![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
leeds festival 2011.
So yeah, here is the re-cap I promised earlier. It will be long and rambling and picture heavy okay, so I hope you're ready aha!
We set off at 8:30 yesterday to get up to Leeds, we managed to do the journey in only an hour and a half compared to last year when it took us 3 for some unknown reason. The M1 was practically empty the whole way up which was awesome and totally unexpected considering it was the last bank holiday of the summer, so me and my BFF had an easy journey up.
We made the decision to listen to MCR's back catalogue on the way up, because yeah - WE WERE EXCITED! But we only actually got through Bullets and Revenge and up to Dead! on Parade before we actually arrived in Leeds city centre. We decided wisely that we wouldn't use the festival parking this year because we didn't want to do the Treacherous Walk Of Doom again, especially with the mud, so we parked in Leeds, bought our return tickets for the shuttle bus and had a nice relaxing, MUD FREE journey right to the arena entrance.
Of course we were only mud free for about 5 minutes after stepping off the bus as when we arrived we walked straight into this:
And let me tell you, that was the GOOD area of the festival, the arena was actually like a SWAMP.
But yeah, anyway, we queued up to get our wristbands and the (really quite cute) guy who took my ticket and put on my wristband asked me who I was here to see, and I was all 'oh MCR' and then he was like 'ah man sweet!' and we ended up having a chat about them and about what we thought of Danger Days and I kinda looked at him like 'omg marry me please! ♥_____________♥' before my BFF dragged me away and out into the arena. It was a perfect start guys, completely perfect!
So after we got our wristbands we joined the queue to get into the 'proper arena'. After we got in we discovered that the mud was WAY WORSE THAN IMAGINED. It was awful guys, your feet sunk into it and attempted to pull your wellies off, there were people running in it and I actually have no idea how they did it, I lost count of the amount of times I nearly lost my wellies in it. /o\ But we soldiered on! I stopped off at the merch stall on the way down to the main stage and bought a couple of shirt, the obligatory Leeds Festival shirt with all of the bands on the back, as well as this really adorable white MCR shirt that has cartoons of the boys on the front, it's so dorky, but I love it. ♥
So after I'd stocked up on merch, we went on down to the main stage;
where the mud was so trampled that it was just rock solid, which in all honesty was way better than the sludge up the back. The weather was absolutely glorious when we got down there, really warm and sunny and we just hung about for a while waiting for Architects to come on. (nb. not Frank's Skeleton Crew Architects, British metalcore Architects, just thought I'd clear that up incase there was any confusion LOL.)
Architects were good. I'd been waiting for fucking ever to actually see them after I'd missed out the last couple of times they toured, but yeah they were pretty good. Played all the songs I liked which was awesome, even if their sound was a little ~off. My BFF wasn't impressed on the other hand LOL.
I caught sight of Oli Sykes from Bring Me The Horizon watching from the balcony, and so this spawned a new game for us called 'see which band members we can spot watching other bands' which lasted us for a good part of the afternoon. Unfortunately, apart from Oli I couldn't spot anyone else. /o\ *sigh*
My other friend who was joining us finally found us towards the end of Architects' set and there were hugs and chatter and excitement about the rest of the day, and talk about how nice the weather was, which was er, maybe a bit premature. *facepalm*
We moved closer to the stage for The Blackout, who I was super excited for as they ALWAYS put on an amazing live show. And I was happy to say that I was not disappointed. As soon as they came on Sean and Gavin were BOTH in the crowd. Gavin wisely choosing to stick to the platform area, however Sean went right in and when he came back out his entire face was covered in mud, it was pretty awesome.
They were DEFINITELY in my top 3 acts of the day, and considering who the other 2 were (and if you know me, then you know EXACTLY who those 2 bands are) then it is a MASSIVE thumbs up from me. They just know how to work a crowd guys, they just have IT and it's wonderful, you actually feel as if you are a part of the performance instead of just sitting back and watching like you often get with bands. They're just perfect and wonderful and I love them now more than ever. ♥ (Even if Sean did puke right in the middle of the stage, it was pretty darn gross.)
Of course our talk about the good weather came around to bite us in the ass when it started raining midway through The Blackout's set and didn't stop until New Found Glory came on. Luckily I had my hoodie with me so I quickly slipped that on and all was well, but then it got really warm and humid once the rain stopped and the sun came back out so I had to take it off again. The weather just was not helpful at all. /o\
I have to be honest guys but, New Found Glory bored the shit out of me. I don't know if it was because I'd just been bombarded with such a high octane performance from The Blackout, but yeah, they just LACKED something. I got into it towards the end when they started talking about how 'pop punk wasn't dead' and how they were really thankful to all their fans for sticking by them, and I gained a lot more respect for them for that. Then they played a cover of Blitzkrieg Bop and I REALLY enjoyed that, but apart from that I didn't really get into them. SORRY. :(
And then it was time for Bring Me The Horizon who, to be quite honest, I am constantly in two minds about. I literally CANNOT STAND Oli Sykes, who is a big headed dick, who 12 year old scene girls seem to worship for some unknown reason. But on the other hand, Bring Me make good music, as much as it pains me to say it, their last album was one of my favourites from last year.
As much as I hate to admit it, their set was really, very good. The crowd went absolutely crazy for them. The crowd practically doubled in size between the end of New Found Glory's set and the start of theirs, and so when Oli got everyone to start a circle pit all of us at the front got squashed the fuck together (hence why I have no photos of them as I could not reach into my pockets to get my camera). I saw the pit on the big screen and damn that thing was HUGE. Definitely the biggest pit of the day, they had a wall of death going on and everything, it was insane. *__________*
Of course it then decided to rain again (and quite a bit heavier) at the end of the set, and because we were so squashed together, I couldn't put my hoodie on, so I ended up SOAKED, my hair was dripping all over the place and my shirt was plastered to my skin, it was both horrible and nice at the same time as that crowd got HOT all packed together.
It continued to rain all the way through the wait for Rise Against AND through most of their set, the crowd didn't spread out either like I thought it might have done after Bring Me so I was still squashed and soaked and NOT A VERY HAPPY BUNNY.
Rise Against were a lot like New Found Glory, I just couldn't get into it. They didn't really have much crowd interaction and so with me being quite miserable and tired and soaking wet to start off with, I needed a band that were going to pump the crowd up and stop everyone ~emo-ing out, and that didn't happen I'm afraid. There were a couple of guys next to me who were singing along but apart from that there was little to nothing happening in the crowd, the only time things picked up was during Prayer of the Refugee when the crowd got a little jumpy. But yeah, I was disappointed, especially considering I have seen Rise Against before and enjoyed it.
I was actually on the barrier at the end of Rise Against's set, but despite that me and my BFF's decided to get out of the crowd. (IKR? FUCKING CRAZY GIRL HUH?) But honestly. I just couldn't hack it anymore, I'd been awake since 6:30, hadn't eaten since midday the day before and I was soaked to my skin. I just needed to get out and have a walk around and get something to eat and put my hoodie on, my BFF's were in agreement and so we shuffled our way out into the space behind the main bulk of the crowd and laid out some bin liners on the mud (oh God the mud) and sat down for a bit before Deftones came on.
Deftones were 1 of the 3 bands on the main stage bill that I hadn't seen before (the other 2 being Offspring and Architects) and they were exactly how I expected them to be. They were good, just not mind-blowing. However they did play all of my favourite tracks which was awesome and me and my BFF had a little bit of a mosh because we actually had SPACE TO MOVE IN. It was then that I actually started to enjoy myself again and stopped feeling so shitty.
We went to go buy food and drink half way through the Deftones' set and we sat a little to the side of the stage to eat so we could watch the rest of the set on the big screen. It was then that the sun came out again briefly and we caught site of a rainbow behind the main stage.
Unfortunately my camera couldn't capture the full effect of the rainbow. /o\ It was rather pretty.
We moved back into the crowd after Deftones because my BFF wanted to watch Offspring. Now if I am being honest, I don't like Offspring. They were the band I was least looking forward to seeing and I would never choose to go and see them, HOWEVER, they were really, pretty damn good. They played all the 'classic' songs that even I knew the words to, and after a while I kind of forgot that I didn't like them and started dancing and singing along with the guys around us who we'd got talking to in the interlude. I gained a lot of respect for them and I am definitely more of an Offspring fan than I was when I went in.
(Also 'My Chem kick your asses', that got a MAJOR thumbs up from me.)
AND THEN FINALLY IT WAS TIME FOR 30 SECONDS TO MARS! \o/
I was so pumped guys, so freaking pumped. The next 4 hours were what I'd come to Leeds for and I was so fucking excited. I dragged my BFF's back into the crowd and we got a pretty good spot in the middle, we got chatting to some people around us about the band and their show live which helped pass some of the time. And then instead of the 'interlude music', Hurricane suddenly popped up on the screen and we all started singing along with it, and then I got all excited when the techs started bringing on all this STUFF, including the huge light up triad,
from their last tour. I was not expecting them to have much production actually so when the techs started setting up the video screens and lighting I got SUPER excited.
And then the lights all came on and Escape started up and Jared came through the fucking FLOOR up to the top of the makeshift staircase and yeah, who was I kidding, it's 30 Seconds To Mars, of COURSE they will have production.
They just - yeah, blew me away. The crowd was so INTO IT, it was crazy rough down in the pit area and everyone was screaming along and it was fabulous. The sun had come out again so we got to watch the sun go down over the field and everything was just perfect and beautiful. I know how everyone says Jared is an arrogant arse, that he's a poser and an attention seeker, but seriously, he knows how to work a crowd, he had the audience RIGHT IN THE PALM OF HIS HAND and not many frontmen can do that, it's something that has always fascinated me every single time I've seen them and I'm sure it will continue to fascinate me for a long time, the way he can command silence one minute and screaming the next is just mind-blowing.
They had so many people up on stage guys, more than usual for their shows and it was amazing. Jared got down on to the platform out front at one point and played The Kill acoustic before Tomo and Shannon came back in for the ending, which just made the song sound HUGE. It always amazes me how they can get their sound to sound so big live when it's just the 3 of them, but they do and it's fantastic.
Towards the end suddenly a shit load of blow up animals were thrown out into the crowd and everybody went CRAZY, just smashing these blow up dolphins and whales around, it was hysterical and OMG so much fun.
And then they started to wind down and Jared gave a shout out to MCR and I kind of made heart eyes everywhere because INTER BAND 30STM AND MCR APPRECIATION IS ALWAYS MY FAVOURITE. ♥________________♥ Who doesn't want their favourite bands to get along huh?
And then they played Kings And Queens and got half the crowd on stage and it was magical and the sun was just setting and I got a little emotional because this would be that last time I would see them for a long time and just yeah. ALL THE FEELINGS. ♥_______________;
Once 30STM had left I was kind of left like *________________* and then I remembered that MCR WERE ON NEXT and I was a little bit O________________O because I honestly couldn't believe that this was happening, that I was seeing my 2 favourite bands on one after the other, it's such an amazing feeling guys, I was just so HAPPY in that moment, it was amazing.
Me and the BFF's tried to worm our way in a little closer as some of the people watching 30STM cleared out, so we ended up pretty close. And then as we were watching the techs come out to take away the triad and such, STAR WARS STARTED PLAYING! I just turned to my BFF and was shared the geeky-ist grins ever because this BAND GUYS, ONLY THIS FUCKING BAND! ♥ We started rocking out to Queen and Green Day and Blink when they got played, (as well as Indiana Jones, fucking INDIANA JONES) and got so excited and felt so dorky, we were having an amazing time already and the band hadn't even stepped out onstage.
And then of course they did. And fireworks went off and the BLind woman came up on the big screens and Dewees came out in the Mousekat costume and then THE BOYS CAME OUT IN THEIR KILLJOY COSTUMES and everything was right in the world.
In all honesty, I can't tell you much of what happened on stage in the first half of the set because I couldn't see the stage AT ALL, thanks to being stuck behind a really tall guy. All I know is that at some point Gerard said something along the lines of 'all over my face' when he was standing next to Frank, and that I got the occasional peek at Gerard's REALLY VERY NICE ASS in those REALLY VERY NICE, FUCKING TIGHT AS HELL, LEATHER PANTS. *_____________* It was glorious guys, fucking GLORIOUS.
I managed to get my foot well and truly stamped on at one point and it hurt like hell (and when I took my welly off when I got back to the car I could see why, as my whole foot and toenail were BLUE), I tried to stick it out for a while but my foot kept getting knocked or trod on like it was a MAGNET FOR PAIN, so my friends decided that maybe we should get out of the front and hang around just out of the main crowd like we'd done for Deftones. Which was, tbh, the best thing we could have done.
Because now instead of the back of someone's head I could now see the entire FREAKING STAGE and all the wondrous production, and sure the guys weren't right in front of my eyes anymore but it didn't matter because the view was just amazing, you could see right over the tops of everyone's heads and see the band clearly and the crowd all moving in silhouette, it was just stunning.
We moved out just as Gerard was talking before SING, and gave his speech about the violence we'd had over here recently and how if you get angry to sing about it instead of picking up a brick (or screaming about it like the Cookie Monster, Gerard Way ladies and gentlemen!), which got quite a big cheer before SING kicked in and the crowd went crazy again.
The area we ended up in was seriously, fantastic. We ended up essentially where the mosh pit would usually be, except the mosh pit ended up being more of a 'dance circle'. Seriously it was me and the best friends with a group of about 10 others just dancing and having an amazing time. We were shin deep in mud and I was still soaked from the rain earlier but we didn't give a fuck, I remember talking to one of the guys we'd met and he was saying about how he DIDN'T EVEN LIKE MCR and he thought they were really good, and was dancing along and screaming along with the rest of us. It just proved to me how they'd actually killed it last night, when you get people who don't even like the band dancing along then you know you've done it right.
THE PLAYED SORROWS GUYS! FUCKING SORROWS! It was just after we'd got our spot up the back and it was AMAZING, we all went crazy and mud went everywhere and we didn't give a shit if we got dirty, it was so good! And then they played Kids straight after and it was just beautiful, absolutely stunning, that song was just MEANT to be played like that, in the dark, in the middle of a fucking muddy field with thousands of people singing the lyrics back. It was beautiful, it's the only way I can describe it. ♥
At some point somebody in the crowd lit a giant flare (I think it was during Teenagers) and Gerard was all, 'that shits fucking beautiful' or something to that effect.
The boys, just yeah - they looked so HAPPY, they just had so much energy and Ray was smiling ALL THE TIME, and Frank was all over the fucking place (which prompted my BFF to at many times go 'OMG LOOK AT FRANK! O_____________O'), and Gerard was just ON IT, on the floor, on the drum riser, STRUTTING (complete with swinging hips) all over the stage... at one point I specifically remember this amazing hip shake he did which just blew my MIND, seriously men should NOT be able to move their hips like that, OMG. *___________________*
And then they played Helena and the whole crown did the 'woah oh's' and it sent a shiver down my spine just at the sheer amount of PEOPLE you could hear sing back. It was crazy.
And then they went off for the encore and came back to play Cancer, which I was a little dubious about but worked SO WELL, it was almost as if the simple songs were the most powerful, it was when you could hear the crowd the most and it just made the whole thing feel so much more intimate, and not like you were just one of thousands standing in a field. Which makes no sense at all really, but it did, it was really strangely intimate, you felt as if you were part of something.
And lastly, of course, they played WTTBP and the crowd went INSANE. EVERYBODY was singing at the top of their lungs and EVERYONE had their fists in the air and EVERYONE was MOVING and it was one of the best things I've ever experienced in my entire life. At the end they had confetti cannons at both the front of the stage AND at the dividing barrier so all of us in the front section just got OBLITORATED by confetti, it just went EVERYWHERE and then they had fireworks coming off the top of the stage and it was beautiful. It was the best thing I've ever seen in my life I swear, I can't even describe how stunning the whole thing looked, I even watched the encore from Reading to try and compare and just yeah - it wasn't the same, it just wasn't the same as actually standing there and seeing it right in front of your own eyes. I was so awestruck that I didn't even give a fuck about not getting to see Brian May play with them (which until that point was something I'd been pretty bummed out about). It was just incredible, I HAVE NO OTHER WORDS. *___________________*
I have a few photos, none from down the front because well, I for one just didn't think about it and two, because I couldn't see shit anyway. But I have a few from the back, which didn't turn out as bad as I thought they might.
AND OMG GUYS THAT'S IT! I SWEAR I HAVE BEEN TYPING THIS UP FOR LIKE 4 HOURS NOW. I JUST HAD SO MUCH TO TELLLLLLLLLLL. /o\
We set off at 8:30 yesterday to get up to Leeds, we managed to do the journey in only an hour and a half compared to last year when it took us 3 for some unknown reason. The M1 was practically empty the whole way up which was awesome and totally unexpected considering it was the last bank holiday of the summer, so me and my BFF had an easy journey up.
We made the decision to listen to MCR's back catalogue on the way up, because yeah - WE WERE EXCITED! But we only actually got through Bullets and Revenge and up to Dead! on Parade before we actually arrived in Leeds city centre. We decided wisely that we wouldn't use the festival parking this year because we didn't want to do the Treacherous Walk Of Doom again, especially with the mud, so we parked in Leeds, bought our return tickets for the shuttle bus and had a nice relaxing, MUD FREE journey right to the arena entrance.
Of course we were only mud free for about 5 minutes after stepping off the bus as when we arrived we walked straight into this:
And let me tell you, that was the GOOD area of the festival, the arena was actually like a SWAMP.
But yeah, anyway, we queued up to get our wristbands and the (really quite cute) guy who took my ticket and put on my wristband asked me who I was here to see, and I was all 'oh MCR' and then he was like 'ah man sweet!' and we ended up having a chat about them and about what we thought of Danger Days and I kinda looked at him like 'omg marry me please! ♥_____________♥' before my BFF dragged me away and out into the arena. It was a perfect start guys, completely perfect!
So after we got our wristbands we joined the queue to get into the 'proper arena'. After we got in we discovered that the mud was WAY WORSE THAN IMAGINED. It was awful guys, your feet sunk into it and attempted to pull your wellies off, there were people running in it and I actually have no idea how they did it, I lost count of the amount of times I nearly lost my wellies in it. /o\ But we soldiered on! I stopped off at the merch stall on the way down to the main stage and bought a couple of shirt, the obligatory Leeds Festival shirt with all of the bands on the back, as well as this really adorable white MCR shirt that has cartoons of the boys on the front, it's so dorky, but I love it. ♥
So after I'd stocked up on merch, we went on down to the main stage;
where the mud was so trampled that it was just rock solid, which in all honesty was way better than the sludge up the back. The weather was absolutely glorious when we got down there, really warm and sunny and we just hung about for a while waiting for Architects to come on. (nb. not Frank's Skeleton Crew Architects, British metalcore Architects, just thought I'd clear that up incase there was any confusion LOL.)
Architects were good. I'd been waiting for fucking ever to actually see them after I'd missed out the last couple of times they toured, but yeah they were pretty good. Played all the songs I liked which was awesome, even if their sound was a little ~off. My BFF wasn't impressed on the other hand LOL.
I caught sight of Oli Sykes from Bring Me The Horizon watching from the balcony, and so this spawned a new game for us called 'see which band members we can spot watching other bands' which lasted us for a good part of the afternoon. Unfortunately, apart from Oli I couldn't spot anyone else. /o\ *sigh*
My other friend who was joining us finally found us towards the end of Architects' set and there were hugs and chatter and excitement about the rest of the day, and talk about how nice the weather was, which was er, maybe a bit premature. *facepalm*
We moved closer to the stage for The Blackout, who I was super excited for as they ALWAYS put on an amazing live show. And I was happy to say that I was not disappointed. As soon as they came on Sean and Gavin were BOTH in the crowd. Gavin wisely choosing to stick to the platform area, however Sean went right in and when he came back out his entire face was covered in mud, it was pretty awesome.
They were DEFINITELY in my top 3 acts of the day, and considering who the other 2 were (and if you know me, then you know EXACTLY who those 2 bands are) then it is a MASSIVE thumbs up from me. They just know how to work a crowd guys, they just have IT and it's wonderful, you actually feel as if you are a part of the performance instead of just sitting back and watching like you often get with bands. They're just perfect and wonderful and I love them now more than ever. ♥ (Even if Sean did puke right in the middle of the stage, it was pretty darn gross.)
Of course our talk about the good weather came around to bite us in the ass when it started raining midway through The Blackout's set and didn't stop until New Found Glory came on. Luckily I had my hoodie with me so I quickly slipped that on and all was well, but then it got really warm and humid once the rain stopped and the sun came back out so I had to take it off again. The weather just was not helpful at all. /o\
I have to be honest guys but, New Found Glory bored the shit out of me. I don't know if it was because I'd just been bombarded with such a high octane performance from The Blackout, but yeah, they just LACKED something. I got into it towards the end when they started talking about how 'pop punk wasn't dead' and how they were really thankful to all their fans for sticking by them, and I gained a lot more respect for them for that. Then they played a cover of Blitzkrieg Bop and I REALLY enjoyed that, but apart from that I didn't really get into them. SORRY. :(
And then it was time for Bring Me The Horizon who, to be quite honest, I am constantly in two minds about. I literally CANNOT STAND Oli Sykes, who is a big headed dick, who 12 year old scene girls seem to worship for some unknown reason. But on the other hand, Bring Me make good music, as much as it pains me to say it, their last album was one of my favourites from last year.
As much as I hate to admit it, their set was really, very good. The crowd went absolutely crazy for them. The crowd practically doubled in size between the end of New Found Glory's set and the start of theirs, and so when Oli got everyone to start a circle pit all of us at the front got squashed the fuck together (hence why I have no photos of them as I could not reach into my pockets to get my camera). I saw the pit on the big screen and damn that thing was HUGE. Definitely the biggest pit of the day, they had a wall of death going on and everything, it was insane. *__________*
Of course it then decided to rain again (and quite a bit heavier) at the end of the set, and because we were so squashed together, I couldn't put my hoodie on, so I ended up SOAKED, my hair was dripping all over the place and my shirt was plastered to my skin, it was both horrible and nice at the same time as that crowd got HOT all packed together.
It continued to rain all the way through the wait for Rise Against AND through most of their set, the crowd didn't spread out either like I thought it might have done after Bring Me so I was still squashed and soaked and NOT A VERY HAPPY BUNNY.
Rise Against were a lot like New Found Glory, I just couldn't get into it. They didn't really have much crowd interaction and so with me being quite miserable and tired and soaking wet to start off with, I needed a band that were going to pump the crowd up and stop everyone ~emo-ing out, and that didn't happen I'm afraid. There were a couple of guys next to me who were singing along but apart from that there was little to nothing happening in the crowd, the only time things picked up was during Prayer of the Refugee when the crowd got a little jumpy. But yeah, I was disappointed, especially considering I have seen Rise Against before and enjoyed it.
I was actually on the barrier at the end of Rise Against's set, but despite that me and my BFF's decided to get out of the crowd. (IKR? FUCKING CRAZY GIRL HUH?) But honestly. I just couldn't hack it anymore, I'd been awake since 6:30, hadn't eaten since midday the day before and I was soaked to my skin. I just needed to get out and have a walk around and get something to eat and put my hoodie on, my BFF's were in agreement and so we shuffled our way out into the space behind the main bulk of the crowd and laid out some bin liners on the mud (oh God the mud) and sat down for a bit before Deftones came on.
Deftones were 1 of the 3 bands on the main stage bill that I hadn't seen before (the other 2 being Offspring and Architects) and they were exactly how I expected them to be. They were good, just not mind-blowing. However they did play all of my favourite tracks which was awesome and me and my BFF had a little bit of a mosh because we actually had SPACE TO MOVE IN. It was then that I actually started to enjoy myself again and stopped feeling so shitty.
We went to go buy food and drink half way through the Deftones' set and we sat a little to the side of the stage to eat so we could watch the rest of the set on the big screen. It was then that the sun came out again briefly and we caught site of a rainbow behind the main stage.
Unfortunately my camera couldn't capture the full effect of the rainbow. /o\ It was rather pretty.
We moved back into the crowd after Deftones because my BFF wanted to watch Offspring. Now if I am being honest, I don't like Offspring. They were the band I was least looking forward to seeing and I would never choose to go and see them, HOWEVER, they were really, pretty damn good. They played all the 'classic' songs that even I knew the words to, and after a while I kind of forgot that I didn't like them and started dancing and singing along with the guys around us who we'd got talking to in the interlude. I gained a lot of respect for them and I am definitely more of an Offspring fan than I was when I went in.
(Also 'My Chem kick your asses', that got a MAJOR thumbs up from me.)
AND THEN FINALLY IT WAS TIME FOR 30 SECONDS TO MARS! \o/
I was so pumped guys, so freaking pumped. The next 4 hours were what I'd come to Leeds for and I was so fucking excited. I dragged my BFF's back into the crowd and we got a pretty good spot in the middle, we got chatting to some people around us about the band and their show live which helped pass some of the time. And then instead of the 'interlude music', Hurricane suddenly popped up on the screen and we all started singing along with it, and then I got all excited when the techs started bringing on all this STUFF, including the huge light up triad,
from their last tour. I was not expecting them to have much production actually so when the techs started setting up the video screens and lighting I got SUPER excited.
And then the lights all came on and Escape started up and Jared came through the fucking FLOOR up to the top of the makeshift staircase and yeah, who was I kidding, it's 30 Seconds To Mars, of COURSE they will have production.
They just - yeah, blew me away. The crowd was so INTO IT, it was crazy rough down in the pit area and everyone was screaming along and it was fabulous. The sun had come out again so we got to watch the sun go down over the field and everything was just perfect and beautiful. I know how everyone says Jared is an arrogant arse, that he's a poser and an attention seeker, but seriously, he knows how to work a crowd, he had the audience RIGHT IN THE PALM OF HIS HAND and not many frontmen can do that, it's something that has always fascinated me every single time I've seen them and I'm sure it will continue to fascinate me for a long time, the way he can command silence one minute and screaming the next is just mind-blowing.
They had so many people up on stage guys, more than usual for their shows and it was amazing. Jared got down on to the platform out front at one point and played The Kill acoustic before Tomo and Shannon came back in for the ending, which just made the song sound HUGE. It always amazes me how they can get their sound to sound so big live when it's just the 3 of them, but they do and it's fantastic.
Towards the end suddenly a shit load of blow up animals were thrown out into the crowd and everybody went CRAZY, just smashing these blow up dolphins and whales around, it was hysterical and OMG so much fun.
And then they started to wind down and Jared gave a shout out to MCR and I kind of made heart eyes everywhere because INTER BAND 30STM AND MCR APPRECIATION IS ALWAYS MY FAVOURITE. ♥________________♥ Who doesn't want their favourite bands to get along huh?
And then they played Kings And Queens and got half the crowd on stage and it was magical and the sun was just setting and I got a little emotional because this would be that last time I would see them for a long time and just yeah. ALL THE FEELINGS. ♥_______________;
Once 30STM had left I was kind of left like *________________* and then I remembered that MCR WERE ON NEXT and I was a little bit O________________O because I honestly couldn't believe that this was happening, that I was seeing my 2 favourite bands on one after the other, it's such an amazing feeling guys, I was just so HAPPY in that moment, it was amazing.
Me and the BFF's tried to worm our way in a little closer as some of the people watching 30STM cleared out, so we ended up pretty close. And then as we were watching the techs come out to take away the triad and such, STAR WARS STARTED PLAYING! I just turned to my BFF and was shared the geeky-ist grins ever because this BAND GUYS, ONLY THIS FUCKING BAND! ♥ We started rocking out to Queen and Green Day and Blink when they got played, (as well as Indiana Jones, fucking INDIANA JONES) and got so excited and felt so dorky, we were having an amazing time already and the band hadn't even stepped out onstage.
And then of course they did. And fireworks went off and the BLind woman came up on the big screens and Dewees came out in the Mousekat costume and then THE BOYS CAME OUT IN THEIR KILLJOY COSTUMES and everything was right in the world.
In all honesty, I can't tell you much of what happened on stage in the first half of the set because I couldn't see the stage AT ALL, thanks to being stuck behind a really tall guy. All I know is that at some point Gerard said something along the lines of 'all over my face' when he was standing next to Frank, and that I got the occasional peek at Gerard's REALLY VERY NICE ASS in those REALLY VERY NICE, FUCKING TIGHT AS HELL, LEATHER PANTS. *_____________* It was glorious guys, fucking GLORIOUS.
I managed to get my foot well and truly stamped on at one point and it hurt like hell (and when I took my welly off when I got back to the car I could see why, as my whole foot and toenail were BLUE), I tried to stick it out for a while but my foot kept getting knocked or trod on like it was a MAGNET FOR PAIN, so my friends decided that maybe we should get out of the front and hang around just out of the main crowd like we'd done for Deftones. Which was, tbh, the best thing we could have done.
Because now instead of the back of someone's head I could now see the entire FREAKING STAGE and all the wondrous production, and sure the guys weren't right in front of my eyes anymore but it didn't matter because the view was just amazing, you could see right over the tops of everyone's heads and see the band clearly and the crowd all moving in silhouette, it was just stunning.
We moved out just as Gerard was talking before SING, and gave his speech about the violence we'd had over here recently and how if you get angry to sing about it instead of picking up a brick (or screaming about it like the Cookie Monster, Gerard Way ladies and gentlemen!), which got quite a big cheer before SING kicked in and the crowd went crazy again.
The area we ended up in was seriously, fantastic. We ended up essentially where the mosh pit would usually be, except the mosh pit ended up being more of a 'dance circle'. Seriously it was me and the best friends with a group of about 10 others just dancing and having an amazing time. We were shin deep in mud and I was still soaked from the rain earlier but we didn't give a fuck, I remember talking to one of the guys we'd met and he was saying about how he DIDN'T EVEN LIKE MCR and he thought they were really good, and was dancing along and screaming along with the rest of us. It just proved to me how they'd actually killed it last night, when you get people who don't even like the band dancing along then you know you've done it right.
THE PLAYED SORROWS GUYS! FUCKING SORROWS! It was just after we'd got our spot up the back and it was AMAZING, we all went crazy and mud went everywhere and we didn't give a shit if we got dirty, it was so good! And then they played Kids straight after and it was just beautiful, absolutely stunning, that song was just MEANT to be played like that, in the dark, in the middle of a fucking muddy field with thousands of people singing the lyrics back. It was beautiful, it's the only way I can describe it. ♥
At some point somebody in the crowd lit a giant flare (I think it was during Teenagers) and Gerard was all, 'that shits fucking beautiful' or something to that effect.
The boys, just yeah - they looked so HAPPY, they just had so much energy and Ray was smiling ALL THE TIME, and Frank was all over the fucking place (which prompted my BFF to at many times go 'OMG LOOK AT FRANK! O_____________O'), and Gerard was just ON IT, on the floor, on the drum riser, STRUTTING (complete with swinging hips) all over the stage... at one point I specifically remember this amazing hip shake he did which just blew my MIND, seriously men should NOT be able to move their hips like that, OMG. *___________________*
And then they played Helena and the whole crown did the 'woah oh's' and it sent a shiver down my spine just at the sheer amount of PEOPLE you could hear sing back. It was crazy.
And then they went off for the encore and came back to play Cancer, which I was a little dubious about but worked SO WELL, it was almost as if the simple songs were the most powerful, it was when you could hear the crowd the most and it just made the whole thing feel so much more intimate, and not like you were just one of thousands standing in a field. Which makes no sense at all really, but it did, it was really strangely intimate, you felt as if you were part of something.
And lastly, of course, they played WTTBP and the crowd went INSANE. EVERYBODY was singing at the top of their lungs and EVERYONE had their fists in the air and EVERYONE was MOVING and it was one of the best things I've ever experienced in my entire life. At the end they had confetti cannons at both the front of the stage AND at the dividing barrier so all of us in the front section just got OBLITORATED by confetti, it just went EVERYWHERE and then they had fireworks coming off the top of the stage and it was beautiful. It was the best thing I've ever seen in my life I swear, I can't even describe how stunning the whole thing looked, I even watched the encore from Reading to try and compare and just yeah - it wasn't the same, it just wasn't the same as actually standing there and seeing it right in front of your own eyes. I was so awestruck that I didn't even give a fuck about not getting to see Brian May play with them (which until that point was something I'd been pretty bummed out about). It was just incredible, I HAVE NO OTHER WORDS. *___________________*
I have a few photos, none from down the front because well, I for one just didn't think about it and two, because I couldn't see shit anyway. But I have a few from the back, which didn't turn out as bad as I thought they might.
AND OMG GUYS THAT'S IT! I SWEAR I HAVE BEEN TYPING THIS UP FOR LIKE 4 HOURS NOW. I JUST HAD SO MUCH TO TELLLLLLLLLLL. /o\