MCR! Part One!
My Chemical Romance finally made it back to Sydney, hurrah! And I saw them, huzzah! Twice, hooray!
lol. I've left it a little long to post but hopefully the details aren't fuzzy yet...
The Big Day Out show was really, really fun. I got to the stage early in the day, about 12.45, and Frenzal Rhomb were just starting. There looked to be heaps of room so I shuffled my way forward hoping to get a good spot... then quickly backed off again once their fanboys started throwing themselves around like cannonballs! I was surprised by how much I enjoyed that show. The lead guy was entertaining and fun, the music was fun, I had a great time. When they finished the area cleared right out and I went straight up the front & snagged a very small slice of barrier between two bunches of guys to stake my place. Turned out that wasn't even necessary, because those guys were just there to say hi to the Frenzal Rhomb guitarist, who came down and chatted / took photos with them for a few minutes. Then they left, so I had myself a good spot to stick to. There were a couple of mychem fans already there (I could tell by the tattoos...), it was all friendly n stuff. :)
Stayed there through Boy and Bear (don't even remember the music, tbh, all I could think the whole time was how much their lead guy looks like Brad Pitt...), and Hilltop Hoods (not really my thing but another surprisingly entertaining show). Both sets of fans were pretty rough, with people pushing to the front, and literally trying to grab us mychem girls to drag us off the barrier. But we stayed put. :)
Before Hilltop Hoods (I think) shinetheway texted me to say where she was & I eventually spotted her a row behind me & closer to the middle (I was directly in front of Frank's mic stand). We waved & bounced but she couldn't get to me (& had a pretty good spot where she was anyway).
In between sets on our stage, we could hear Parkway Drive and then The Living End on the nearby stage. Parkway Drive was madness. The Living End was pretty great, but at that time I was busy watching the mychem bump-in. Mikey came out on the side at one point and took some pics of the crowd, and Ray appeared on his side, eating a sandwich and sorting things out with his tech. Dewees was there sorting out his keys and a few of us called out to him but I'm not sure he liked the attention. Everyone cheered when the backdrop was flown up. :)
Then, it was time! :D Gerard came out loking cheerful and pleased with life right off the bat. Right from the start he was working the crowd, flirting, winking, smiling constantly, telling us we were the best crowd. He was in such a good mood, it was so fun. He was looking BLOODY SEXY, too, as well as literally very hot. He kept undoing buttons and opening his shirtfront to get some air, it was all very nice. ;)
Frank was very quiet, compared to usual. He didn't move around much & actually looked quite ill a few times but he was still amazing. Singing his heart out and making an effort to engage with us. I was most shocked when he didn't even jump around during I'm Not Okay.
Mikey made up for that a bit, grinning a lot and moving around more than usual. He smiled right at us a few times and at Gerard and Ray and Jared, and kind of kept an eye on Frank. Mikey was the one I most couldn't believe in. I very easily accepted that Gerard Way was right in fucking front of me, same with Frank and Ray, but Mikey was the unbelievable one. Not sure why, he's not my favourite or anything, but there you have it. Maybe Mikey Fucking Way is just too cool for life. :D
Ray was very smiley too but I couldn't see all that much of him. Mostly just watched his hair bouncing all over the place behind Gerard. :D
They played most of my favourites. I was thrilled to bits that they did Planetary, and Venom, and.... ugh can't really remember & I'm getting mixed up with the sideshow too... I think they only did one Bullets song but a few from Revenge. Mama and Black Parade and Famous Last Words from Black Parade... hmmm nah, can't really remember. lol. oops.
Oh, and because I'd stood through all those other bands beforehand, right in front of a speaker stack, with no earplugs (bad miss d!), I was pretty deaf by the time they started. It took me ages to figure out why Gerard sounded so much like a chipmunk when he spoke. At first I thought he must've had a cold & his voice was scratchy and nasally... but nope, that was just my ears, and shinetheway assures me he actually sounded perfectly normal. Thankfully he sounded normal to me when he sang!
He was drinking from a cup and told us it was orange juice, did a little speil about how great orange juice is. "But actually, it's the worst possible thing you could have if you're singing! So I shouldn't! But I decided I'd rather live through this, for you guys..." and then a kind of mumbled "cause it's fucking delicious..." at which point I thought ooooh maybe they'll do a Mad Gear song! But no. Damnit. :D Another ramble was about how we were the best crowd all day. "Other bands might have bigger crowds but you guys are the BEST crowd!"
The set ended kind of abruptly. But I guess you have to do that at a festival when another band is waiting to start on the next stage over. Mikey wandered off to the side but then came back on and threw his pick out. I caught it! Got the dirtiest looks from the girls next to me because it bounced off one of their arms before I grabbed it but I decided all's fair in love and rock-star-pick-catching... :D And I'm sure they got one off Frank's mic stand anyway, because the tech threw out a whole bunch of spares.
I relinquished my barrier spot to some guys who really, really wanted it (!) and bounced for a while and found Shine and bounced some more with her. I showed her my pick and she was just about ready to kill me for it, I think! She offered to swap me the one of Frank's she has, but I just couldn't bear to. Because this is the actual one Mikey threw to me after actually using, you know? (I'm sorry, love! I know I'm the meanest ever! I'll catch one for you next time. ;) And one day you're absolutely going to meet Mikey and talk about bass with him. <3 )
Shine looked at me and said "oh, you're burned..." with a really concerned look, at which point I realised I was basically a lobster. I hadn't even noticed feeling hot. Oops! So there I was, a deaf lobster. I pretty much just followed Shine around, bouncing with glee at random intervals, hearing only about half of what she said, while she tried to track down another girl and a work friend, with no luck. I had wanted to stay for Soundgarden but decided that I felt way too lobsterish and exhausted and also bouncey and floaty and deaf, so we left... after getting stupidly lost trying to find the damn exit.
And then I stayed at Shine's place and she was a lovely host and I slept under a poster of the beautiful mcr boys, it was noice...
And the next day was the sideshow and I will truly remember to post about that tomorrow, but meanwhile, photos! If you've got me on tumblr you've seen lots of them there already, but...
Aren't they beautiful? I'm bouncing with leftover glee just thinking about it. *chinhands* :D
lol. I've left it a little long to post but hopefully the details aren't fuzzy yet...
The Big Day Out show was really, really fun. I got to the stage early in the day, about 12.45, and Frenzal Rhomb were just starting. There looked to be heaps of room so I shuffled my way forward hoping to get a good spot... then quickly backed off again once their fanboys started throwing themselves around like cannonballs! I was surprised by how much I enjoyed that show. The lead guy was entertaining and fun, the music was fun, I had a great time. When they finished the area cleared right out and I went straight up the front & snagged a very small slice of barrier between two bunches of guys to stake my place. Turned out that wasn't even necessary, because those guys were just there to say hi to the Frenzal Rhomb guitarist, who came down and chatted / took photos with them for a few minutes. Then they left, so I had myself a good spot to stick to. There were a couple of mychem fans already there (I could tell by the tattoos...), it was all friendly n stuff. :)
Stayed there through Boy and Bear (don't even remember the music, tbh, all I could think the whole time was how much their lead guy looks like Brad Pitt...), and Hilltop Hoods (not really my thing but another surprisingly entertaining show). Both sets of fans were pretty rough, with people pushing to the front, and literally trying to grab us mychem girls to drag us off the barrier. But we stayed put. :)
Before Hilltop Hoods (I think) shinetheway texted me to say where she was & I eventually spotted her a row behind me & closer to the middle (I was directly in front of Frank's mic stand). We waved & bounced but she couldn't get to me (& had a pretty good spot where she was anyway).
In between sets on our stage, we could hear Parkway Drive and then The Living End on the nearby stage. Parkway Drive was madness. The Living End was pretty great, but at that time I was busy watching the mychem bump-in. Mikey came out on the side at one point and took some pics of the crowd, and Ray appeared on his side, eating a sandwich and sorting things out with his tech. Dewees was there sorting out his keys and a few of us called out to him but I'm not sure he liked the attention. Everyone cheered when the backdrop was flown up. :)
Then, it was time! :D Gerard came out loking cheerful and pleased with life right off the bat. Right from the start he was working the crowd, flirting, winking, smiling constantly, telling us we were the best crowd. He was in such a good mood, it was so fun. He was looking BLOODY SEXY, too, as well as literally very hot. He kept undoing buttons and opening his shirtfront to get some air, it was all very nice. ;)
Frank was very quiet, compared to usual. He didn't move around much & actually looked quite ill a few times but he was still amazing. Singing his heart out and making an effort to engage with us. I was most shocked when he didn't even jump around during I'm Not Okay.
Mikey made up for that a bit, grinning a lot and moving around more than usual. He smiled right at us a few times and at Gerard and Ray and Jared, and kind of kept an eye on Frank. Mikey was the one I most couldn't believe in. I very easily accepted that Gerard Way was right in fucking front of me, same with Frank and Ray, but Mikey was the unbelievable one. Not sure why, he's not my favourite or anything, but there you have it. Maybe Mikey Fucking Way is just too cool for life. :D
Ray was very smiley too but I couldn't see all that much of him. Mostly just watched his hair bouncing all over the place behind Gerard. :D
They played most of my favourites. I was thrilled to bits that they did Planetary, and Venom, and.... ugh can't really remember & I'm getting mixed up with the sideshow too... I think they only did one Bullets song but a few from Revenge. Mama and Black Parade and Famous Last Words from Black Parade... hmmm nah, can't really remember. lol. oops.
Oh, and because I'd stood through all those other bands beforehand, right in front of a speaker stack, with no earplugs (bad miss d!), I was pretty deaf by the time they started. It took me ages to figure out why Gerard sounded so much like a chipmunk when he spoke. At first I thought he must've had a cold & his voice was scratchy and nasally... but nope, that was just my ears, and shinetheway assures me he actually sounded perfectly normal. Thankfully he sounded normal to me when he sang!
He was drinking from a cup and told us it was orange juice, did a little speil about how great orange juice is. "But actually, it's the worst possible thing you could have if you're singing! So I shouldn't! But I decided I'd rather live through this, for you guys..." and then a kind of mumbled "cause it's fucking delicious..." at which point I thought ooooh maybe they'll do a Mad Gear song! But no. Damnit. :D Another ramble was about how we were the best crowd all day. "Other bands might have bigger crowds but you guys are the BEST crowd!"
The set ended kind of abruptly. But I guess you have to do that at a festival when another band is waiting to start on the next stage over. Mikey wandered off to the side but then came back on and threw his pick out. I caught it! Got the dirtiest looks from the girls next to me because it bounced off one of their arms before I grabbed it but I decided all's fair in love and rock-star-pick-catching... :D And I'm sure they got one off Frank's mic stand anyway, because the tech threw out a whole bunch of spares.
I relinquished my barrier spot to some guys who really, really wanted it (!) and bounced for a while and found Shine and bounced some more with her. I showed her my pick and she was just about ready to kill me for it, I think! She offered to swap me the one of Frank's she has, but I just couldn't bear to. Because this is the actual one Mikey threw to me after actually using, you know? (I'm sorry, love! I know I'm the meanest ever! I'll catch one for you next time. ;) And one day you're absolutely going to meet Mikey and talk about bass with him. <3 )
Shine looked at me and said "oh, you're burned..." with a really concerned look, at which point I realised I was basically a lobster. I hadn't even noticed feeling hot. Oops! So there I was, a deaf lobster. I pretty much just followed Shine around, bouncing with glee at random intervals, hearing only about half of what she said, while she tried to track down another girl and a work friend, with no luck. I had wanted to stay for Soundgarden but decided that I felt way too lobsterish and exhausted and also bouncey and floaty and deaf, so we left... after getting stupidly lost trying to find the damn exit.
And then I stayed at Shine's place and she was a lovely host and I slept under a poster of the beautiful mcr boys, it was noice...
And the next day was the sideshow and I will truly remember to post about that tomorrow, but meanwhile, photos! If you've got me on tumblr you've seen lots of them there already, but...
Aren't they beautiful? I'm bouncing with leftover glee just thinking about it. *chinhands* :D