Welcome to the cemetery
this is mostly going to be me geeking out over all of the cool concerts i've been to and how much fun they were. i'll include my own personal highlights and the setlists and dates for each show
This was my first hardcore/emo show and I had the very best time here. It was the first gig I went to alone and I was a little nervous but I made a lot of friends that night and ended up at the barricade and Anthony grabbed our hands and sung to us and it was super magical. I remember Beau was playing Illusion and Control and I was just watching the whirlwind of his fingers like *_* and then he went into the chorus and when I looked up, he was watching me and smiling and then he pointed at me and I smiled back. And he and Anthony said that we were "a very pretty crowd" while Beau looked at me. This band also got me into the local scene. One of the openers was Father Deer Hands and i also got to hear alt. who became is one of my favourite bands of all time. I'd spend the rest of that year mostly following them around and going to almost all of their Sydney shows. at the end of the show, anthony jumped off the stage and onto the barricade. he grabbed our hands (mine included :o) and started singing right to us. i could feel the sweat from everyone and me mix together and felt his skin and everyone on stage was smiling and the crowd was screaming and it was magical. i think i stopped existing for a second there.
setlist
pic taken by me (hearts)
THIS. FUCKING. SHOW.
The first thing you have to understand here is that my chemical romance raised me. and so getting to finally see them from when i was a teenager first discovering them to being an adult was life changing. i think i've seen the not okay music video more times than i've seen my father smile or seen my mother calm.
This was so much fun. I will never forget this experience for as long as I live. There was so much drama waiting in line, but I got up at 5am to get the train and waited aaaaaall day and ended up at the barriade directly in front of Frank Iero and it was incredible. I just remember seeing them all on stage and thinking how surreal it was to see them in the flesh. The drumhead said "unkillables" and I later ended up getting that as a tattoo.
One of the biggest highlights of this show was when Vampires Will Never Hurt you was playing. They went into the bridge of the song (the "struck. down!" bit) and mikeyway was smiling at me and at the very same part of the song where the beat dropped, we both headbanged together and then smiled about it to each other. I'm forever eternally in the pit headbanging with mikeyway with his sparkly bass and smashing pumpkins shirt. This show wouldn't have been what it was without Mikeyway. All throughout the show, he'd come up to us and look at us and smile and we'd scream the words to him and then he'd play harder to us. I went home with bruises on my arms from leaning them over the barricade to point and wave and make hearts to him.
Frank Iero also taught me how to play The Ghost of You on guitar at this show. I watched him play it and memorised what his hands were doing, went home the next day, and sat myself down and remembered all the things he played and kept practicing til it sounded right. It was all amazing. Gerard had those white contacts in and it was great. I sadly didn't get to see much of Ray since he was on the other side of the stage, but I'm glad I got to see his bright smile in the flesh and be in his presence. And his summertime & kids from yesterday solo was unreal. Another highlight was hearing not okay live. I vividly remember being a teenager going through shit and I'd always have not okay blasting through my headphones. Sometimes I'd wear sunglasses to cover up the fact that I'd been crying. And then being able to scream that "I'm okay now" across time and space to my younger self I think might've merged two pieces of my fragmented soul back together. It was cathartic. That and hearing mama live. That song also raised me as a young trans indian kid.
setlist
honestly it was hard to get pics because billy is so pale and bald and the light reflected right off him for most of the show
so here's the thing. at about age 11, i started to really find my own music. before that i mostly only listened to p!nk. and then i discovered bands like the beatles, nirvana, green day, and (of course) the smashing pumpkins. and their music was always a soundtrack to my life, so being able to see them live was another full circle moment.
First thing's first though: this band had some great openers. I got to see: Battlesnake and Amyl and the Sniffers (sorry idrc about jane's addiction personally).
I thought Battlesnake were super campy and fun. The dudes in the band reminded me a lot of like the guys i used to go to school with and i liked that they weren't taking themselves too seriously, but they were just there to have a good time (and you could see that the guys were having a lot of fun up there :)
I weirdly hadn't heard of Amyl and the Sniffers before, but oh my GOD did i love them once they got on stage. I loved Security, Got you, Knifey, and Guided by Angels. I ended up making friends in the merch line before the show and ended up at the barricade which worked out well because Amy came up to my side of the stage and pointed at me and sung "but I came out just for you" and winked at me which was surreal.
Anyway, getting to the real thing. So, after the other concerts (I had sold my nintendo switch and all the books and comics I owned to buy tickets to the other shows) I was really broke. But The Smashing Pumpkins is the kind of band that I knew I'd regret forever if I missed out on seeing them. I knew I HAD to see them at least once before I died or I'd be on my death bed regretting it.
As a suicidal teen, getting to hear and sing Today live fixed me. The Veronicas also came on stage for one of the songs (Eye) which was really cool. I ended up getting a contact high from all of the weed in the crowd and some of the more psychadelic songs were really fun live. It was awesome. They did all of the songs I'd listened to for over a decade and a Talking Heads cover. It was cathartic and it was fun.
I remember, during the show, I kept asking (idk who. the universe?) for a sign that music is something that I should do. Seeing this band live made me feel like this was something i HAD to do. And toward the end of the show, I found a guitar pick that James Iha had thrown to the crowd. It was just sitting right on the floor and I snatched it up SO fast, taking that as my sign. Honestly, who knows for sure, but it was a cool moment.
pics or it didn't happen below (or whatever the kids say now days)
Setlist:
okay so i mostly take videos at concerts. and most of the pictures i took at this show were of bert and his kids having fun. but out of respect for bert and his kid's privacy i don't wanna upload them, so enjoy this grainy shot managed to get through the pit sweat
This was absolutely one of THEE best shows i've ever been to. again, i made so many friends. I actually ended up meeting my best friend at this show and we'd later go on to be friends for years after.
The energy of the band and the crowd was amazing. It was a little lackluster with papa roach, but whatever happened after, it really turned around after. They did a bunch of my favourite songs and this time I had a few drinks which I'm sure helped. Everyone was moshing and singing and Bert's kids were on stage having fun too which was truly adorable.
I ended up making friends with this guy that night (the soon to be bestie) and we ended up going into the wall of death to pretty handsome awkward together and smoked a cigarette right after together. they also did a cover of smells like teen spirit which i thought was really funny. because earlier that day i went to my sister's house to borrow her hot wheels t shirt to wear to the gig and i was complaining that i'd never get to hear a nirvana song live. and then mere hours later, they did one!
bert also opened up the pit while reciting a macbeth verse which was awesome. He also sung "fuck you" for an entire verse of PHA and got us to boo at the end instead of cheer. He also called the wall of death "the wall of tears" which he said is what it's called at an emo show. great vibes all round.
Setlist:
yeah didn't really take pics at this one either, i mostly filmed little bits. idk. i like to just enjoy the moment at shows which is hard for a sentimentalist such as myself
this was such an amazing show. i ended up taking half a week off work for a concert bender (i had 3 in a row for 3 days). me and the friend i made at the used (we will call him... ghoul... out of respect for his privacy) ended up lining up all day together. we also made a bunch of friends in the line for this show which was really fun.
so when we were lining up, the official photographer came up to us and took our picture which was nice. and they noticed one of the kids we were sitting with had some art for the band. so the photogropher took the art to give to the band, but surprised us all by returning it to the kid with signatures from the entire band on it! it was super sweet and the kid cried and everything. what a band.
and then there was this dog that came up to us and we were patting it and the social media guy who worked for the venue took out picture again and put it on their story which was cool
anyway, so finally we get to the show and me and ghoul made a run for the barricade right on Jaime's side which i think is the best choice i have ever made in my entire life. lemme tell you something, jaime fucking made that show. i'm officially in love with him in the way that you just see someone and think they're so cool and full of life and energy and light. he has the beautiful dimpled smile of 1000 suns. his energy was so amazing on stage. the entiiiiire time, he was just spinning, jumping, and thrashing around.
and every song they have is a banger. and even more so live. i couldn't talk much a couple days after that because my throat hurt so bad. the really cool thing is that jaime interacted with the fans a lotttt during this show. he was like smiling at us, pointing at us, singing to us, etc. etc. it was like honestly a y/n moment without the weird romance.
they did emergency contact and i was single at this time but i got to sing "you're a fucking angel" to jaime who went :p to me in response.
the thing is, all throughout the show, jaime kept trying to throw his picks to us, but they kept getting eaten by the crowd. and so when the show ended, he jumped down from the stage and gave ghoul a bunch of pics who, extremely graciously, gave one to me. it was life changing. but not even that. like, jaime came down from the stage, opened my friend's fucking hand, and placed the pics in them. he's soooo fucking nice and cool and fun and honestly jaime if you're out there i would love to hang out with you one day in a platonic and very respectful but also let's do drugs together and party kinda way.
they did king for a day. live. like, you don't get it. i got to scream "you told me think about it WELL I DIIIIID" at the top of my lungs. i also got to hear the bulls in the bronx solo live. and hold on till fucking may. that fucking songgggggg. man. i cried. ...anyway, i'll shut the fuck up about the songs because i'll post the setlist later. but it was amazing. it was wild out there. i cried, my friend cried, he sobbed when he got given the pics. it was probably the best show i've ever been to. i still have some confetti i collected from that show.
Setlist:
you know, i wasn't originally going to post about these guys because they're not as well known, but fuck that hey. these dudes are fucking awesome and they're one of my favourite bands of all time and no one reads this, but if you are, please check them out because they're so god damn good.
so, after ptv, me and ghoul drove like an hour away to go and see these guys and then found them at an emo night we were at. they're a hard band to take pictures of because the singer has so much fun live and is constantly moving and never keeps still. he also has an amazing voice. he'll sing a beautiful melody with minimal effort (at least it looks that way. singing hurts. and it's hard) and then screams into that mic so hard and good. it sounds as good live as it does in the recordings. which is huge praise because not a lot of bands can do that
they had the rowboat pit which never fails to fill me with delight. the crowd always goes hard at their shows. like, you come home bruised and shit from the pit and it's the best feeling ever.
they did nothingwithoutyou live and i remember the first time i saw them live, the singer was introducing the song and he asked the audience "who out here has a shitty father?" (a bunch of hands fly up, people start screaming) and then he said "this song's about that" and then played the song. go listen to the song. it's real sad. especially with that context. he also wrote THE ONLY GOOD THING about his wife as said on stage which is really fucking sweet. and he gave a heartfelt speech about how there's always hope in life and you should get help if you're not doing great with mental health before introducing THE GREAT DEPRESSION. all round a great band with great songs and a great message. oh my god and their lyrics??? so beautiful.
i won't post a setlist because i've seen them so many times this year, but i'll post my personal faves below that i think people should check out.
Recs/Setlist:
my god i hate music festivals. that was my first one and it will likely be my last.
i waited all day in the rain to see fall out boy. i waited at the barricade and i think my ears are still damaged from hearing all those bands play before fall out boy finally came on stage.
tw: uma thurman
okay, it didn't help that i was on the tail end of a really bad illness i'd caught and my body was still recovering and i had to walk like half an hour from the nearest station to get into the festival and then stand near the barricade all day in the rain. and on top of that, i'd just been through a break up. and i was sober :/ and then like after 10 minutes they got rained out and we all had to go home. and i had so much pent up anger i wanted to let out at the show. idk if there's a pit at a fob show, but i wanted to do something like that. needed the cathartic release.
the other weird thing is that funky lighting sometimes triggers a panic attack for me. it's usually bright lights at night if i'm outdoors? hard to explain. sometimes at a traffic intersection i'll start to experience derealisation (i have cptsd) alongside a panic attack, or at outdoor concerts at night, i'll get the same thing. i thought i'd grown out of it, but uhhh. turns out it doesn't work that way. so throughout the show i was having a strong panic attack that i was trying to ignore. which didn't help.
but it's alright. i'm just being a baby
it was still cool though! me and ghoul and his friends went together. the visuals were stunning and joe was right in front of us (love ya joe). i've loved this band for over a decade and their music got me through so much as a teenager. i can still feel the heat of pete's flamethrower bass on my face to this day. and i'll die wondering what our magic 8 ball song was going to be. we could've heard bang the doldrums live.
Setlist:
(another terrible pic i know) but this was SUUUUCH a good show. i went with ghoul and we got there pretty late (as in, we didn't line up) and still ended up at barricade (it was a small venue and the crowd was pretty lax). the crowd was actually amazing. really great energy all round.
we ended up on harley duggan's side of the stage and jesus fuck that guy is so cool. i have videos and videos of this, but he was just amazing. all throughout the show, he was smiling at us, pointing at us, and when i went to take pics & videos, he would smile at the camera, like it was just really cool.
They did the entirety of my war live and their other bangers in a double set. i got to hear some of my all time favourite songs:my war, can't decide, beat my head against the wall, nervous breakdown, revenge, six pack, tv party, rise above, etc. etc.
i swear this happens at every show. so like, i don't know if you ever get this, but i'll always go to a show and have my favourite songs that i hope they play. and then the band will play a song i'm kinda meh/neutral on. but then somehow, hearing it live will completely change the song for me. and then that song will become one of my favourites forever. i think hearing the song live is like, hearing it how it's supposed to be played/sound. well, that happened with i can see you. i remember harley jamming to the cool guitar riff while performing.
so, when the set fnished (both sets), harley comes down from the stage and makes a beeline right for me and ghoul and opened our hands and put one of his picks in the palm of our hands. it was so fucking cool!!!!!
we waited around for the show and ghoul got a pic with the singer (i wanted to but i chickened out at the last second/didn't want to bother the dude which i will regret forever. and then we waited around some more to find harley again, but after a while it seemed like he'd taken off.
sidenote it's really cool that the band (the whole band! except harley who we think was probably out getting drinks or something) got down off the stage and came into the crowd and shook everyone's hands after the show. they all waited around and signed stuff and got pictures with everyone. and they're like, a BIG band. not even the local bands i see go and do that. i'd just never seen it before and i thought it was a really cool thing to doso, me and ghoul are sitting down in an alleyway smoking cigarettes, talking about the show, and trying to work out how to get home. and then all of a sudden this random guy comes up to us and says hi and shakes our hands with a really genuine/sincere look in his eyes. and we're just like sure yeah dude whats up. and then he just leaves. and then FUCKING A WEEK LATER. ghoul messages me and we realised. ......... it was harley. we didn't fucking recognise him in the dark and i'm so sad about it and oh my god harley when i find you
anyway here's a pick pic
Setlist:
This was such a fun show. i accidentally unintentionally crashed a friend of a friend's group hangout by going which i still feel bad about. but everyone was super nice to me there and i had a good time anyway. we made a lot of friends in the holding cell area too which was cool.
i don't like worship this band like i do others but their music got me through a lot esp as a teen. i think it was actually 10 years prior to this show that i would get home from school and lie in bed listening to adam's song or stay together for the kids on repeat staring at the ceiling at like 15/16. but also their other songs like family reunion and happy holidays you bastard and aliens exist and dance with me and i miss you and age again. you know. they're classics. bangers, even. so it was cool to hear all of that live
i remember the seccie there made eye contact with me while they were playing stay together for the kids while i was like. crying horribly. and then he kinda flinched and immediately looked away :/ we were at the pauper's barricade (the second barricade behind the vip section). it was funny though. and mark did this whole segment introducing one of the songs (either stftk or adams song idr) where he was making fun of emo kids who listen to mcr and Ghoul (who went with me) pointed at me and laughed.
i was also still in my feelings about the breakup i went through and they played man overboard and dumpweed which was cathartic. and i'd been dealing with this whole other situation with this person that i liked who was dating this other person. and then dysentery gary came on and goddddd. i think i screamed those lines from like my whole soul.
oh and after the show ended and i was busy picking up the semen confetti, a different seccie came over and handed Ghoul a setlist!!! which was super sweet and cool of him. so instead of listing the setlist out, i'll just post the pic !
Setlist:
yeah at this point i wasnt burnt out from work so i went to another show the next day and holy shit it was so fucking fun
none of my friends really go to the chats so i went alone and i had the best time in the world. at this point in time, i cut down on drinking and got really into physical health (you know how post breakups are), but i needed to let my hair down, so i had about 3/4 drinks which got me surprisingly light headed with my reduced tolerance
the band came on and i was jamming out and then further into the show i could tell the pit was going to open. and then this group of like 4/5 massive, tall guys came and stood right in front of me to protect me from the pit and i was doing my own thing. but then i was a little bored, so i pushed those guys apart and got into the pit. and then while they were playing smoko, some guy next to me on the outskirts of the pit had a cigarette in his hand so i went over and lit it for him and we exchanged drags while singing and shoving around in the pit. i remember not being able to see straight at around this point. it was awesome.
but anyway they played the bangers. nambored, 6l gtr, price of smokes, emperor of the beach, pub feed, etc. and the crowd was awesome. they were super into it, singing along loudly and shit. it was a great atmosphere. i was pleasently surprised by the number of older dudes in the crowd (like 50/60 year old dudes). i just thought it was the coolest thing.
Setlist:
MAN so i thought all those other shows were good? this was amazing!
like, these guys put on a fucking show. but in the way that they don't take themselves all that seriously; they're just there to have as much fun as they can and that's what makes it so good
i was kinda coming down from a bunch of pills this day (this was around the time i was burnt out and started just popping pills to cope with my shitty job. but i decided to go anyway and i ended up drinking a whole bunch which helped. i saw the openers because i figured, like, these guys were openers too and i had nothing better to do that saturday, so whatever. the openers were sweet, and i later went and saw them in like may that year. but i went alone and i was feeling a bit self conscious. so in that awkward space between openers leaving and band setting up, i had no one to talk to. so i did what any awkward but doesn't want to look like a loser person does, and left to smoke in a nearby alleyway. but then i ended up making friends with a dude who bummed a smoke off me and we chatted and hung out that whole show. i also got hit on a lottt (like i think by 5 different people, including the singer for one of the openers) at this show which was nice. with the comedown and the break up and the burnout, it was nice to have a little self esteem boost, you know?
anyway, this show was nuts! they were just as campy and theatrical as i remembered from the smashing pumpkins the previous year. i spent a lot of that show being mesmerised by the sheer talent of the guitarists. it was like, proper prog rock type shit. i actually got given a pick by one of the guitarists at that show too which was cool. and i bought a sticker that now resides on my guitar
but like, the singer ended up crowd surfing and singing, the guitarists came into the crowd and started playing, the singer and another band member climbed up the stage barricade (idk what she's called) thing and started swinging around (i think one dude was in his underwear), singing from there, jumping off and everything. it was really awesome. oh and sam (the singer) also said that they were playing their live debut of the key of solomon. i also have a video somewhere of the crowd singing along to the guitar part of Nightmare King and it was so fun to be a part of that. the crowd was fucking sweet actually.
i have all these pictures which i'll post below! it was truly a really fun night and i'm so glad i went
(hard to see, but the guitarist in the crowd)
Setlist:
yeah so burnout got the better of me. i spent these months doing other shit like going to emo nights, the easter show, a renfair, a beethoven orchestra, going to local shows (which were good, but not so amazing that i feel the urge to post about it), supanova, cleaning gravestones, went to a brat night, and probably doing some other shit i forgot about.
MY BOI KELLIN!!!!!!!
my god. i was so fucking nervous to go to this show. i guess maybe it'd been so long since i'd been to a gig (i think the last live music thing i'd been to was in may?) and i was pretty nervous. i almost didn't get to go, but Sarah from tixel sold me a last minute ticket. which thank god. i was like i NEED to see kellin at least once before i die. shoutout to you, Sarah. i will find a way to repay you one day.
backstory for this show, the day before, i got called into a work meeting and my boss was a complete asshole to me in front of everyone at the meeting, leaving me walking out feeling completely belittled - a broken husk of a man. i spent the rest of the day crying and crying and then trying not to cry and then crying. and then i had to drive myself to my parents house so that i was supervised, lest i become a danger to myself. so anyway i was listening to better off dead on repeat that whole day
i was already a bit nervous about it, but then none of my friends were able to make it and i had to go alone. i got so nervous that i got there late, but i took some pills and had a couple drinks before heading in and then i was fiiiiine. i remember while we were waiting for sws to come on stage, they were playing banger after banger. and the whole crowd was singing along to helena mcr and it was really nice. i got it on video.
and then they got on stage and started with tally it up, settle the score which. yeah. i had a lot of repressed rage i got to let out. they also did kick me and talking to myself and leave it all behind which were very on theme. they obviously played their other bangers. i was most excited about a trophy father's trophy son which they did!!!!!!!!!!! they did james dean, can't hang, and a bunch of other good ones. i basically loved the entire setlist.and the fucking IRIS COVER!!! everyone loves that song. it was cool. and the with ears to hear acousitc. it was beautiful.
man nick martin is so good live. his whole look is awesome, but he was so interactive with the crowd. it was giving jaime ptv and harley black flag vibes tbh. he made it so fun. he kept smiling and pointing at people, throwing picks, singing to them, etc. it was so hype.
the crowd was awesome too. people kept trying to get kellin to do a shoey (which he didn't :/). someone told kellin to sing higher. i think kellin also told the story of how sleeping with sirens got their name (the dark and stormy night, where he opened the book up to page 420 and got to the 69th word and saw "sleeping with sirens" written, yeah yeah). kellin also told us not to swear because matty's (the touring drummer i think) parents were in the crowd. and then someone swore. and then kellin yelled & swore back. honestly the crowd work was great. kellin kept doing these beautiful flourishes and ad libs to songs which sounded magica. i think someone told him to quit showing off hahaha. i can't wait to see them again
Setlist: