un,deux, & Sandy Eggo.Part 1

~This is an old post from my Journal Entry,the last 9 days have been surreal i can't even begin to process.It feels like it was all a part of a magical dream. Just a little more than a week ago,I was finishing my Sunday shift & reuniting with one of my dear long lost friends Miss Ziggy the queen <3

I hadn't seen or spoken to Ziggz in a little more than a year,but we were brought back together by the universe! thankfully she was kind enough to be my date to this Company dinner at Wokano. My co-worker Roxy & her lady Bebz picked us up, & we filled her in on all the drama & current events.The highlight of the night,this drink called Wicked Lady,we all got two drink tickets :( two? We were left feeling sober,just high on life I guess?....but I can't recall the last time I laughed this hard soooooo Thank you ladies! <3
               Company Dinner success,but nothing could prepare me for the following week....absolutely NAHTIIIING......

                         ~M O N D A Y ~

My ancient friend B2 (friend of 13+ yrs ) picked me up a little past noon, I made sure i didn't forget the tickets,i made sure the fur children had enough food for the next two days. I must've packed at least four -five different shirts,and three Pj pants.I've gone on road trips before why was this one so different? It felt like this was the first one i was going on alone. It felt really important,i guess because i wasn't going with a  partner no worrying or feeling that extra stress.
On our way to beautiful San Diego,we recorded about 40 minutes of podcast material,we shared our stories on how we met in High school ( we spoke about a time when we were really young & somewhat dumb,it felt like we were 80 years old all we were missing was cat shaped glasses,tea cups and cigarettes) Agnes & Georgina woulda been our old lady names & I won't  forget our discussion about our poor fashion choices Anyone recall them tripp pants? and lacy arm warmers? yep I was that kid..But all jokes aside the reason why we were traveling miles away from home & the question we asked each other..why AFI? out of ALL these millions of other bands. Why after ALL these years? You know ? we'd put on a song and the same energy & comfort for their music was still there.And I will say this part of the reason is because (warning its about to get cheesy) AFI is like the seasons forever changing, forever growing and evolving. I don't think they've ever been at a low point in their career.I almost feel like they have a record for every life crisis ive had,I can always relate whether its something i've gone through or something i will come to understand years later. Growing up with Davey's voice ,screams & poetic lyrics(that i use to scribble on my binders and folders back in 6th grade),and the forever changing sound that Jade,Hunter & Adam created. The sound still felt so new,so catchy,so soothing & so beautiful,beautiful enough to still be considered my favorite band. I am forever greatful to have grown up.with them around id be doomed if i was in middle school with the music of today..Now before I get all sentimental about this band or how much they mean to me ....let me continue.
             

        We checked in at our hotel(which actually was not as creepy as I thought it was going to be) & got ready,by 5:30 we were in line at the venue,that long walk that you have to make till the end of the line never gets old.Everyone is sooo intimidating but i forget that they are just normal people living day to day lives just trying to find a distraction from their crappy jobs,or boring routines,i don't know? I suppose we are all going through something. B2 & I made small talk in line,at this point we were anxious to be INSIDE THE VENUE ...like c'maaaaaannn open the door i came here to sing not freeze!
         

     

We got tired of waiting so before i knew it we both ran & knocked down two security guards and punched a third one in the face as i busted a havok kick across the fourth one...just kidding. Back to reality,When they finally let us in,we had a small dilemma ...who's side do you want to stand on? HUNTER? OR JADE? OMG....HUNTER? OR JADE? .....UMH...JADE. 

As we waited,B2 got approached by this really sweet couple they were showering him with compliments,& me being on show mode i kept my eyes fixed on the stage. A few minutes later the opening band Cold showers came on think Joy Division meets She wants revenge? They were soooo good,I'm actually listening to them as i write this..Although it didn't pump you up for what was about to happen,it didnt in a sense it made me a bit mellow & sleepy.I was sober for this show I wanted to take in the entire experience.Then again who needs to drink at an afi show? If you've never attended one please do & you'll see what I'm talking about. 

So rewind more to maybe two days before I had told B2 "dude its a dream of mine if they could open up the show with Miseria Cantare or even "Strength through wounding"I would loose my shit! I had watched videos of them playing those two intros and it would blow my mind....
                                                            The wait was over ...

     

 The pretty white lights dimmed,and turned blood red....everyone started screaming & clapping.The beginning sounded like Miseria cantare and i was about to puke &  punch my friend from the excitement OMG IT IS ISN'T IT? 

As Hunter and Jade took their spots followed by Adam who began playing and it was the beginning of Strength through wounding. We all began to shout "Through OUR BLEEDING WE ARE ONE THROUGH OUR BLEEDING WE ARE ONE " It felt like we were all getting ready to fight or something,just feeling the pit open and everyone's arms go up,beginning to feel really squished as Davey made his appearance center stage and conducted the audience like he was a damn Black Sea Captain.I shouted over to my friend " if you need to get out get out now!" every man for himself dammit! But was it too late ? There they were,so majestic,such class,such legendary punk rock stars its as if they floated on stage.They friggin owned the damn stage. I have the video,but a bit TOO embarrassed by my screams to post it.That epic intro was followed by "So beneath you" possibly the most atheist song theyve ever written "no there is nothing above & I wont serve anyone!" They dived in to favorites like 17 crimes,Silver and cold,Girls not grey.And the world premier of "Synesthesia" & "Back into the sun" followed by new hits like trash bat, & get dark.They surprised us with "sacrifice theory" and "endlessly she said" and I sang along like if i was hoping that special person could hear me miles away but no luck!. Insert tears here....My favorite part was when they played "but home is nowhere",& "Morningstar" also i will admit towards the middle of "feed from the floor" i lost my voice and there was a really fat  knot in my throat and my eyes got really watery ohhh...there goes the mascara i underestimated how powerful that song is live. That was the crying song of the night.

               

There was moments where Davey would grace us with his presence & come to our side and tease us,the whole band was glowing you could tell they were all in such high spirits.The energy in that venue was indescribable,except for the girl that kept wrapping her foot around my leg,* rolls eyes* Till i shouted at her HEY! but for some odd reason she avoided eye contact with me. I came to notice later she was trying to get away from her boyfriend,* face palm* 

                 

During Totalimmortal Davey did his famous crowd walk and proceeded to just throw himself and everyone was screaming,crying, singing trying to grab him.It was a night i'll never forget,I like to call this my therapy session because i feel like i'm on a natural high,its like a new beginning and im in such a good mood for the next weeks or so.
Once they exited the stage my heart sank but I was not disappointed nevaaarrr.We were all in a state of shock ...did you? Did I ? Did we just witnessed that?!?
We found two of B2's friends,their videos actually looked a lot better than ours!
You could tell they were thinking the same thing those foos put on a damn good show!

We slowly made our way out of the venue & walked them to their car and for some odd reason i was up for another cup of Joe cause why the hell nawt? I'm not going to sleep i had so much adrenaline! Starbucks was closed,but the night was young and there was something in the air,a force that was pulling us guiding us,or maybe calling to us to go explore the back of the venue to be exact the parking lot where the tour bus was. There we found a group of 30-35 people hanging out waiting to see if they could meet their heroes.We decided to wait,but I've been to these things long enough to realize maybe we'd be met with disappointment but boy was I proven wrong.Not even 10 minutes of standing there & Jade walks out. unfortunately he only signed a few autographs before jumping into his car where his lovely wife waited.Darn I thought oh well let the wait continue "we'll glow till morning comes" no pun intended. Everyone stood there shivering in 52 degree weather,holding on to posters,tickets,a set list & CDS to get signed. Others like myself just wanted a photo with any of the guise.

           

Another 15-20 minutes must've passed when Mr.Adam Carson was seen making his way towards us. "OMG ADAM I thought !! It's friggin Adam! " Not enough room to fan girl must keep cool but this was my first time meeting Adam so it was a big deal to me. I couldn't think of anything to tell him other than he was awesome tonight because he was! he is such a great drummer.He was so sweet to his fans,he made sure everyone got a photo or autograph before leaving.He even signed these two toddlers shoes.Those two little girls were the cutest AFI fans there.Everyone was having an awww moment.And I just kept thinking we met Adam,we finally met Adam.My heart felt like it was going to explode,I looked over at B2 and thought dude if we go back to the hotel i will be content with this.But we decided to stick around maybe Hunter will come out? Maybe Davey? the suspense was killing me.
                 

Another 15-20 minutes and Hunter comes out looking all cozy in his jacket and thick framed glasses.Dear Gawwwwd.....its really him.He must've been out there for a little longer than an hour in the freezing cold,just chilling,answering every question that was thrown at him with such attention and kindness.B2 handed him one of his pins,the pumpkin boy and Hunter seemed so amazed "for ME? YOU made THIS?" My heart was melting because i thought gee sometimes people say don't meet your heroes because ya might be disappointed but I was happy to see how humble and kind these guys are.Hunter wanted to hangout,he wanted to keep chatting with his fans,I'm sure the 13 of us that stayed and waited went home with a smile from ear to ear.We headed back to the hotel room and on our way there we were approached by this kind feline,he just wanted to say Hi then he disappeared behind some bushes.There was another furry intruder waiting for us there though.....she was meowing and i wanted to take her in but according to the guy she had fleas ...:/
               

Look at her she's just there waiting patiently oh it killed me to leave her there. 

Look at his beautiful pattern. 

Once in the room I replayed my stories from Instagram and was mortified because you could hear me scream and sing hardcore fan girling but hey wth? it was fun.
Mission seeing AFI with ancient friend complete !
With that being said Thank you my dearest AFI. And thank you Brian for  making that loooooong drive ! till next time.