Day 44: Are We There Yet?

Oooo child… Things are gonna get easier. Oooo child things will get brighter.

Music…. I know I talk about it a lot, but I can’t help it. It’s really the only thing that drives me to do things. It helps me concentrate better. It helps me when I’m writing. I just love music so much.

This past weekend I FINALLY got to see my favorite band, Chevelle live for the first time. It took 15 years for it to finally happen. To say it was the best day of my life would not do it justice at all.

I wouldn’t even have known if my roommate hadn’t told me about a month in advance. When he told me, it wasn’t even a debate. I was GOING to that concert come Hell or high water. It was all I could think about until we went.

The concert was at Providence Medical Center Amphitheater in Bonner Springs, Kansas. I have never been there before, so I didn’t really know what to expect. It was similar to a small baseball diamond. The seats were even what they would normally have at a baseball diamond. Of course my fat ass almost broke the seat when I plopped down in it.

Amyway, so when we first get there, there was a pretty big line of people waiting to be let in. Luckily, we ran into a couple of my roommates’ friends and were able to cut up by them.

About 20 minutes later this guy pulls up yelling “Whooooo! Breaking Benjamin! Three Days Grace! Chevelle! Fuck yeah!” He yells this at the top of his longues. He had a mohawk, no shirt and was buff as hell. He basically looked like a guy that you DID NOT want to run into in an alley. He wasn’t bad though. To me, he really boosted the moral.

That’s the thing I love about music. NOTHING brings people together more than music in my opinion. The energy I felt there was nothing short of amazing. Everyone was so chill and nice. There were people on the lawn that held their hands over the rail giving high fives to everyone that walked by them. I also had a lot of people that complimented me on my Genos shirt from the anime One Punch Man. Speaking of shirts, I just HAD to buy a Chevelle shirt before the concert started because I have ZERO Chevelle-related merch.

Now the concert…. The first band that played was called Dorthy. It had a female singer and I believe a female bassist, but I really couldn’t tell from where I was sitting. I had never heard of them before, so I had no idea what to expect. They actually turned out pretty good. She had a real Joan Jett feel to her with her singing style. It definitely kept me on my feet bobbing my head.

The next band that played was Three Days Grace. Now I know Three Days Grace. I’ve known them since around my junior year in highschool, so I knew I was in for one Hell of a show from them. Oh and they SERIOUSLY did not disappoint. They played all of their best songs. “All The Things I Hate, Riot, Pain… and many others. Other than Breaking Benjamin, they played the most songs at the concert.

Finally… the third band to play was my absolute favorite..Chevelle. Chevelle is the only band next to Motion City Soundtrack that I’ve bought EVERY album that they have made. First song they played was from my favorite album of theirs called “This Type of Thinking (Could Do Us In), “The Clincher.”

It sounded GREAT live. It’s not my favorite song, but I still like it. They then sang “Well Enough Alone” from their Venasara album. They did the screaming parts well, but when they got to the softer parts, their voice was a little off.

That was probably the only bad thing about them. They should have started with their softer songs before they did the hard ones. I think the build up would have been better. All in all, it was SUCH a nostalgic moment for me. Like I almost cries listening to them, just from the sheer amount of great energy I felt from them and fellow fans like myself. I am SO glad that I finally got the opportunity to see them live. I hope to see a concert where they are the headliner soon.

I have to say though, Breaking Benjamin stole the show. They put on one HELL of a performance themselves. They not only played a lot of their hits from the early 2000’s, they also covered a lot of classic rock and punk rock songs as well. They even played the fucking Imperial March! I heeled out SO MUCH when they played that. It was an experience that I will not soon forget.

All in all, BEST DAY OF MY LIFE. I can’t wait to book more concerts from them and other bands like them. I hope to be able to soon.

-Valken

Stress Down. Music On. Volume Up.

So this sound corny, but I actually made playlists based off of a few of my closest online friends. I even named the playlists after them. It’s an assortment of songs with one big song that reminds me of them the most.

Jorddie

I haven’t told you enough how much I appreciate you being one of my biggest readers on my page. You always have positive things to say about all my posts. I had to put a lot of thought into your playlist.

1. Stay Lost by Sianvar
2. Louder Than Thunder by The Devil Wears Prada
3. With Eyes Wide Shut by blessthefall
4. Feels Like Forever by Of Mice and Men
5. Fade Away by We Came As Romans
6. A Satire, of a Satire, of a Satire is Tiring by A Lot Like Birds
7. Open Water by blessthefall
8. We Own The Sky by M83
9. Skin of the Night by M83
10. Beginnings by Houses
11. NotInService by The Virus and Antidote ft. ZOTiYAC
12. Lost In Stereo by All Time Low
13. Until The Day I Die by Story of the Year
14. The Weakends by Motion City Soundtrack
15. Made For You by OneRepublic
16. Always Burning, Always Dark by A Lot Like Birds
17. Divisi by A Lot Like Birds
18. Open Your Eyes and Look North by Dance Gavin Dance
19. Love Two Re-imagined Anxiety Remix by Angels and Airways
20. Among Lions by Whether I
21. Don’t Fall Asleep by Whether I
22. Fractions by Emery
23. In A Win, Win Situation by Emery
24. Artificial Nocturne by Metric
25. Hymn For The Shameless by Alesana
26. Come On Eileen by Dexys Midnight Runners
27. Hear Me Now(Acoustic) by Framing Hanley
28. All In Your Hands by Framing Hanley
29. Hell Is Round The Corner by Tricky

The number one song that reminds me of you every time I hear it is: reflect (Developments) by Hands Like Houses. I hope you like all the songs on this playlist.

Brandee (BabyGirl)

Ok so… You’re on my mind more often than not, so it took me a minute to make up your playlist.

1. Valerie by The Weeknd
2. Professional by The Weeknd
3. Warning From My Demons by Slaves
4. I’ve Been Hearing That You’re Freaky by Jonny Craig
5. No Chaser by Palisades
6. Hourglass by Whether I
7. Is It Too Late by Whether I
8. Pretty by The Weeknd
9. Your Guardian Angel by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
10. Timelines by Motion City Soundtrack
11. Fall For You by Secondhand Serenade
12. Your Call by Secondhand Serenade
13. Say (All I Need) by OneRepublic
14. The Definition of Not Leaving by Hands Like Houses
15. Violence by Blink-182
16. Endlessly She Said by AFI
17. The Embrace by AFI
18. Pieces by Red
19. The Prodigal by Jaime’s Elsewhere
20. The Saint, The Sword, The Savior by Jaime’s Elsewhere
21. Count Me In by Framing Hanley
22. Song of Storms from Legend of Zelda
23. Gasoline by Halsey
24. Castle by Halsey
25. Luxurious by Gwen Stefani
26. Trouble by Bei Major
27. Telegraph Ave (“Oakland” by Lloyd) by Childish Gambino

Now for the song that makes me think of you the most. I’m pretty sure you could figure this out without me telling you, but here it is… Somewhere Over The Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole. I still remember you playing this on your ukulele. You also played me a song from Legend of Zelda. I hope you are still playing it. It’s probably one of my favorite things about you.

Amy “Undead” Kleinheitz

If I were to make a playlist for this girl, it would probably be somewhere shy of 4000 songs. Every band in the playlists I’ve made for my friends even MYSELF was introduced to me by her. She is and will ALWAYS be my musical soulmate. It’s crazy how someone that I have only met ONE TIME in my life can have such a huge impact on my life.

Let me tell you about how we met. I was living in Oklahoma at the time. I woke up around 1 or 2 AM because I heard talking downstairs. I walk down stairs and here is this girl laying on my couch with a few of my friends. She had a lot of tattoos to me THEN, but she has WAY more now.

Anyway, so I sit down with them and get to talking to her. She begins telling me about all the concerts that she has been too and all the bands that she knows. I was just getting into music around then, so I asked her to write down all the bands that she knows, so I can have some new music to listen to. She looks at me WIDE EYED like “Like… All of them???” I was like yeah as many as you can think of.

Well she kept telling me stories while writing them in a notebook I gave her. Now… I expected there to be a lot of pages filled, but not as many as there were. She filled like half of my 180 page notebook FULL OF BANDS and singers. I was set for life when it came to music. HELL… I STILL haven’t finished adding all the songs and this was almost 10 years ago that I met her.

Amy. I am gonna speak directly to you now. I know that we never got a chance to meet again, but you DEFINITELY have a very special place in my heart. Do you have ANY idea how much music influences my life? It has helped me get through so many tough times. It helps with my writing, helps with my anxiety and depression, EVERYTHING.

I am very lucky to have met you. I don’t know if I ever told you how fucking STRONG you are. I mean…. You are dealing with so much shit. Your cancer, raising a family….. I have been following your page for a while and I just love how you can just look through all of the bullshit and still keep that amazing smile that you have. The energy that you put off is just awesome.

I feel sorry for anyone who hasn’t had the pleasure of meeting you. I really don’t know how to thank you for everything. I hope that one day we can meet again and talk about art and music. You are an amazing woman and don’t you dare let anyone tell you different. Thanks again. This post was as much for you as it was for my friends.

 

-Valken