In short: LA was fuckin' awesome.
In long:
I haven't posted in a while. Before I rant about LA, I must note that Machine Head were unbelievable when I saw them earlier, even in the bullshit weather that was "The Great Storm of 2010" they managed to put on an insane show with a pretty decent crowd. Hatebreed were killer too. Loved it.
As for the US of A, I really miss that place. The flight there was really fuckin' painful as we had no individual TVs, just the few hanging off the roof down the isle, so about 17 hours of that which was a bit of a pain, luckily I slept for about 10 hours. I assume some douche was sick though since about 3 days in I started to get ill which sucked.
The day we arrived we were pretty buggered so relaxed in hotel for a couple of hours then headed to Disneyland where we spent the next 3 days. Disneyland is pretty damn magical, the atmosphere is awesome (and yes, I still love Disney movies, for the most part) and the rides are just plain fun. Pirates of the Caribbean was probably my favourite ride, it wasn't 'thrilling' with big drops or anything but the ride itself is really old and just so clever. Once you enter it feels like its 2AM and that you really are in the middle of the ocean or in a cave. Loved it, loved everything at Disneyland. Got my photo with Mickey too.
Saw my first game of Ice Hockey there too, and that was definitely an absolute highlight for me, I was blown away at how good it was live. I actually expected it to be harder to see the game unfold live compared to on TV but it was so much easier and the atmosphere is unreal. Luckily I managed to see a 4-5 that finished in a shootout with the LA Kings winning, the crowd went crazy.
As for the concert.. wow. If you didn't know, I flew over there to see Opeth play 1 of 7 20th anniversary shows. We had to arrive at 3pm because of the VIP tickets and from there it kind of went downhill from there. No one knew where our tickets were (they were supposed to be picked up will-call at the window) so they just trusted us with our piece of paper and we got some nifty Opeth VIP laminated passes.
Once inside we had to hang around for a while waiting for the band. Eventually we got split up into 5 groups to meet the band. I was nervous as hell at this point, as fuck, it's Opeth! The feeling I got when I turned the corner in the hallway to see the five of them standing there chatting.. my brain just froze, I didn't know what to say to any of them, I ended up just shaking their hand and saying "Hey how's it going, sign this blah blah blah, thanks, have a good show!" which was all I wanted but shit I was nervous. I got a photo with Per (Keyboardist) but didn't manage any others. My mate got a photo with Akerfeldt and Axenrot, damn him! But I took them, so I can't argue. It was still awesome, the ten minutes we got felt like it was about 2, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was only 5, because they were in a big rush. It was awesome to meet 'em.
Once that was done we got our 'goodie' bags which had a booklet which Akerfeldt had written about his history of the band which is really neat. It also had the new edition of Blackwater Park signed by the band and a shirt which I'll never wear because I don't want it to fade. It's an awesome shirt though. The bands manager or some guy (he was definitely Swedish) told us that some pieces were missing and that they'd ship them out soon, so hopefully we get them here in Australia. THEN things got worse when they didn't know what to do next. We got shoved up to the top floor to watch soundcheck, which was just their drum tech banging on the drums for about an hour. The Swedish guy came back and told us that Akkerson's amps had not arrived so we couldn't watch soundcheck since doors would open soon. Then the staff of the Wiltern didn't know what the fuck to do with us so we ended up being herded around for about 30 minutes and we could hear The Leper Affinity being played. Eventually they got their shit together and VIPs got let in to watch the end.
Then about an hour later the gig started. Wow. 3 hours of fuckin' heaven. They must have rehearsed the shit out of the set because they nailed every track. Setlist was as follows:
The Leper Affinity
Bleak
Harvest
The Drapery Falls
Dirge for November
The Funeral Portrait
Patterns in the Ivy
Blackwater Park
[BREAK]
Forest of October
Advent
April Ethereal
The Moor
Wreath
Hope Leaves
Reverie/Harlequin Forest
The Lotus Eater
Cheaaa, it was nuts. Highlights for me personally were The Moor and Reverie/Harlequin Forest, as much as I love every song on that setlist, those songs were just absolutely AMAZING. And Wreath? Holy shit, that was brutal and so damn good. I was fucked after the concert, as was my neck haha.
After the gig it was a lot more laid back, did some more touristy stuff like drive through Beverly Hills & such to look at the houses which was neat even if I did feel like shit. OH and we went to Universal Studios the day before the concert which was really good too, not the same atmosphere as Disneyland nor even 1/4 the size but still definitely worth a day visit. The rides are short but sweet.
Last 2 days I spent about $800-1000 on clothes, especially at Affliction. I. Fucking. Love. That. Shop. Most awesome clothes, and yes, very expensive. I was glad to hear they have an Australian online shop but there is no chance I'm using it... $100 for a shirt? $300 for jeans? HAH! I was paying $30-50 for shirts and $100-120 for jeans there. Now I actually have some decent clothes that I like, instead of just a bunch of band shirts and some shit jeans. Pity I nearly can't fit into my new jeans because I gained about 5kg over there haha durr. It'll be gone soon though. Food there was insane, $0.99 for a burrito and $4 for unlimited pancakes? Holy shit, how do people stay skinny over there? I'd definitely be one of those huge fuckers walking down the street.
So yeah, I wrote way too much. But it was a great holiday, we are literally already planning for next year when I turn 21 and we can go to Vegas baby! And actually drink over there
Even though we still had a few at the pub.
I'll upload bulk photos soon hopefully, I have to get them off my mate hopefully by the end of next week since I'm going to Melbourne this weekend for the ANZAC day AFL game.
How is everyone?
In long:
I haven't posted in a while. Before I rant about LA, I must note that Machine Head were unbelievable when I saw them earlier, even in the bullshit weather that was "The Great Storm of 2010" they managed to put on an insane show with a pretty decent crowd. Hatebreed were killer too. Loved it.
As for the US of A, I really miss that place. The flight there was really fuckin' painful as we had no individual TVs, just the few hanging off the roof down the isle, so about 17 hours of that which was a bit of a pain, luckily I slept for about 10 hours. I assume some douche was sick though since about 3 days in I started to get ill which sucked.
The day we arrived we were pretty buggered so relaxed in hotel for a couple of hours then headed to Disneyland where we spent the next 3 days. Disneyland is pretty damn magical, the atmosphere is awesome (and yes, I still love Disney movies, for the most part) and the rides are just plain fun. Pirates of the Caribbean was probably my favourite ride, it wasn't 'thrilling' with big drops or anything but the ride itself is really old and just so clever. Once you enter it feels like its 2AM and that you really are in the middle of the ocean or in a cave. Loved it, loved everything at Disneyland. Got my photo with Mickey too.
Saw my first game of Ice Hockey there too, and that was definitely an absolute highlight for me, I was blown away at how good it was live. I actually expected it to be harder to see the game unfold live compared to on TV but it was so much easier and the atmosphere is unreal. Luckily I managed to see a 4-5 that finished in a shootout with the LA Kings winning, the crowd went crazy.
As for the concert.. wow. If you didn't know, I flew over there to see Opeth play 1 of 7 20th anniversary shows. We had to arrive at 3pm because of the VIP tickets and from there it kind of went downhill from there. No one knew where our tickets were (they were supposed to be picked up will-call at the window) so they just trusted us with our piece of paper and we got some nifty Opeth VIP laminated passes.
Once inside we had to hang around for a while waiting for the band. Eventually we got split up into 5 groups to meet the band. I was nervous as hell at this point, as fuck, it's Opeth! The feeling I got when I turned the corner in the hallway to see the five of them standing there chatting.. my brain just froze, I didn't know what to say to any of them, I ended up just shaking their hand and saying "Hey how's it going, sign this blah blah blah, thanks, have a good show!" which was all I wanted but shit I was nervous. I got a photo with Per (Keyboardist) but didn't manage any others. My mate got a photo with Akerfeldt and Axenrot, damn him! But I took them, so I can't argue. It was still awesome, the ten minutes we got felt like it was about 2, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was only 5, because they were in a big rush. It was awesome to meet 'em.
Once that was done we got our 'goodie' bags which had a booklet which Akerfeldt had written about his history of the band which is really neat. It also had the new edition of Blackwater Park signed by the band and a shirt which I'll never wear because I don't want it to fade. It's an awesome shirt though. The bands manager or some guy (he was definitely Swedish) told us that some pieces were missing and that they'd ship them out soon, so hopefully we get them here in Australia. THEN things got worse when they didn't know what to do next. We got shoved up to the top floor to watch soundcheck, which was just their drum tech banging on the drums for about an hour. The Swedish guy came back and told us that Akkerson's amps had not arrived so we couldn't watch soundcheck since doors would open soon. Then the staff of the Wiltern didn't know what the fuck to do with us so we ended up being herded around for about 30 minutes and we could hear The Leper Affinity being played. Eventually they got their shit together and VIPs got let in to watch the end.
Then about an hour later the gig started. Wow. 3 hours of fuckin' heaven. They must have rehearsed the shit out of the set because they nailed every track. Setlist was as follows:
The Leper Affinity
Bleak
Harvest
The Drapery Falls
Dirge for November
The Funeral Portrait
Patterns in the Ivy
Blackwater Park
[BREAK]
Forest of October
Advent
April Ethereal
The Moor
Wreath
Hope Leaves
Reverie/Harlequin Forest
The Lotus Eater
Cheaaa, it was nuts. Highlights for me personally were The Moor and Reverie/Harlequin Forest, as much as I love every song on that setlist, those songs were just absolutely AMAZING. And Wreath? Holy shit, that was brutal and so damn good. I was fucked after the concert, as was my neck haha.
After the gig it was a lot more laid back, did some more touristy stuff like drive through Beverly Hills & such to look at the houses which was neat even if I did feel like shit. OH and we went to Universal Studios the day before the concert which was really good too, not the same atmosphere as Disneyland nor even 1/4 the size but still definitely worth a day visit. The rides are short but sweet.
Last 2 days I spent about $800-1000 on clothes, especially at Affliction. I. Fucking. Love. That. Shop. Most awesome clothes, and yes, very expensive. I was glad to hear they have an Australian online shop but there is no chance I'm using it... $100 for a shirt? $300 for jeans? HAH! I was paying $30-50 for shirts and $100-120 for jeans there. Now I actually have some decent clothes that I like, instead of just a bunch of band shirts and some shit jeans. Pity I nearly can't fit into my new jeans because I gained about 5kg over there haha durr. It'll be gone soon though. Food there was insane, $0.99 for a burrito and $4 for unlimited pancakes? Holy shit, how do people stay skinny over there? I'd definitely be one of those huge fuckers walking down the street.
So yeah, I wrote way too much. But it was a great holiday, we are literally already planning for next year when I turn 21 and we can go to Vegas baby! And actually drink over there
Even though we still had a few at the pub.
I'll upload bulk photos soon hopefully, I have to get them off my mate hopefully by the end of next week since I'm going to Melbourne this weekend for the ANZAC day AFL game.
How is everyone?
I understand being shit nervous about meeting Opeth. I met Shaun Micallef once (been a fan and had a crush for many, many years... yes, yes I know haha) randomly in the street before a live show of his. This was about 6 years ago. I was so nervous I just stood there, mouth hanging open. Luckily my brother was much more witty and able to talk. He chatted to him until we walked to the back door of the venue and bid him good night. I regret not touching him haha
I don't know about you but this year is turning out to be the best I've had in a long time!
So neighbour huh? I'll have to throw another epic SG party so you can come along