my little corner of the web: August 2021

A gazillion years ago (well, more like two, but it feels like so much longer), back in the BeforeTimes, our hero bought three tickets to what promised to be an epic day of music, camaraderie, dancing, and singing. The Hella Mega Tour had been announced, and the weirdly-synergistic combination of Weezer, Fall Out Boy, and Green Day were going to make their way across the globe. Through diligence, judicious use of alarms, and frequent refreshes of a web page, she managed to snag three primo Rainbow Unicorn VIP tickets, nearly dead center in the first row.

Then the wait began for the concert that was scheduled in the following year.

Then the wait continued, for The Plague descended and the concert was postponed.

And the wait continued continuing, as twice again the concert was pushed forward.

Then one day, the word came down: The concert was happening. Thanks to vaccines and masks, things were being dubbed "safe enough" to continue. Not fully safe, there was still risk, but it was manageable. Thus is life as a human: determining what acceptable risk was and learning to live within its parameters.

And then, six days before the concert, drama. The third member of the entourage backed out. Much disappointment, anger, frustration, confusion followed. Sadly, this member had a history of last-minute flaking, so while it wasn't a surprise, it hurt, especially since this event had been two-plus years in the making and was specifically done as a rare chance to do something big and fun together.

But sometimes life can give you opportunities, and we lucked out big time with this one. We reached out to a friend in a neighboring state and made the offer, not expecting anything given the state of <waves hands around at everything> things.

She said yes!! With vaccination and masks and common sense and a bit of caution, we could make it happen! And thus was lemonade made from lemons and a good (awesome!) time was had that would not have otherwise come into being.

Yay!!

It was an amazing time with an amazing friend who we hadn't seen for almost three years and we missed terribly. The timing and logistics were damned near perfect, eerily so. Picking her up in Vegas, dovetailing her working from our place with our own commitments so that no one felt like they were causing complications, the traffic to the venue, the parking being available, the weather cooperating, the merchandise line being the exact right length so that we all met up again right as we were being let into the venue, the VIP lounge (and the VIP bathrooms, an unexpected bonus), the VIP food (saved so much time and money), the VIP bar (ditto the time, though not ditto the money). Even when the day was over, the weirdly benevolent timing gods were still with us: our routines meshed beautifully, the decision making was easy, and even the trip back to Vegas was smooth and trouble free (and we even discovered a super tasty restaurant).

It quite literally could not have been any better. Oh, and the concert itself was INCREDIBLE. The backstage tour was fascinating, the seats were damned good, people were friendly and respectful, masks and vaccines were the order of the day, everyone was excited and happy. It was an amazing atmosphere of joy and shared experience.

The Interrupters opened and were high energy and so much fun. Then Weezer, with Rivers in his mulleted glory giving his all. Fall Out Boy were the spectacle they always are, with elaborate sets, elevated drum kits, fire-spewing guitars, a piano on fire, and a surprisingly high-res animated background that all came together for a hell of a time. Green Day were flipping awesome, Billie Joe was amped and the crowd fed on it and gave that energy back for a feedback loop that made the time fly.

I've seen the three main bands before, and have been to many Green Day shows (six? seven?) and they all lived up to the hype and the expectations and the weight of the delays and the world and the weariness and isolation we'd all been experiencing.

It was a once in a lifetime vibe and I'm so glad it happened the way it did.

And now, some pics:

How can you not love this poster?? It really set the tone for the whole thing.

A long day. We got there around 2pm so we'd have time to get merchandise and get in line early. It worked out brilliantly.

View from the stage, courtesy of the Rainbow Unicorn VIP backstage tour. (Plus bonus Staceyfinger (whoops))

Madame Brooke, me, and Will from the stage, with the hardcore pit folks already snagging their places up front. Our seats are straight out from the stage, right at that security barrier.

The three of us (and many others) masked up when we were around others and indoors. I love my puking unicorn. :^D

I was introduced to the glory that is "Taco in a Bag". I had never had this culinary delight before, but I'll definitely be having it again.

Taken in the VIP lounge (called "The Dive Bar" and decorated to match the name).

The Interrupters. They rocked.

It's funny...you know more Weezer songs that you realize. And *everyone* sang along on "Africa".

The spectacle that is Fall Out Boy. That guitar shot flames out the end and the top of the piano was literally on fire a bit later.

I absolutely love when stadiums are lit up by the thousands of people there with you. Goosebumps.

Hometown crowd made it a crazy high-energy night. This is one of the only pics I got of Green Day; I put away my phone and just reveled in the moment.