Kari's Concert Collection

Teenies Teenies Everywhere

The seats were closer than I thought, so that was cool. Too bad my section mates weren't the greatest. Unfortunately I bought tickets in the "Teenie Boppers and Their Mommys" section and no one told me. To our right was a group of girls around 14 or 15 years old and one of their moms. Behind was a Mom and her 13 year old daughter. To their right was a group of girls that were 15 or 16, and on their left was a group of girls around my age. None of that bothered me until the group sitting to my left showed up. A Mom and her three daughters ranging in the ages of 12 to 8. The 8 year old was right next to me. Needless to say, my left ear was hurting afterwards. And the girl behind me wasn't helping either.

Opening act number one wasn't The Living End as scheduled. Instead was a band called Saving Face. I could have lived without them. They were a little curse-crazy. They did do a little cover of a Snoop Dogg song. And one song I did like, but it was only a 5 second moment guitar part. It was like a scale going from high to low, went back up a couple notes, and then a cymbal crash. Hard to explain, but it sounded cool.

Second opening act was Something Corporate. I was very impressed by them. They had a Plus One vibe sound wise, just harder and with more piano. And the lead singer was just as hyper. I wasn't happy when the lead singer jumped on the piano (he was also the piano player) and stomped on the keys. Yeah, it sounded cool, but it's not good for the piano. It was a nice piano, too. Looks just like my grandma's piano. Anyway, I will be getting their CD the second I get the chance. I had one of those moments when you discover a band you never knew and got all giddy and was smiling while watching them perform.

There was a 30 minute set up waiting time for Good Charlotte. There was three moments where the girls started screaming because they thought the show was going to start or something. First time was when the GC banner was raised and the other two was when someone tested the sound of the guitars. I guess the screamers didn't realized the band wasn't going to begin when the houselights are still on.

Finally around 9:15 the lights lowered. The banner had a cool back light to it. The Good Charlotte name was glowing green. They began with the intro �A New Beginning.� The banner dropped halfway through the song revealing the band. Sense I already mentioned previously the fact I was surrounded by high pitched squealing girls I�ll avoid as much as possible bringing them up. But they were a constant annoyance. And it was always during the best part of the song when they screech so loud you can�t hear the band.

Kicked off with �The Anthem.� The highlight moments of the show was the group singalongs. Nothing like singing a song with a few thousand others. The next song was �Festival Song.� Again, it�s nice when the girls stopped screaming and instead sang with everyone else. The next area I�m a little iffy on song order. I had a list of songs played, it just wasn�t in the correct order. �Girls and Boys� and �Riot Girl� were in around here. Joel thanked the opening acts. He called Something Corporate the Pianoband. He then called them the worst band ever. The crowd �oohs� and he said it was a joke. Really? I would have never guessed. Sarcasm there. Joel said the next song was for Cashdogg because he was at home and couldn�t go on tour with them. Cashdogg is his dog for those not in the know. The song was �Wondering.� More pretty sing alongs during this song. Another couple of songs around this area were �East Coast Anthem� and �The Click.� Next they mentioned how Mest couldn�t be at this show, but they said hi. Next song was dedicated to Mest, and it was �The Motivation Proclamation.� This is the song that originally got me liking Good Charlotte, so I was happy to hear it.

Next was �Seasons.� Not a favorite, but still a very pretty song. The next few songs are favorites. Starting with �My Bloody Valentine.� I thought it would be cool if the spotlights flickered during the �flashing lights� line, but it didn�t happen. Benji I believe was the one to say towards the end of the song �this is the part where we like to hear the angels sing.� After a short pause they add, �and that would be you guys.� And so there was singing. Next was �Hold On,� one of the songs I was looking forward to hearing. A lot of people had lighters going. Because I was further away, with my camera I took some �Artistic� shots. I zoomed out some to include all the lights, because it was really pretty. During the kinda slow moment of the song Paul looked like he was rocking his bass like it was a baby.

�The Story Of My Old Man� was next. Joel did a beatboxing thing during the chorus. I realize I forgot to mention the beatboxing during �The Anthem� and �Girls and Boys,� so I mention it now. Next was �I Heard You� and �Movin� On.� That song featured Benji, the motivation speaker. Okay, not really, but there was a short speech about moving on no matter what happens. Talked about how the way they grew up music is all they have, and that the music industry is full of people who didn�t what to see Good Charlotte succeed. He made it sound much cooler, but it was all about following you dreams no matter what. Hence, Motivation Speaker Benji. I was a very cool moment. And there was fist pumping during the chorus where for some reason the girl behind me was swaying her arms (off beat even) like it was a slow song. I didn�t get that.

They made it seem like that was the final song, but then said �This is our show, we can play as many songs as we want.� They said to pretend we were at a Dashboard Confessional show for the next couple songs. They also said it was the appropriate time for lighters and cellphones. And the next song was �Emotionless.� Beautiful song; Benji played an acoustic guitar. Lots of lights around the crowd. At least twice as many as before. And it reminded me of the Dashboard Confessional unplugged show on MTV. Too bad some screaming girls had to ruin the moment. But it was still a pretty song. And next was �Say Anything.� Not really a favorite. I sat down to get a drink of water.

Next was �The Day That I Die.� Joel was �Nate-Dancing.� The definiton of that is doing motions to go with the lyrics to the song. I really like the tune of this song. The guitar is a little bit bluesy, and that was played up a bit live. Next song was �Waldorf Worldwide.� Well, they changed the name to �Minnesota Worldwide.� Joel jumped down to the front barricade area for part of this song.

And then was the break before the encore. The screaming was at it�s peak. First time I�ve ever covered my ears during a concert. Well, there was that Nick Carter thing during LCSD �02, but that was as a joke. So they come back out and play �The Young and The Hopeless.� You knew they would, it�s the name of the tour after all. I�ll mention Billy here sense I haven�t yet. I think I got a picture of his jumping off the drum riser. It was a bit of a delayed reaction when I took it. I tried more than once for in air action shots.

During �Little Things� people in the crowd were yelling the background vocal line things during the verses. It could only be heard if you were listening for it, but it sounded really cool. During the end of this song was arm waving, and as the song slowed down, so did the speed and height of the arm waving. Seeing the floor crowd from behind it looked really neat. And the final song of course was �Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous.� Joel started a St. Paul chant. Of course it was for the city, but it amused me because it was also one of Paul�s nicknames. That chant turned into GC, and then the song ended.

We started going up the stairs before the song ended so their wouldn�t be a huge jam up. Going back to the parking ramp dad had us go into the 1st one. After going down all 8 levels, we realize we parked in the next one over. Luckily there was an elevator found so we went back up that way. And there was an elevator in the one we parked in that we also took down.

Miscellaneous rambling now. We had a good view of the medical area. I saw two people be wheeled over in wheelchairs, and a girl who was drunk out of her mind. The sad thing was she was obviously under age. There was also a girl wearing a short skirt and huge spike heel pumps. I just looked at her like, �What�s the point?� I was watching her hoping she would trip on one of the rubber mats that was on the floor covering the ice and fall flat on her face. Sadly that never happened.

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