Birthday Concert Review

Alright, this is going to be one really long blog post so I suggest you buckle up.

Alright, so I started off that beautiful Saturday morning as an 18 year old. I woke up at 6:45 in the morning but laid in bed until about 7. I got up and I practically flew through getting ready. I was so excited and Rachael was texting me all morning. I put my bangs up on the top of my head and straightened the rest of my hair, and I put my dark pinkish red eyeshadow on with thick black eyeliner. I wore my black Avenged Sevenfold shirt that had the deathbats on it that looked like the band, my pinstripe Hurley shorts with black tights underneath it with my Chuck Taylors. I was pretty much freakin' awesome looking that day.

My mom and I left for Topeka at 9:15 in the morning, and Rachael left with her mom about forty five minutes earlier than we did. We travelled for four hours, which was a little bit earlier than what she had planned. My aunt Jamie and my cousin Meadow came down from Kansas City to spend the night with my mom so she wouldn't get lonely or anything. We came through to Topeka, and it was really warm but it was also windy so it had a bit of a cold chill on it. Rachael and I had our posters with us. Mine said "Touch me! I'm 18 today!" and Rachael's said "I love Guitar Guys". We met some awesome people in the line too. We met a guy named Jesse, and two girls named Amanda and Amber. They were pretty kick ass.

When we got inside, it had just started raining so we had avoided the thunderstorms. Rachael and I managed to get next to the stage again with one row of people in front of us. I had managed to get in front of a really tall guy. Amanda, Amber, and Jesse were right next to us so it was an awesome little party going on. We had thought that Saving Abel was going to be at the concert, but it turned out that they weren't there. They were replaced by the band Rev Theory as the concert opener. They were really good and I saw the frontman, and I thought he was absolutely GORGEOUS. So, I knew I was going to be looking him, and his music up as soon as I got home (and I did).

The second act was one of my ultimate favorite bands, Papa Roach. Here is where it gets VERY interesting. They came out doing Days of War, and followed by Change or Die. Of course, Jacoby was absolutely hot in his vest and what not. Tobin was pretty sexy too as well as Jerry. Tony is just ugly all around. So, here is where it gets awesome. After "Change or Die" they did "Between Angels and Insects", and in the middle of his verse, Jacoby came over to our side of the stage and that is where I held my sign up for him. I saw him read it, and after he finished his verse, he screamed into the microphone: "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!". I nearly fainted.

In the same act, toward the end, Jacoby came down off of the stage as he was singing "Scars" and got up right next to the barricade where I was. So, I dove over a few people and managed to grab a hold of his vest, AND run my hand over his arm. I freaked out. I touched the man that created this beautiful music and saved my life. I was thrilled. His arm was sweaty, but that was okay.

So, after Papa Roach came Buckcherry. Something I didn't mention before, I ABSOLUTELY HATE BUCKCHERRY. HATE THEM. And the most ironic thing happened. I discovered in line as some girls were coming through with a gigantic poster board that had "Happy Birthday Josh Todd" on it. I knew that something was wrong here. Josh Todd is the lead singer of Buckcherry, and he shares the same birthday as me. I was so pissed.

Anyway, Buckcherry came onto the stage and we nearly got crushed. Amanda got elbowed in the face and in the lower back and she ended up starting to cry. Some drunk guy also came up and started grinding on Amber. We all got mad and we got him kicked out of the place. It was satisfactory. Then, some drunk girl next to me kept screaming that I should help her punch some pregnant lady in the face. I just ignored her and let her go on her rambling. Her three hundred pound husband was squishing us in there too and it drove me up the wall. Buckcherry still sucked though, and that was one of the worst things that I have ever been living through. I was squished and couldn't move, and I was spending the majority of the time elbowing people and yelling at some douchebags.

So, after Buckcherry got off the stage, the crowd let up a little and some people had to leave the crowd because it was getting suffocating. Rachael and I suffered through it. Finally, our men were coming on the stage. Now here is another interesting part. As they came on the stage doing "Critical Acclaim" I lost my mind. Rachael and I were jumping up and down, screaming and doing our thing. We were right in front of Synyster Gates again, and we noticed he was quite a happy man for a Kansas concert. We later discovered that he was "frankly drunk". He said that later on before his solo. After 'Critical Acclaim', they did 'Afterlife'. During that set, I held up my sign once again once Synyster was back at his microphone. Once I held it up, I saw him squint to read it and he started to laugh. I freaked out again since he noticed it and thought it was funny. It's amazing what feelings course through your body as a fangirl.

Later on during the intermission of one of the songs as M. Shadows was getting ready to talk again, I held up my sign AGAIN. I wanted to get words out of all of my favorite guys, and Shadows was last on my list. HE READ IT. Then, since the crowd was going a little nuts, I didn't hear what he said. I saw his lips move and he laughed at it as well. Amanda and Rachael had grabbed me and started to shake me, telling me that he said something to me. I asked what it was, and they said that Shadows said "That's cute". I lost my mind.

Then, during "Beast and the Harlot", Rachael was scared about throwing a bra that we had bought from Walmart on stage. We spent eight bucks on a bra that we were going to throw on stage. So, I grabbed it from her and I chucked it on the stage. After the song was over, we saw Johnny Christ, the bassist, come over, pick up our bra and hang it on Syn's mic stand. The crowd started cheering and I was freaking out with Rachael. Then, Syn came over, took it off and threw it at a roadie. It was a good five second exciting moment. Also, during a song, Rachael held up her sign, and Syn smiled, pointed at her, and said "Thank you". She nearly fainted too. LOL

Since Synyster was drunk, he ended up knocking over his and Zacky's mic stand. Shadows started to make fun of him a little and it was quite funny. We also discovered, thanks to M. Shadows broadcasting it to the crowd, that a bunch of girls flashed the bassist. That was hilarious. At the end of the set though, Syn came over to our side of the stage, kncoking down things along the way and started chucking out the picks. I loved it, and we managed to get a picture of Jason Berry, one of the infamous roadies of Avenged Sevenfold, taking down Rev's drumset. Before we left, we also saw a gigantic stand that had bras and panties just piled onto it. It was funny, and we managed to get pictures of it.

We exchanged numbers with Amanda and Amber, and we left back to the hotel.

It was an unforgetable 18th birthday. :)