Favorite Concerts: Part Deux!

Sorry If I write about shows I've already written about...
you'll get over it
; )

October 22, 2005 - Fuel Coffeehouse - Allister, Fenix TX
HELLO. Fenix TX Farewell tour? Yes please.
The first time I ever heard Fenix TX was in the MTV movie Jailbait which was shown on TV in 2000.
I've been hooked ever since.
I was so bummed when they broke up. But then they started touring again!
Hooray!
Who wouldn't love a band that can sing about Keanu Reeves in Point Break?
Fun fact: their current drummer is also the touring drummer for Lostprophets: Ilan Rubin. He's in the Guiness Book of Records for being the youngest person to play Woodstock. He was 11 at the time : O

October 28, 2005 - Club Chistophers - Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
AKA The day Megan almost spontaneously combusted.
When I got up to go to school that morning, Mom was like, "Listen to this voicemail" and it was Joey, calling from NYC, telling us they had been signed to Virgin Records.
We were pretty much sworn to secrecy, because they were going to make a huge announcement on the radio that afternoon telling everyone.
Let's just say I had the biggest grin on my face at school all day long, and people were like "Tell me why you're smiling so much!" and I'm like "I can't!!!!!"
Red Jumpsuit tells everyone at the show that they've been signed.
Plan for world domination is initiated...
Did I mention the fetish show that occured between sets?
I'm not even kidding.

November 13, 2005 - House Of Blues Orlando - Matchbook Romance, Armor For Sleep
Mom and I were on the MBR street team, and we were supposed to be on the guest list for the show in Jax, and we were supposed to have a meet and greet as well.
The street team manager mixed things up and had us on the list for Orlando.
To make up for the mix up in Jax, he arranged for us to come in and watch sound check.
I brought my camera in and recorded it : )
As for that meet and greet... we got to meet the whole band personally, and we were the only ones to get a meet and greet in Orlando : )
The drummer even found us after the show and asked us what we thought of the show.
Total geek out moment : D

November 17, 2005 - House of Blues Orlando - Aiden, Hawthorne Heights, Bayside
This was my second time seeing Aiden. I hasn't been convinced when I saw them at Thee Imperial, but this show won me over for sure.
This was a little over two weeks after Bayside's accident.
It was their first show back on the tour, and they played acoustic.
It was so silent you could hear a pin drop. All the other bands came and sat on the sides of the stage to watch.
Mom and I went to Aiden's merch booth after the show, and we started talking to Troy, the merch guy. We chatted about the show at Thee Imperial. Our long friendship with Troy was born : )

December 15, 2005 - Jack Rabbit's - The Audition, Spitalfield, Plain White T's
IF I remember correctly, it was this show when Danny Stevens held the microphone out in front of me and I sang "Tick tock of the clock and a knock at the" during "You've made us conscious".
Danny asked the audience if anyone had seen them the last time they came through town with Aiden. Us and our friends raised our hands. A few other people raised their hands. Danny pointed to us and was like "I know you guys were there" and he points to the other people and was like "There were like, 10 people there! I don't remember seeing you!"
I love Danny Stevens. We're like, total BFF's : D

December 26, 2005 - Jack Rabbit's - Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, The Sophomore Attempt, Shadow Agency
Red Jumpsuit had been up in New Jersey recording their CD, and they came home to do a Christmas show.
The first version of the "Face Down" video was filmed at this show.
LOL Lynette's all on the front row flailing everywhere : P
Mom injured a rib during the show and we had to go to the ER afterwards to make sure it wasn't broken.
Ah, the hazards of being at the front of the crowd ; )

December 28, 2005 - The Social - Orlando - From First To Last, Chiodos, The Number 12 Looks Like You, Dead Reckless
If you haven't ever listened to Dead Reckless, I recommend you track down their tunes now.
(I would direct you to a place where you could hear their music, If I knew where one existed...but I don't)
Tye Reckless, licking his guitar? Yes please.
The Number 12 floored me with their AMAZING guitarist (even though I didn't really get into their music)
First time seeing a little band called CHIODOS.
We were all like "You can't be screaming, and then have the whole crowd sing along, and then scream, and then have a clap-a-long!"
We had never seen/heard anything like this before. We fell in love with it : )
FFTL came out and rocked everyone's faces off.
Mom had her video camera, and was recording, and then FFTL's tour manager came over and was like "Give me the tape...blah blah blah". I guess they don't like people taping (we weren't trying to do anything wrong, we just didn't know it was a big deal. Excuse our ignorance) For this tour, Alicia Simmons (AKA now Mikey Way's wife) was on bass, making it cool for girls to be on stage. Then the band went off stage before their encore, and when they came back out, flippin MIKEY WAY was on bass, and they played "Christmassacre".
Talk about a crowd going apeshit.
The tour manager brought our tape back afterwards. We chatted with him for a minute, apologized, and Mom mentioned she had a Star Wars poster that she wanted to give to Matt Good. She asked the TM if she brought it to the show tomorrow and gave it to him (the tour manager), could he give it to Matt. He said if we brought it, he'd let us give it to Matt ourselves : )

December 29, 2005 - The Social - Orlando - From First To Last, Chiodos, The Number 12 Looks Like You, Dead Reckless
Pretty much like the show the night before, except I MET MIKEY WAY.
Mom brought the poster for Matt, and he came out to talk to fans after the show, and we got pictures, and she gave it to him, and he pretty much lit up with excitement (he's a huge Star Wars fan, if you didn't know...hello, his myspace url is Mattskywalker...go figure)
Then as we're standing there talking to him, Mikey Way walks by, and I just take off. Mom catches up a minute later, and us and 3 other girls pretty much corner him at the bar, and we get pictures. The other girls wanted autographs, and they asked if I had a sharpie....I did. Mikey Way used my sharpie...*dies*

December 30, 2005 - Jack Rabbit's - FFTL, Chiodos, Dead Reckless - early show
The show was cut down to 3 bands to make enough time for 2 shows.
We had decided to go to the early show, because we had to get up and drive to Alabama the next day, so we didn't want to be out too late.
The crowd at the early show was so lame, they didn't cheer for an encore, so they were not lucky enough to be graced with the presence of Mikey Way. LAME.
Mom had gone to the store and made big 8x10's of our pictures with Mikey, Sonny, and Matt from the night before. We found the tour manager after the show, and asked if there was any way we could maybe get them signed. Oh yeah. He took the pics out to the bus and got them signed.
Before we left, I saw Craig walking around, and told him they put on a good show.

December 30, 2005 - Jack Rabbit's - FFTL, The Number 12 Looks Like You, Dead Reckless - late show
We decided "What the hell..." and we stayed for the late show too : D
While we were standing in line outside, Jason from Chiodos walked by and told me I had a cool purse... *dies* (for those of you that don't know, Jason is pretty much my fave from Chiodos...I love Craig and all, but Jason is awesome)
For this show, Mikey Way did come out and play ("gotta keep em separated..." LOL), so all was well with the world.
Needless to say, I listened to Dead Reckless and Chiodos all the way to Alabama : D

February 4, 2006 - The Social - Orlando - Armor For Sleep, Chiodos
Me and Mom felt freaked out at the show because it seemed like Bradley was staring at my camera the whole time. LOL.
I directly quote from the October 2007 issue of Alternative Press "One night in Orlando, Florida, during the band's tour supporting Armor For Sleep, Owens had a complete meltdown and quit the band."
The band convinced him to stay, obviously.
But it's still cool to be like "Hey! I was at that show! But I didn't know THAT was happening!"
We met Ben Jorgensen, and he used my Mikey-Way-marker to sign an autograph for someone : )

February 17, 2006 - Virgin Megastore - Orlando - Panic! At The Disco, The Academy Is... - acoustic set
There once was a time when Ryan Ross and Brendon Urie could play acoustic outside of a cd store, and have fans stand in front of them, and there was no risk of being raped by fangirlies.
That time has long since gone.
But I was there : )

February 17, 2006 - House Of Blues Orlando - The Academy Is..., Panic! At The Disco
WTF? Panic opened for TAI... whod've thunk?
: P

February 24, 2006 - Metro Park - Taste Of Chaos
Thanks to the Matchbook Romance street team, we ended up with a stint to work the label tent in Jax at TOC.
We got to go in and work before the gates were open, and Story Of The Year was running around in the grass playing football. Sweet.
I was kind of in awe because the girl that was working with us at the tent used to be the merch girl for My Chemical Romance (I remembered her because she would always stand on the table and yell "No one is buying anything until you all get in a line!")
At one point during the day, someone walked up and I'm like "Dude, is that Dirty?!" and she went over and chatted with him for a while. She told us that her boyfriend is the bodyguard for Fall Out Boy (I'm thinking Charlie maybe? I dunno...)
I think in that instant, Kate Truscott kind of became my hero : P
The AP signing tent was right beside our tent, so we're there and Thrice is chillin a few feet away from us signing autographs. Neato.
I was more impressed by the fact that Jonah Bayer (a writer for Alternative Press) was there working the AP tent. But I was too nervous to talk to him and tell him I love his articles...*facepalm*
It was crazy seeing what Kate had to go through to disassemble the tent after the show. Trying to lug equipment back and forth to their buses... I gained a new respect for people who work festivals/shows/Warped.
I don't care how much people say that working Warped sucks...this experience just made me want it even more.

February 25, 2006 - Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Fort Walton Beach
We called the guys at one point during the day to see if they were there, and they were running way late (they had just gotten their van that day. It caused a delay because there was no trailer hitch, thus no trailer, and they had to cram all their equipment and 7 people in the van...).
We were just chilling in Ft. Walton, and I get a phone call. I answer it, and the person says their name is Tyrone, and they're asking if I'm bringing the barbecue sauce, and they tell me "I wanna pee in your butt". *dies*
This is how a prank call from Lee Miles goes... LMAO.
(For those who are wondering, Lee Miles was RJA's first tour manager)
Did I mention we had never even met Lee before, and he was prank calling us????
Joey can seem innocent, but Lee had to get my phone number from someone!!!!!! LOL.
I didn't even get to see this show.
It was 18+ and I was 17. The venue was right by a beach, and there was a boardwalk beside it. The weather was hurricane-like. I put on my hoodie, grabbed a blanket, and went and sat out on the boardwalk for as long as I could to try and hear RJA play. This is the origin of my infamous "emo" picture...LOL.
It got too windy, too cold, too horrible to stay outside. I went and sat in the car. It was so windy, that car alarms started going off. It was ridiculous.
When Mom and Shelly came back out after the show, they told me it was Joey's birthday, and we were going to get a cake. We got a cake, brought it to Waffle House, and celebrated.
The guys had gotten in to town late, so they had no plans for anywhere to stay. We were staying on the Military base, and our room was in the temporary housing for the military peeps. So we had like, an apartment for the night. So we said, "Hey, you guys could come stay with us"...so they did.
Have you ever tried getting 7 guys on a military base at 2 a.m.? LOL.
A Red Jumpsuit sleepover ensued : D

March 3, 2006 - Jannus Landing - Tampa - Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, The Starting Line, Cartel, Copeland
Red Jumpsuit's first "tour". Copeland...oh god....the worst music ever. Bring on the puka shells! (kind of an inside joke). Nikki was at this show, but we didn't know her at the time.
I still think it's so weird that we were at the same shows as people we now know, and we probably saw each other there, but it wouldn't have mattered because we were strangers : P
Mom's hair + gum = sawing hair off with a plastic knife.

March 11, 2006 - Panama City - Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
What happens in Panama City, stays in Panama City.....
("Albatross rules!")

March 13, 2006 - Freebird - Aiden, The Audition, 30 Seconds To Mars
We were at this show, standing in the front watching people set up a drum kit, and we said "That's not Aiden's drum kit..." We didn't know who else was billed to play... and then we saw Danny Stevens, and we were like "AHHHH!!!!!!! THE AUDITION!!!!!!!! YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Aiden played, and it was so awesome. wiL in a black trenchcoat, with the creepiest face make up ever. At the end of their set, he crowdwalked. It was so cool to see him being held up in the middle of the crowd.
While I was watching 30STM, Mom was schmoozing with the guys in Aiden. She says she talked to wiL quite a bit that night.
We got hugs from our BFF Danny, and all was well with the world.

For all the show goodness about the RJA, Aiden, 30STM shows in Ohio, and The Matches show in Pittsburgh, refer to my old blogs : )

April 25, 2006 - Jacksonville Memorial Arena - Fall Out Boy, The All American Rejects, Hawthorne Heights, From First To Last
Every Fall Out Boy show is my favorite show : )
(if you don't like FOB, then just don't even say anything about it, because I will defend them FOREVER)
FOB played at the arena, and I graduated at the arena a few weeks later. I was just like "Dude, FOB played here!"

For Bamboozle blog goodness, refer to my old blogs : )

June 4, 2006 - Eddie C's - Gainesville - Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Monty Are I, Veronica's Veil
First time seeing Monty, and we were like "Keyboards! Trumpet spinning! Steve's hair! Hootie the owl!"
It was also cool to have two Winter brothers play a show together : )

For 2006 Warped Tour goodness, see the old blogs

July 14, 2006 - Plush - Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
CD release show.
Sarah and Katie were at the front of the line outside and they had a CD player/stereo and Steve got the new cd and let us play it outside. Awesome!
This show was probably the last time a lot of people heard certain old songs...
Let's make a "More old songs" petition okay?
Ronnie stage dived. Fo shizzle.

July 25, 2006 - Freebird - Yellowcard, Inspection 12, Shadow Agency
Yellowcard's long-awaited return to Jacksonville.
Let me give you a little break down on band members. Pete Mosely is (was) in Yellowcard. He is also in Inspection 12. Warren Cooke was in YC in the early days, and he was in Shadow Agency at the time.
This show was one big Yellowcard member reunion. LOL.
It was awesome though.
I caught Sean Mackin's water bottle. (translated: it hit me in the head *I was upstairs! Sheesh!* and it fell into my hands)

September 21, 2006 - Common Grounds - Gainesville - Paramore, Cute Is What We Aim For, This Providence, Hit The Lights
I had been at the front of the crowd for most of the show, but seen as how I didn't like Paramore, I went and stood at the back during their set.
I heard someone behind me say "Megan Apparatus?"
And thus my friendship with Nikki was born : D

For RJA North Carolina goodness, see the old blogs

November 12, 2006 - Fuel Coffeehouse - Brand New, My Getaway
This show was amazing, NOT because Brand New was good, but because I have never seen SO many disappointed people in one room.
You can't get famous because of the song "Jude Law and a Semester Abroad" and then be like "Oh, you just paid 30 bucks to come see us, but we're not gonna play that song."
Sound familiar? Underoath doesn't play "Reinventing Your Exit" live... Finch went and was like "Oh no, we don't want to sound like THAT anymore..."
Bands like that piss me off.

For No Snow Show, Buzz Bake Sale, and Next Big Thing goodness, you know where to look...

December 7, 2006 - Fuel Coffeehouse - Lower Class Brats, Circle Jerks
I think there is a law in physics that says if you put enough punk kids in a room, they will gain the ability to defy gravity and walk on walls.
I love punk shows.
But will someone PLEASE tell Keith Morris to just shut up and play?
THANKS.

December 10, 2006 - Fuel Coffeehouse - Bouncing Souls, Street Dogs, Whole Wheat Bread
I don't think I've mentioned Whole Wheat Bread yet...
You need to look them up and listen to them.
I believe they refer to themselves as "Jacksonville's ghetto punks"
They made saying "DUUUUUUUUVALLLLLLLLLLLLL" cool.
As for Bouncing Souls....dude, there was a room full of people singing "OLE! OLE OLE OLE! OLE! OLE!"
How awesome is that?

January 18, 2007 - The Venue - Gainesville - Senses Fail, The Sleeping, Alexisonfire
The day I realized "Holy shit! There are people in Gainesville that own band tees!"
Last year, I NEVER saw people in G-ville with band tees.

January 20, 2007 - Hard Rock Live Orlando - Fall Out Boy, New Found Glory, The Early November
My first time seeing New Found Glory. Which was kind of a big deal, because they were one of the first punk bands I ever liked : )
Fall Out Boy was a big deal too, because they played stuff from Infinity On High, which wasn't out yet.

January 23, 2007 - Common Grounds - Gainesville - Kill Hannah, Love Arcade
Every Love Arcade show is awesome. It makes me wanna dance.
Because there weren't a lot of people there, Kill Hannah told everyone to get on the stage, and they played down on the floor.
It was ridiculous.
I just grabbed Nikki and said "Come on!"

January 31, 2007 - Common Grounds - Gainesville - Less Than Jake
LTJ had been billed under an alias (Lopan Takes Japan... LTJ...get it?), and they announced the day of the concert that they were doing a surprise show. There were about 400 people in Common Grounds (tickets were only $5! You couldn't keep people away!), skanking and going insane.
(Did I mention LTJ is from Gainesville?)
Roger was like "Man, I remember back when people would be pissed if they had to pay $5 to see us!"
They let people shout out whatever songs they wanted to hear, which meant a TON of old stuff.
One of the craziest shows ever.

For Red Jumpsuit Take Action Tour blogs, you know where to look

February 10, 2007 - The Social - Orlando - The Matches, Escape The Fate, The Higher
We fell in love with The Higher at this show.
The Matches played "Scratched Out" outside by the buses after the show. Mom was in her wheelchair, and Shawn was like "Is your lock on?" and she said yeah, and he jumped up and off of her wheelchair. (There is a video of this on my Myspace Video page)
Shawn Harris is crazy. But we're like, BFF's too. LOL.
I love The Matches.

Bamboozle blogs...you know where to look

May 28, 2007 - The Social - Orlando - Madina Lake, Emanuel
Every Madina Lake show is insane.
We talked to the guys outside afterwards.
We adopted the word "Shiznasty" from Nathan : P

June 6, 2007 - Jack Rabbit's - The Audition, Monty Are I
I got my braces off on June 5th. I saw Danny after the show, and he was like "When did you get these *points to teeth* off?" OH. MY. GOD. Danny Stevens noticed that I got my braces off.
That pretty much made me feel like the coolest person ever : P
Then we saw Steve from Monty and he was like "I remember you guys! Don't think that I don't, because I do!" LOL
I guess we're BFF's with Steve too : P

For Honda Civic Tour, Warped Tour 2007, and Projekt Revolution blogs, check the big blog about this summer. It's all in there.

September 19, 2007 - The Side Bar - Gainesville - The Sophomore Attempt, There For Tomorrow, Versaemerge
This is hands down one of the funnest shows I have ever been to.
I have video documenting the insanity.
: )

October 2, 2007 - The Social - Orlando - Aiden
We hadn't seen Aiden in FOREVER. We were supposed to see them at Taste Of Chaos, but TOC got cancelled in Jacksonville. I hadn't seen Aiden since Warped Tour in Cleveland in 2006.
DAMN.
We made cookies and brought them. We found Troy (*who's not the merch guy anymore, but he's Jake W's brother, so he is important enough to still tour with them ; )*) and gave him the cookies.
He was like "I haven't seen you guys in ages!"
We hadn't been to an Aiden show in a year, but Troy still remembered us perfectly.
You know that part in the Grinch where it shows his heart getting bigger and bigger and bigger?
I think my heart kinda did that.
There is no better feeling than someone remembering you : )

October 6, 2007 - The Audition, All Time Low
The Audizzle played new songs, and ATL played "Let It Roll", so all was well with the world.
Danny came to us for hugs.
You know you're not just a "fan" when THEY come to YOU for hugs.
Erika disco danced during Boys Like Girls...good times, good times.
Then Danny decided he would be all funny and wave his hand around in front of my camera while I was recording Boys Like Girls butchering "Let Go" by Frou Frou.
: D

November 1, 2007 - UCF Arena - Orlando - Fall Out Boy, Gym Class Heroes, Cute Is What We Aim For, Plain White T's
I blogged about this over on my Blogspot (there's a link on my profile to the page)
You can also watch Videos of Fall Out Boy's performance, which was taped for MSN.
The vids are in my favorites on my Youtube page (there's a link to that page on my profile too)
Currently, this tops my list for Best Concert Ever.
(Don't get all defensive! You know I love RJA shows, but FOB shows are an entirely different thing! You've never seen the stupid grin I get on my face at FOB shows!)

November 12, 2007 - House Of Blues Orlando - Chiodos, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, Pierce The Veil
I don't think my arms ever fully recovered from the bruises I got on my arms from the barricade at the show in Tampa the night before, but nevertheless, I was front row in Orlando, rocking out.
(Yes, I am capable of "rocking out". But I only "rock out" at Chiodos shows)
In case you haven't heard my theory, I think Jason and Matt from Chiodos are secretly gay together (even though I know well and good that Matt is married) LOL.
The way they act around each other on stage is so great. Jason will stick his hand between Matt's legs and play his bass. Jason will look at Matt like "I am undressing you with my eyes..."
It's one of those things that you just need to see.
OH GOD. Matt posted a bulletin on Myspace the other day, and he mentioned people wanting to "pop his butt cherry" (taken out of context, this sounds very weird, I know) and that completely solidified my theory. *dies*
Next time you see Chiodos, watch how Jason and Matt interact with each other : )
I played air guitar at the beginning of "The Words 'Best Friend'..." and Jason threw his pick toward me and Mom caught it. WIN!

November 15, 2007 - FAU - Boca Raton - Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Sometimes it's the little things, like a hug from Phil outside before the show, or a wave from Ronnie while he's onstage singing, that mean so much.

November 21, 2007 - House Of Blues Orlando - Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Joey, Ronnie, and Elias jumped into the crowd at the end of their set.
It was Elias' first time stage diving : D
Talking to the guys after the show never gets old : )
We met Kirsten Storms, and we all fought the urge to say "Zedis Lepidus" (or however you would like to spell it) because we've all seen Zenon : )
"Interplanetary mega stellar hydro static, there's no gravity between us, our love is automatic! Zoom zoom zoom..."

December 20, 2007 - Maverick's Rock N Honky Tonk - Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Shadow Agency, Alexis Cone
It's been a while since we were up front at an RJA show (since Warped Tour! Blasphemous, I know!) so it was good to be right up there, getting slammed in the back by people moshing : D
When Ronnie came out with his acoustic guitar to sing "Your Guardian Angel", he first started strumming other songs... "I sit around and think about, all the times we've shared..."......"My love's like an armchair, it's inclined to recline, and sweep you off of your feet..." OH YEAH. He didn't play the whole songs, just parts of them. He'd be like "Okay, let's see if you know this one..." and then he'd start singing. He even started singing "Glycerine" by Bush.
That was pretty awesome : D

XMeganX