Kari's Concert Collection

Spiritfingers!

Arrived at Club 3 Degrees a half hour after doors opened and there was still a line out the door. Once in I found a vacant stool right in front of the sound booth. I knew there was no way I'd keep up with the FF5 party to the very end if I stood through two openers first. Tub-O walked by three times and like no one else showed recognition on who it was. And I almost tripped him once. Oops? hahaha

The Secret Handshake Eh. There was an electronic effect over vocals the entire time which got on my nerves.

Jonezetta Cool band. Lead singer was wearing these Kanye West style sunglasses so it must be true. Plus there was a trumpet, see?. They had to do soundcheck before starting the set. Bands hold up fingers as a signal to the sound guy and most of the audience copied them thinking it was part of the show. That gave me a giggle.

While Jonezetta was still playing I went upstairs to the merch tables to buy me a Family Force 5 t-shirt, and then went back down to concessions to buy water and finally ease my way into the crowd on the floor. Kids started yelling out Lil' Jon phrases (ie: "WHAT?!?!" "OKAY!!") How that's still entertaining is beyond me, but yet it is. I did a count on how many audience members were sporting the bling'd out Hulk gloves and I found only 2.

And Finally...

Family Force 5 Pretty much everything I expected and so much more. I haven't been in a crowd with that much energy since Linkin Park in early 2004. Definite "Ocean of People" with the swaying this way and that and the mass jumping. Gotta love that phenomenon of jumping without effort because the action of those around you pulls you into it as well. Craziest thing. Hope to experience that at least once because it's pretty cool.

I managed to work myself up pretty close within the first two songs. About a dozen bodies back at one point I think. If you look at my photo of Jonezetta (or the first FF5 pic) as my starting point, I ended up getting just in front of the area where those two cameras are up in the air. Actually those photos were with full zoom and some cropping, so I was even further back to start than the photos show. I'm several years rusty "swimming against the current" so to speak, so I was quite pleased.

lol-love Xanadu in that one. Anyway, at one point a moshpit magically materialized around me. It was going pretty sweet for all of 10 seconds until a security guy came and shut it down. I forgot it was a no moshing/crowd-surfing venue. For some reason I thought it was no crowd surfing, mosh at your own risk.

I decided to resist the movement of the crowd to get some photos. Bad idea on my part, so I soon after got knocked off balance just enough to take a nice butt plant to the floor. Ride the wave or everything crashes.

By song three I was already tiring out from the nonstop movement and it was getting more and more sardine like the closer I swam to the rail. I have exercise induced asthma, and I could feel an attack coming if I didn't take a breather. I rode the wave back just far enough to have more space to move (and where there was a handy vent pumping out cool air just overhead) Once back there I decided I liked it much better.

Farther back but room to move > Closer up but squished to nothing

And I got nifty crowd shots.

Soul Glow Activatur donned full uniform during "Numb." The dance circle opened up about 4 people in front of me. Very sad I could push through for a better view (or to do some semi planned impromptu *NSYNC choreography). It was funny watching someone doing the worm but only seeing their feet up in the air.

Plus when the circle closed back up I was able to move in closer again.

There was only a song or two more before encore time. As the entire crowd shouted "ONE MORE SONG" Xanadu came on stage and had us to hold up one or two fingers to determine how many more songs they would play. So many of us of course started holding up three.

The final song was "Whatcha Gonna Do With It." As my favorite FF5 song I was looking forward to it for the entire set and was completely giddy that they started were playing it. I lessthanthree Crouton and his sweet dancing skillz. They had us get low (like in the video), but of course only those of use in back were able to do it. haha silly squished kids up front with the good view.

So, I guess that's pretty much the gist of it. I highly, highly recommend checking out a Family Force 5 show near you if you get the chance. Even if you're not a fan of their music I think it's still worth the time to go and experience their show live and in person. It was unlike anything I've ever experienced in a concert event. I consider Linkin Park the highest bar on the ladder of amazing live bands, and FF5 definitely equals if not raises that bar. Plus, if you choose to participate, the dancing and jumping around makes for a good workout. I was feeling it in my calf muscles for days after.

Here's some more photos from the night:

NaDaddy rockin' the keytar

Robot!Tub-O charging lasers :P

Really bad quality, but I like the layers in this photo. The hand of a fan in the foreground, Chapstique the middle, and Xanadu in the background.

I'd love to see a good close up photo of Soul Glow's outfit because it was def made of awesome.

NaDaddy does the keytar dance

Crouton rockin' out on drums, Phatty spins 'round, and Tub-O does some hawt dancing. He's no Rupert Pederson, but amazing nonetheless.

Only because the <3 girl made me lol

A bunch of kids rushed the stage at the end. I love this picture; too bad it couldn't have turned out better.

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