Bill and Trav's Bogus Journey

This is going to be so long.

I went to Bill and Trav's Bogus Journey on November 7, 2008 at the House of Blues in Chicago, and, WOW, what a show it was! My best friend Phoebe and I got to the House of Blues in Chicago at about 4:20, a half an hour before we needed to be there for our Santi's Little Helpers meet and greet. So we get inside and there are probably about 50 people standing around, and I was sad because I thought that would mean we wouldn't be able to get barricade from early entry. It turned out that only about 30 of them had meet and greet though, even though there were only supposed to be 15 people. Jack let everyone in anyway cause he's nice like that.

So we had to wait forever, until about 5:30, to go up to meet the guys. While we were waiting on the stairs, Jack announces that William is stuck in Chicago traffic and isn't there yet, so he has to miss the meet and greet. Stupid Chicago traffic. I know what it's like to be stuck in that, it's no fun. So I was slightly bummed because I was really looking forward to meeting William, but oh well, I love the rest of the band too.

So Jack got the rest of the band. I spot Michael at the bottom of a mini set of stairs and when I walk over he says, "I'm just going to come up here." So I follow him up and say "Hi, My name is Paige." Then he proceeds to tell me he's Michael, like I don't already know that, and shakes my hand. Then he signs the front of my Fast Times cd and takes a picture with me. I noticed that he smelled really good. And that he's a lot taller than I realized.

Then we went to meet Mike, and he was so nice. I never really know what to say to band members, so I just kind of say hi, and he asked me how I was. I told him I was good, and that it was my 5th time seeing TAI. He kind of went, "Whoa, that's great" and then he took a picture with me and he was just so sweet. He also took a pic with Phoebe and commented that we just had met the two Mikes.

Then we met Sisky, and he was cool too. There was this boy who was probably about 10 in front of us and Sisky asked him if there were any songs he wanted to hear. So cute. He also mentioned that he was bummed that the Bulls were playing at home and he was bummed he couldn't go. Sorry Sisky, next time schedule your shows around the Bulls? Haha, just kidding. =]

Then we ran over to The Butcher because we were running out of time, and we got to him right before they opened doors. He was so cool, I told him I have something signed by him in my room and everyone asks why it says "Butcher." Then he asked if they knew the story and I said I always tell them.

Then we ran over to wait for them to let us onto the main floor and we managed to grab barricade on the left side of the stage. Score.

Hey Monday... I like them if I don't listen to the singer. I'm serious, I ignored Cassadee the whole time, and just jammed out with the guitarist standing directly in front of me. He handed me his guitar pick at the end of the set too. Woot.

Carolina Liar I literally ignored. I either looked at the amp or the lights the whole time they played because the first time I looked at them I had major awkward eye contact. Towards the end of their set the crowd really started to push forward, but I dealt being shoved into the barricade. Luckily the top was padded.

The We The Kings. I love We The Kings sooo much. Hunter was standing directly in front of me, so I saw a lot of him. At one point, his guitar stopped working, so while they went to get him a new one he jumped onto the barrier and walked half the length of the stage. That was sweet, I grabbed his arm. Then at the end Travis literally launched himself into the crowd at us, so I was practically hugging him. Their whole set was a blast, they got everybody jumping around and pumped up. Their cover of Feel Good Inc. was good too, even though I could tell the security guard was laughing at everyone in the crowd trying to be gangsta, yo.

Then The Academy Is... came out. Holy shit. I was being shoved around so much, but it was worth it the moment these guys hit stage. There's something about the experience of seeing TAI live that multiplies their already amazing music. They really know how to put on a show. And Chicago is their hometown, so that makes it better because the Chi is amazing. We got a lot of MGC and Sisky action from where we were standing. Wooot. They also played all of my favorite songs, including Attention, Attention, Classifieds, His Girl Friday, and Neighbors. Epic win. And at one point MGC looked directly at me and tossed a guitar pick, and luckily I caught it no problem. I really wanted their set to go on forever, but unfortunately they had to end with an epic rendition of Almost Here. Beckett never seems to choose the side of the crowd I'm in to jump into, but after they were done he jumped back over to my side and I grabbed his arm for a second, then I felt creepy.

Then we waited around until they kicked us out to see if Beckett would show up. It's understandable that he didn't though, because it was their home show so I'm sure there were a lot of people who wanted to see him. There's always next time. =]

Then some creepy guy wouldn't stop talking to us outside the venue and gave Phoebe an "artist only" pass for the House of Blues. Needless to say, once he turned a corner we backtracked and took a different way to the train.

Amazing night. I can't stop smiling. =D