Mixed Emotions.

Saturday was Chiodos. The Devil Wears Prada opened and were, you might say...how shall I put this...M374L. They were really fun actually. They don't look or act like a metal band at all. The pit was pretty packed, but I was so crushed, it didn't really matter. Scary Kids Scaring Kids was next, and I was actually really disappointed by them. Basically, by the end of their set, it was basically "play my darkest hour and get off the stage." This was due not only to SKSK sucking, but also because Emery was next. And wow. They played a lot of new songs, but this was probably the most solid set I've seen from them. Devin really came to the forefront as more as a frontman, and impressed me a lot. If you think the vocals on "Can't Stop The Killer" are great on the album, just wait to hear them live. They opened with Rock 'N Rule and closed with Walls. Surprisingly absent from the setlist, was "The Ponytail Parades." But present in the setlist were "Fractions" and "Listening To Freddie Mercury" along with "In A Win, Win Situation." Their set ended and Chiodos began setting up. It was at this point I realized I was getting sick. I had a horrible feeling I was either going to throw up or pass out. Or both. Much to my dismay, I had to leave the pit. Chiodos was amazing, as usual. They played pretty much everything you would expect, plus Craig played 2 acoustic songs at the end: "Lindsay Quit Lollygagging" and "Intensity In Ten Cities." I realized later that I had become dehydrated. I went to bed as soon as I got home.

Sunday, I got up, went to church, came home, and headed down to the Pageant for Brand New. Hope and I got down there around 4 and were some of the first in line. We met up with Allyssa and Emma and chatted with them until it was time for doors to open. We ended up with front row, but cameras weren't allowed in, so I didn't get any shots from the night. Mewithoutyou made me laugh, what with their dancing and accordion playing. Thrice had great lighting, and put on a good show (if you like Thrice). Truthfully, I was a little bored. Brand New played last (duh). They definitely strayed from the setlist I found on absolutepunk. And I'm not complaining. They still played all but one song from The Devil And God, but they included more Deja songs than I expected, adding "Sic Transit" and "Jaws Theme Swimming" to "Okay I Believe You" and "Play Crack The Sky." And I just lost most of you. Oh well. They played "Untitled" for the encore which definitely ended up cooler than I expected. Until Jesse fell. He was backing up and then tripped over a monitor, falling on his back. He kept playing though, and tried (and failed) to make it look intentional. I wanted to give him a hug. I just can't stop thinking about him falling. It was horrible. We waited awhile to see if Jesse and company would come out to take pictures and hang out, but no such luck, at least when we left they still hadn't. We spent the time outside a) running to taco bell to find out that only the drive thru was open; b) talking to random kids outside the venue, including a sweet guy with one hand that let us lean on his car; c) discussing what would happen if Conor Oberst and Adam Lazzara had sex. Obviously, it was late at night. Laugh.

I don't know if it shows that contributed to this, but when I woke up this morning I felt awful. I felt nauseous, my head pounded, and I kept getting chills. My mom apparently thinks this was due to shows, and thus I might miss SoTheySay and Machree this Sunday. I'm going to do everything in my power to go though. Anyways, I was blocked from the computer all day, and couldn't leave the house, and thus ended up very isolated. Isolation is horrible. I hit a really bad place. Even America's Funniest Home Videos depressed me. I laid in my bed being extremely maudlin, and it was just bad. Enough about that. So the good part of my day was spent watching Sesame Street and Walker Texas Ranger and listening to Brand New. I think I took their new album for granted until today. I've been listening to it a lot of the day, and it really is terrific. Well, if you're still reading, I apologize. I wrote a lot. It's healthy though. At least I hope so. That's all for now. See ya.

Christopher Michael Tucker

Song of the day: "You Won't Know" by Brand New.
(myspace.com/brandnew)
It's not on there, so listen to Millstone.