OKGo in Tucson (11/26) and Tempe (11/27)

We'll start out with the better pictures- the ones from Tempe on Wednesday, November 27th. Since Damian had assured me that I would be able to get in, I made the trip up to Tempe. What was usually an hour and a half trip turned into a three hour ordeal, including over an hour of 10mph and start and stop traffic in the 75mph zone... it was Thanksgiving weekend, and there were three multiple car accidents in the Red Rock/Picacho Peak area, and it SUCKED. I'm betting that people died, judging by some of the wreckage... it was just ugly. Other casualties of the trips were two cups of Doc Otis *hic*, my favorite ugly-ass cheap-but-lovely jean jacket (that was a heartbreaker, losing that, but if I was distracted enough to lose something, I should be glad I didn't crash my car), and some Rose Pastilles, which were helpful when parched and dehydrated, and so, so very tasty.

Burleigh had posted that OKGo started playing at 11pm, and that fortunately turned out to be true. I waltzed into the Big Fish Pub, showed my ID, got a wristband, and eventually walked up to the stage... all without any trouble, which I'm sure Damian would've been happy to hear. The band that I walked in on were kinda punky, a lot of energy, but they were interesting almost in a bad way, music-wise. They would start and stop their music in weird parts of their songs. The next band was who a lot of girls in the under-21 section were there to see. The lead singer was wearing fishnet armstockings with safety pins in them... they were hard, but besides OKGo, they were the best band there. The lead singer also looked like one of those Leto boys. Didn't catch the band's name, though. The band after that was Trapt, who did NOT encourage moshing this time but had more vocal groupies. But at least he wasn't trying to impress them before the show like he did in Tucson. More about that later. *slaps forehead, rolls eyes, snickers* And his two most vocal fans... one poured her Corona through the rubberized fence (keeping the 21 and overs from the under 21s) into the other's mouth!! Yes, underage drinking, we support that! NOT!! Stupid-ass fence... *grumble* And then... OKGo.

Finally got a goddamned decent pic of Andy kicking some guitar ass. There was about five or ten minutes where there was intermittent sound coming from Andy's side, so everybody was fiddling with wires and equipment before the show started. But yes, everything was pretty much figured out and the rock started. I would venture that it was a punkier show than Tucson was. And for the life of me, I can't remember the covers we got. Wait... we must've gotten "Crimson and Clover," because I could hear Tim really well on that, and it was heaven to my ears! In Tucson, we got "Jessie's Girl" by Rick Springfield and "Panic" by the Smiths.

Very much with the rocking out!! On the tiny stage, Andy and Tim meet in the middle.

21 and over rubberized chainlink fence, oh how I loathe thee. But the plus in the picture is... look hard... it's Burleigh! It was a wOOt moment. The dude that Andy's looking at is one of the guys that was brought on stage for "Unrequited Orchestra of Locomotion." HE DID THE ROBOT. Eighty-seven shades of awesomeness.

We were told that Andy had to do something (which involved him facing Dan) so we could pick between a rap or a musical. Now I'm no spring chicken- it was a rap or Les Mis. Oh no, no rap for this girl! The crowd agreed, and the musical was the crowd favorite. When driving home, it suddenly occurred to me that maybe I just lost out on "Women and Men" or Tim rapping. I am an asshole, because I *totally* want to see BOTH done live. (Are you listening, OKGo??) Next time, next time, I hope. So the Les Mis song was done, and it was highly entertaining! And then I ran out of pictures. Bahhhh.

I talked to Burleigh after the show regarding me really not being a bitch despite my bitching on the Arizona thread re: ticketing for these shows, and got him to sign my shirt. He's really a sharp guy, VERY COOL! Also talked TNFC with Tim, got a hug from him, then left. Seriously. I figured if it was going to be three hours BACK, SWEET JESUS, I had better leave ASAP. (This hastiness is what caused me to lose my beloved jacket! :( ) I figured I didn't need to bother Damian (I thanked him profusely in Tucson for the assurance that myself and a guest could get into the Tempe show), Dan and Andy. <3 OKGo! Good show, just wish I had a pal with me... but I had one in Tucson!!

While I waited for Nika to arrive, I waited in line for shits and giggles. ~~Now, I'm not one to stereotype~~ Who am I kidding?! I didn't see anyone besides the guy wearing the Rob Zombie flesh-eating ... Zombie motherfucker shirt that was about my age... the average age seemed to be about 13. And one girl that came to stand with some friends behind me... would not yield her part of the sidewalk for a BLIND MAN. She finally rolled her eyes and moved for the man with the big glasses and the white-tipped cane. I was shocked, aghast, etc. I was not feeling rather favorable towards the crowd. :P It was cold as all hell, but the clothing everyone had on was not suitable, and holy hell, am I the only one NOT into Spongebob Squarepants?! Word.

Nika came up and we headed in, grabbed some alcoholic beverages, and staked out the hall. I wondered where the merch was, because usually it was right where our table was. We imbibed and played OKGo bingo. We were missing Burleigh and Damian, but Dan, Andy and Tim all walked by. I had an encounter in the Little Pirates room with another gal that had to empty her bladder- the freakin' door latch wouldn't close- so that was an amusing close call. "Don't worry, I didn't see anything!" "It's OK, we all have the same parts!" "I hope so!" I was ~~kind of~~ really drunk there for about ten minutes. I didn't have anything to eat before the show, so sue me. :P

So we finally made our way into the main hall... where we found the merch. I got the two EPs and a shirt, and Nika got a shirt. I yoinked a button... then went back and yoinked two more with a sticker. Free stuff, always good. The band that was on wasn't too bad, but the real show was this dark-haired dude in a leather jacket that was walking around like he owned the place. The three chicks with him, one short chica and two bottle-blondes, were VERY impressed with him, and they obviously thought he was HOT SHIT. We were amused. So once the first band ended, Nika and I walked up to the front. I readied my camera and we staked out spots in front of Tim (my pref, not hers.) So after a while, some local DJs came out and announced, to our amazement and chagrin, that the next band would be Trapt, and the band that just played was the Deludes. Er... wha?

Mind you, Trapt is not a bad band. They're heavy. But... the lead singer was our Lothario from the back of the venue! FUNNY! The bass from the band started to make my legs ache... but even worse was the moshing. The crowd was indeed VERY young, and a bunch of smelly-like-poopy preteen males decided that they needed to mosh. AND THE LEAD SINGER ENCOURAGED THIS!!!!! Nika got more kids slamming into her, but she was a trooper. We both defended ourselves, and I found that moshers are less apt to want to come your direction if you have a scowl on your face and a closed fist raised. I had to use one arm to brace myself against the stage (we were about 2nd or 3rd row, standing) and the other to elbow and push these kids off of me. I was not impressed with Trapt here in Tucson, and I wasn't impressed with them in Tempe. *shrug* But oh, the nervousness and anticipation of rocking from OKGo!! They rocked out from the start, a very smooth show- it was delicious!

Why Tim-side, you ask? Well, as far as I'm concerned, Les Claypool owes me because I listened to his crappy Brown Album. And while Geddy Lee did "Take Off," which really is a beauty way to go, he just doesn't compare to Emperor Nordwind! Tim is energetic and seems to love what he's doing, so he's always fun to watch. And did I mention I like his bass? And his singing voice? So yes, fun times!

Unfortunately due to me being 5'5" and everyone else being TALLER, I have people's heads in all of my pictures! BOOOO!!!

Having the flash on made for specks of light on the pictures in the black areas, and the illumination of everyone in front of me's heads. Still, coulda been worse, I guess. :P

DOWN IN FRONT, REDHAT!

Ditto. At least I got some Andy in the pic! And squint hard... you may see Tim and Burleigh!

Se�or Redhat, get out of my view or I will throttle you. Get the picture?

You did! Way to go! This is the kid that was allowed to come back on stage for "Unrequited Orchestra of Locomotion." See, he climbed onstage, then stagedived OFF earlier in the show. So when it was time for this song, Damian located him and asked him to come back on stage. During the song, a security guard tried to take him off, but one of the OKGo roadies told the guard to lay off. Stickin' it to the man! This kid stagedived another two or three times during the song... brave individual. :P

Everyone's clapping! Except me! Because I'm taking a picture!!

If you squint... I think you can see Burleigh and Andy. BUT! Look at those primary colors in the spotlights... that's nice!

And for the "Where's Dan?" portion of our show... ;)

As for where Burleigh is, he's only vaguely seen in these pictures... I just couldn't get decent pictures from my angle into his instrument nook.

After the show, I asked Andy for a setlist for Nika because she drove all the way out from NM, and he glady scrounged one up for her. She was an awesome concert buddy, a smart and savvy gal, so thanks for being my bud for the show!!! :D

We collected autographs after being flushed from the main pit. I caught Andy when he was trying to ring someone else's phone that had been lost, so that made me look like super-pushy fan, dooohhh. Dan used my ultra-wide back to sign my shirt, and the guy's got a good smile too. :D I talked a bit to Tim- had to get my TNFC title, Official Executor of the TNFC Estate, you know it rocks! Hustled over to Damian and ended up getting into a conversation with him about the moshing and bands opening for them being of a different genre... he mentioned Fugazi, +500 million cool points for him, and I mentioned Barenaked Ladies, so -500 million cool points for me... but it was a nice short conversation. Plus he assured me that I could get into the Tempe show, because I let him know that the ticketing was kinda fugged for the Arizona shows. ;) Very smart guy, well-spoken too.