This Ain't a Scene, It's a (Monumentour) Con-Cert Re-View! 8.4.2014

I just got back from the Corpus Christi, Texas Monumentour concert at the Old Concrete Street Amphitheater and WOW... yeah. Imma be buzzing for days, dude.

So... here we go.

First off, I have to say I was a little discouraged to go only because I was reading a few things from the guitar techs and some members (not from the main acts nor the opening) about how GOD AWFUL the heat was in Corpus. I will say this - Texas has always been a hot state. Today, I think the temperature was close to 95 degrees, but it was feeling like 102. I get it - I've lived here majority of my life (south Texas region), so I understand. But I was like, "Come on - you're not going to be the only one dealing with the sun and the heat. We'll be sandwiched between all sorts of sweaty and smelly folks. You get to breathe." But anyway, that kind of put me off, but NONE of the guys went on their Twitter or Instagram to say such things, so that was nice of them.

So we get there, and we made the mistake of thinking that we'll have a good parking spot and that we won't have to worry about lines. WRONG. So very wrong. When we reached the street to turn for the venue, the line was already reaching two blocks and was about to reach another one. We had to park at least 2 miles away from the venue and parking in downtown Corpus is NO fun. :/

Anyway, blah, blah, blah. We get in. When New Politics came on, a SWOOSH of bodies came from behind us and crammed myself and my two friends to the point where we couldn't even clap our hands along to their songs. I was like, "THIS IS NOT HAPPENING TONIGHT."

New Politics were awesome and they sure were a bunch of hyper guys. David Boyd has an AMAZING voice live. He was jumping up and down, doing all sorts of dance tricks and his voice never wavered. All the guys were hyped up and they were awesome. Once they cleared the stage, my friends and I were like, "Fuck this, we're gonna find us another spot." So, luckily, off the left of the stage, we found an open space, and although it wasn't RIGHT at the stage, it was a good view. And it was great that majority of the crowd were short folks lol.

It was time for Paramore to come on stage. Since they're stage has those 4 boards of lights and whatnot, I noticed that they were taking one back. I figured that there was a malfunction and in about 30 minutes or so, they would take the stage. An HOUR had passed by and the sun was already setting. My friend was like, 'Dude, it's already nine! What's the deal'. I looked up at the stage and saw that they were setting Fall Out Boy's stage and I was like, "Huh?" I just thought that Paramore was going to use their props for the moment since I assumed there was a malfunction.

Turned out that Hailey had been sick (which I then remembered from a tweet that she had posted a few days ago) and two of the venue directors came out and said that they were sad they couldn't perform tonight. So, a few people started leaving since the folks were going to be giving out refunds for those that came to see Paramore specifically that evening. Another 20 minutes goes by, and BOOM, the lights go down. The interlude music quickly shut off and their opening montage started up. I then see Joe, Patrick, Pete rising up and Andy taking his spot on the drum kit and squealed. I fucking squealed! I was knocked by 10 years back, to the age of 19, when I first heard Sugar We're Going Down on the radio.

Pyros, lights, all sorts of things going Boom and they opened up with 'The Phoenix'. That was wild to see since I saw Joe getting into the song, Patrick already sweating up a bunch and Pete twirling his bass. Then the sassing came. Apparently Pete saw a sign or a photo that some moronic 'fan' had and after their first song, Pete told the kid off. I'm not too sure what the sign/photo was, but this is what Pete said in a nutshell to the guy:

"You, the blonde kid! Yeah, you know who I'm pointing to! Either you put that photoshop photo out or you're going out! I don't come here to disrespect anyone, and I would expect some goddamn respect as much as I give!"

(update: this incident is making headlines in Tumblr. Yaaaayyy... :| )

I"m sure there will be a video on YouTube it. I'm not sure what it was, but it was offensive enough for Pete to tell the kid off. We hollered, of course, and praised Pete for telling the kid off, but I joked to one of my friends and said, "THIS IS WHY WE CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS HERE IN CORPUS!" and she joked back with, "NOW THEY'RE NEVER GONNNA COME BACK!!" So the show goes on, we're pumped up. We're jumping up and down like a bunch of fools and then Pete announces that they're gonna do a song that is unrehearsed since Paramore won't be performing. He wished Hailey a speedy recovery and that we weren't too bummed. That's when they busted out with "where Did The Party Go?" and like Pete said, he was unrehearsed and laughed, but let me tell you something... Unrehearsed or NOT, they fuckin' hit it out of the park. They were on point, and man Patrick sure can sing, even if he gets a little winded. Poor guy lol.

It was then that Patrick started talking to the crowd, and he started talking in Spanish and my friend was like, "Why the hell is he talking to us in Spanish? We know English." and I was like, "DON'T RUIN THIS, SHUT UP!" He wasn't shy at all, as in his performance, but he praised us and was happy to have been in Corpus. He was like, "I don't think we've played here before, so I have a request. We're gonna play an old song of ours. I mean, as in like, when we first started. But you need to sing with me." Then looks at the crowd and the camera caught his little smirk that he does every now and then and goes, "YOU NEED TO SING IT, OK?!" And yeah. The second we hear, "Where is your boy tonight?" our asses damn near lit up.

And yep, he did the hip swerve (LIKE A BEAST) and the drum battle rocked my bobby socks off! LAWDHAMMERCY. The 'Plague Doctor' came out and I was like, "They brought him... THEY BROUGHT THE DOCTOR!!" which my friends were like, 'Whaa..?'

So, they finish the 'set' with My Songs... and then come back for the encore. They played another unrehearsed song, which got the crowd wild like a bunch of wildebeests being chased by a cheetah or something. It was 'Beat It'.

I need to say this, because I've read (before and recent) about how some folks like to diss or crap on Joe. I have read that he's "just a second guitar player" or "only the rhythm guitar player". Yeah, he is, but what I saw tonight could lay those lies to rest. The man can play. And I'm not talking little notes here and there. I'm talking major riffs. For example, in 'Beat It', Patrick stood off to the side of his mic, with his mouth still on it, and said, "Take it away Mr. Joe Trohman" and Joe went nuts on the chorus guitar. Before that, the man was wailing on his guitar solo AND he was even fiddling with his guitar, which got the crowd fired up, which made him play more. I can't deny the man and his guitar skills, so neither should you. I'm not saying... I'm just saying.

So, let's see... OH! We took the crowd photo, which I thought was hilarious how it went about. Pete was instructing the kids to "back away for a few so that everyone can get in" and Joe gets up and goes to the mic and goes, '1, 2, 3, BACK AWAY' and smiles at the crowd. We throw our hands up in the air, and yeah. Picture was taken. I doubt my friends and I will be "seen", but hey! WE TOOK A PHOTO WITH FALL OUT BOY.

Then they ended with 'Saturday' and Pete went fuckin' nuts with the crowd. The guys, the pyro and the lights were unbelievable. It was a