EPIC METAL CONCERT QUEST~

[twisted_satyr]

So I am BACK from my Epic Metal Concert Quest, triumphant, because, since this was a quest, I set out to do some things which I did, in fact, accomplish, so WHOOO.



So I got up, did a few errands with Natalie, such as shopping at Target, going to the bank, eating lunch at Taco Bell, etc. etc. etc. While we were at Target, we bought a bunch of random stuff - snacks for the car ride, Vault so I wouldn't be in danger of falling asleep, batteries for my camera, stuff like that. I had donned my Black Halo Kamelot t-shirt, and we were in the express lane for check out, and the girl ringing up our stuff all of a sudden goes "Nice shirt."

I kind of blinked, and was stunned for a second, because nobody knows who Kamelot is, barely, around here. I quickly recovered though, told her thank you, and explained that we were actually going to see them in concert that night and that was why we were buying all of this random stuff. As we left though, I told the girl I'd tell Roy Khan "hello" for her, and she started giggling. Me and Natalie busted up laughing when we got to the parking lot, because we had a story to tell and we hadn't even left yet!

After getting some gas, putting some oil in my car, and filling up my tires with a bit more air, we left for Cleveland. Unfortunately, Yahoo! gives horrid directions, because we soon found ourselves lost in Detroit. We managed to get back onto the highway, albeit in the opposite direction, and had to backtrack at least three times to get onto I-75 S. It was a bitch, and would have been scary in any normal situation, but because it was broad daylight and Natalie was with me, we couldn't help but crack up.

Traffic wasn't that bad, and we did pretty good. There was one point where I was worried about gas, when we were going towards Cleveland and it was all just trees and farms, but we stopped at a Service Station and filled up. It was all good, though. We got to Cleveland all right, and we had a little adventure trying to find Peabody's, and I kinda did a no-no by driving down a one-way street in the opposite direction I was going, but we managed to find the place. We parked at this lot down the street, and I was kind of apprehensive about leaving my keys with the guy in charge of the lot, but I did what I had to. That was when the excitement kicked in and we got in line. There were actually quite a lot of preppy dressed people there, which completely stunned me because...well, it's metal. It's just weird seeing people wearing an American Eagle t-shirt at a Kamelot concert. o_O;;

We got in there okay, and had to pay an extra four bucks to get in because we were under 21 (and what the fuck is that shit??? We have to pay extra because we're not drinking age?? What the hell?) and I made a beeline for the merchandise table. I got a Ghost Opera t-shirt and a Kamelot hat. ♥ After that, we tried to get as close to the stage as we possibly could. We stood next to these people from Pittsburgh and this guy who claimed he was an alcoholic and who was really weird and tall, as well as some people who were also from Michigan and live up north, if you can imagine that.

I will never attend a concert at Peabody's again, mainly because it was so fucking hot. I learned later that they didn't have the AC on because Khan always requests that it stay turned off so it won't damage his voice. If it were anyone but him, I swear to god, I'd be pissed as all hell. But since it's him, I'm not going to be mad and just tell you how fucking hot it was. We were sweating like pigs, and it took nearly two hours for them to get Leaves' Eyes on stage. It was different, being so up-close to these music artist's, it was almost surreal. The male vocalist for Leaves' Eyes was awesome though, and even tried crowd surfing a couple of times XDDDDDD They played a few songs I've heard off of their Vinland Saga album, and they're as great as they were when they opened for Blind Guardian in December. The alcoholic seemed to like them a lot XDDD lol

Anyway, we waited another hour for Kamelot to come on, and I tried moving closer to the stage. Natalie left at some point to go use the bathroom, and she wasn't feeling well (she was still recovering from a cold) so she went to go sit down. Finally, after waiting FOREVER, Kamelot came out. Poor Roy was suffering from a cold as well that he caught in Canada, so although he still did a fantastic job, his voice wasn't up to its usual par, and we actually had to help sing some of the lyrics, because he just couldn't do it.

The songs they performed, if I can remember correctly, were:

* Rule the World

* Descent of the Archangel

* The Human Stain

* Momento Mori

* Forever

* Ghost Opera

* March of Mephisto

* The Haunting

* Abandoned

And probably more that I can't think of at the moment, but they were fucking brilliant. More than halfway through the show I finally went to go sit with Natalie underneath a ceiling fan because I was so fucking hot; you could see the steam coming off of the people in the mosh pit, it was that hot. We sat and talked and listened to the rest of the show, and Mr. Alcoholic kept walking by and waving at my sister, which bothered me a bit. Eventually, the girl that was from up north came and sat next to us and we chatted a bit. She was really nice. :3

Finally, the show was over, and I noticed that standing next to the Leaves' Eyes merchandise table was the male vocalist for said band. The guy is ridiculously tall, and has looooong brown hair. He's like a living viking. Anyway, on a spur of the moment thing, I wanted to give him a hug. So I went up to him and asked him if I could give him a hug, and he got this huge grin on his face, opened his arms and gave me this huge bear hug; I thought I was being crushed, but I didn't care, I was happy. He patted Natalie on the back too as we left, giggling and acting like retards. We hurried to the car as fast as we could, and I called my mom and nearly had a panic attack cuz I didn't see my car at first but then realized they just moved my car up one space. So we got the keys, I grabbed my camera and guitar and pen and rushed back to where the tour bus was.

The first person I got to autograph my guitar was Oliver Palotai, the keyboardist. He seemed surprised to be asked to sign a guitar...."A guitar? Oh, well, I used to play guitar in my old band, before I started playing the keyboards for Kamelot, so....*signs*"

Next I got Casey Grillo's - the drummer - signature on it. He didn't really say much, and I kind of accidentally smeared his and Oliver's signature's a little bit, but not so badly that you can't tell it's their autographs.

Then, lo and behold, Simone Simons of the band Epica came off of the bus. I honestly expected her to be taller, but she's tiny! Like my size! And really, really pretty. I didn't get her autograph or her picture cuz I wanted to save room for the rest of Kamelot's autographs and I didn't know how much memory/battery life I had on my camera. But she was there! There because of Oliver, I think...someone said they were engaged now. o_o;;;; She was really sweet; all the guys wanted pictures with her XD

After a bit they all got on the bus and stayed there for awhile. Some pizza delivery guy came and gave them two pizzas. Heeee. And I saw Khan through the front window taking out some vodka XDDDDD lol

We waited for awhile, and then Glenn Barry and Thomas Youngblood came out, which made me insanely happy because they're brilliant guitar players, and I really wanted their autographs. They were also surprised to see me with a guitar...Glenn Barry was all "Is this your guitar?" "Yep!" "...Really?" "Yep!" "Nice!!!" Thomas said something along those lines as well - I think it wasn't so much that I brought a guitar as it is the fact that I am a girl. People just don't expect girls to want to learn how to play a guitar.

After the two guitarist's got back on the tour bus, I got a phone call from Natalie saying that they were starting to tow the cars. I got worried then, but stuck around a bit longer, and it was a good thing I did, because Casey, Oliver, and Simone came out of the bus. They were carrying a spare change of clothes and stuff, and walked right past me to get to the restroom or wherever it was they were heading. They told us Khan would be out in ten minutes. So they walked right past me and Simone suddenly stopped in her tracks right in front of me, grinned, reached out and plucked the E string and went "boing!", gave me another smile, and continued on my way. I stood there for a few seconds gaping, and then was all "OMG OMG OMG OMG DUDE OMG OMG OMG SHE TOUCHED MY GUITAR OMG!!!!" I am so keeping that string when it breaks. ♥

After a bit, I started getting worried about my car, so I told these people near me to stall Khan as long as possible for me while I moved my car to the parking lot right next to where Peabody's was. So I ran back to my car, moved it to the parking lot, and rushed back to where the tour bus was....and he was standing there. Maybe two or three people were still there, but I was just glad to see that Khan hadn't gone back in the bus yet. He was telling these people some story when I walked up, looked up and grinned at me, and I had to refrain from having a fangirl moment. I asked this girl standing near me if she would take a picture for me when it was my turn, and she said sure.

So I walked up to him and asked him to sign my guitar, and he obliged, signing on the white furnish instead of the black, which set his signature apart from all the others. After thanking him for that, I asked him if I could get a picture with him, and he obliged as well....I kept my distance from him, not wanting to take up any of his personal bubble, but to my surprise and delight, he wrapped his arm around my shoulder, pulled me right up against him and laid his head on my hair. I had to keep myself from squeeing. XDDDDDD



The wierd look on my face was because I was surprised. XDDDD



Afterwards, I thanked him and asked him if I could give him a hug, because I really wanted to give him one. *shameless fangirl* And, to my delight, he said "Sure! ^_^" and I got to give Roy Khan a hug. I GOT TO GIVE ROY KHAN A HUG. So. Fucking. Happy. I told him I hope he gets better soon, and then skipped off to my car, feeling insanely happy.

The drive back to Michigan was uneventful; we stopped for a coffee break at a Service Station for Starbucks, and drove to my dad's house. I filled him in on everything and then crashed on their couch, and got a good three hours of sleep. >_<

Anyway, here's what my guitar looks like now:





Here's a close-up of Khan's autograph since you can't see it all that well:



Kick-ass, isn't it???? It's awesome. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ I want to be buried with my guitar.

I got up at 8:30, when we had gotten to my dad's at 5 AM, made myself spagghettios for breakfast, got my stuff together, got directions from my dad, and before I pulled out I got a phone call from Carla. She wanted to know why I was taking the ex (also known as "Morph" to many of you) and was worried about me. It was weird, and for a minute I thought she was going to somehow get in contact with Neil and tell him that I was going to Ozzfest with my ex because she was all "I thought you liked that other guy?" but then I realized I was being silly and reassured her that I would not let anything happen.

I left, withdrew some money - less than I should have, granted - picked up Morph at this gas station and then hauled ass to the DTE Energy Theater for Ozzfest. There was a bunch of cars there already, and we got in, parked, and then got in line to wait. The gates were supposed to open at 11, but they opened at like 11:30 or something, and then we waited in line again till noon, and then the people were allowed in. The Jeagermeister stage was near where we came in, and there was a Monster tent set up, a 101.1 WRIF tent, lots of other tents, an FYE tent (Ashley, I couldn't find you D: D: D: ), stuff like that.

I made a beeline for the WRIF tent and played a round of Guitar Hero, which was in Medium (TOO EASY DAMNIT) and then went to the merchandise tent and bought an Ozzy tour shirt. Soon after, In This Moment came on, and they were good.

How can I describe Ozzfest? The easiest way to do it is to describe it as a ten-hour long concert with different bands taking turns playing. The bands that played there were good, yes. I never headbanged as much in my life and I had lots of fun. I have a sunburn, but I really don't care, cuz it was worth it. I bought a ChthoniC (this kickass melodic death metal band from Taiwan) CD before they came on and got shoved into my first mosh pit - I heard this really bad cracking noise and thought my CD broke, so I got out of there as fast as I could, but to my amazement, only the plastic backing cracked. The CD and the case were fine.

I got the free summer sampler, and then ChthoniC came on. The people around me weren't into it all that much, unfortunately, and when they played this song about how Taiwan is enslaved by the UN and they started waving a flag that said "Taiwan" on it, these asshats near me were chanting "USA USA" and flicking them off. It pissed me off - I admire them for remembering where they come from, and for being so patriotic to their country. I just don't get why other people can't understand that. We're patriotic for our country, so why can't they? There's nothing wrong with it. Either way, they were brilliant, and I got the CD case signed by them afterwards - they're a beautiful group of musicians, let me tell you.



Their bassist, Doris, a girl, gave me one of her picks, too. It's black, with Chinese on one side and then their logo on the other. Here's a pic of the pick and the other stuff that came with the CD:



The lead singer was the last person to sign stuff, and when he was on stage, before and after that song about Taiwan being freed from the UN, he tried to get the crowd to yell "FUCK THE POLITICIANS!!!" But no one obliged. So, after I shook his hand and got his autograph, I gave him the rock on symbol and said, "Fuck the politicians!!!" Just so they would know that at least someone in Michigan thought that they were pretty cool.

After that, I sat down on these stairs and found the ex. I had run out of money at this point, and was feeling dehydrated and hungry. He, unfortunately, had "little money to my name" and a "cup" of water which I did not see, and I didn't exactly want to touch anything his lips had been on for obvious reasons so I refused. Finally, I decided to just go back to the shade and the stairs and sit down. I was tired.

After a bit, and checking the time, we got up and went to where the main stage was and settled down on the grass. We didn't talk to each other - he barely talked at all. I struck up conversation with some metal heads that sat near us, and actually carried on a good conversation for the duration of the time we sat there. This band Black Arch or something like that came on, and I took a nap during their set XDDDD

Lordi came on after that, and they were much more impressive in their music videos than in real life. They just seemed....out of place. We had listened to screaming vocalist's all afternoon, so to hear their lead singer actually singing was a bit strange. They used a lot of kinetics, like fire, sparklers, etc. Really big showmen. The notable songs I remember that they performed was:

* Hard Rock Hallelujah

* Bringing Back the Balls to Rock

* The Devil's My Bitch

* Come to Daddy

I can't remember what else. Then they got off, and Static-X came on.

Neil was definitely not lying when he said that these guys are kickass live. They were AMAZING. Other than Ozzy, I have to say they were my favorite. Their music is just...not only is it headbang-able? It's fuckable too. I have now dubbed all of their stuff "Music To Fuck To".

Some asshats started throwing sod around and pretty soon there were chunks of dirt and grass flying through the air from all directions, which, at first, was pretty funny, but after Wayne Static told the crowd to knock it off or else they'd probably cancel the rest of the show, they stopped doing. "Just remember: We didn't tell you to do it!!!" XDDDDD lmao Some girl, however, got hurt really bad from either the sod or some cup some asshole threw, cuz the MC asked some medics to come to the front to help the poor girl.

After Static-X came Lamb of God, and their set lasted FOREVER. Although they did play "Laid to Rest", which is a kickass song, I don't know a lot of their music, so I didn't enjoy them as much as I would have. Their set lasted till the sun went down and the moon was out. A few moshes started during their set, but I generally stayed away from them and headbanged instead. Somehow, tumbling down a hill didn't sound like a good time.

After their set, everyone waited with bated breath for Ozzy. I was worried cuz the girl I had talked to at the Kamelot concert said that last year she had bought six tickets to Ozzfest, and Ozzy never showed up. I was so scared he wouldn't make an appearance, but I told my mom I'd call her so she could hear some of the music, since she recently told me she used to listen to Black Sabbath when she was younger.

Then we heard Ozzy's voice. He was playing around with the mic backstage and it was driving the crowd nuts. We wanted to see him!!!

So we sat there and all of a sudden, this picture came on one of the huge monitors. It was the trailer for the third POTC movie, but you know the part where Jack is on the beach looking all serious and turns? Well, when he turned, it was Ozzy's face. He said "I'm baaaack~" and held up this fake parrot and bit its head off. They did a LOST spoof, in which some guy was all "how'd he get here??? Why is he here?? Don't go near him, don't touch him!" and he bit some dude's hand, there was a Borat spoof where he got tackled by some fat guy and went "SHAROOOON", a spoof of that film The Queen where he gave the Queen of England head, a spoof of the show Entourage, where he pulled out a very large fake dick and asked if it was indeed his own cock, a spoof of The Sopranos where Tony and his wife were visiting the therapist - who was Ozzy - and he pulled out the fake dick again and asked if this would make the wife happy because it always made him happy, and then a spoof of Dancing With the Stars, where he ripped off the fake leg that that one chick has and pulled a dollar bill out of it. It was fucking hilarious. We couldn't stop laughing and cheering. It was awful but soooo funny.

The really famous song form Carl Oorf's Cantina (I think it's called?) came on, and then, FINALLY, the Ozzman, the fucking Prince of Darkness, came out on stage. They zoomed in on him with cameras which were shown on the monitors, so those of us with lawn seats could still see him. They opened up with "Bark At the Moon", which has to be my most favorite Ozzy song ever, and which was so appropriate too, what with the moon out and all. I called my mom and had her listen to it. At that one part in the song, he was all "Everybody howl!!!!" And the stadium and lawn were just FILLED with howls. It was so cool. The songs they played, I think, were:

* Bark At the Moon

* I Don't Know

* Change the World

* Mama, I'm Coming Home

* Paranoid

* Crazy Train

* War Pigs

* I'm Here For You

* The Road to Nowhere

Those are the ones I remember. In War Pigs, he would sing one line and then the crowd would answer back with the next, and when it got to that riff (you know the one, the one that the song is known for), he had us sing along to the tune. The song "I'm Here For You" was one off of the new album, "Black Rain", that he said he wrote specifically with the fans in mind. It almost made me cry, to tell you the truth, because this guy has been around for years, and he had given us a free Ozzfest this year....it isn't just the old fans, it's the new ones too, like me. That even though he may not be there for us personally, he still is, regardless. ;____; Such a sweet guy. He kept saying "I love you all!!!" and "God bless!!!" He's SUCH a sweetheart, even if every other word out of his mouth is "fuck".

He also would grab this hose near the front of the stage and spray the people in the front with it, and at the end, he took out three buckets of water: one he dumped on himself, and the other two he dumped on the crowd. He still has it. He still headbanged, and he still rocked out. Ozzy Osbourne kicks serious ass. When they finished the first time, he had us chant "ONE MORE SONG", and after that song he had us chant it again, and then the third time, we did it on our own, and he obliged. He didn't have to, but he did. ♥

The guitarist, though.....holy fucking god, that guy was AMAZING. On the same level as John Petrucci, I am telling you. He was doing all of this crazy shit, like playing it backwards and then playing it with his teeth. He finished his solo with the National Anthem, and Ozzy was all "This is the birthplace of fucking rock 'n roll!!!!" and he bowed to the crowd. Twice. Literally got down on his knees and bowed at us. US!!!! It was crazy, but so flattering.

The show ended far too soon. I was still hyped up on adrenaline and excitement, and we were going to get food and then drop him off at the gas station that I picked him up at, but the McDonald's I wanted to stop at wasn't open, and I didn't feel like driving around looking for a place to eat, so I got pissed and cranky and drove him back home. I told him this was the last time I was doing something like this, driving him to and from somewhere. After I get my fucking Silent Hill games back, I'm going to not talk to him as much as I used to. Or at all. I know, it's harsh, but I realized something that I don't really want to mention here; e-mail me if you really must know, and that can be found in my userinfo.

So I took him home, and drove home....it was such a relief to get home. I practically had to drag myself into the condo; I was so fucking tired. Nearly tripped over Daisy on my way too. I was exhausted, and slept till like one or something in the afternoon.

And THAT was my Epic Metal Concert Quest. Definitely fulfilled.



So I have new car insurance with State Farm which is not only cheaper but has more benefits, my mom called us on our way back from Cleveland and was drunk (we could tell cuz she was laughing hysterically one minute and then bawling her eyes out the next - we couldn't help but laugh at it all), I've been playing "Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem" for the Gamecube which is the best fucked up game ever and I love it, I've been watching "Sex and the City" via the internet for awhile, and I am still twitterpated as ever with Neil, who is so cute and funny and awesome and I want to kiss him sooo bad. And I have a plan. I'm going to dress myself up for the Sonata Arctica concert in a couple of weeks so maybe he'll take the hint or at least notice me a bit more. Either way, one of us will cave in eventually, because the unspoken tension is so great it's driving me nuts. But then again, I might be the only one feeling it, and arrrgh. So confusing. >_<

Either way, ROCK ON!!!!! ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Comments

[swirling-chaos.livejournal.com]

Wow, you got to give him a hug? He sounds like a pretty nice guy.

Glad you had a good time. :D

[twisted-satyr.livejournal.com]

He is such a sweetheart - all of the Kamelot members are. :3 They're one of the few metal bands that haven't forgotten that the fans are what keeps them going; one of the reasons I love them so much is because they adore their fanbase.

[belledewinter.livejournal.com]

Simone. SIMOOOOONE! ♥ ♥ ♥ Kyaaa! *fangirls* I have the biggest girlcrush on her ever, I'm so jealous!

And ROY. ROOOY! ♥ He so wins at life as well. And poor thing, had a cold. Awww. ♥ Ohh, I wish I'd been there with you! It seems you had such a fantastic time!

[twisted-satyr.livejournal.com]

I could have gotten my picture with her, but the guys swarmed all over her. :/

I think he's better now; my friend in California saw them a couple of nights ago, and she said he sounded perfectly fine, so maybe my hug made him better? XDDDD

[offdutydane.livejournal.com]

:D neato!

:3

[illaturosabeo.livejournal.com]

Truly, an epic quest. Sounded COMPLETELY badass. I'm now insanely jealous of you =P I'm glad you had such a great time. Grats on getting your guitar signed!! It looks awesome - I love how the signatures on the bottom are a bit smeared - makes it look real, as opposed to buying a guitar with signature pre-painted on there. Totally awesome...

\m/(>_<)\m/ RAWK ON!

Re: :3

[twisted-satyr.livejournal.com]

Heeeee. Thanks. I'd been planning it for months, so I was glad it turned out as well as it did. :3 And you're right - it looks more real that way and less fake.

HELL YES. ♥