Saturday was a fantastic day, but fantastic is an understatement.
Having slept over at Katherine's house, we woke up at around 7:40 because her mom had to go to work and she was planning to take us with her so she wouldn't have to come back and pick us up and take us to San Francisco. It kind of sucked, because we didn't go to sleep until 2:30. We were practicing for our guitar final, and I think we're going to do "Setting Up Sunday" instead of "Cardigan Weather." Both songs are by Meg & Dia. Anyway, her work place was about 15 minutes from San Francisco, and we were about an hour away from it at her house. Except when we were in the car, her mom decided not to go to work, so we kind of drove around a lot. I think we got lost. We stopped by Walgreens to get ear plugs, and we were planning to go to the mall in San Francisco, but we got lost, so then her mom went to her friend's place and we had her friend guide us around.
We had lunch at some chinese food place, and then I think we headed off to San Francisco. We went to Golden Gate Park, and it was kind of boring until Katherine ditched her mom (cough) and we took pictures, which I will post up when she sends them to me or something.
Then we headed to the beach, but it was really crowded. There was this really cool looking kite. I'm pretty sure it was like one kite that looked like 6 kites, if that makes any sense. And then that made me sad because I can't fly a kite. There was also like a wedding or something because we saw people all dressed up and professional photographers. It was too crowded so we wanted to go to another beach and started driving around San Francisco.
The thing that makes San Francisco isn't the Golden Gate Bridge, the small houses that are just stuck next to one another, or anything like that. It's the people that make San Francisco what it is. For me, I couldn't keep my eyes off these people, because they were so much more diverse than our San Jose. It also seemed that it was a much bigger city, but I think San Francisco only has 700,000 people where San Jose has about 1,000,000.
I saw this girl that looked like Hayley Williams from the back, and I suddenly got very excited because I was going to see Paramore in a matter of hours! I don't know if it was really her, but it could have been her. It could have.
We got lost on the way to the other beach and ended up making a circle to the beach we returned before, so then we headed to Twin Peaks instead. It was kind of awkward driving through Castro Street because every single building had a rainbow flag, and in the middle of the street, there was this huuugggeee one, which I think Katherine took pictures of. The 24 Hour Fitness had one too. And I also saw another girl who looked like Hayley! I mean, just from the back, and I got so excited that I tapped Katherine and pointed at her, but once we saw her face, it wasn't Hayley. ): But of course she got the hair idea from Hayley!
Twin Peaks was like a mountain (or maybe it was mountains) and the view of the city there is breathtaking; it really is. It was just amazing to see San Francisco from that view and we took pictures too, which I also will put up later. It was really windy there, and I was afraid of being blown away, so we got back in the car and drove off to go eat.
I was ecstatic at this point. I couldn't really eat, but I forced myself to. I just wanted to go to Slim's right away. I wanted to stand there and wait forever for Paramore to come. I wanted to stand and be in the very front of the stage, right in front of Hayley. But I guess we didn't want to go too early, so we ate and walked around because there were other stores around it. Like Office Max. We played around with the computers there.
And then we drove to Slim's.
When we got there, unfortunately, there was a hugeass line, and Katherine realized that the last time she went here, it was on a weekday, so it wasn't as crowded. She and her mom got the tickets while I stood in line, and then her mom left, so Katherine and I just anxiously waited for the doors to open. Well, I don't know about Katherine, but I was very anxious. There were a lot of scene kids there. ): And while Katherine was in line, she said people from the Paramore street team were giving out posters, but when she got there they were all gone, because some people took more than what they needed.
The doors opened and we decided to head off to the merch booth first, so we did. It was really expensive and it didn't really have good stuff. I got a Paramore shirt.. but it was $20. Then we went to go join everyone in front of the stage, and it really sucked in the beginning because there were these tall people in front of us. Not only were they tall, but they were a COUPLE and the guy kept putting his hands around the girl's shoulders and putting his head on her shoulders or something, completely blocking our view. I wanted to say something to them, but they looked mean. And I was scared of the guy elbowing me in the face. So then I got the courage to tell the girl, and she was just like, "Oh." and ignored me. I wanted to kick her.
None of this mattered when the show started.
QuietDrive was the first act, and once they started playing, the crowded immediately pushed forward and Katherine and I got closer to the front. I didn't know QuietDrive too well so I didn't sing along with some of their songs, but they were really good. The guy has a really nice voice. And he can play the electric violin.
After they ended, I was pumped. I was ready for this show to really get started. I was just beginning to kind of sweat, and all I could think about was Paramore.
You'd be amazed how my thoughts of this show completely reversed when This Providence was on stage. I really wanted to get to the front of the stage before Paramore got in, so I tried to push my way through. It worked, for the most part, and Katherine and I were about 4 heads from the front. I was really really sweating now, and the crowd was getting violent. Especially this tall white guy to the right of me. He kept pushing me, so I kept pushing back at him, and it was just ******** horrible because I'm too weak and I weigh too little. I almost fell over but stopped myself and kicked him and moved away from him. But that wasn't the end of it.
To my horror, once This Providence finished their 3rd song, I realized they had 2 or 3 more to go, and my condition right now was horrible. I needed water more than anything else at this point, and I was getting slightly claustrophobic. I was fatigued, basically, and I used other people as support for my arms. Sometimes they threw water at the crowd, which I loved. But when they didn't, I felt like dying, and I wished everyone would stop moving because I honestly felt like throwing up. I couldn't breathe either, so my breath came out short and frequent. I wanted to go home. It wasn't worth it, I thought, to see Paramore in this condition. I knew the crowd would be even worse because Paramore was the headlining band and most people came to see them. This Providence threw a water bottle down, and to my horror it was the white guy that pushed me. And he didn't share.
Once they were gone, I was relieved. The crowd settled down a bit and the people at Slim's were passing out waters, to which people passed back to other people in the crowd. That was very nice of them, and I was so ******** grateful to see water and feel it run down my throat. People also threw water bottles back and forth so it would cool down the audience.
I didn't think I would last through Paramore. I was really feeling nauseous, although the water did help a lot. I was tired and my back was sore from all the people pushing me. I decided to leave once they finished like, half their set.
Paramore didn't come out until forever, and waiting for them was killing me. Once they did come out though, the crowd cheered, and they started the set with "Misery Business." Hayley is just fantastic live, and her voice is amazing. I mean, the girl can really sing. And she was beautiful too. And pale. I was jealous.The crowd sang along and so did I.
I don't know why, but after that song, I felt so much better after that, and now I really wanted to go to the front. After the song, she said the whole band was sick, but they played so ******** well. The other songs on their set included "Emergency", "Brighter", "Here We Go Again", "Let This Go", "Whoa", and a new song called something like "For A Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic."
The crowd and I sang along to every word, and the pushing got really bad because people kept trying to push me to the left so I tried to push to the right and I ended up getting a better view of her, although I did get pushed back. I almost fell. What I really hated about this crowd was the feeling that they were raping me and I was raping them.
After they finished the set, the crowd yelled for an encore and for one more song, but they came back and decided to do two - "Born For This" and "Pressure." What an amazing way to end the night. Once they were done, Katherine and I left. I knew that even if I wanted a picture with Hayley or a signing, I'd have to fight though more scenesters and my mom would get mad at me for staying too late, so we just left.
Outside, people were handing out stickers and stuff, and I bought a CD from one of the guy's from QuietDrive. Her mom finally found us, and we went to In-N-Out to eat, but all I wanted was a drink. And that felt really reviving, but then I got really cold and I was shivering and stuff.
Her mom drove me home, and then once I was home, my mom and my sister were complaining about how stinky I was and how sweaty I was. My shirt was soaked in sweat, and cold sweat too, because it was cold outside. And my sister's jacket, which I was wearing, stunk too. So I took a shower and went to sleep.
And all I can think of then, all I can think of now, was Paramore. This being my first show, I thought it was just ******** fantastic, and Katherine said that I got a really good first show. I don't care if we didn't get good pictures or pictures of the band or anything, but just this memory of this night is already doing me good. If that made sense.
An hour has passed since I started this entry. I don't think I'll ever go to Warped Tour. I mean, it's in the summer and the people are just crazy there and I seriously think that I would throw up because it lasts a day and it's probably a million times worse than at a small place like Slim's.
I'm smiling.
It was worth so much more than I thought it could be.
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