair about all adorably! We were at the back/side of the crowd, for which I was grateful as the crowd surfers became quite frequent. We even saw a full bottle of Gatorade or something hurtle through the air over the crowd, open. Yuck. I later bought Anberlin's second album at their merch tent, the only money I spent all day except on a bottle of water (I know, right? Restraint and a massive thunderstorm will do that!)

( A couple shots of Anberlin )

I forget how, but we managed to kill about an hour then waiting for TAI... and Cobras. But just as we were heading to the stage to get spots for TAI, this guy got on stage and told us that the sky was about to open up on us, and that we could find shelter or our cars. Sure enough, about five minutes later the apocalypse began! Gigantic, freezing drops of rain, with huge flashes of lightning, rolling thunder, and soon marble-sized chunks of hail. Luckily, the brilliant enoughoflove had brought garbage bags, so we were able to put our stuff in them and it didn't get wet \o/ You rock, Loey. But we didn't find shelter soon enough and were immediately soaked and freezing. We found sort of shelter under the corner of a very crowded merch tent, but mostly it saved my head from the hail. There was about two inches of water flowing across the ground, it was that intense. I actually thought it was a really cool experience, going through that kind of thing with a heck of a lot of strangers. I'm not sure how many people actually left then, but it wasn't everyone! It was still quite crowded later.

Before the rain completely stopped, we ventured out and back towards the Academy stage to see if they were still going to play. There was a small crowd that had stuck out the rain (!!) but we joined the back of that and that's how we got three from barrier! \o/ Everyone looked like drowned rats but were still amazingly in good spirits! Soon, the TAI crew started setting up, including TONY, who is ridiculously hot. I took some creepy stalker photos of him, haha. While we were waiting for TAI, Relient K played on the stage next door, and they were very good!

THEN THE ACADEMY IS... STARTED!!! They were SO fucking on. William's voice was resonant and powerful, and he had his hips and long self working to the max, and it was just so so so much fun. It was my VERY FIRST PIT, you guys. I was a pit virgin! This one was fine, though I could have done without the crowdsurfers (I have irrational rage where they're concerned - I consider it a VERY selfish thing to do, ruining other peoples' fun and risking injury to them just to have a few seconds of fun. ANYWAY.). They played so many of my favorites, even though their set had to be abbreviated for the rain. The setlist, as far as I can remember from the videos I took, was Neighbors, Slow Down, We've Got A Big Mess, The Phrase That Pays, Checkmarks, and About a Girl. I might be missing one or two in there, but suffice to say it was FABULOUS. William is a force that has to be seen to be believed. He really WORKS the crowd. He has a penchant for tugging his shirt up, and playing with microphone stands. enoughoflove didn't know anything about TAI going in (Laura and I were giving her a crash course in who played what instrument beforehand) but she came out awed of William and his charisma. Whee! \o/ I really hope I like the upcoming album, and I can't wait for them to go on tour this fall!

( The Academy Is... photos. Lots of Billiam! )

Okay, THE SEX EYES. During The Phrase That Pays, William sauntered his way over to our side of the stage, out on the wing. While he was singing, he caught my eyes, smiled adorably, and then proceeded to give me the sexiest "come hither" eyes/gesture I have EVER SEEEEEEN. My knees went to jelly, and as soon as he pranced away, I turned to Laura and Loey and went OMGGGGGGGGG. Amazingly, I found VIDEO of it on youtube!!!

At 00:14, just as he says "sick somehow" he gives this blinding smile and then the come hither look. HE'S LOOKING AT ME. Dead dead dead dead. :D :D :D The rest of the video is great too, and is a very good approximation of what my view was.

YAY ACADEMY.

The Cobras were IMMEDIATELY afterwards on the stage next door, and of COURSE the whole TAI crowd wanted to see them too, so as soon as TAI stopped we all sort of shoved over en masse. We didn't get very far as there was already a crowd for Cobras, but we got far enough. However, after one song, Gabe gave a shout out to TAI and all of us that had watched them, and then told us to make our way into the middle of the Cobra crowd because we fucking well deserved it. (He loves Academy so much omg) So as one, we all moved in one big PUSH and I got much closer. Not as close as I was for Academy, but it was awesome nonetheless.

Cobras were fabulous. I'll admit that I'm less fond of their music than most, but they played most of my favorites as well! City Is At War, Church of Hot Addiction, Smile for the Paparazzi, Bring It, Guilty Pleasure, and probably one or two more. They were adorable and engaging and super fun, of course. Gabe on stage is magnetic. He said that "Scranton puts the PA in party!!" and Ryland added that "Until now, we were purtying. But now we're fucking PARTYING." I have no idea, but it was hilarious. VickyT looked lovely in her dress, and Alex Suavez is a hotass, of course. I totally did the dance during Guilty Pleasure, as did Mr Gabriel! Bring It was marvelously adorable, with Bill and Gabe slapping hands when Bill came on stage and generally being really cute. For the rap, Gabe brought a girl from the crowd on stage, and she was damn good! Got every word and loud too! Go girl! \o/ While Gabe was working that out, Bill had adorable pow wows with Alex and Ryland. SIGH THESE BANDS. I hope they do a real tour together at some point when I can make it!

( Cobra pics! Not as many and not as good, but hey. Cobra! )

So that was my first Warped experience! YAY! I really loved it, despite the hiccups. A++ would sweat again! :D