So, concert experiences. I don't have pictures, unfortunately, because our official camera boy is a douche and decided  he had better things to do then show up for my birthday like he promised.

My friends and I ended up at the House of Blues at around 12:30, and basically started the line. The tour buses hadn't even shown up, so we got to spend a ton of time just watching Alex and Vicky T wander between the venue and the bus and back again, as well as all the unloading and such. We ended up meeting some other people in line, and basically just sat around with them and shared our food and drinks and eventually cupcakes with them(the round robin story game should never begin with the sentence 'Once, I saw Jesus in flagrante with a stripper'). Eventually, the rest of our little group showed up, and we just chatted until they opened up the doors.

And please, give me a second while I complain about something. The House of Blues has a 'Pass the Line' thing, where you pay $20 or eat in the restaurant and invalidate the time spent by people in line by getting to go in first. Now, here's the thing. I work two blocks from the venue. My boss gave me the option to set my friends up in line and go in to work for five hours. Five hours x the California minimum wage = $42. My time in line was worth double what they paid, and yet I was made to watch as they let in close to a hundred people before me. /rant

But we finally got into the venue and I made my way through the masses to as close as I could get(dead center behind a single person). I actually ran into a few people I knew from other concerts in the pit, so that was remarkably fun. It's kinda weird to know people can recognize me from me having talked with them before in a situation like a pit. I was wearing this gaudy and awesome pink tiara, so people kept looking at me and going 'Hey, it's your birthday?' and wishing me a happy birthday, which was pretty awesome. I actually think that may have been why I ended up where I did.

Sing It Loud came out first, and I have to say, I actually really like their music, but I think their stage presence is currently a little... Disturbingly manic. One of my friends later compared the set to one of the Shoot the Duck games at a carnival, and I could only agree. I went out of my way to get copies of everything I could by all three of the bands besides Cobra, so I was actually able to have a really good time singing along to what I knew and just listening to what I didn't.

I have a joke that when I first listened to the other three bands, I could tell them apart. At all. Still can't, actually, if I'm just listening. No offense to anyone who likes them. But watching them live, Sing It Loud to Hit the Lights, it was like 'Oh, okay. Not so confused anymore.' Where Sing It Loud was manic, Hit the Lights was rather agressive in how they took the stage. It was actually loads of fun, because I knew a lot more of their songs, and the crowd seemed to like them pretty well.

Then Forever the Sickest Kids. I still don't get how that's a 'Christian Rock' band. If someone wants to explain it to me, that would be awesome. But I honestly think there was an entire group around me who was only there for that band, so the energy in the pit was crazy. Also, their drummer is extremely hot. (Note to self: Look up band?)

Finally, the curtains close and everyone basically starts screaming for the time until they open again. I have to say, I am not a particularly objective person to ask what Cobra played, in what order, or anything like that. I just know I had a ridiculously good time with it, enjoyed every moment where Gabe stalked acoss the stage or played with Vicky T's hair or went to hump Ryland's leg. Or everytime he lifted his shirt...

He actually ended up in the front of the pit twice, both times within reaching distance of me, and I was actually able to get my tiara to him one of them, which he wore for a moment before tossing back to me(Also note to self: Find footage of that on Youtube. It will have to exist eventually.) There was a pretty damn awesome medley at one point, but the only song I remember absolutely being in it was Diamond Girl. Later, for Snakes on a Plane, there was the rather humorous addition of part of Hollaback Boy instead of Travis's rap.

After that(I think), stage empties and the the crowd... Doesn't move. We all just stand around and scream like idiots. Eventually, Ryland comes back out, tells us all about Pleasure Ryland and has much fun basically putting the song together on a keyboard while we all scream. Indeed. Everyone else comes out for that and... Something else. I should have totally written this last night. Everything's done again, and Gabe comes out to the audience to basically shmooze. I actually got a chance to thank him for making it an awesome birthday, and he told me he was glad he had, held my hand and kissed my cheek which pretty much made my night.

Eventually, I dispersed from the crowd and headed to my friends, wherein we left the venue, got lost looking for my friend's car, and generally had fun. All said, it was a great fucking birthday.

location: Upstairs, on someone else's computer mood: happy