Right Back At It Again Tour

 

I've been pretty stoked for this concert for a while. I'm a huge fan of A Day To Remember + I've wrote about them a lot on this blog. Also on the tour was Of Mice & Men and Chunk! No Captain, Chunk! but I don't really listen to either of those bands so I was obviously more excited about ADTR.

Mikal and I were running a little late to the venue (I was supposed to be there an hour before the show started and we got there AFTER Chunk! played..) so I was already in a bad mood. We got to the venue + we tried parking in the VIP parking (because that's where I was told to park when I called the venue) and the dude was trying to send us to the main entrance...which has stairs. I am in a wheelchair + stairs for me are obviously a no go. Mikal tried explaining that to said dude but he was not understanding. We find a place to park and it's right next to a curb. Then the dude doesn't take cards as payment for parking so Mikal has to CARRY me from the car to a safe spot to my chair + we have to find a way to enter the venue. After running around for like 15 minutes, we finally get inside the venue + find an ATM to pay the dude. The ATM doesn't take my card + I'm stressing out. After talking to some security guards, we find out that we CAN park in the VIP section and Mikal goes to move the car. It was a load of mess + confusion but we finally got to the show.

We missed Chunk! but like I said, I don't really listen to them so I was okay with that. We didn't know when we got there that we had missed the band though so when OM&M came on, I was really confused. I don't know much about OM&M but I know what Austin looks like (he is the singer) and I could have swore it was Austin. Well, I heard one of their songs I recognized and I felt really stupid. Austin was arrested a few nights before the Indy date and they had dropped a few shows because of it. I heard that he was arrested for beating someone up after they were making fun of a fan that had died of cancer last Friday. Austin was close to the fan + was really upset about her passing. A lot of people are pretty upset at Austin for what he did, but I respect him. Beating people up isn't the answer but he stood up for that girl + I think that's respectable. The last song they played was Second and Sebring, which is about Austin's mom passing. Before they played the song, he talked about how it was for anyone who had every lost someone they loved. It just really hit me hard. I have never cried at a show before but I totally teared up during this song. It seemed Austin was crying too.

A Day To Remember put on such an amazing show.. They played a lot of older songs which made me really happy. I posted their set list a week ago + it was spot on to what they played live. I was really nervous about coming to the show in the first place because since my accident, I have really grown to hate crowds of people. I get really nervous being around large groups of people now + I didn't want to let that ruin my night of fun.. but thankfully it didn't. Nothing stopped me from screaming every word and totally crying. I felt so stupid because I knew people were looking at me + I was trying to hide the fact that I was crying.

Jeremy saw me sitting at the side + waved at me a few times. He tried throwing a pick at me but it missed, so he threw another and it missed me too. I guess some girl picked it up (Mikal told me this after the show) but then dropped it + I saw it again. I had Mikal grab it for me + then I felt someone touching me. I looked at it was some preteen girl that asked if I wanted her Chunk! glow stick for the pick.. I said "No" nicely. Mikal also scored a ball they threw out in the crowd and kept it for me. (He is seriously the sweetest ever)

 

 

 I can't even explain how much this band means to me- and I know you're thinking "It's just a band".. but these guys have helped me get through so much. More importantly, they've helped me remember to stay strong over the last 10 months of my life + to never give up on myself. If you've ever had a band change your life, maybe you can relate to me here. I am so glad that I was able to go to this show. I'm so thankful for this band and I can't believe they've been together for 10 years now. I'm so proud of how far they've came and can't wait to see what else they do.

(Alex + Kevin didn't come outside)

This is their new song called "Right Back At It Again" + I seriously cannot stop listening to it. Ready for the new record to come out.

Thanks boys for everything.