This Is Not A Democracy

So... the new TAI song, About A Girl doesn't sound like them at all; does sound like someone put 2005 on a CD, though.

It's not a bad song, it just doesn't stand out... It could be any number of bands from the last few years. And it does remind me quite a lot of the recently demised Spitalfield, in some ways. They grew up in the same scene, you know.

I can feel a little Jimmy Eat World in there, as well - which is interesting, because I was talking to someone on my flist about them, recently.

Mostly, I'm just a little O_o at the moment. I don't dislike it, and I could probably enjoy singing along to it, but I hope the rest of the album has more kick than this.

*falls over*

I'm watching the Live Performance section of B-Sides and I swear to God, at 7.01, during Saturday, it pans around and standing by the door with a mass of blond curls, is Sisky Biz.

Wouldn't he have been like 12, back then?!

Hey kids,

Having an awesome time -
♥ changed a tyre on the Interstate - traffic side! - by ourselves and got the seal of approval from a Random Rugged Dude™ at a gas station, for our handywork;
♥ met Jack The Camera Guy Who Was Clearly The Hottest Person On That Tour (he is so, so cute, guys. SO CUTE!);
♥ watched Cobra & TAI's soundchecks in St Louis;
♥ watched them film the new TAI TV;
♥ met up with the lovely babygotbass & _lolapolooza and had deep and meaningful discussions about the inner-workings of the Wentzmind;
♥ saw two adorable teenage boys who were clearly dating (and couldn't have been more than about sixteen and were very boyish and not at all camp) and spent all the show sitting on the balcony snuggling and being adorably tender with each other, which basically made our night - we all felt insanely proud of them, I think, for having the nerve;
♥ was recorded for the TAI DVD (don't know whether it'll be on there but we were asked to record a message);
♥ met all of Cobra, at last (these kids are genuinely lovely people, really);
♥ met Jay J. and Neeraj from HRE for lunch, with Andy from Hewhocorrupts;
♥ hung out with the awesome guys from the Clan Store (♥ - J will be visiting next year so we're going to hang out);
♥ got my own Bat Heart Bar hoodie made (pics later);
♥ bought the Ninjas, Summer Camp & Drama King Clan shirts (yay!);
♥ got our new tattoos (this is on my outer right forearm):

Jay R. totally got what I meant with the scratchy stars - the girl is amazing and will be in the UK in summer! Woohoo! We have agreed to meet up.

It's been generally awesome, so far. Heading out for breakfast and a drive, now.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes, guys!

♥

So, yesterday. The uncut version.

I had to work during the day, so I kicked satsuma77 and shiny_starlight out of the house when I left at 8.20am. Apparently, by the time they got there, just after nine-ish, there were already about fifty people there. Including the psychostalkers who slept out the night before. (FYI: getting there early on the day would have sufficed, kids. We believe you're fans, we promise.)

I arrived around three thirty - although I was there in spirit the whole day, I swear - shortly after fredtheguava. We spent much time being appalled by the kids - including a girl of about twelve who was smoking and kept blowing it in people's faces. We smacked her down, hardcore, and were later delighted when the obnoxious little fucker was carried out (and believe me, she wasn't the only one we saw go). After some bundling we managed to hit the barrier on Joe's extreme right, but right down where the gap was between his monitors and the stacks. Cash back!

Cobra Starship, as always, were fucking awesome. FUCKING AWESOME. Early in the set, Ryland came over to our side of the stage and kind of did a double-take at me. Gill thinks this may have been him spotting the tattoo because we were only about seven or eight feet from the edge of the stage, at the most. He did come back later and I pointed to my shoulder and he looked for a minute, then the lights flashed up and illuminated us, and he pulled a comedy, "Ooooh!" face. Hah. During the set, someone threw a bra intended for Panic! at the Disco and it landed at Gabe's feet. He promptly read aloud everything on it and said he was going to keep it to try on later. He also ended up on the floor at Ryland's feet, looking like he was trying to hump his leg. Gabe=Win. Hilarious exchange of the night did related to him, actually (please note that Rachael is gay herself and no offense is meant by the term used):

Rachael: Is he a fag?!
Me: Haha. On the outside*.
Rachael: He's either a fag, or a Vancouver lesbian!
Me: I think actually, a lesbian is more accurate.

*or something like that.

I kind of hate the fact that they're always on first at these things - they deserve a much longer set - but they really do get the crowd going. I can't see any of the other bands on the bill getting the kids going from the point of being sat out in the rain all day, as easily as they do.

The Academy Is... were good. They were. Even though I only know one of their songs and have actually seen them twice. Mike Carden's quite hot, really. From a great distance. Sisky was just funny. I don't know why. He made me smile. But that's pretty much all I have to offer on that front.

Gym Class Heroes, then. Hm. Not a hip hop person, but there's something about these kids that makes them really likeable.


Oh, wait. It's Travie. Er... No, I'm kidding. Disashi was right in front of us and he seems pretty cool. I can honestly say that I had give up all hope of Patrick coming out for any kind of cameo, halfway though 'Chokehold, but suddenly - wearing street clothes and his glasses, as if he just felt like stage invading on a whim - tiny, tiny Patrick bounded on stage (half the audience screamed, the other half were just deafened because they were too busy going O_O). He showed off for a chorus (complete with five-piece era hand-behind-back singing action™), hugged anyone within scampering distance, dithered around trying to find Travie to hug him, realised he was in the crowd, kind of helped yank him back on stage and hugged him before he was even stood up straight. Then he ran away, waving.

Sadly, this was not a Panty-Throw, show. I think the spares would have come in handy for a large portion of the audience.

But it was not over yet. Clothes Off had a couple of guests on stage. We thought it was a joke at first, but nope - suddenly, from the depths of stage left, Dirty and The Butcher ran on. And did a fucking striptease. The sight of The Butcher rubbing his shirt back and forth between his legs is not one I ever anticipated when I purchased our tickets. But apparently Dirty was quite into it, because his tiny pants (which actually matched The Butcher's) did not hide much. I have this on film. When I can figure out how to transfer it to a playable format, it will be posted. Oh yes.

Now, I didn't know what to expect from Panic!, because I've never really read any reviews or anything. I can tell you this. Ryan Ross is gayer than Christmas. He is. He really, really is. I don't care if he claims not to be: he is. He's also capable of fucking up his pedals to the point he thought he was just going to have to hang out on stage and not play, all set. Luckily, they fixed him. Personally, I couldn't actually tell when he was playing.

Spencer had someone making him laugh all set, which meant lots of his adorable smile. Hurrah.

I don't really know what to say about the other two. They all talk on stage! What the shit is that about?! O_o Anyone would think they enjoyed themselves or something.

One thing I want to say at this point, before we get to the main attraction, is that the security at Hammersmith Apollo are fucking brilliant. They are friendly, they joke with the fans, they're really, really good about handing out water and picking something up for you if you drop it over the bar. I might go so far as to email the Apollo people and say so. Seriously: really, really nice guys.

So, then. Just when you think you're getting down to the good stuff, and the band are finally going to come out... Dirty introduces a dude from the Plain White T's to do Hey There Delilah, which the crowd went wild for, but which left me a little... well. I was half expecting another Lupe Fiasco fiasco, so... Thankfully, he only did one.

Fall Out Boy bounded on stage from the wings. No toasters. Meh. It's actually really surreal to have them on a stage that size, just them, no fancy tricks and no explosive devices, after being to HCT.

What can I say about this band, except that they're awesome, really? And, oh yeah, they did a cover of Don't Matter by Akon, Patrick sang, "Nobody wants to see us together, no, but it don't matter 'cause I've got you..." or something like that, directly to Pete. DIRECTLY. To Pete. (While Ashlee waited in the wings thinking, 'Actually, so the fedora look isn't working for me like it does for Patrick, so... I wonder if Pete will actually really like me if I get a trucker cap'). And as if that wasn't gay enough, I have footage - real footage, honest to God - of Pete then turning to him and saying, "Y'know, I think there's a few people here who want to see us together, Patrick..." allegedly, then adding, somewhere under the wall of SCREEEEEEEEEEEEAMZZZOMG, "Oh, yeah, I've read the fanfiction."

...

Dude. DUDE. Don't pretend. We know you fucking write it.

(I'm guessing Joe has also read the fanfiction because he was suddenly all up in Patrick's personal space. O_o Good boy, Troh. Good boy.)

I have come to the conclusion that this band is a lot like CSI: Vegas. They make a point of feeding in just enough of every ship to keep the speculation going. Nodnod. Pete writhing in front of Andy? Oh yes. OBSCURE SHIP, AHOY.

Pete also thanked us for David Beckham and asked, "Does he ever actually play in games, kind of?"

At which point, in a near-break from tradition, Joe approached his microphone, opened his mouth as if considering saying something and... mumbled, "No..." as he backed away.

Good try, kid. Next time, say it into the microphone, not as you're walking away.

Patrick was actually rocking out like a bitch. I have film of him fucking throwing himself around the stage like Joe does. So there was no Shaolin Soccer moves or anything, but by Patty Cake's standards, he was fierce.

Other moments of greatness included:

- Gabe out for Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy?
- Diaz and Dre making screaming cameos - yay! boys.
- Beckett out for Sophomore Slump
- Travie appearing on stage and rapping at some point, I seem to vaguely remember...
- Hum fucking Hallelujah!!!
- DECAYDANCE GANGSIGN OMG!! (Make a circle with your forefinger and thumb, fan the other fingers and cross your wrists to make wings)
- tiny!Sisky out for Saturday.

Joe Trohmania'd right in front of us a couple of times. And at one point, which Gill witnessed, we kind of rocked out like we did at Chicago - staring straight at each other and headbanging/singing along, at which point it seems he may have spotted my tattoo. We'll see about that.

All in all, it was a great gig. I have seen them play better - my last Hammersmith show, in April, is my favourite ever gig, I think - but they were amazing. And still camp as a row of tents.

Overheard in Hammersmith Apollo: God, well I suddenly understand all this 'slash' stuff - they hand it to you!

We only waited outside for a little while, but I did get to talk to Zac(h?) and he is adorable. I asked him if he was Charlie's replacement and he said, "Nope. But I am his best friend, though." I quickly said, "Oh - cool, tell him we said 'hi', then!"

He ended up huddled against the rail, sharing my tiny fold up umbrella with me, while wearing a towel over his head, which was cute as hell.

Somewhere off in the distance, Travie was mobbed and ran away scared. Gabe, on the other hand, spent at least forty minutes taking pics and chatting to kids who were really, really crowding him. I did go over and quietly said, "Gabe?" He turned around to look at me, and I said, "I'm sorry for propagating the mobbing thing, but I just wanted to show you - "

"HOLY SHIT! WOW! THAT'S AMAZING! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DID THAT!!"

He saw the tattoo. He freaked. He kept touching it with his fingertips looking kind of awed. He asked for a hug. He asked for a photo (and apologised that his Sidekick was 'kind of slow'). He asked for my name, echoed it as "Roooohsie?", and then he asked for another hug.

I guess he liked it.

Which is nice.

We went back over to the stage exit and left him to the fangirls (which I think was actually when Zac(h?) shared my umbrella - but it's all a bit of a blur) and saw Dirty. I told him he wasn't to leave us and he asked how I knew he was leaving.

I just told him, "Oh, y'know... people say stuff."

He acknowledged that these are his last three days with the boys because "Dilyn is seven months old, now, and [I] don't want him growing up without a father." I gave him a hug and told him that I totally, totally understood his motives but that he should know that he'll be really greatly missed and it won't be the same without him. He kind of... it was like he didn't know what to say, bless him. He was clearly drunk anyway, but he just seemed kind of surprised by it. I hearts Dirty. I'm going to miss him and Charlie so much.

And I guess that's the tale of Decaydance day one. A lot of people (three is a lot to me, okay?!) said, "OH MY GOD, YOU'RE ICEDMAPLE!" when they saw the tattoos, which was weird. My tattoos are more famous than me! I need that on a t-shirt.

I have to catch a train to Leeds in four hours, and I haven't even packed. Will update when I can.


FANGS UP!




On to Leeds Debrief