BealeFest, Day One: SUCCESS

So I have decided that I still cannot make another check on my bucket list.  It specifically says to attend an entire music festival.  With BealeFest, I will be attending 2 of the 3 days.  Still, it's an experience.  Day One was last night.  Before I go into detail, I'll give you a heads up that I don't have any pics.  My bastard of camera is crapped out, and no one around here sells the kind of battery that it uses.  So...poop.

The first bands went on at six, and we arrived just a hair after, so we didn't see Breathe Carolina take the stage, but I don't think we missed too many songs.  We still caught a good half hour of the show.  When I first bought the ticket, I had only vaguely heard the name Breathe Carolina before.  When I began my gig study, I decided to check out their biggest hit, "Blackout."  Love!! Sadly, I didn't get any further than that.  Thus, seeing them live allowed me to test the waters.  We hauled up to the mat, but hung back a little.  You know me, I don't care who it is, I wanna dig in and go crazy.  I reined it in a bit.  I jammed a little to "Blackout" though.  I really think I wanna pick up an album and investigate them a little more.  Would I see them again?  Definitely!  I've already made sure to recommend them to a friend who's going to Warped Tour this year.

For the next timeslot, we meandered down to the the farthest stage.  The first band, Northern Mississippi Allstars, was on.  I had never heard of them, but they had a very nice ambient sound.  I'm not adding them to the sidebar because I really didn't pay them much mind.  We met up with some friends of my friend.  They were spread out on the grass in the back.  I flopped down (all the way down, mind) and just stared into the sky, absorbing the sound and feel of the atmosphere.  I made a very happy tweet.  It was a moment.  Live music, fluffy grass, blue skies.  Why can't every day be like that?

We got up and headed into the crowd when the Northern Mississippi Allstars left the stage.  His friends were Needtobreathe fans.  They were my #1 choice for that timeslot, too.  I had never heard a single song by them before that night.  They came highly recommended though.  I believe her words were along the lines of "best live show ever."  She offered to loan me some CDs the night before the show, but I turned her down.  I was cramming hard for this festival, and I feared information overload if I tried to add another band in.  Let me say that I was very impressed with Needtobreathe.  I stayed for the entire show.  I don't know about "best live show ever" (I'm a Muse fan, remember?), but it was a helluva show.  I didn't know a single word, but I really enjoyed it.  I've already told my friend that I really need to borrow those albums now.  Would I see them again?  Most definitely.

The next timeslot was a little...problematic.  The three performers on the main stages were Florence + the Machine, Megadeth, and Lupe Fiasco.  Now, if there were no other factors, then of course I would have chosen Flo and hung out the whole time.  However...  I had been told that Megadeth is just one of those things that you have to see in life.  They're not my style and certainly not something that I would listen to at home or in my car, but I'll take just about every live experience I can get.  So that was one issue.  Another was that my main draw for that day (actually, for the whole damn festival) was playing on a different stage.  If I stayed for all of Flo, I would get to that stage after Megadeth had gone off and the crowd had rearranged itself.  I wanted to be there when that happened so I could shove myself as close to the front as I possibly could.  WHAT'S A GIRL TO DO???

Florence entered the stage just as I had expected her to:  awesomely.  I can't tell you what song she was singing.  The live show seemed very in character.  During the show, a third factor presented itself:  my concert buddy wasn't feeling it.  Since I was already feeling ambivalent about where I needed to be, I left with him after two songs.  Hence, I'm not sure if I can add her to my sidebar.  Yes, I've seen her live, technically.  But did I see enough to put her on the list?  Help me out, here!  Does it count, or doesn't it?  As soon as the opportunity presents itself, I will definitely go to one of her shows, so I'm sure I'll see her in full at some point.

We made it over to Megadeth only to be disappointed.  What the hell was up with the sound?  Something wasn't working right, so they sounded really quiet.  Yeah.  Megadeth.  Quiet.  WTF??  To all those people who told me to see Megadeth, sorry.  I don't think I was able to experience them like I was meant to.  I would never pay to go to a Megadeth show (as evidenced by the fact that I skipped them when they came to the Valarium), so I figured this festival could potentially have been my only chance to see them.  Bummer.  Who ever heard of a quiet Megadeth.  Party foul on the sound guys!  Still, it wasn't an utter loss.  I felt a little something.  Just the tiniest of stirrings.  NEED MOAR SOWNDZ!!

We wandered off from Megadeth to go check out Lupe Fiasco.  I don't know much rap, so I can't tell you a single song title by him.  Still, holy shit!!  That's probably where I should have been the whole time!  He had so much energy on stage, and the crowd was eating it up.  I had never been to a rap show before and had always wondered how they could be even a fraction of the fun a rock show is.  Well, Kim, there's your answer.  Energy.  It actually was rockin', too.  I'm really glad that I stopped by there and had a new musical experience.  In the end, I'm ultimately glad that I wandered around during that slot.  The only trouble is, do any of those performers count toward the 100?  Help me decide!  I haven't added them yet.

It was time.  Well, almost.  We got some water.  Holy hell, was I dry.  I didn't drink a drop of alcohol that night (waiting for Sunday to beer it up), but I woke up the next day feeling dehydrated like I was hung over.  Anyway, water in hand, we took a seat for a minute, then off we went to catch the end of Megadeth.  They ended.  The crowd began to disperse.  Said my friend, "Do you wanna get in there for Evanescence?"  Ummm, lemme think....HELLZ YEAH!!  I led the way, winding through the throngs of people until I was satisfied that I could not get any closer without seriously pissing some people off (which I briefly considered).  Still, we were much closer than I thought we would make it.  Had I had even my piece of shit camera with me, I probably could have gotten some nice pictures.  The front row would have been nice, but it being my first festival, it was nice to be able to wander and take it all in.

The wait was painful.  Hello, Top Five band here!  I could feel my heartbeat start to pickup while we waited.  I remember shuffling my feet and bouncing around.  I could feel this burst of energy coming on, with nowhere to direct it.  And then the lights went down...and I was blown away.  It was incredible.  You know those shows where you know every word to every song?  Yeah.  That.  I just let everything else disappear.  I'm quite sure I looked like a fat fool throwing my head around and bouncing around.  I did notice that the crowd was somewhat dead.  I imagine that's because it was filled with general festival goers and not Evanescence fans.  But the honey badger doesn't give a shit, and neither did Kim.  I was there to have a good time, everyone else be damned.  Today, my neck and right arm are sore, my feet are trashed, my ears are ringing, and I wouldn't trade a second of it.  I kinda feel sorry for the people around me.  I sang along to every note, and pretty badly.  It was loud, so I couldn't hear myself, but every now then I would catch it and realize how off key I was.  All those years of studying music, I assure you I can sing on pitch.  But not when I'm singing louder than my voice can go and can't hear what I'm doing.  A vocal major, I am not.  Oh well.  DON'T CARE.  I remember the guy in front of me kept plugging his ears every time I would scream.  Sorry dude.  Not gonna hold it in for you.  Sometimes he did it when I wasn't screaming, so perhaps that was evidence of how bloody terrible I sounded.  Again, I really didn't give a shit, haha.  I was having the time of my life.  Amy Lee looked amazing.  She sounded amazing.  I didn't hear her miss a note.  The show felt so great.  And, get this.  They played both of my favorite songs.  I'm not usually a ballad-loving person, but their new album has two absolutely beautiful ballads on it.  When I was studying up for the gig, I saw that both songs were sometimes played at their shows, and not always together.  I figured it would be about 50/50 that I would get even one of them.  But I got both!  Some asshole a couple of people down from me was jabbering away almost the entire time she was singing "Swimming Home."  I resisted the urge to punch him in the dick and yell, "SOME OF US ARE TRYING TO EXPERIENCE TRANSCENDENT BLISS HERE!"

Did Kim have an amazing night?  Yes.  Amazing doesn't cut it.  I don't know if they have a word for it.  Maybe one of those days I'll find it.  That night was up there with my nights with Muse, Smashing Pumpkins, and Linkin Park.  Good times, good times.  Sitting out today.  Had a wedding to attend.  Too stressful to try to make it down as late I would be and try to park and know where the hell I was going.  So I won't be back down until tomorrow.  Can't wait!  COHEED & CAMBRIA!!!!  Waaaaahhhhh!!!!!!  Full report to come!!