(no subject)
I did a shitload of stuff since the last update, like go to a concert and go on vacation, so everything is behind a cut.
Gigantour:
Friday was the biggest metal concert like ever. It took place at the Tweeter Center, and bands included creamy, delicious Megadeth, Dream Theater, Nevermore, Dillinger Escape Plan, and Symphony X, as well as utter shit like Bobaflex, Life of Agony, and Dry Kill Logic. (Fear Factory wasn’t shit but we weren’t interested.) Sean, Nick, and I watched like 5 bands.
Bobaflex: Hahahah. These guys were complete losers, as one would rightly expect. They tried to be all deranged and crazy and funny (bassist pretending to hump his bass, singer grabbing his crotch like all the time), and I guess they were, but they forgot to play good music. Whatever.
Nevermore: They were talented and very good onstage; the guitar solos were amazing and they were definitely the best headbangers of the bunch but the crowd was unresponsive and unenthusiastic. That made for an underwhelming experience overall.
Symphony X: I don’t even like this band all that much but they were really quite amazing. Russell Allen (the lead singer) connected with the audience and was a total badass to boot, what with his powerful voice, wide vocal range, and gruff metal persona. The crowd was also very good this time around: they moshed, headbanged, and sang along. Michael Romeo is probably a really good guitarist but I couldn’t even see him most of the time, and I was too busy paying attention to the total loudness of every other instrument.
Dillinger Escape Plan: We didn’t get to watch them. Symphony X was playing at the same time, which is dumb. Boo hoo?
Dream Theater: They played their songs almost exactly the way they sound on record, just a lot louder and more headbangable. That’s not a bad thing, however: I got into it and enjoyed it, as did the rest of the audience. John Petrucci wore really dumb ass baggy black pants with red straps all over. They encored with “As I Am” and a medley of “Pull Me Under” and “Metropolis Pt. 1,” which is basically too long for an encore, but I can’t complain. One of the highlights of the night was when LaBrie replaced “take me as I am” with “lick my ass and balls.”
Megadeth: FUCK YEAH MEGADETH ROCK BALLS ANUS ASS!!! Shit yeah. The first half of their set was actually quite underwhelming; they played all the boring metal numbers from the latest 5 albums, a few highlights from The System Has Failed, and Wake Up Dead. But the second half…oh, fucking wow. Hangar 18 live is basically 892482480 eargasms in a row. At basically every crushingly loud part of a song, they set off 6 gigantic columns of fire, and sometimes fireworks. And eventually, Dave played a double-neck guitar, and it was badass. And they encored with Peace Sells and Holy Wars. And I banged my head against the stage, BONDED BY BLOOD! It was glorious. Megadeth is best.
So, in summary, my neck still hurts from all the headbangin’.
Day 1 of Toronto
We woke up from our cushy beds and went to the food court thing for breakfast. Matt, Lydia, and I went to this thing called Bunn Time. 2 people were working there, and it took them … a half hour to make 2 bagels with cream cheese and a wrap. That was a very horrifying way to start a vacation.
It was redeemed soon, however, for we went to Chinatown. Suddenly there was a festival there, and a bunch of bargain-y shops. We went to a restaurant called Happy Seven with really good fried rice, curry chicken, and other chicken. Then, we scoured some bargain shops and bought some cheap ass merch, including bags and belts.
For dinner we went to an Ethiopian restaurant, and it was really amazing. The dishes consisted of a bunch of little piles of meat and vegetables, mostly spicy, and very soft, spongy, flat bread which was slightly sour. You rip off pieces of the bread and use them to scoop up some of the piles; it’s really unique. Also, it seemed like the people in the restaurant were really nice: people actually smiled and stuff, and appeared to be having a good time, whereas in most restaurants people mind their own business and seem reserved and snippy.
...So I kind of forgot to write the rest of my journal, but I did these things:
-ate at several Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Italian, and "fusion" restaurants and had a generally excellent culinary experience
-got totally amazing corduroys at H&M, and also a shirt, for cheap
-got a really cool belt from a dingy Chinatown store for like $4 Canadian
-walked around and discovered the best downtown in any city ever
-enjoyed Canadian culture and the fact that there are probably more Tim Hortons there than Starbucks here
-realized how much more attractive and trendy people are in Toronto
-visited the University of Toronto, and was enticed by the surrounding city but not well-informed by the tour
-bought Beck's Midnite Vultures at a used CD store for real cheap
-endured cheap parents, frumpy grandmothers, being single in a condom/sex toy store, and crazy amounts of city/highway traffic
-decided that Toronto tops Vancouver and Montreal in terms of pretty much everything
Now I'm home and ready 4 axion. Also, I got my certification in the mail... so I can get my driver's license in a few days. About a year after everyone else did.
Gigantour:
Friday was the biggest metal concert like ever. It took place at the Tweeter Center, and bands included creamy, delicious Megadeth, Dream Theater, Nevermore, Dillinger Escape Plan, and Symphony X, as well as utter shit like Bobaflex, Life of Agony, and Dry Kill Logic. (Fear Factory wasn’t shit but we weren’t interested.) Sean, Nick, and I watched like 5 bands.
Bobaflex: Hahahah. These guys were complete losers, as one would rightly expect. They tried to be all deranged and crazy and funny (bassist pretending to hump his bass, singer grabbing his crotch like all the time), and I guess they were, but they forgot to play good music. Whatever.
Nevermore: They were talented and very good onstage; the guitar solos were amazing and they were definitely the best headbangers of the bunch but the crowd was unresponsive and unenthusiastic. That made for an underwhelming experience overall.
Symphony X: I don’t even like this band all that much but they were really quite amazing. Russell Allen (the lead singer) connected with the audience and was a total badass to boot, what with his powerful voice, wide vocal range, and gruff metal persona. The crowd was also very good this time around: they moshed, headbanged, and sang along. Michael Romeo is probably a really good guitarist but I couldn’t even see him most of the time, and I was too busy paying attention to the total loudness of every other instrument.
Dillinger Escape Plan: We didn’t get to watch them. Symphony X was playing at the same time, which is dumb. Boo hoo?
Dream Theater: They played their songs almost exactly the way they sound on record, just a lot louder and more headbangable. That’s not a bad thing, however: I got into it and enjoyed it, as did the rest of the audience. John Petrucci wore really dumb ass baggy black pants with red straps all over. They encored with “As I Am” and a medley of “Pull Me Under” and “Metropolis Pt. 1,” which is basically too long for an encore, but I can’t complain. One of the highlights of the night was when LaBrie replaced “take me as I am” with “lick my ass and balls.”
Megadeth: FUCK YEAH MEGADETH ROCK BALLS ANUS ASS!!! Shit yeah. The first half of their set was actually quite underwhelming; they played all the boring metal numbers from the latest 5 albums, a few highlights from The System Has Failed, and Wake Up Dead. But the second half…oh, fucking wow. Hangar 18 live is basically 892482480 eargasms in a row. At basically every crushingly loud part of a song, they set off 6 gigantic columns of fire, and sometimes fireworks. And eventually, Dave played a double-neck guitar, and it was badass. And they encored with Peace Sells and Holy Wars. And I banged my head against the stage, BONDED BY BLOOD! It was glorious. Megadeth is best.
So, in summary, my neck still hurts from all the headbangin’.
Day 1 of Toronto
We woke up from our cushy beds and went to the food court thing for breakfast. Matt, Lydia, and I went to this thing called Bunn Time. 2 people were working there, and it took them … a half hour to make 2 bagels with cream cheese and a wrap. That was a very horrifying way to start a vacation.
It was redeemed soon, however, for we went to Chinatown. Suddenly there was a festival there, and a bunch of bargain-y shops. We went to a restaurant called Happy Seven with really good fried rice, curry chicken, and other chicken. Then, we scoured some bargain shops and bought some cheap ass merch, including bags and belts.
For dinner we went to an Ethiopian restaurant, and it was really amazing. The dishes consisted of a bunch of little piles of meat and vegetables, mostly spicy, and very soft, spongy, flat bread which was slightly sour. You rip off pieces of the bread and use them to scoop up some of the piles; it’s really unique. Also, it seemed like the people in the restaurant were really nice: people actually smiled and stuff, and appeared to be having a good time, whereas in most restaurants people mind their own business and seem reserved and snippy.
...So I kind of forgot to write the rest of my journal, but I did these things:
-ate at several Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Italian, and "fusion" restaurants and had a generally excellent culinary experience
-got totally amazing corduroys at H&M, and also a shirt, for cheap
-got a really cool belt from a dingy Chinatown store for like $4 Canadian
-walked around and discovered the best downtown in any city ever
-enjoyed Canadian culture and the fact that there are probably more Tim Hortons there than Starbucks here
-realized how much more attractive and trendy people are in Toronto
-visited the University of Toronto, and was enticed by the surrounding city but not well-informed by the tour
-bought Beck's Midnite Vultures at a used CD store for real cheap
-endured cheap parents, frumpy grandmothers, being single in a condom/sex toy store, and crazy amounts of city/highway traffic
-decided that Toronto tops Vancouver and Montreal in terms of pretty much everything
Now I'm home and ready 4 axion. Also, I got my certification in the mail... so I can get my driver's license in a few days. About a year after everyone else did.