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dreamtranceThe White Tie Affiar
Day 1 - St Andrews Hall, Detroit
* pre-show stuff
We both worked half a day and after printing pictures hit the road about 1:00. We got to St Andrews about 2:30 and its always nice that we get to park right next door. The TWTA bus was right out front along with the other vans. IT seemed a bit odd but we realized everyone was hauling stuff in the front door and there really wasn't anywhere else for them to park anyway. No one else was there and we weren't really sure yet what to do with ourselves so we were just standing there watching the other bands haul their shit in.
A guy came up to us and asked us if we knew anywhere nearby to get coffee. He was at least affiliated with a band being a skinny emo boy and having a pass on him. He said he had heard there was a Starbucks in the GM building, which we could see was only about three blocks away. We ended up offering to go get him the coffee. What else did we have to do? Introduced ourselves and he introduced himself as Ryan from Runner Runner. Cool. Just as we were leaving one of his band members came up and opted into the coffee as well.
The Starbucks was in fact in the GM building and we looked interesting in our jeans and hoodies while everyone around us was in business attire. Coffee in hand we headed back over to the venue. It took a couple minutes but then we spotted the 'other guy' – which later we found out was Jon. Coffee delivered we decided to hang out and just make ourselves comfortable. Since the boys were walking back and forth we grabbed the cookies we made them out of the car and figured we'd hand them off if we saw any of them.
The first one of the guys to walk by was Tim. He was happy to see us and very happy to get the cookies. The second one to grace our presence was Ryan. I give the boy a lot of credit for remembering us and we immediately got hugs which is always great, especially from Ryan. He gives good hug. Some time around Tim and Ryan coming by a group of three girls and their mom showed up to join us in line. They were quite the group and Mom (Roxanne) was a blast. Two of the three girls I really wasn't a fan of but the third one was pretty cool and they were at least entertaining. We bought a four pack of tickets to the show so that we could get meet & greet but since my cousin backed out we only needed tickets and M&G for the two of us. We decided to give our two extra to the three girls and figured they could probably procure a third one by talking to Laci.
Sean was the next one of the boys to show his face. He was pouting because Ryan and Tim had cookies and he hadn't gotten any yet. We informed him that he hadn't come out yet so it was his fault, just before handing them over. After we talked for a few Roxanne decided she wasn't going to wait for Laci and ended up asking Sean about the M&G. He poked his head into the bus and talked to Kyle then informed Roxanne to "tell Laci Kyle says its okay". Which was extremely amusing. Apparently she also had some shampoo that was for Chris, but decided to give it to Sean with instructions that it was for Chris. Sean was amused which made it even funnier.
Not long after seeing Sean, Laci came by and Roxanne informed her of what Kyle had said via Sean. She was a bit woah about it because she hadn't even gotten in the mindset for that yet. She hung with us for a bit and we laughed quite a lot. Roxanne, who was trying to feed all of us, gave her a coconut macaroon. She was a bit skeptical at first but enjoyed it and we laughed with her about the whole situation.
We managed to snag Chris on one of his trips by and hand off his cookies and get a hello and a big smile. Boy is always the most elusive one. Earlier Ang had seen him and he had paint and said they were doing an art project. We were worried.
* the show
When we got inside I decided I'd take advantage of us being first in line and get right up front against the barricades. The only other time I've been front row for a show was Anberlin at the Temple Club in Lansing and I like these guys better. Besides, I didn't think it would be the kind of crowd that would crush to get up to the front, and I was correct.
The first band on was Runner Runner – the coffee guys!
I had no idea what to expect from them but I liked what I heard and saw from the very first note. They were very high energy and a hell of a lot of fun. Even not knowing the songs I was completely rocking out. Also realized that Ryan, who we got the coffee for, was the lead singer and the other guy was Jon, the bass player. Knew right away that we had to have this CD and we were definitely going to find out more about this band.
The second band of the night was Stereo Skyline. The girl behind me was there really only to see them so I traded spots with her so she could be right up front. They were fun but I wasn't nearly as into them as I had been Runner Runner. I don't think it helped that the guys looked to be about 12 years old. They were entertaining but no one I'd probably look up later.
The third band was Every Avenue. These guys are apparently from Michigan and I think there were as many fans there for them as there were for The White Tie Affair. They were a bit more rock than the other bands, though I'm not sure that says much. I did like their stuff and they're now on my list of a possible CD purchase when their new one comes out Nov 3rd. Also like supporting local groups.
-- on a side note the bass player totally looks like someone I went to high school with. It's kinda trippy.
One of the girls we had met in line outside was a hardcore fan of Every Avenue. She was really only there to see them so once again I played musical spots and gave her my up front spot. It gave me a chance to walk around a bit and go meet the (rest of) the guys from Runner Runner hanging at their merch booth.
Met up with Ryan again and he thanked us for the coffee and I got a hug. What is it with these tall skinny boys? I swear I could wrap my arms around him twice! Also met Nick who we had seen walking around and decided he had really good hair. He's definitely the lady killer of the night and he's a super sweetheart on top of it. He's gonna break some serious hearts.
After Every Avenue I got my up front spot back and got ready for my boys. Haven't seen them in concert since the day after Christmas 2008 so I was definitely excited and anxious. And they definitely didn't disappoint. Like I had come to expect from the moment they hit the stage they were crazy high energy and just seriously into it. Chris is a total showman and doesn't hold back. I'm still amused at the whole scarves hanging from his mic stand. Trying to be Steven Tyler, Chris? They rocked it out and it was so freaking awesome being that close.
They decided to do a new song and now, for the life of me, I can't remember the name of the damn thing. Not even really sure what it sounded like but I know I liked it. It was pretty upbeat and I think they may have done it on warped a few times. A good song and I can't wait to have a good audio clip of it. A few songs later into the show they did another new song. This one … blew me away. It was slower and its called 'Fall for you'. I don't like to be that girl who is like "OMG SO AND SO SANG TO ME" but there was absolutely no doubt that Chris was singing to me, the eye contact and grin gave it away. Kinda easy to tell when he's less than two feet away and I know he knows me. So if the song wasn't amazing enough that clinched it.
One of the coolest things of the night was a medley they put together. Chris started with his acoustic rendition of Paparazzi by Lady Gaga then launched into Don't Stop Believing. After that they transitioned into another song that I'm blanking on. I'll remember it later. Either way it was very awesome.
With two songs left to go they left the stage and the whole place stayed dark. Needless to say we were very curious as to what was going on. They ended up coming back out and the only lights on were black lights and they had decorated themselves in fluorescent and white paint and it was pretty cool to see. Nice way to end the show and it seems this was the art project Chris had mentioned.
As everyone was leaving I stopped by the Runner Runner merch table again and this time all of the boys were there. They all introduced themselves which was a lot of fun. Names to go with the faces. After telling them we'd see them the next night in Grand Rapids Ryan jokingly said we should bring coffee for the whole band... he didn't realize we would.
* meet & greet
After the show the few of us who had Meet & Greet met up and we were taken downstairs to the Shelter. The four guys were just hanging out. Nothing was real formal so we just walked up to them and started talking. I love when its just kind of us and them. Hell there were maybe 10 of us there for the m&g and four of them were Roxanne and the three girls. We both had our pictures with the guys from meeting them back in December to have them sign and I had my group picture from the autograph signing I did with them back in July. We started with Sean P since we were standing there with him. We talked for a bit and he signed pictures. He's such a goof and so much fun to laugh with. I admit I have a bit of a crush on the boy. I got my hug which was the best and we harassed Chris while we were at it. Tim was next and it ended up amusing that, somehow, I ended up with two copies of the picture of him and I. We laughed about it and gushed about the show to both him and Sean P.
After Tim we managed to make our way over to Ryan. He .. is the sweetest guy, I swear. After the requisite hugs and autographs we just talked. And talked. And talked. It was so freaking normal! One of the things we talked about was the autograph signing I got to go to back in July. I have vanity plates on my car that say TWTA. I had the extra one with me to have the boys sign. They were completely blown away by it and Ryan had Chris take a picture of him with it which he posted to twitter --> http://twitpic.com/cbnx5.
We got to give Chris more shit as he was still holding up the line. Roxanne and her girls apparently spent their whole time with Chris and he wasn't minding one bit. Finally tearing themselves away we got to Chris and got more hugs and autographs. We gushed to all of the boys about the show and I made sure to tell Chris how much I loved the new songs. They were glad for the feedback and excited that we liked everything. I always love when I can tell an artist how much I enjoy their work and these boys are always so excited to hear it. Just makes it mean that much more. Finally managing to pull ourselves away when security told us it was time and told them all we'd see them in Grand Rapids the next night.
Day 1 - St Andrews Hall, Detroit
* pre-show stuff
We both worked half a day and after printing pictures hit the road about 1:00. We got to St Andrews about 2:30 and its always nice that we get to park right next door. The TWTA bus was right out front along with the other vans. IT seemed a bit odd but we realized everyone was hauling stuff in the front door and there really wasn't anywhere else for them to park anyway. No one else was there and we weren't really sure yet what to do with ourselves so we were just standing there watching the other bands haul their shit in.
A guy came up to us and asked us if we knew anywhere nearby to get coffee. He was at least affiliated with a band being a skinny emo boy and having a pass on him. He said he had heard there was a Starbucks in the GM building, which we could see was only about three blocks away. We ended up offering to go get him the coffee. What else did we have to do? Introduced ourselves and he introduced himself as Ryan from Runner Runner. Cool. Just as we were leaving one of his band members came up and opted into the coffee as well.
The Starbucks was in fact in the GM building and we looked interesting in our jeans and hoodies while everyone around us was in business attire. Coffee in hand we headed back over to the venue. It took a couple minutes but then we spotted the 'other guy' – which later we found out was Jon. Coffee delivered we decided to hang out and just make ourselves comfortable. Since the boys were walking back and forth we grabbed the cookies we made them out of the car and figured we'd hand them off if we saw any of them.
The first one of the guys to walk by was Tim. He was happy to see us and very happy to get the cookies. The second one to grace our presence was Ryan. I give the boy a lot of credit for remembering us and we immediately got hugs which is always great, especially from Ryan. He gives good hug. Some time around Tim and Ryan coming by a group of three girls and their mom showed up to join us in line. They were quite the group and Mom (Roxanne) was a blast. Two of the three girls I really wasn't a fan of but the third one was pretty cool and they were at least entertaining. We bought a four pack of tickets to the show so that we could get meet & greet but since my cousin backed out we only needed tickets and M&G for the two of us. We decided to give our two extra to the three girls and figured they could probably procure a third one by talking to Laci.
Sean was the next one of the boys to show his face. He was pouting because Ryan and Tim had cookies and he hadn't gotten any yet. We informed him that he hadn't come out yet so it was his fault, just before handing them over. After we talked for a few Roxanne decided she wasn't going to wait for Laci and ended up asking Sean about the M&G. He poked his head into the bus and talked to Kyle then informed Roxanne to "tell Laci Kyle says its okay". Which was extremely amusing. Apparently she also had some shampoo that was for Chris, but decided to give it to Sean with instructions that it was for Chris. Sean was amused which made it even funnier.
Not long after seeing Sean, Laci came by and Roxanne informed her of what Kyle had said via Sean. She was a bit woah about it because she hadn't even gotten in the mindset for that yet. She hung with us for a bit and we laughed quite a lot. Roxanne, who was trying to feed all of us, gave her a coconut macaroon. She was a bit skeptical at first but enjoyed it and we laughed with her about the whole situation.
We managed to snag Chris on one of his trips by and hand off his cookies and get a hello and a big smile. Boy is always the most elusive one. Earlier Ang had seen him and he had paint and said they were doing an art project. We were worried.
* the show
When we got inside I decided I'd take advantage of us being first in line and get right up front against the barricades. The only other time I've been front row for a show was Anberlin at the Temple Club in Lansing and I like these guys better. Besides, I didn't think it would be the kind of crowd that would crush to get up to the front, and I was correct.
The first band on was Runner Runner – the coffee guys!
I had no idea what to expect from them but I liked what I heard and saw from the very first note. They were very high energy and a hell of a lot of fun. Even not knowing the songs I was completely rocking out. Also realized that Ryan, who we got the coffee for, was the lead singer and the other guy was Jon, the bass player. Knew right away that we had to have this CD and we were definitely going to find out more about this band.
The second band of the night was Stereo Skyline. The girl behind me was there really only to see them so I traded spots with her so she could be right up front. They were fun but I wasn't nearly as into them as I had been Runner Runner. I don't think it helped that the guys looked to be about 12 years old. They were entertaining but no one I'd probably look up later.
The third band was Every Avenue. These guys are apparently from Michigan and I think there were as many fans there for them as there were for The White Tie Affair. They were a bit more rock than the other bands, though I'm not sure that says much. I did like their stuff and they're now on my list of a possible CD purchase when their new one comes out Nov 3rd. Also like supporting local groups.
-- on a side note the bass player totally looks like someone I went to high school with. It's kinda trippy.
One of the girls we had met in line outside was a hardcore fan of Every Avenue. She was really only there to see them so once again I played musical spots and gave her my up front spot. It gave me a chance to walk around a bit and go meet the (rest of) the guys from Runner Runner hanging at their merch booth.
Met up with Ryan again and he thanked us for the coffee and I got a hug. What is it with these tall skinny boys? I swear I could wrap my arms around him twice! Also met Nick who we had seen walking around and decided he had really good hair. He's definitely the lady killer of the night and he's a super sweetheart on top of it. He's gonna break some serious hearts.
After Every Avenue I got my up front spot back and got ready for my boys. Haven't seen them in concert since the day after Christmas 2008 so I was definitely excited and anxious. And they definitely didn't disappoint. Like I had come to expect from the moment they hit the stage they were crazy high energy and just seriously into it. Chris is a total showman and doesn't hold back. I'm still amused at the whole scarves hanging from his mic stand. Trying to be Steven Tyler, Chris? They rocked it out and it was so freaking awesome being that close.
They decided to do a new song and now, for the life of me, I can't remember the name of the damn thing. Not even really sure what it sounded like but I know I liked it. It was pretty upbeat and I think they may have done it on warped a few times. A good song and I can't wait to have a good audio clip of it. A few songs later into the show they did another new song. This one … blew me away. It was slower and its called 'Fall for you'. I don't like to be that girl who is like "OMG SO AND SO SANG TO ME" but there was absolutely no doubt that Chris was singing to me, the eye contact and grin gave it away. Kinda easy to tell when he's less than two feet away and I know he knows me. So if the song wasn't amazing enough that clinched it.
One of the coolest things of the night was a medley they put together. Chris started with his acoustic rendition of Paparazzi by Lady Gaga then launched into Don't Stop Believing. After that they transitioned into another song that I'm blanking on. I'll remember it later. Either way it was very awesome.
With two songs left to go they left the stage and the whole place stayed dark. Needless to say we were very curious as to what was going on. They ended up coming back out and the only lights on were black lights and they had decorated themselves in fluorescent and white paint and it was pretty cool to see. Nice way to end the show and it seems this was the art project Chris had mentioned.
As everyone was leaving I stopped by the Runner Runner merch table again and this time all of the boys were there. They all introduced themselves which was a lot of fun. Names to go with the faces. After telling them we'd see them the next night in Grand Rapids Ryan jokingly said we should bring coffee for the whole band... he didn't realize we would.
* meet & greet
After the show the few of us who had Meet & Greet met up and we were taken downstairs to the Shelter. The four guys were just hanging out. Nothing was real formal so we just walked up to them and started talking. I love when its just kind of us and them. Hell there were maybe 10 of us there for the m&g and four of them were Roxanne and the three girls. We both had our pictures with the guys from meeting them back in December to have them sign and I had my group picture from the autograph signing I did with them back in July. We started with Sean P since we were standing there with him. We talked for a bit and he signed pictures. He's such a goof and so much fun to laugh with. I admit I have a bit of a crush on the boy. I got my hug which was the best and we harassed Chris while we were at it. Tim was next and it ended up amusing that, somehow, I ended up with two copies of the picture of him and I. We laughed about it and gushed about the show to both him and Sean P.
After Tim we managed to make our way over to Ryan. He .. is the sweetest guy, I swear. After the requisite hugs and autographs we just talked. And talked. And talked. It was so freaking normal! One of the things we talked about was the autograph signing I got to go to back in July. I have vanity plates on my car that say TWTA. I had the extra one with me to have the boys sign. They were completely blown away by it and Ryan had Chris take a picture of him with it which he posted to twitter --> http://twitpic.com/cbnx5.
We got to give Chris more shit as he was still holding up the line. Roxanne and her girls apparently spent their whole time with Chris and he wasn't minding one bit. Finally tearing themselves away we got to Chris and got more hugs and autographs. We gushed to all of the boys about the show and I made sure to tell Chris how much I loved the new songs. They were glad for the feedback and excited that we liked everything. I always love when I can tell an artist how much I enjoy their work and these boys are always so excited to hear it. Just makes it mean that much more. Finally managing to pull ourselves away when security told us it was time and told them all we'd see them in Grand Rapids the next night.
