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It's been a very long week, so accordingly, I'm being lazy about my gig reviews. However, I will tell you alllllll about meeting Snow Patrol because I need to get the details down while my mind is still semi fresh. Cut for your pleasure.
Okay, so after the show we went with VelocityGirl72 (a fellow SP boardie whose name I unfortunately forget) and her friend Pam to go bus hunting. It didn't take long, and there weren't that many people lingering. We parked on the sidewalk so Shannon could smoke while we chatted, mostly about European bands (I refuse to say British while including the Irish). There was a little wall...thing? nearby, and on it I saw an opened Corona. I suspected Pablo. This was confirmed when I saw people going up to him to get autographs. He didn't have a Sharpie, so he gave them a shrug and talked to them a bit. The best snippet I overheard was when a girl was talking about biscuits. He took on a look of terror and asked, "Is that what you call them in America?" The next few minutes were spent with him muttering things like "Cheese biscuits? Cheese scones? Briskets?" He was quite endearingly tipsy. Finally he made his way over to us and did the same shrug about autographs. However, I'd thought ahead and grabbed a Sharpie, so I pulled it out from behind my ear (literally), and he gave me a look like, 'Ahhhh, sneaky.' So we got our autographs, and of course we had to ask for a picture. He agreed, so Shannon and I took to his sides. His body was very warm despite the old air outside, and he smelled a bit of liquor. Apparently they took a picture while Paul and I weren't paying the slightest bit of attention, so we had to try again. As they fiddled with the camera, I said, "Look, the sky is orange." Light pollution had tinted the starless sky, which I thought was interesting. Apparently Pablo did too since he muttered something I sadly cannot remember. Finally we stopped being distracted like naughty school children and got our picture, which I think turned out pretty well except my smile looks so fake because I had to hold it so long. He walked off with Shannon's Sharpie though, so as he was making his way to sweet, sweet escape via the Silversun Pickups' bus, Shannon was like, "Paul?" He whirled around, cradling his precious Corona, and bellowed something like, "Now what do you want?" in forced/fake frustration. It was funny. She pointed to her pen and stated as much. He looked at his hand, smiled, and said, "Oh, well you can have that." Sharpie surrendered, he was off.
I swear I won't rant nearly as long on at least three of the others. Nathan came out next and was just wandering between the fans, completely ready to chill out. When a girl was getting her picture taken with him, some car was pulling out, so he made a very bad pun about Headlights on Dark Roads. That's okay though because it was Nathan, so I guess he's allowed. We talked to him a little while, got autographs, and then tried to get our picture taken. The girl was having issues with Shannon's camera, so we were all laughing our asses off with our arms around one another. As I started to explain the way to use the camera, the flash went off, so here's the result of that. Tom came next, and he was very nice and funny. Also shorter than anticipated, but I'm not one to criticize there. The girl still has our picture with him, which we are very frustrated over but hopefully it will be surrendered shortly. Then came Gary, and I'm going to give him a new paragraph.
Gary seemed to be a bit drained when he came out, and the next day I heard that Damien Rice decided to fire Lisa Hannigan so that might've had something to do with his distracted mood. I won't speculate. Anyway, after we got our autographs, of course, Shannon announced she had a gift for him. I'll never forget the look on his face because he seemed like he was not going to be able to handle someone giving him a random stuffed animal at that moment. I dug through my purse all the faster to grab the 4 Martha Wainwright CDs she'd burnt for him - Martha's old EPs, bootlegs, collaborations, live takes, the works. Shannon explained while I handed them over to him, and he just blinked while he looked at the CDs. He expressed so much gratitude, tucked the CDs in his pocket, and then leaned in to give Shannon a big hug. I was busy admiring that nice moment there when he turned from her and gave me a hug too. It wasn't brief but wasn't long either, and he rubbed our backs as a little sign of appreciation. I don't know how to explain it, really. Then we asked him for a picture, and his spirits seemed infinitely higher when he agreed. Shannon and I kind of moved to go, but his arms were still around us. We kind of looked at him funny, but he gestured to our companions and said, "There's another camera." Then we remembered that Pam had her own digital camera. He asked if we wanted another picture, so we were like "sure!" He pulled us in again, and I had on boots so I kind of stumbled over myself. That's okay since he's got more than enough body for a crash landing, and I'm sure I couldn't knock him over if I tried. So we got another picture with Gary, and I wish we'd get that image because it's got to be funny. Last but not least was Jonny, and sadly he got yanked away by others wanting autographs and then by the tour manager telling him he had to get to bed, so no pictures for us then. Some girl complained about driving two hours to see them, so I said that I'd spent 8 hours on the Greyhound followed by our drive there. He told me I won the prize, though what the prize was, he didn't say. They were all very generous with their time though, hanging out with us until they had to pull out of the parking lot. Their bus then almost ran us over during our happy dances, but that's okay.
Damn, there were a lot of people waiting for them in Detroit. Plus it was very cold. We waited for maybe ten minutes before Gary came out, and then there was a roar and a rush. A security guard literally yelled at people to get back, and Gary kind of blinked in horror and was like, "Better listen to the guy." You could tell he had no idea what to do about being rushed by all of these eager fans. Mindy and I waited patiently because god, people were bugging him a lot. A girl yelled at Gary for not coming to Ohio, which caused him to try to think of somewhere in Ohio (he failed miserably though). She said she'd told Nathan before, and he was like, "Well, you never talk to Nathan when you want something done. Nathan doesn't delegate." It was cute. Some girl threw her camera at me to get me to take her picture with Gary, which was kind of annoying but it at least got him started talking to me. He was pretty chatty. I got him to sign Songs for Polarbears, which he said was very old, "back when I still had all of my real teeth!" That would've been really funny if it weren't true, so I was just awwwwwing on the inside that he would make such a statement to me. I asked him for a picture, but then some girl just completely yanked him aside for more autographs. He turned around and told me "yes!" before he eventually had to cut off the tide and return to us, for which I was quite grateful. So he kind of put his arm up for me to duck under, and yes, I got another picture with him. Then I took Mindy's picture, and the crowd kind of swallowed him up again. He was very gracious though, and I think he kind of recognized me if only because he was slightly chattier with us than most. That or we just seemed sane. Whatever.
Next came Jonny, and I swear to you this Irish dude rushed up to him and was like, "Tom! Tom's my boy here!" Jonny looked very uncomfortable, but I'd be uncomfortable too if someone insisted on calling me Tom. So this guy chattered at him a bit, got a picture, and moved on. We didn't have a Sharpie, and my pen didn't really work well, so he actually asked for a Sharpie so he could sign our stuff. It was very sweet of him. He too was impressed that I had Songs for Polarbears, and then I completed my set of Snow Patrol pictures. Mindy's flash died, so her picture didn't turn out so hot. Then we shuffled over to Nathan, and he had the same Sharpie problem. Actually, people before us were trying to get autographs while he was just trying to finish off his little bottle of Gatorade (yellow, for the record). Finally he obtained a Sharpie and signed stuff for us. Paul also didn't have a Sharpie, and he was wandering around all shady-like. Annoying Irish Man came up to him and started going, "Oi, mate, do ya play a Fender P-bass?" which is ridiculous because hello, anyone who knows anything about guitars can see that the man usually plays a Rickenbacker. But I digress. So this boy gave Pablo a pen to sign stuff, and he did so, but afterward he handed back over the pen. The boy explained that he could keep it, but he laughed it off and still gave it back. I think that man will do anything to get out of signing autographs. He's endearingly antisocial, and once more I was glad I got to meet them in DC because he was much more talkative (read: inebriated) then. Mindy and I were happy and cold and ogled by Wrestlemania fans, but that's okay in the end.
So those are my stories about meeting the Patrol. Maybe one day I'll get around to writing reviews of the shows, but in short, they were incredible. Now I am happy to have a weekend of quiet.
Okay, so after the show we went with VelocityGirl72 (a fellow SP boardie whose name I unfortunately forget) and her friend Pam to go bus hunting. It didn't take long, and there weren't that many people lingering. We parked on the sidewalk so Shannon could smoke while we chatted, mostly about European bands (I refuse to say British while including the Irish). There was a little wall...thing? nearby, and on it I saw an opened Corona. I suspected Pablo. This was confirmed when I saw people going up to him to get autographs. He didn't have a Sharpie, so he gave them a shrug and talked to them a bit. The best snippet I overheard was when a girl was talking about biscuits. He took on a look of terror and asked, "Is that what you call them in America?" The next few minutes were spent with him muttering things like "Cheese biscuits? Cheese scones? Briskets?" He was quite endearingly tipsy. Finally he made his way over to us and did the same shrug about autographs. However, I'd thought ahead and grabbed a Sharpie, so I pulled it out from behind my ear (literally), and he gave me a look like, 'Ahhhh, sneaky.' So we got our autographs, and of course we had to ask for a picture. He agreed, so Shannon and I took to his sides. His body was very warm despite the old air outside, and he smelled a bit of liquor. Apparently they took a picture while Paul and I weren't paying the slightest bit of attention, so we had to try again. As they fiddled with the camera, I said, "Look, the sky is orange." Light pollution had tinted the starless sky, which I thought was interesting. Apparently Pablo did too since he muttered something I sadly cannot remember. Finally we stopped being distracted like naughty school children and got our picture, which I think turned out pretty well except my smile looks so fake because I had to hold it so long. He walked off with Shannon's Sharpie though, so as he was making his way to sweet, sweet escape via the Silversun Pickups' bus, Shannon was like, "Paul?" He whirled around, cradling his precious Corona, and bellowed something like, "Now what do you want?" in forced/fake frustration. It was funny. She pointed to her pen and stated as much. He looked at his hand, smiled, and said, "Oh, well you can have that." Sharpie surrendered, he was off.
I swear I won't rant nearly as long on at least three of the others. Nathan came out next and was just wandering between the fans, completely ready to chill out. When a girl was getting her picture taken with him, some car was pulling out, so he made a very bad pun about Headlights on Dark Roads. That's okay though because it was Nathan, so I guess he's allowed. We talked to him a little while, got autographs, and then tried to get our picture taken. The girl was having issues with Shannon's camera, so we were all laughing our asses off with our arms around one another. As I started to explain the way to use the camera, the flash went off, so here's the result of that. Tom came next, and he was very nice and funny. Also shorter than anticipated, but I'm not one to criticize there. The girl still has our picture with him, which we are very frustrated over but hopefully it will be surrendered shortly. Then came Gary, and I'm going to give him a new paragraph.
Gary seemed to be a bit drained when he came out, and the next day I heard that Damien Rice decided to fire Lisa Hannigan so that might've had something to do with his distracted mood. I won't speculate. Anyway, after we got our autographs, of course, Shannon announced she had a gift for him. I'll never forget the look on his face because he seemed like he was not going to be able to handle someone giving him a random stuffed animal at that moment. I dug through my purse all the faster to grab the 4 Martha Wainwright CDs she'd burnt for him - Martha's old EPs, bootlegs, collaborations, live takes, the works. Shannon explained while I handed them over to him, and he just blinked while he looked at the CDs. He expressed so much gratitude, tucked the CDs in his pocket, and then leaned in to give Shannon a big hug. I was busy admiring that nice moment there when he turned from her and gave me a hug too. It wasn't brief but wasn't long either, and he rubbed our backs as a little sign of appreciation. I don't know how to explain it, really. Then we asked him for a picture, and his spirits seemed infinitely higher when he agreed. Shannon and I kind of moved to go, but his arms were still around us. We kind of looked at him funny, but he gestured to our companions and said, "There's another camera." Then we remembered that Pam had her own digital camera. He asked if we wanted another picture, so we were like "sure!" He pulled us in again, and I had on boots so I kind of stumbled over myself. That's okay since he's got more than enough body for a crash landing, and I'm sure I couldn't knock him over if I tried. So we got another picture with Gary, and I wish we'd get that image because it's got to be funny. Last but not least was Jonny, and sadly he got yanked away by others wanting autographs and then by the tour manager telling him he had to get to bed, so no pictures for us then. Some girl complained about driving two hours to see them, so I said that I'd spent 8 hours on the Greyhound followed by our drive there. He told me I won the prize, though what the prize was, he didn't say. They were all very generous with their time though, hanging out with us until they had to pull out of the parking lot. Their bus then almost ran us over during our happy dances, but that's okay.
Damn, there were a lot of people waiting for them in Detroit. Plus it was very cold. We waited for maybe ten minutes before Gary came out, and then there was a roar and a rush. A security guard literally yelled at people to get back, and Gary kind of blinked in horror and was like, "Better listen to the guy." You could tell he had no idea what to do about being rushed by all of these eager fans. Mindy and I waited patiently because god, people were bugging him a lot. A girl yelled at Gary for not coming to Ohio, which caused him to try to think of somewhere in Ohio (he failed miserably though). She said she'd told Nathan before, and he was like, "Well, you never talk to Nathan when you want something done. Nathan doesn't delegate." It was cute. Some girl threw her camera at me to get me to take her picture with Gary, which was kind of annoying but it at least got him started talking to me. He was pretty chatty. I got him to sign Songs for Polarbears, which he said was very old, "back when I still had all of my real teeth!" That would've been really funny if it weren't true, so I was just awwwwwing on the inside that he would make such a statement to me. I asked him for a picture, but then some girl just completely yanked him aside for more autographs. He turned around and told me "yes!" before he eventually had to cut off the tide and return to us, for which I was quite grateful. So he kind of put his arm up for me to duck under, and yes, I got another picture with him. Then I took Mindy's picture, and the crowd kind of swallowed him up again. He was very gracious though, and I think he kind of recognized me if only because he was slightly chattier with us than most. That or we just seemed sane. Whatever.
Next came Jonny, and I swear to you this Irish dude rushed up to him and was like, "Tom! Tom's my boy here!" Jonny looked very uncomfortable, but I'd be uncomfortable too if someone insisted on calling me Tom. So this guy chattered at him a bit, got a picture, and moved on. We didn't have a Sharpie, and my pen didn't really work well, so he actually asked for a Sharpie so he could sign our stuff. It was very sweet of him. He too was impressed that I had Songs for Polarbears, and then I completed my set of Snow Patrol pictures. Mindy's flash died, so her picture didn't turn out so hot. Then we shuffled over to Nathan, and he had the same Sharpie problem. Actually, people before us were trying to get autographs while he was just trying to finish off his little bottle of Gatorade (yellow, for the record). Finally he obtained a Sharpie and signed stuff for us. Paul also didn't have a Sharpie, and he was wandering around all shady-like. Annoying Irish Man came up to him and started going, "Oi, mate, do ya play a Fender P-bass?" which is ridiculous because hello, anyone who knows anything about guitars can see that the man usually plays a Rickenbacker. But I digress. So this boy gave Pablo a pen to sign stuff, and he did so, but afterward he handed back over the pen. The boy explained that he could keep it, but he laughed it off and still gave it back. I think that man will do anything to get out of signing autographs. He's endearingly antisocial, and once more I was glad I got to meet them in DC because he was much more talkative (read: inebriated) then. Mindy and I were happy and cold and ogled by Wrestlemania fans, but that's okay in the end.
So those are my stories about meeting the Patrol. Maybe one day I'll get around to writing reviews of the shows, but in short, they were incredible. Now I am happy to have a weekend of quiet.