7.27.2002
 
Oh my Jeebus the concert was effing amazing!

First, before going to the Joint we had to entertain some guests that came to visit. I got a lot of compliments and comments 'bout the drastic change, kicked my cousin's ass on DDR, and high-tailed it out of the house.

Stopped by Jack-In-The-Box (again) to pick up some sourdough chicken food to eat before the concert. On the drive downtown OLP was playing the Mixx Underground Lounge on the radio so we listened to that.

At the Hardrock, sis and I found Christy and Nicole in line already so we just sat down and talked for a bit. We also talked with these two girls who got to see OLP at the Underground Lounge and they're completely awesome. Not only are they big fans, but they also like Incubus, went to Warped Tour, etc. Then there was some craziness with spraying Binaca under tounges and we were let in.

So, the actual concert itself. The first band was Greenwheel and... well, frankly I doubt anyone in the crowd's heard of em. That's changed now. I was completely blown away by their music. The lead sing, despite looking like the Brady Bunch dad with plugs, was uber-sexy (Nicole and I were shouting thusly) and so were the other band members. He had one of those 1920's microphones and was constantly swinging it around and wrapping himself with the cord. Definitely gonna get some of their songs now.

Between sets there was... erm, really annoying soundcheck techies. They spent a good half hour making completely unnecessary adjustments to the sound system and succeeded in blowing out the audio for the lead mic so you couldn't really hear. Tch. This is why I prefer shows at the House of Blues.

The security guard infront of us was actually pretty nice. He let sis and I get away with numerous photos, head-banged to the music, and was a generally mellow guy. Not to mention that we talked a lil bit with him about music before the concert starts. Very cool.

Next up was Audiovent. Lemme just say that Jason not only looks like Jesus (and Christy and I screamed that as well) but he pulls off the facial hair better than his brother Brandon. Entertaining to see someone completely rock out with tight jeans and a Utah shirt. The bassist was completely playing the crowd and basically wanted all of us to scream out whenever he approached the edge of the stage. Very good show.

Before the headliners, people began to push towards the stage more. In other words, Christy was stuck with two really annoying guys behind her and urgently wanted to switch spots with me. Hmm... closer to center stage? Hell yeah!

Then....the spectacle Our Lady Peace gave. First off, major thanks to the light-designer for making use of those rotating light spots. Dramatic lighting (a la sunlight beams through clouds), strobes, and and wide range of colors.

The band itself was playing top-notch today. New guitarist Steve looked good sporting his all-black attire and sexy hair-over-the-eyes do. Raine himself wore black pants, a black collar shirt with one sleeve rolled up, and a gold and auburn tie. As the concert progressed he loosened his tie and the first three buttons of his shirt came undone.

Usual OLP flair with Raine half the time singing to his mic and the other half to the audience. They played all the crowd favorites from the older albums ("Starseed", "Superman's Dead", "4am", etc.) and more than once Raine turned the mic to face the crowd as everyone sang along. They also played a softer version of "Life" and it was completely amazing! I'm just happy that they played all of my favorites: "Life", "4am", "Are You Sad?", "Mafia", "Innocent", and "Clumsy". All the urgent screaming I did was exactly what I needed to release a lot of built up emotional turmoil, especially during "Innocent" and "Not Enough."

Total time: a two hour set plus a three song encore. Effing amazing!

Not to mention that Christy was very impressed. And it takes quite a lot to impress her when it comes to band performances.

Now's the time to recover (my throat's in dire need of some down-time) and... do stuff.

. . . . . posted:||11:27 AM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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