looking up

Ryan's last two comments on the last post were spot on. I was having a shitty time the first two days, but I've made friends since then. My floor kicks ass. Phantom Planet kicks ass. The two opening bands, however, do not kick ass. The first band, The Lovemakers, were fluckin' terrible. I can't even explain how freaking weird they were. There was a guy who kept booty dancing, a girl who was writhing around trying to look coordinated, a 40 year old synth player (who supplied almost all of the music, but more on that later.), and a drummer who had less technical skill than Meg White. So the guy and the girl were the "frontmen" but they didn't really play instruments. They sang (sorta), danced (sorta), and made out with each other (literally). They were holding instruments (guy with a guitar, girl with a bass) but they hardly played them at all. The 40 year old dude had a keyboard (untouched during the performance) in front of him and an Apple Powerbook. So I assume all of the music I was hearing was coming from the computer, except for the extremely simplistic drumming. Very gay.

The next band, while not kicking ass (a very high rating in the McNally rating system), were pretty good. I liked them a helluva lot better than The Lovemakers. So this band, The Shore, wasn't anything too special, but it was more my style of music. The music was good, not too much energy from the band. They had some pretty funny little quips in between songs though. The singer/guitarist broke a string and had to borrow one of Phantom Planet's guitars. And he made the point of telling the audience what was going on, which I thought was pretty cool. Definitely worth an allmusic search.

And then there was the main event. Phantom Planet was soo kickass. I went into this concert super excited despite the fact that I've only heard their one song (The O.C., you know what I'm talking about). My pal Daren had seen them before and said they were a pretty good live show, and after seeing them live, I have to agree. It was super cool. No Secret Machines concert, of course, but I'm not complaining. Lots of good songs, and they saved "California" for second to last. There were these realy drunk idiots in front of us for about half the concert, which was kinda entertaining, but I really wanted to see the concert and they were pretty distracting. This one guy ("Gay Matt") was "so gay, it hurts." And this other guy loves Matt, but not in that way, as he stated at least 10 times. This guy who loves Matt was so drunk that his eyes were blinking at different times. Weirdest thing I've ever seen. And oh yeah, only "Gay Matt" would ever bring Chardonnay in a water bottle to a concert, since he's so gay.

But that concert was sweet as hell. Afterwards I went back to the dorm and bonded with some friends with some "What's your favorite thing to do?" kind of questions. Good times.

I finally got to Target today and got school supplies and thumb tacks for putting up posters and my room finally looks like it's lived in. My snacks are safe and sound (Fruit by the Foot, Cherry Pop Tarts, Rold Gold Pretzel Sticks, and a whole lotta Nestle Treasures), and I'm ready to go. Now I just have to buy my football tickets and find out where my classes are before tomorrow. Oh yeah, I have to read the first five chapters of The Odyssey before tomorrow too. Shit. At least I don't have to write a paper about it. Yet.

So yeah, things are looking up. I think I'm gonna like it here.

Currently enjoying:



Next ish: Classes start tomorrow. I'll let you know how Oceanography, Core 102, and Art of the Graphic Novel go on Monday. I'm uber-excited for Oceanography. I'm only super excited for the graphic novel class. As for Core 102, it's just an English class. Homer, Shakespeare, Sophocles and such. What a bore.