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aruanSometimes, I have so little in the way of brains it's a wonder I wasn't in the other kind of special ed in grade school. Only today did I remember that my MiniDisc player has a recording capacity. So during our morning errand run, we swung by Best Buy and picked up the only small microphone they had, a $30 lavalier, and I had a little Recording 101 session in the car. Which turned out to be one of the most successful all-around ventures of the vacation so far.
We picked up![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tavellafic and Donna from San Jose and headed to Mel's for lunch. Mmm, French toast and the cutest little mug of chicken noodle soup. It's this retro little fifties-looking oasis in the middle of chi-chi Sunset and somehow entirely manages to not be tacky. If you want tacky, you'll have to go a few buildings down the block to Saddle Ranch. Holy my good god, but that is the single tackiest restaurant I've ever seen, even without the egregious seasonal decor. Horses sticking out of the wall, the entire place painted to look like it's made of wooden planks, cowboy figures and other Western paraphernalia all over the outside walls. Plus sheets of plastic as snow, stringed lights, swatches of red. And this was before I saw it lit up! Lance Bass, you have such a special place in my heart, you don't even know.
Donna and I toured east Sunset. We checked out the Hustler emporium, wherein, deep within the aisles of the extensive video pornography section where we were checking out penis-shaped pillows, Home For Christmas came on the in-store station. We looked at each other and dissolved into giggles just a bit. Also, one of the best shirts ever: I [heart] my penis. I want one, or at least someone I know who would appreciate it properly. We also saw the Viper Room and the Comedy Store.
Feeling brave, I walked west Sunset by myself. To tell the truth, I am more than unimpressed. It's mostly dirty, sparse, and unremarkable in every way. I did walk past Dublin's, where Justin's 22nd was held, as well as the Directors' Guild headquarters. Then I jaywalked across all four lanes of Sunset, picked up Schiz for some coffee, and finally made it to take our shift in holding our places in line.
This was around 6:20. For an 11:30 show. For which we started alternating people in line since 12:30. Stir crazy doesn't even begin to describe it towards the end. First of all, it was dreadfully cold. Even though the line was near the Standard, which blocked most of the worst wind, the air was still frigid even through three layers. We bided our time with stories, writing mostly awful round-robin fic (thoughtallories and Katie complimenting my additions did lots for the illin' writer within) for which I still feel like I owe an apology, and generally trying to make it to the witching hour with at least some of our wits about us. It didn't look good for a while, but things have a way of working out.
There were plenty of drunk people milling about since there'd been an earlier show, so when one of them starts ranting that a member of *NSYNC was in the United Taxi van right in front of us, no one paid much attention. There were three guys in front and two girls and guy in back, with the guy closest to the window facing us making hand-waving gestures to prevent us from getting a good look at the one sitting next to him, who was holding a red plastic cup in front of his face. Again, looking like they were just fucking with us. But the guy in the backseat was sitting the farthest from us and didn't once turn his head even so much as forward, much less toward us.
The taxi pulled past and not a minute later, a girl comes running up to the group in front of us waving her camera and squeeing about "Guess who I just met!" Yep, that had indeed been Lance in the backseat, with Jessie and another boy working distraction detail. Aaw, now that's a good boyfriend.
This HOB had a strict no-cameras policy. The recording devices this is standard, and I'd been fighting serious heartburn all day over whether or not to risk trying to bring it inside. I had plenty of opportunity to pass it off, but dammit, I had to try.
Needless to say, being brave has its rewards. I owe everything to my bag's "hidden" compartment and feel like I should write a thank you letter to Nine West.
Onto the show, and not a moment too soon.
The club is full of bitches again!
Tonight's show was definitely the most laid-back of the three. Having Lance in the balcony seemed to affect everyone in the room. He took pictures of us, and several of JC while he was performing. JC pointed/looked at him several times during the show, and played it a little safer than previously - he didn't attempt twirling the mic stand, and seemed to hold back a bit on the choreography.
All Day Long I Dream About Sex only gets better with each performance. By the end of the tour, he'll have figured out how to make people come just from listening to it. Tonight was especially fun, as everyone in the crowd knew at least the chorus - the walls practically vibrated with all the screaming, and JC was loving it.
The two rock songs, She Got Me and Sprung are such vintage 80s rock, it makes me want to discover wormholes and figure out time warping. They're fun and high energy and JC gives them both the wailing/hair-flinging treatment they so richly deserve.
One Night Stand was as hammy and irreverent as ever. "Girl, hell yeah, I know" instead of the cheeky, "Yeah, I know" tonight. Plus, the quote of the night, right after: "Pimpin' ain't easy, pimpin' ain't easy. Nah, I'm just kidding."
Build My World has this beautiful, swelling crescendo with the start of the chorus that works wonderfully with the amped bass and just hits you square in the solar plexus. Mere words cannot express my love for this song, the drums and the words and every last little chord of it. The bridge involves him singing the word "gravity" which end up being the most beautiful word in all known creation, then the drum riff then this floaty finale that will absolutely bring tears to your eyes. It's overwhelming every damn time, and that's even before he goes falsetto for, "just say it, just say it, yeah."
Blowin' Me Up (With Her Love) is a crowd favorite - the costume, the choreography that works incredibly live, JC's obvious enjoyment of the song, our knowing the words. I think the only song that had more crotch grabbing is Come To Me...
And yes. I adore this one in a fierce way. The concept of the pills and hallucinating the whole song is genius (we did the blue pill cheer again!), and creatively executed. JC is sexy and sinuous, the dancers are fun in their glowing masks, and it sounds absolutely like nothing else out right now in the best way. You're as lost in it by the end as he is. Also, the line, "cause when I'm all alone, I lie awake and masturbate" accompanied by that exaggerated simulation gesture makes my brain fizzle. Come to think of it, there are several other moments in the show where he's barely restraining himself from stroking the microphone stand to climax.
The main reason why I was crazy enough to risk carrying this into the venue was Let's Go Crazy, because he'd said he hadn't done any cover songs. I needed even the smallest evidence of the madness that that song induced in him and everyone else in the room. And wow, yeah. First of all, he comes bouncing onto the stage like he was just starting the show, not already more than halfway through the set. And he just.doesn't.stop. The crowd is beyond mad for him from beginning to end, it's such a fantastically fun time. "If you don't like that song, there is something seriously wrong with you," was tonight's accompanying quote.
"Life is crazy, man." Profound, yo. He mentions the boys here, that he loves them all and Lance by name, who's been grooving in his seat but now stands and makes his devil horns in response. Cute moment. He goes into Days Go By, which also manages to break me several different ways, especially each time he runs that scale. It's so profoundly simple and sad. Beautiful is my word for it. And then he breaks into The Game Is Over. "You ever just feel like that? I love you but sometimes, you royally piss me off." Indeed.
"This next song is my education piece." Everything U Want is like a love letter to musical crossovery. Pop reggae never sounded so good. The spelling though, which is official since there was a posted set list, is unfortunate. JC, we know you didn't go to bus school, and Disney couldn't have done your vocabulary that large a disservice.
Shakin' It still puzzles me a bit. The whole hear no evil/speak no evil/see no evil thing, the blowing of raspberries while singing about only getting her off when he's satisfied. The song ends with him "knocking out" each of the female dancers in turn, after which he said: "I'm so mean. No, I'm not!" Oh, honey, the amount of goofiness that went into those lyrics, not to mention the choreography alone would reassure us of that.
The last song remains a nice, mellow wrap-up to the set. He thanked us again for our "blind faith" and exited stage right to change for Some Girls.
There are things in this world that will never diminish in greatness. One of those things is JC in that black sheer, sparkle-striped shirt and black sparkle-edged pants. We were close enough to see the textures of it all, and those of us against the barricades were about forehead-level with his crotch for a lot of it, to which he called plenty of attention. And! And! For the first time in three nights, he said, "bitches"! Yeah, baby. Dirty, raunchy, delightful boy. He owns everyone in the room for that song. Also, the fact that he used the word "trussed" will never please me any less than the profound amounts it does now.
Basically, San Diego was how a professional version of the show would look, tonight was an entirely club-atmosphere experience, and last night was about JC possibly having more fun than we were.
The show had actually started around 12:30, so it was "almost two o'clock," I observed (with plenty of chagrin and the obligatory accompanying lyric right after) when they started shepherding us out. Lance got past us as out in plain sight as he'd come in, walking right up the entrance hill with his posse and going completely unrecognized. Apparently,sassygurl had herself her own kind of encounter - she met Howie while waiting for her car at the valet booth. Just standing there, right next to her - she initially didn't recognize him either, and everyone had a good laugh over her asking him to sign her concert ticket, her only ready piece of paper. I'd left my headphones in the car, so after some copious squeeing over my recording triumph, we three made our way back to Schiz's. Unfortunately, I'll need some professional tech support to negotiate the hostage situation between my MiniDisc player and SonicStage. We also got in about half a round of the Backstage Pass game before calling it a night around 6:30 a.m.
We picked up
tavellafic and Donna from San Jose and headed to Mel's for lunch. Mmm, French toast and the cutest little mug of chicken noodle soup. It's this retro little fifties-looking oasis in the middle of chi-chi Sunset and somehow entirely manages to not be tacky. If you want tacky, you'll have to go a few buildings down the block to Saddle Ranch. Holy my good god, but that is the single tackiest restaurant I've ever seen, even without the egregious seasonal decor. Horses sticking out of the wall, the entire place painted to look like it's made of wooden planks, cowboy figures and other Western paraphernalia all over the outside walls. Plus sheets of plastic as snow, stringed lights, swatches of red. And this was before I saw it lit up! Lance Bass, you have such a special place in my heart, you don't even know.Donna and I toured east Sunset. We checked out the Hustler emporium, wherein, deep within the aisles of the extensive video pornography section where we were checking out penis-shaped pillows, Home For Christmas came on the in-store station. We looked at each other and dissolved into giggles just a bit. Also, one of the best shirts ever: I [heart] my penis. I want one, or at least someone I know who would appreciate it properly. We also saw the Viper Room and the Comedy Store.
Feeling brave, I walked west Sunset by myself. To tell the truth, I am more than unimpressed. It's mostly dirty, sparse, and unremarkable in every way. I did walk past Dublin's, where Justin's 22nd was held, as well as the Directors' Guild headquarters. Then I jaywalked across all four lanes of Sunset, picked up Schiz for some coffee, and finally made it to take our shift in holding our places in line.
This was around 6:20. For an 11:30 show. For which we started alternating people in line since 12:30. Stir crazy doesn't even begin to describe it towards the end. First of all, it was dreadfully cold. Even though the line was near the Standard, which blocked most of the worst wind, the air was still frigid even through three layers. We bided our time with stories, writing mostly awful round-robin fic (though
tallories and Katie complimenting my additions did lots for the illin' writer within) for which I still feel like I owe an apology, and generally trying to make it to the witching hour with at least some of our wits about us. It didn't look good for a while, but things have a way of working out.There were plenty of drunk people milling about since there'd been an earlier show, so when one of them starts ranting that a member of *NSYNC was in the United Taxi van right in front of us, no one paid much attention. There were three guys in front and two girls and guy in back, with the guy closest to the window facing us making hand-waving gestures to prevent us from getting a good look at the one sitting next to him, who was holding a red plastic cup in front of his face. Again, looking like they were just fucking with us. But the guy in the backseat was sitting the farthest from us and didn't once turn his head even so much as forward, much less toward us.
The taxi pulled past and not a minute later, a girl comes running up to the group in front of us waving her camera and squeeing about "Guess who I just met!" Yep, that had indeed been Lance in the backseat, with Jessie and another boy working distraction detail. Aaw, now that's a good boyfriend.
This HOB had a strict no-cameras policy. The recording devices this is standard, and I'd been fighting serious heartburn all day over whether or not to risk trying to bring it inside. I had plenty of opportunity to pass it off, but dammit, I had to try.
Needless to say, being brave has its rewards. I owe everything to my bag's "hidden" compartment and feel like I should write a thank you letter to Nine West.
Onto the show, and not a moment too soon.
The club is full of bitches again!
Tonight's show was definitely the most laid-back of the three. Having Lance in the balcony seemed to affect everyone in the room. He took pictures of us, and several of JC while he was performing. JC pointed/looked at him several times during the show, and played it a little safer than previously - he didn't attempt twirling the mic stand, and seemed to hold back a bit on the choreography.
All Day Long I Dream About Sex only gets better with each performance. By the end of the tour, he'll have figured out how to make people come just from listening to it. Tonight was especially fun, as everyone in the crowd knew at least the chorus - the walls practically vibrated with all the screaming, and JC was loving it.
The two rock songs, She Got Me and Sprung are such vintage 80s rock, it makes me want to discover wormholes and figure out time warping. They're fun and high energy and JC gives them both the wailing/hair-flinging treatment they so richly deserve.
One Night Stand was as hammy and irreverent as ever. "Girl, hell yeah, I know" instead of the cheeky, "Yeah, I know" tonight. Plus, the quote of the night, right after: "Pimpin' ain't easy, pimpin' ain't easy. Nah, I'm just kidding."
Build My World has this beautiful, swelling crescendo with the start of the chorus that works wonderfully with the amped bass and just hits you square in the solar plexus. Mere words cannot express my love for this song, the drums and the words and every last little chord of it. The bridge involves him singing the word "gravity" which end up being the most beautiful word in all known creation, then the drum riff then this floaty finale that will absolutely bring tears to your eyes. It's overwhelming every damn time, and that's even before he goes falsetto for, "just say it, just say it, yeah."
Blowin' Me Up (With Her Love) is a crowd favorite - the costume, the choreography that works incredibly live, JC's obvious enjoyment of the song, our knowing the words. I think the only song that had more crotch grabbing is Come To Me...
And yes. I adore this one in a fierce way. The concept of the pills and hallucinating the whole song is genius (we did the blue pill cheer again!), and creatively executed. JC is sexy and sinuous, the dancers are fun in their glowing masks, and it sounds absolutely like nothing else out right now in the best way. You're as lost in it by the end as he is. Also, the line, "cause when I'm all alone, I lie awake and masturbate" accompanied by that exaggerated simulation gesture makes my brain fizzle. Come to think of it, there are several other moments in the show where he's barely restraining himself from stroking the microphone stand to climax.
The main reason why I was crazy enough to risk carrying this into the venue was Let's Go Crazy, because he'd said he hadn't done any cover songs. I needed even the smallest evidence of the madness that that song induced in him and everyone else in the room. And wow, yeah. First of all, he comes bouncing onto the stage like he was just starting the show, not already more than halfway through the set. And he just.doesn't.stop. The crowd is beyond mad for him from beginning to end, it's such a fantastically fun time. "If you don't like that song, there is something seriously wrong with you," was tonight's accompanying quote.
"Life is crazy, man." Profound, yo. He mentions the boys here, that he loves them all and Lance by name, who's been grooving in his seat but now stands and makes his devil horns in response. Cute moment. He goes into Days Go By, which also manages to break me several different ways, especially each time he runs that scale. It's so profoundly simple and sad. Beautiful is my word for it. And then he breaks into The Game Is Over. "You ever just feel like that? I love you but sometimes, you royally piss me off." Indeed.
"This next song is my education piece." Everything U Want is like a love letter to musical crossovery. Pop reggae never sounded so good. The spelling though, which is official since there was a posted set list, is unfortunate. JC, we know you didn't go to bus school, and Disney couldn't have done your vocabulary that large a disservice.
Shakin' It still puzzles me a bit. The whole hear no evil/speak no evil/see no evil thing, the blowing of raspberries while singing about only getting her off when he's satisfied. The song ends with him "knocking out" each of the female dancers in turn, after which he said: "I'm so mean. No, I'm not!" Oh, honey, the amount of goofiness that went into those lyrics, not to mention the choreography alone would reassure us of that.
The last song remains a nice, mellow wrap-up to the set. He thanked us again for our "blind faith" and exited stage right to change for Some Girls.
There are things in this world that will never diminish in greatness. One of those things is JC in that black sheer, sparkle-striped shirt and black sparkle-edged pants. We were close enough to see the textures of it all, and those of us against the barricades were about forehead-level with his crotch for a lot of it, to which he called plenty of attention. And! And! For the first time in three nights, he said, "bitches"! Yeah, baby. Dirty, raunchy, delightful boy. He owns everyone in the room for that song. Also, the fact that he used the word "trussed" will never please me any less than the profound amounts it does now.
Basically, San Diego was how a professional version of the show would look, tonight was an entirely club-atmosphere experience, and last night was about JC possibly having more fun than we were.
The show had actually started around 12:30, so it was "almost two o'clock," I observed (with plenty of chagrin and the obligatory accompanying lyric right after) when they started shepherding us out. Lance got past us as out in plain sight as he'd come in, walking right up the entrance hill with his posse and going completely unrecognized. Apparently,
sassygurl had herself her own kind of encounter - she met Howie while waiting for her car at the valet booth. Just standing there, right next to her - she initially didn't recognize him either, and everyone had a good laugh over her asking him to sign her concert ticket, her only ready piece of paper. I'd left my headphones in the car, so after some copious squeeing over my recording triumph, we three made our way back to Schiz's. Unfortunately, I'll need some professional tech support to negotiate the hostage situation between my MiniDisc player and SonicStage. We also got in about half a round of the Backstage Pass game before calling it a night around 6:30 a.m.
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no subject
Date: December 6th, 2003 02:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: December 6th, 2003 02:35 pm (UTC)http://www.minidisc.org/netmd_upload_proposal.html
Also see if there is any info up at http://www.minidisco.com/
no subject
Date: December 6th, 2003 02:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: December 6th, 2003 02:38 pm (UTC)Glad you've been enjoying the concert reviews. I feel more fourteen and entertaining than twenty-one and coherent, but it's all good.
no subject
Date: December 6th, 2003 03:09 pm (UTC)Lance! And Prince!
JC is currently entrenched in my number one SDB spot. Poor Lance has been relegated to number two.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share the experience with us. It's the next best thing to being there. (well until we get a bootleg or a DVD)
no subject
Date: December 6th, 2003 04:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: December 6th, 2003 06:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: December 6th, 2003 06:41 pm (UTC)Just sayin'. ;)
no subject
Date: December 6th, 2003 08:15 pm (UTC)All hail Nine West!!!
no subject
Date: December 6th, 2003 11:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: December 7th, 2003 09:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: December 7th, 2003 02:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: December 7th, 2003 02:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: December 7th, 2003 02:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: December 8th, 2003 09:12 am (UTC)I'm literally salivating over hearing your recordings! And I'm so glad to have met you! Have a safe flight back home! :)
no subject
Date: December 8th, 2003 09:24 am (UTC)Recordings soon!
no subject
Date: December 8th, 2003 01:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: December 8th, 2003 02:43 pm (UTC)Okay with you?
no subject
Date: December 9th, 2003 12:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: December 9th, 2003 12:58 am (UTC)