hello!

Alright Peter Wentz. You've tortured us enough, we cannot endure this emotional rollercoaster any longer.

We've been caught up in the hype since CFOB this summer, ridiculously excited since you all announced it in August and wildly disappointed when were were told we had to wait until this Christmas, and then okay with it when we learned about the new presale digs and the golden tickets. Is there an end in sight?

Earlier this year, the electronica/pop LA boys of Metro Station rocketed to popularity with their video for a certain catchy little song called Shake It.

The band soon followed up this buzz by crossing the country with The Bamboozle Roadshow and went on the Soundtrack of Your Summer Tour in support of Boys Like Girls. This Fall, they are headlining the Disco Balls and Blow Up Dolls Tour with special guests Tyga, The White Tie Affair and Cash Cash. Now the band is finally ready to follow up the video that sparked their initial rise to fame. With this:

When asked what you thought about the video's carnival centric theme, many were excited with approval and some were dismayed at the cameo appearance of a certain other Cyrus, but the general concensus was that you just wanted to see the new video! Well my little Metroholics, the time has come.

Metro Station announced that the video for Seventeen Forever will be premiering Friday, December 5th at 8PM on FNMTV.

You can bet I'll be tuning in! What about you?

Okay, first of all, congratulations to whoever booked the lineup.
They really complemented eachother well.

Alright, thanks to all your help teaching me about All Time Low, I felt well-prepared for what to expect as my friends (Roxanne, Becca, Miranda) and I arrived at The Ventura Theater for The Compromising of Integrity, Morality & Principles in exchange for Money Tour. The venue was decked out Halloween themed, the security guys were all wearing crazy scary make-up and masks (double the intimidation, double the fun!). We got inside and I waited in line for a coveted 'Sup Buzznet?! t-shirt, but when I got to the front, the merch guy told me they only came in guys medium (not a nice fit). A bit disappointed, but over it, I walked into the main hall with my friends as the pop punk Michigan boys Every Avenue started their set.

I quite liked this part.

I have to say, it was quite enjoyable. Roxanne told me she was fond of them and I was not disappointed. Their music was fun and energetic just the way I like it. They were well-received by the crowd and I think they have a pretty good following around our parts because of their stint on Warped Tour. They even played a song requested by the fans on PickRSet.com, which I thought was really cool of them. The song was called Trading Heartbeats and I highly suggest you add it to your Buzznet music player.

Next up was The Maine. Surprisingly enough, I have seen them before, but it was last year at Chain Reaction in Anaheim with Metro Station and Brighten. That night, I bought The Way We Talk EP from Pat for 5 bucks because I had been so pleased by their performance. Not to mention, the impressive dance party they had with Brighten on top of their van. Needless to say, I was excited for what I anticipated they had in store for us. But the flavor was a lot different this time, they were more tame than I remember, probably a sign of growing maturity and a more refined sound for their full-length Can't Stop, Won't Stop...which I have not yet purchased, but I haven't yet decided if it's worth it. If you have it gimme a Y/N? 

John O. quirky with the arm behind his back thing. More laid back than I remember.

I was delighted when they played The Way We Talk, which was my favorite song from when I saw them last time. I was happily singing along until John O. messed up my favorite verse! I was a bit disappointed, I caught it on video. He acknowledged it with at "I fucked up the words!!!" and a laugh. It's no biggie though, can't be perfect all the time you know? All is forgiven.

The missing line: Sex sells and your sex cells make all the lost boys drool. =P

Now at last I am able to understand Mayday Parade fans. They look sharp with their dressy attire, but don't let it fool you. They're chaotic on stage.

In a good way.

These guys were all over the place! Jumping atop monitors, swinging their guitars around and not to mention Derek Sanders' mic twirling hoop-la. With the flying mics and the dual vocals, I couldn't help but think 'Taking Back Sunday goes pop!' feel free to agree or refute, I've never seen TBS live. It also might have to do with my nearsighted vision thinking that Derek kinda looks like a long-haired Lazzara from afar.

I couldn't help but think We The Kings(!!!) when they brought those banners out...

The band exploded, starting their set off with Three Cheers for Five Years (the only song I'm familiar with) but after this I've become determined to familiarize myself some more. They were all kinds of organized chaos and it was a little bit difficult for me to decide what to watch, but no matter where I looked I could definitely count on something to watch. Each member was putting on their own individual show but altogether it created a haphazard picture that kept you entertained throughout.

After their set, I noticed some unread text messages, including one from BreeSays suggesting I try for a photo pass...uhhh YES PLEASE?! Stoked, I called the number she supplied me and Matt Flyzik himself came down and kindly handed one to me. (Am I allowed to mention that I think he's kinda cute?) I parted with my group of friends to squeeze into the photo pit, while they jumped into the crowd themselves to await All Time Low.

I'm not gonna lie, I was excited since it was my first time in a photo pit, but as I sat down, I was intimidated by the girls already sitting in there with their big camera bags and interchangeable lenses. I looked down at my trusty little digital camera and suddenly desperately wished I had a better one just so they'd stop shooting me such dirty looks. I don't call myself a photographer, because I'm not. I have a tremendous respect for all the talent that gets showcased around here on Buzznet (even more now that I've been able to experience first hand what it takes). I just wanted to take a shot at the photo pass because I like being able to share pictures with you guys!

I decided to ignore aforementioned catty photo pit girls and just enjoy myself trying to get what I could. I think I want to try taking a photo class or something so that I can get a better idea of what I'm doing and not feel so fake when trying to take photos. I started with a picture of the set list:

Apparently shortened due to Alex's sickness

I pushed my little digital camera to the brink of overheating while careful to not get in the way of the serious photographers' shots. It was hard for me to focus on taking photos without shaking my booty to the beat, but I did my darnedest!

It's a good thing Uri von Blargle was able to cover for Gaskarth!

After the third song, I left the pit and retreated to a different spot in the venue to watch the magic happen. You guys all told me how cool All Time Low was live but I must've not really listened because I was SO surprised.

I effing loved it!!! I see why you don't really know what ATL is like (and I don't think you can fully appreciate them) until you've seen them live. I also see why they are so popular around these parts. They approach their live show so candidly, it's pretty much like you're just hanging out with them and chilling with these guys. Then they happen to interrupt your conversation with a few songs. I've never seen it done like that before, with such a fun, easygoing atmosphere. I like it, and it works well for them.

I honestly can't say much as to what was memorable about what they played, it was pretty much run of the mill and sounded exactly like their recordings (not a bad thing at all, I like their music!). But what I do distinctly remember is what went on during the breaks between songs. These guys are hysterical. Here's a little highlight rundown of their hijinks.

• After Jasey Rae, Jack challenged Alex to a guitar spin-off. Before Alex went he made a deal with the crowd: "So if I spin my guitar, you guys down here all have to get naked." Lulz. Of course the girls cheered wildly, and Alex emerged from the spin-off victorious, able to spin it three times and then reverse the direction. Jack on the other hand, broke a guitar and Alex called him a pussy. They went on to play Coffeeshop Soundtrack
  
• One girl in the audience yelled "Take off your shirt!" but Alex refused claiming "I'm not taking off my shirt, I made a deal with you guys and you didn't get naked!"
  
• One of their confetti cannons accidentally went off in the middle of a song. Alex acknowkledged it:
  

  Alex: Whoa, so we had a little bit of a technical malfunction with the confetti cannon. There was a bit of premature firing. You know a lot about that don't you Jack?
  Jack: Fuck you, Alex!

  Uber burn.
  
• At the next break in the set, Jack stopped the show and called out some girl on the barricade who was on her phone:
  Jack: Hey hey wait, Alex. This girl is on her phone!
  Alex: What?! That's just straight-up plain rude. You're at All Time Low.
  Jack: Gimme the phone.
  Jack confiscated the phone and started talking to whoever it was. After failing to put it on speakerphone for the whole venue to hear, he simply muttered a 'Fuck You!' into the receiver and handed the phone back. Alex asked the girl who it was (her best friend, and not her mom...that would have been bad for Jack!):
  Alex: Your best friend? What's her name? ...Clementine? Who the fuck names their kid Clementine these days?

The lulz didn't stop there. The boys played Holly and during the chorus, Alex changed the words!

Just another pretty face
But I want one more taste
Come on, Joe Jonas
Would you turn me on?

...LOLWHUT?!?!

Now, before you all start thinking that Gaskarth has a man crush on Joe Jonas, I should probably mention that I had decided to wear my Jonas Brothers t-shirt to the show because I thought it would be funny to get dirty looks from girls who would immediately despise me for liking All Time Low and The Jonas Brothers (it worked, and there was much amusement).

So for those of you who think that these guys don't really notice things from the stage, I'm 99.8% sure this was a reference to my t-shirt. I guess he must've caught a glance while I was taking photos for some reason decided to sing about it during Holly? My friends talked to me about it afterwards, and were able to confirm that he actually said this, but if he's made this switch at one of your shows please feel free to refute me. I processed what had just happened and then proceeded to laughing my ass off. That completely sealed the deal. From that point on, it was love.

Now for videos!!!

I caught a video of their 'New Jizz' because Savannah (tryingtofindthewords) suggested it when I asked her about All Time Low (the lady has seen them so many times! and she gets amazing photos of them too, no less):

Sorry if I'm a little too shaky, I'm short so I had a few heads to aim over.

For a split second I thought it kinda sounded like Perfect by Simple Plan, but of course it doesn't really sound like the song. For what it's worth, I like it. I'm always excited to hear new stuff, it's part of the excitement of getting to see them on tour.

Lastly, I caught video of the last bits of insanity during Dear Maria, Count Me In. The end is quite a treat, Jack picks up Alex and threatens to throw him into the crowd:

Alex: I'm gonna throw up... Guys, I'm gonna throw up. ...I'm gonna throw up.

After the show, Jack and Alex retreated to a room on the second floor of the theater and waved to those of us who were outside from a window, waiting out the crowd that would have engulfed them once they left the venue.

Roxy: Why are they up there?
Me: Because there are too many people down here.
Becca: What are they doing?
Me: ...butt sex?

Apparently their dick-centric humor had already rubbed off on me.

It was a school night, so we had to leave so we could get home on time to avoid punishment, but we did manage to run into Zack Merrick on our way out. I asked him to sign my bag and do a little real life buzzmobbing for me:

We're laughing because the conversation leading up to the picture went like this:

Becca: We'll step down here (off the curb and in the street) and be short for the picture.
Me: Yay! I get to be kinda taller in the picture!
Zack: And I'll just be...I dunno, freakishly tall for the picture.

On the drive home, we rocked out to our music on the freeway with our windows rolled down. All in all, a perfect night...

OH! And in case you're interested, the rest of my Money Tour pictures are here.

Stayed home sick today. The alarm went off this morning and even as much as I willed myself out of bed and my mom threatened me to get up, my body fought to stay immobile. Body won. When I got out of bed I was in one of those out of bed but still asleep sort of states. I relocated myself wrapped in a blanket to the recliner in the living room where I watched MSNBC with my grandma as we waited for the Obamas to arrive at The White House.

They look so proper... (Photo from Reuters)

I'm in such an inexplicable funk. I feel so incredibly out of whack right now, my head hurts, my back aches, and I feel really weak. I would eat but the thought of food is making me cringe. I feel like everything is going in slow motion. My Mom and Dad say it's lack of sleep but if anything, I've been getting more sleep than usual. Mehhh.

The Postal Service soundtrack probably isn't helping, but it fits my mood and I wouldn't want to punish myself by listening to We the Kings or something else that would get me too excited. I wonder if a slug ever wishes it could go faster. If so, I think I know how it would feel.

I would crawl back into bed but I don't think the sleep would help make me feel more energized. Plus I need to do college app stuff so that my mom will feel some sort of consellation for letting me stay home today. I dislike filling out college apps, they make me think about how I've done in the past and how that could affect my future. My Seattle U early action deadline is this Saturday...eeeeep.

It's also incredibly frustrating that I can't get on the internet from my laptop (I'm using the house computer right now). It's seriously affecting my ability to get any work done (though it hasn't inhibited my ability to blog about this...lol).

It's a good thing I don't have rehearsal today. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow.

Hey, anyone remember these guys???

Double your fun!

1. Spring Awakening Original Broadway Cast - Totally Fucked
2. Cobra Starship - The City is at War
3. Anti-Flag - A New Kind of Army
4. Green Day - American Idiot
5. Sam Cooke - A Change is Gonna Come
6. Rise Against - Give it All
7. The Beatles - Revolution
8. Bob Dylan - The Times (They Are A Changin')
9. The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again
   
10. The Hush Sound - We Believe In (Barack Obama)
11. Obama Girl - I've Got A Crush on Obama (Bonus Track)