30 Seconds to Mars

I actually started this post about a week ago but life has been nuts and I only just had time to finish it. So, some old news, some new news and some photos.

Buncha reviews up on Revolt. Read my review & see photos of 30STM here. Read my feature on The Plain White T's here.

I went to see 30 Seconds to Mars last Sunday and prior to the concert got an email from one of the photographers I met at the Hawthorne Heights show a few weeks ago. First of all, he gave me props for the photos I took at the HH concert that Revolt ran and said he liked my review of the show as well. To make a long story short, he was going to be at the 30STM show as well and got me into the photo pit again which was BEYOND awesome of him. Seriously, I don't know why he's being so nice to me I mean, he's a good photographer and a "real" photographer and I'm just there with my little point-and-shoot digi-cam but he's been a huge help, so I really appreciate it. Anywho, I got some pretty good shots of Head Automatica and 30 Seconds to Mars (and yes, Jared Leto is just as dreamy in person as in the magazines in that lotsa-black-eyeliner/emo guy way). I've included a few of my shots for your perusal:)

I'm seeing Lady Sovereign tonight at St. Andrews which should be sweet. My photographer friend has already contacted Sov's publicist and is trying to get me a photo pass for that show as well. I think I just found a guardian angel:)

One other thing that's been kicking around is this idea of a sort of "rock photography boot camp" for my journalism students. Harry (the uber-nice photographer) has already contacted a bunch of labels to see if they'd be down with letting a bunch of kids in for a journalism field trip of sorts. Apparently, the people at Victory Records have expressed a considerable amount of interest at the idea...now just how to pull it off and not get sued by some parent...how SWEET would that be though? Man, there just might be a run on my journalism class if we can figure out how to pull this off...

Looks like I survived comps. I haven't a clue if I passed and honestly, I don't fucking care at this point. I went, I tried, I wrote for 8 hours, and whatever ends up happening, so be it. It's over and that's all I care about!

Later,
S
Listening to (still): My Chemical Romance, The Black Parade.

The Black Parade!!

Oh. My. God. GREAT fucking day! So, MCR's third album dropped today and it is utterly amazing. So different from their first three but, my god, there is some fantastic stuff on there. Instant classic, I'm telling you. If you don't have it yet, for the love of god, go to iTunes and download it RIGHT NOW. You won't regret it.

Even better than a fabulous new MCR album coming out today was that my brother called me to tell me that MCR is playing the Night 89X Stole Christmas show in December! Needless to say, I immediately got online and bought tix. Main floor baby! Now I just need to see if I can talk my way into a press pass for the show...man, that would be un-fucking-believable!

So, so, so happy:)

Right, now I need to try and calm down and concentrate on the big, freaking, scary exam I have to take on Thursday and Friday. I leave for DC tomorrow right after school and I realllly don't want to go...ugh, ugh, ugh. I just want it over with!

I saw 30 Seconds to Mars on Sunday night-great show! Even better was that the photographer I met up with at the Hawthorne Heights show got me into the photo pit again. My damn camera's battery is all wonky so I didn't get as many pics as I'd have liked, but it was still pretty damn sweet. Hmm, maybe he'll have some suggestions on how to get a photo pass for the MCR show...

Lots more to tell music-wise but I need to pack and study. Go buy The Black Parade!!
Listening to: My Chemical Romance, The Black Parade (duh, what did you think I'd be listening to??)

Good Charlotte

Hey,
My review of the GC show is up at Revolt along with a few of the photos I took (yay for another photo credit!) My feature on the Plain White T's should be up by the end of the week, I'll let you know when it's up.

I'm utterly exhausted, I don't know how I'm going to make it through the next week and a half. It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have to go to DC for my comps. They are going to kick my ass...I will probably be the first person to fail them. Seriously. God, I just want it over with.

Unfortunately, I also have to go to Grand Rapids for a conference tomorrow and Friday. Ugh. It wouldn't be so bad if it was just a one day thing and it wasn't all the way out in GR. Blech. I know I should be more positive, but I can think of lots of things I could be doing instead of hiking out to GR.

I'm also a bit depressed b/c, once again, I feel like I've been duped by a guy. Long story short, thought someone might have been interested in me, turns out he's not. Had been quite flirty, now, just sort of weird and stiff and awkward. Story of my life. What the hell is WRONG with me??? Seriously? Honest to god, if there is something seriously wrong with me and my friends/family aren't telling me and I find out, I'm going to go postal. I am so sick of fucking late-20s guys who don't know what the hell they want and string people along and then "vanish" without a word of explaination.

Sorry for the rant. It just gets to me (and you better tell me if there's something seriously wrong with me...)
Stressssssssssssssssssssss :(

Listening to: Hawthorne Heights, If Only You Were Lonely

Aargh

Ok, I think I have finally overscheduled myself. I make stupid choices too. I have a phemonemal amount of work to do-reviews to write, features to write, a stack of 100 All Quiet on the Western Front papers to grade, a school newspaper to get out...so a)I should not be blogging right now, b)I should not have gone and gotten phenomenally trashed on Friday night, c) I should not have been astoundingly hungover yesterday. Nonetheless, I did all those things and, consequently it is Sunday night and I'd love to either run away or call in sick tomorrow. Of course I'll do neither, but it is a temping thought...

It's all my own damn fault of course, I hardly blame anyone else. Well, maybe the beer fairies...damn them. I had a lot of fun on Friday, so I don't regret. At least too much, though yesterday morning I was making those "I promise I'll never drink again if I live through the next five minutes..." claims. It is nice however having some cool people from work to hang out with...what a change from some other jobs I've had. They even have good taste in music, so I guess I'll keep em around :)

Anyways, a few new reviews up for your perusal. I think I'll also have about 16 more cd's coming my way though I hope my editors hold off till the end of the month. The next few weeks are going to be god awful. To the point I'm thinking of running away or calling in dead. Aargh.

Read my review of A Heartwell Ending's album at Revolt.
Read my review of Near Miss' album at Static.

Shannon is coming to visit in a few weeks! Woo hoo! I'm so psyched. I haven't seen her since last December, so it'll be great.

My Chem's new album comes out in 9 days! Can't wait!!!
Back to work...
Ciao.

Listening to: KT Tunstall, Eye to the Telescope

Jilary in the house...

Ok, this post has to be fast, I should be in bed:)
Went to see Good Charlotte last night at Clutch Cargo's. The show rocked, very high energy and they played a lot of good songs. It was kinda fun to see Benji and Joel live in all their tattooed glory:) Weird crowd, older people, maybe in their twenties along with a lot of really LITTLE kids (like around 10 or so). The place was pretty packed but I, as usual, wormed my way to the front. I was going to try and talk my way into the photo area but they weren't even letting the legit photographers in at first. They claimed the road manager wasn't allowing anyone up there, yada yada yada. I thought that was pretty weird (I was right next to this photographer when he was having this conversation with the security guard which is how I know all this). Then, as soon as GC came on stage, I realized the reason why they weren't letting anyone up there. It wasn't so much because of Benji, Joel etc. It was because Miss Hilary Duff, teen queen, was there as well. She sat at the side of the stage for the whole show and was actually kinda cute to watch. She sang along with all the songs, clapped and smiled a lot...rarely took her eyes off of Joel which, honestly, was sweet. I dunno who the teen-y girls were more psyched to see, the Madden bros or Hilary Duff.

Anyways, I got a few photos, these are probably the best of the lot. Neither are as good as that one I got at the HH concert, but I'm pretty happy with them. Still not too bad for a digi-cam! I'm seeing We Are Scientists on Friday at the Magic Stick, Art Brut is opening. Should be a pretty fucking sweet show.

Trying to kick this stupid cold...
Off to beddy-bies. I'll tell you my car story later:)
Peace out, starving nachos,
~S

Hawthorne Heights

Read my review of the Nintendo Fusion Tour here. Yeah, it's a bit long, stick with me though:) The two photos on the review are all mine too! Here are those two and a few more for your viewing pleasure.
I've gotta figure out a way to get into the photo pit on other shows too...if anyone has any good ideas, lemme know!
~S
Listening to: The Silence in Black and White, Hawthorne Heights