Friday, August 16, 2013

A Family Of Black Sheep

In addition to everything else I did in California, I went to VidCon and had the time of my life. I'll start off by saying that it completely exceeded my expectations in every way imaginable. Hailey and I got to Anaheim on August 1st, the Industry day, and we registered for the convention. It was a good thing we did that because the next day, the registration line wrapped around the building. We didn't have to wait at all. The convention gives you a goodie bag and a lanyard with your pass on it. The passions part of the pass is my favorite.



Scottish Folds are cats and I'm obsessed with them. Hailey's passions were airplane food and long romantic walks on the beach. Neither of us were capable of being too serious about it. Our registration day was uneventful on the VidCon front. We did go to see the X Games and Awolnation, which I talked about before. 

Everything picked up a lot on Day 1 of VidCon. We woke up early (8am) and walked to the convention center. There we were led to the wrong line. What we wanted was to get in line to be let into the main room where we would queue to meet Charlie McDonnell (charlieissocoollike). We were put in line for the Kia Mainstage show. So we waited for 45 minutes before being let in and realizing that we were in the wrong place. It worked out okay because we made our way to the small line for the big room. There we met new friends and eventually got let in. We went right for Charlie and were among some of the first people in line. I bought one of his posters because it was a gift for a friend and had him sign it for her. It was great. 

We had to get to a meet up (to wait in line and ensure we would make the cutoff) but we stopped at there merchandise table and I bought a Dan and Phil shirt and Dan's llama hat because I'm dumb but it makes me so happy.


After that we ran to sit in line for John and Hank Green's "meet up". They need to call these things panels instead of meet ups. Anyway, we waited for a while (we ended up being some of the first people in line) and when we were let in, we got front row seats. John and Hank answered questions and talked about Nerdfighteria and TFIOS among many other things. When it was over, Hailey (who had come for John and Hank) went up to the panel and took a blurry selfie with John. 

Hailey was about to die and we made our way (as best as we could) down to the Dan and Phil signing. What you must understand is that they are the reason I came to VidCon. I went across the United States for them, as Hailey did for John and Hank. They are important to me. And when we got downstairs, the line went all the way down the wall of the convention center. It's hard to give a good idea of how long the line was but the room is massive. When we got to the end of the line a staff member said, "Sorry, the line's been cut off." 

That was almost the end, I almost had a heart attack. Hailey told me later that she saw my face and thought to herself, "Oh shit, I gotta fix this..." 

Luckily I wasn't going down without a fight. The line zig zags inside of some chains (like at an amusement park) at a certain point. Dan and Phil's line had a lot of extra people because they're popular. But we went to where the zig zagging begins and explained our predicament to a girl who was extremely understanding. She agreed to let us join her in line. I owe my life to this girl. But we held her spot while she went to get her friends from another signing and bring them to the Dan and Phil one, so I think we're even. Anyway, we waited two hours. The entire time I was telling Hailey about how she has to take candids for me on my phone. 

Finally, we were at the front of the line after having people cut in front of us and I got to meet two of my favorite people on the planet. 







I'm not even going to write about meeting them in detail. I don't like doing that. And I think the pictures are more than good enough. But they were incredibly nice and they completed my entire year by being so lovely to me. There were professional photographs but mine (as per usual) are missing. We also took a Polaroid and somehow (as per usual) it was horribly overexposed. It might be because of the fact that each light in the ceiling burnt with the strength of a thousand suns. Regardless, I love them. And it was perfect in every way. 

After meeting Dan and Phil, I wanted to take a picture with the giant shark they had put in for Shark Week. Hailey kept saying that she didn't want to be in a picture with the shark. Guess who was in the picture with the shark? Hailey.


We also got interviewed by USA Today. They asked me what I liked about Dan and Phil. I said, "Everything."

After all of that, we went to see a Kia Mainstage Show. We went to the bathroom first and when we were in there, Miranda Sings walked by, trying to hide her face. I'm not a fan of hers but after she left Hailey and I started laughing uncontrollably. 

The Kia Show was great because there was a British YouTubers panel (it was the best part) and it was absolutely hilarious. And Casper was there, even though he's South African. We were front row for that show because we went in a side entrance and sat on the floor while they did run throughs. No one got mad at us until 5 minutes before they let people in. A lady came over telling us to leave and another came and said, "Let them be, the show's about to start anyway." 

Those were the best parts of Day 1 in summary. We hung around for the rest of the day. We had dinner at the food truck area (which was so cool!) and then we went to the concerts for a while. We coincidentally met up with our friends and Hank's performance was great. 

On Day 2 we woke up early again to get in line (to get in line) for John and Hank's signing. We waited for a while but it was definitely okay. I took photos of Hailey talking to them for her and John complimented her dress. When I met them, I had them sign my lanyard and John saw that my passion was Matt Bellamy. He said, "Matt Bellamy... Who's Matt Bellamy?" And I told him that he was in Muse. And John said, "He's your Muse?" I laughed and replied, "No, he's in Muse." Hank cut in and said, "Muse! Yes, Muse." And John responded, "Yes, okay Muse!" It was cute and it made me happy. 


After meeting John and Hank, we saw that the line for Kingsley was pretty short so we decided to meet him, too. When I went up he asked me where I was from and I told him that I come from Pennsylvania. He was like, "Oh my god?! That's far... Whereabouts?" Very sweet. 

Hailey and I had lunch and then we went to the Jacksgap meet up... That might've been the worst idea ever. The line zig zagged and wrapped around in so many different directions. It was insane. Then when we got into the meet up room, anarchy set in. A girl had them sign a mannequin head named Debora and people were screaming and cheering and squealing. It was scary, I truly feared for my life. To put the insanity into perspective, there was a woman standing on a chair in the middle of the room. 


Anarchy... After we bailed early on that meet up, we went to the final Kia Mainstage show, which changed my life and outlook completely. I cannot put into words what it felt like to be there, to be a part of it. I'm going to be in a movie. So is Hailey, and everyone else in that crowd. They filmed the opening and closing shots for Vlogumentary (which is supposed to be in theaters). Those shots were of the crowd cheering and crying and going wild. There was a bit that a man did. His name escapes me but it's on the tip of my tongue. He did something called the Human Test, where he read questions out loud and you raised your hand if they applied to you. For example, one question was along the lines of, "Have you ever been in a public place and wanted to throw your arms out as wide as they can go, and scream?" People raised their hands. People threw out their arms and screamed. At the end he closed his computer and said, "Congratulations. You've passed the test. You are human." The Human Test made me cry. So did the trailer for Vlogumentary. 

There's probably a video of what I'm going to explain next but I'm going to explain it regardless. WheezyWaiter had a sketch where he accidentally put rat poisoning into John and Hank's coffee. They came onstage drinking it. And John and Hank died. Onstage. WheezyWaiter realized that he had fucked up and he went on a mission to find people to come and sing because he was told that you can revive them with song. So he left the stage and on the video screen, they played a video of his struggle to find people. He went to Shaytards who had all of his children clinging to him. WheezyWaiter told him what was happening and Shay said, "I have too many kids..." Wheezy said, "But it's Hank and John!" And Shay threw Rocktard onto the bed and said, "I didn't like this one anyway!" WheezyWaiter continued his search for help and he ended up getting in a brawl with another guy whose name also escapes me. They end up in a hot tub before WheezyWaiter realized that he had to go. 

Then he came back onstage, wearing a bathing suit and talking about how he exactly find people to help. The photos of him standing over John's dead body are incredible out of context. Then the other guy came out and said, "I found people." And he brought out every single YouTuber at the convention. It was awesome because Dan and Phil were in front of me but that's beside the point. Everyone onstage started singing Never Gonna Give You Up to bring John and Hank back to life. Once they were alive again, everyone was dancing and having a good time onstage and it was one of the most beautiful things ever. 


We had dinner at the Hilton and walked around more once it got dark. When we were walking, a guy approached us and asked if we liked Bohemian Rhapsody. Once we began talking he told us about this project he's doing for a new YouTube channel of his where he's having people sing lines of songs. He's going to put it all together and add beats and everything. So Hailey and I sang, "I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all" and it was great. 

We went to the concert and tried our hardest to stay but after a few bad acts, we bailed and went to sleep. 

The next day my alarm didn't go off but I woke up at 9 and jumped out of bed to check the time. This was the Disney day. We got ready (with our VidCon shirts), went to the cafe at the Double Tree, and then went to the Hilton to catch the VidCon shuttle to the park. 


We had a lot of trouble finding the shuttle (which was in front of the Marriott instead of the Hilton but once we got on, we didn't have any issues whatsoever. We got to the park and boarded the monorail which took us to one of my favorite parts of the park, Tomorrowland. It was actually my first time at Disneyland (don't worry, I've been to Disney World in Florida) and it was one of the sweetest days ever. We went on Space Mountain first, which is one of my absolute favorite rides. And it's nice looking. 


While we were waiting in line, Hailey and I were having heart palpitations because the new Doctor was about to be announced. We were both pleased with the outcome. Also when we were in line, a guy told us when and where the VidCon group photo would be happening so we spread that information for the rest of the day. 

We went on It's A Small World which was worth it because it was so cute. I don't know, we went on tons of rides. My favorites were absolutely Space Mountain and Indiana Jones, which we rode twice. I got to "drive" the car the first time and the man next to me kept yelling, "LEARN HOW TO DRIVE!" which made everyone laugh. During one part, we drive through a cavern where the walls were basically made up of skulls and I gestured to the room and said, "My collection" and Hailey and I both laughed hysterically. 

The best part was there were some VidCon people who were really cool and they would wave and cheer and yell, "VidCon!" whenever they walked past someone wearing the shirt. It was amazing. 

When it came time for the group shot, we gathered in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle, completely blocking the bridge and (probably) creating a serious hazard. People were playing games until it was time for the photo to be taken. At that point, security had came over. We were all cheering and screaming and smiling like idiots. We were chanting, "VidCon, VidCon, VidCon" faster and faster until it fizzled out to nothing but clapping and yelling. It literally unbelievable. I think the guards were supposed to disband us but once they saw how happy everyone was, they couldn't possibly not give into that happiness. One of the workers even ran out of the crowd, made everyone cheer, and then ran back. 

The event lasted for quite a while and one of the VidCon people hushed the crowd and had us film a video for John and Hank saying, "GOOD MORNING JOHN AND HANK, IT'S VIDCON!" Which nearly brought me to tears. The thought of that still makes me emotional. 

Now you don't understand how big the crowd was. Here are some photos. The first one is from where I was standing (you can see that we attracted another crowd entirely). The second is a panorama from my angle. The third is the one that VidCon posted. 




Hailey and I spent the rest of the day going on rides and enjoying the fact that we were having a completely blissful day. There was never any wait that lasted over 1 hour. We weren't arguing. I bought an R2D2 hat after going on Star Tours. She bought a Lady (Lady and the Tramp) Pillow Pet.



We went to a weird futuristic exhibit in Tomorrowland where we saw Stark Industries Iron Man suits. That was something I found extremely exciting. 



When it got dark I got an Coca Cola float and she got ice cream and we secured dope spots for the fireworks show, which was pretty. I almost had a heart attack when Dumbo flew over the castle. 


While we were waiting for the show to start I turned to Hailey and said, "I don't want to forget what this feels like." That's why I wrote a blog post about VidCon exclusively. I'm making the experience and the feelings I felt everlasting. 

At 11 we took the shuttle back to the Hilton where we loitered until my mom came to pick us up and take us to Dana Point.

Now that the storytelling is out of the way, I need to explain why it was so important to me. We teenagers have stereotypes pinned down on us by adults and I learned that it was okay to live up to those stereotypes every once and a while. I realized that being a teenager is acceptable because I lived it. It struck me that I don't have to worry about being an adult. I'll have plenty of time to do that once I am and adult so why should I waste my years as a teenager acting like one? The best example of "being a teenager" is the USA Today interview. There were 4 of us being interviewed and the camera man and interviewer had us look at the camera and yell, "Dan and Phil!" And it didn't upset me. I did it and I wasn't embarrassed. Because I'm allowed to be like that if I want to be. I might as well do so while I can. 

I don't remember where I was but I heard someone behind me say, "We are a family of black sheep." And that hit me. I don't know if I've ever heard something that resounded with me quite like that did. The thing about VidCon is exactly that: we are a family of black sheep. We're all here together because of online video, a family. And the black sheep part plays into the convention in a lot of ways. We're not normal. Online video is not normal. People are ridiculed for loving online video. I find that to be ridiculous. Do you know what it means to some people? It means solace and it means a place to be understood. VidCon is the embodiment of that notion. 

I'm grateful to have heard someone say those 7 words because they helped me to verbalize the feelings I felt at the convention. VidCon is important because it makes people feel understood. If we're a family of black sheep or a group of misfits, we all get it. People go to VidCon because they get it. A girl that cut in front of me in the Dan and Phil line started crying when she saw them. I smiled at her and said, "Me too" and she said, "You don't understand". That was one of the only times I was upset. Of course I understand. Would I be here if I didn't? It isn't like you know what I've been through or why Dan and Phil became so important to me in the first place. You can't act superior because we're all here for the same reason: we get it. The Human Test was trying to convey a message that goes hand and hand with that: we're all human, we're not alone. We are so singleminded, it's virtually impossible to understand that there are other people who feel the things you feel. I know this because I feel this way often. But I do realize that I'm not alone and that no one is ever alone in anything. Ever. 

You can ask what VidCon is. You can try to understand what it means. No one can fathom the importance of the convention without going for a reason. We are a family of black sheep. We've been there. We exist. And we understand. 

California 2013

I'm going to be writing two blog posts about my trip to California. I needed to have a post dedicated entirely to VidCon and that will be coming up next.

The trip started with 12 hours of nonstop anxiety. I arrived at the Philadelphia airport with my mom and Hailey and at self check in, we were told that our flight was cancelled and rescheduled to 5am, the next day. We had booked with Expedia and my mom was furious that they hadn't bothered to mention the cancellation. We went to talk to a real person who was able to book 3 seats for us on a flight later that afternoon. The issue was that there was a stop and we had been taking a nonstop flight before. Because of that, my mom called Expedia to make sure that they would reimburse the difference. Unfortunately, the operator on the other line cancelled our entire flight which meant that we lost the three seats on the outgoing flight. She never got permission to cancel anything to begin with. 

This wouldn't have been a big deal, but unfortunately we had paid $500 per ticket. When the order was cancelled, we lost that "credit". What that meant was that if we wanted to get on a Philadelphia flight, we would have to pay $3000. One way. Per person. When my mom demanded to speak to a supervisor, the conversation continued for a few minutes before the supervisor hung up on her.

At that point and for the next 3 hours, we had no way to get to California. We literally did not have the means to get there. For 3 hours. And Hailey and I had been looking forward to this trip for 7 months. 

My mother just about lost it and she spent those 3 hours on the phone trying to fix something that she seemed to have virtually no control over. Eventually my mom was able to squeeze compassion out of someone on the other line and they started to help us. We couldn't get a flight out of Philadelphia so we had to go to Newark, New Jersey. And we had to take a train to 30th Street Station, then to Newark, to get there in time. And the train was leaving in 7 minutes. We were still in the terminal. 

We all picked up our belongings as quickly as possible and hoofed it down to the train. Unfortunately we missed the first one and had to wait another 15 minutes for the next. Once it arrived, we had a fairly short ride to 30th Street where we bought tickets to Newark and went on our way. By this point, we had been going for about 4 hours. 

The ride was nice because we sat in the cafe car and I bought the last personal pizza. My mom and I listened to Brick + Mortar's newest songs and we all ate and tried to calm down after all the stress. The only negative part about the train ride was that there was a woman giving us rude glances (as if she could possibly understand or sympathize with what we had been through) and talking loudly without stopping for air. 

When we got to Newark we boarded a monorail where we laughed about how our suitcases (with Pillow Pets attached) rolled around the cabin. It had been 5 hours.

In the airport, we had a fairly stress free wait for our tickets to be assigned to us. It took a while but there wasn't any worrying involved. We all had a laugh about how my mom's suitcase weighed exactly 50 pounds, but when you lifted her luggage tag, it lost half a pound of its weight. 


After we finished checking our bags, we went to security. It had been around 5 and a half hours and we only had half an hour to get to our gate and board. What this meant is that I was on the verge of angry tears for 20 minutes. I had to have film hand checked which only added to the anxiety. And once we finished, I grabbed my shoes and ran without bothering to put them on. (This might've been a bad idea because the moving sidewalks are pretty sharp.)

After 6 hours, we were finally on the plane and I cannot put into words how great that felt. There were a lot of celebratory selfies involved and I calmed down enough to finish The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. 



Solace only lasted for so long because, despite a good flight and baggage claim experience, rental car lines led to my ultimate demise. To try to give an idea of what that line looked like, here's a photo of about 1/4 of the line/cluster-fuck.


We ended up waiting for 2 hours, after already going through hell during the entire first half of the day. For the umpteenth time that day, I was about to be in tears. It wasn't fair for things to go the way that they did. Hailey sat and watched American Horror Story on her iPod while I read On Writing Well by William Zinsser. Once my mom made it to the front of the line, she met with an associate who understood the gravity of the situation and allowed us to choose our car. Our convertible. After everything, we got to rent a Mustang convertible and that alone made me feel much better. 


Our first meal in California was at In n Out. Hailey had decided that she wanted this the second we thought about going on this trip. It was my first time getting food there and I was not disappointed. 



We drove for an hour and a half to Huntington Beach. Our hotel was fantastic and then everything really started to be okay. Despite the hell we had faced getting to California, it had all started to look up. (Even if it was 2 in the morning by the time we were ready to sleep.)

The next day, Hailey slept in while my mom and I woke up and had breakfast together on our porch. The view was really incredible...


The two of us went to the US Open of Surfing, we had made it to California just in time for the finals. It was great to watch people surf on a professional level. And I got some really great shots with my nice camera. Hailey came and miraculously found us a couple of hours after we arrived. After the surfing was finished, we walked around for a while, got free hats, and left. 


I also wore my Brick + Mortar shirt around that day, represent. 


That night Hailey and I went to shoot photos under the pier when my mom urgently called us and told us to come home. That was incidentally the night of the riot and we were unaware until we got back to the hotel. I don't think anyone died but windows were smashed, tear gas was used, and people were very, very drunk. 

But the next few days were really great. We went to the beach, hung around the hotel pool, and spent a lot of time on Main Street exploring. I went to an art gallery with my mom one day and I got to see the work of Anthony Ausgang, one of my favorite artists, in person. 


Somehow, the gallery was actually closed when we were there. They let a few people in anyway but while we were walking around, they turned off the lights leaving the few people in the gallery in darkness. I really loved this painting, anyway. 


My mom and I also met Timmy Turner (not the cartoon character) at his family's restaurant. He was a professional surfer who contracted MRSA. He was in a coma and it ate away 3/4 of his skull, apparently. He was never supposed to surf again. He did.

One day we went out to LA and we visited the Murder House from American Horror story. Hailey wanted to take pictures but forgot her memory card (it was okay because we went back). 


We also went to Amoeba where I felt something akin to a spiritual experience. I bought a lot of CDs that I could never find at home, and some that I'd just been meaning to purchase. For example I found a Talking Heads best of/live CD in the Used section. I bought Mount Kimbie's physical Carbonated single release (such a score). I got Halfaxa and Geidi Primes by Grimes which I didn't knew existed in physical forms. I also found LP by Discovery and (of course) Born to Die by Lana Del Rey. And I bought the Come As You Are compact disc/maxi single by Nirvana. And they gave me Amoeba stickers. It was really beautiful. 


We had plenty of other adventures in Huntington Beach but we left for VidCon in Anaheim on August 1st. Since VidCon is a separate post, I'll talk about it later. But while we were in Anaheim, we drove a while to see Awolnation and the X Games. Both were great. Although on AWOL's part, I prefer their previous drummer. Aaron sounded great, anyway. 


We were meant to stay in Anaheim until we left but my mom couldn't bear the Double Tree for another day so we left for Dana Point which was absolutely lovely. I swear the bed at that hotel is the most comfortable bed I've ever slept in. It also had the softest sheets. 

On our "off day" I rented a surfboard. We shoved it into the back of the convertible and strapped it in. And then we drove off. 



We went beach hopping. It was amazing to drive down Route 1 with the top down, blasting Grouplove and Robert Delong. We went to Little Corona Beach where there was no riptide whatsoever and there were lots of rocks and tide pools to either side of the swimming beach. Hailey took tons of photos and we had a really good time looking at the tiny crabs and snails. 

On the way to Doheny Beach (which is right next to the hotel) we stopped at a roadside Ruby's and I swear I might've been the happiest person alive. We got to Doheny Beach eventually and that's where I went surfing. It was crazy because the water becomes very deep, very quickly. 5 feet into the water, I could no longer touch the bottom. But I sat on the board in what felt like the open ocean with some other surfers. There weren't many waves but when there were, they were big and I caught a few.

I wasn't disappointed. 

The next day was when we went home. We stopped at the Murder House again for a photo and Hailey tried to visit the bench from 500 Days of Summer but the park was closed. After that we went to UCLA and I fell in love. It's currently my top school. Then we went to In n Out one last time and returned our rental car. We got on a flight back to Newark and didn't get home until midnight.

The trip was excellent. VidCon was the best, I can't wait to talk about that. I also can't wait to go next year (to VidCon, and to California itself). A lot of people think California is special and I might have to agree with that idea. When I was in Huntington Beach I felt like I belonged there. Maybe someday. 

Monday, July 1, 2013

Firefly 2013

I finally decided that I wanted to document events in my life via writing and photos. I want to be a musician and I figure that writing about concerts and festivals might help me get in touch with that. A few weeks ago I went to Firefly Festival for the second year with my mom, my friend Hope, and Hope's mom. I was entirely unaware that you could bring an SLR camera to the event so most of the photos are either Hope's or my mom's because she never stops taking photos.

We got a little lost on the way to the campground because of heavy traffic and detours. Luckily, we were staying at the nicest campground in the Woodlands and we had direct access to the festival while the other grounds weren't attached.

While my mom and Mrs. Kelly (Hope's mom, yes. Also known as Wolfmother...) set up the tent, Hope and I ran to see The Neighbourhood, knowing that we would've missed the show if the drive had taken any longer. We had pretty good spots and I was excited seeing as they were one of my current favorite bands. The show ended up being good, but not one of my favorites. It was expected and nothing was over the top. It was music.


Hope and I stayed in our spots after they finished because Django Django were coming up next and that was a show we'd both been waiting to see for a long time. While we were standing there, a man walked down the center aisle made by the barricades, stopped for a second, and asked, "Do you want this setlist?" as if he had to get it off his hands. Obviously I took it and my group started calling me 'Setlist Queen'. 

Sooner or later as the sun began to inch its way higher and higher into the sky, Django Django came on and played a fantastic set. Before it started I said to Hope, "I bet they'll open with Hail Bop" which is exactly what they did. I'd have to say my favorite part was when the band said, "This next song's called Firewater... It's about getting drunk." They also played Skies Over Cairo and Default which is one of my favorite songs of all time. 



After that, Hope and I met up with the moms and we went to see Twenty One Pilots which we all enjoyed a lot. I personally don't know them very well and I've never gotten into their music. But the show was amazing and Tyler Joseph climbed the scaffolding and stood on top of the stage. 



They also handed the crowd two drums and two square platforms, had the people hold everything up, and then they stood on top of them and played the drums. It's hard to explain and you might not understand but I don't have a photo of it and you'll just have to take my word for it: it was very cool.

After that we hung around the tent and explored and ate. I decided that our campground was perfect and we hung up some butterfly lights and talked with the moms until it was time for us to part ways to attend our respected shows.


Then Hope and I went to Grizzly Bear which made me very emotional because they are absolutely amazing. And the show itself was absolutely beautiful. They played Speak In Rounds and Gun-Shy and it was perfect. 

We then went to find the moms at Red Hot Chili Peppers but given the size of the crowd, it was stupid to think that we could and in the end, impossible. But Hope and I had an incredible time. We got fairly close to the stage but we still had room to move and dance and we ended up having a mosh pit with the people around us. Although, I was uncomfortable for about half the show because this extremely creepy guy was staring at me and giving me looks. Basically, he did the same to Hope and we were both being objectified. I was pretty angry because it's apparently become impossible to dress for yourself. I'm wearing shorts because it's extremely hot out, not because I want to be penetrated or gaped at by half of the male population. 

Anyway, the set was incredible and it was one of my favorite shows at the festival. By The Way is, in my opinion, one of the best songs ever written and when they played it, the entire crowd went mental.


After that there were midnight EDM shows and forest raves, etc. It was all amazing at night. Except on this night, a less-than-stellar dance group were playing on the Backyard Stage. Note: this stage is literally in my backyard since we were camping in the Hideout. At one point a girl onstage said, "CLAP YOUR FUCKING HANDS!" and Mrs. Kelly said, "Go to sleep..." Comedic gold. We never went to any of those shows because of sheer exhaustion, even though I had planned to go to them all. We slept a little less than soundly and I woke up the next morning, far too early, before waking up Hope and going to take showers. 

The first show on Day Two was Blondfire at 1:45pm so we ended up having way too much time to kill, seeing as I had woken Hope up at 8am. I don't remember what we did but I think it involved spending a lot of time in the car putting on makeup more carefully than usual and sitting in the air conditioned tent playing napping or playing phone games.


We got to Blondfire and scored barrier spots right in front of their lovely guitarist, Steve. I had seen them once, opening for Awolnation so I knew the general lay of the land. I also quite like their music. But their show was great and Hope really liked it which I appreciate a lot since she hadn't heard them before. She also took a lot of great photos of Steve and Erica for me. Sadly, they didn't play My Someday or Oxygen but they closed with Where the Kids Are which is good enough for me.




After that we explored a little more. We also went back to the air conditioned lounge tent and slept, I believe. The next show was Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes at 6pm so we had time to kill. We were going to that show for two reasons: Hope wanted to hear a few songs and MGMT were playing next on that stage. 

Between shows, we went to the hammock area where Hope and I found a very sad excuse for a hammock. We couldn't both sit on it at once which ultimately resulted in sadness and strong feelings of betrayal. 




We went and we got tons of great photos and while Hope wished we hadn't gone for the most part, I enjoyed the show so much. It was really personal somehow and while I'm not a fan of gigantic bands, they made it work. Alex was really great because he stood in the crowd and held a lot of hands. They also had a story time thing where he went into the crowd and people said things. Everyone had talked about the band and Alex said, "Okay, so is there anything not about the band?" and a guy behind me was saying, "YES, HERE! ALEX!" and he came over and handed the guy the microphone and he said, "I just asked my girlfriend to marry me!" and the crowd went absolutely wild. 

I can't explain it because being there felt so special, even to someone who didn't know the band. 



We waited for MGMT for a bit and my friend Addy joined us. It was awesome to see her again because I'd met her for the first time at MGMT's Musikfest show. She made for some excellent company and a wonderful person to talk to and hang out with. And I accidentally stole her flower crown... 


MGMT played and it was absolutely beautiful. Apparently I'm on the the only people at the festival who thinks so but that's more than good enough for me. James made faces at me and they played Congratulations which is almost unarguably my favorite song of all time. I also got the setlist at this show which was very cool. I was at the barrier and there was a man breaking down Ben's equipment so I said, "Can I please have the setlist?" (The key is being polite okay?) and he nodded and made a give-me-a-second gesture. Then he go the setlist and gave it to the security guard who asked, "who do you want to give it to?" and the man said, "the girl in the MGMT shirt" and that's the story of how I managed to get my second MGMT setlist. 




Then we went to bed, only to be woken up by Big Gigantic playing on the Backyard Stage at 1 in the morning. Thankfully, they were pretty good. But the fact that you could feel the bass through the ground was not conducive to happy sleeping. 

I ended up waking up a little later the next day and Hope and I showered without waiting in a line. We hung out in that air conditioned lounge again until the gates opened. The first show was Delta Rae, a band that Hope wanted to see that I had not heard of. Their set ended up being really awesome. As cliche as it sounds, they were really energetic and I enjoyed it a lot, despite the fact that it had started to drizzle. 



After that we sprinted through much heavier rain to see Haim. I was really frustrated because after the rain stopped, it became so humid that all you could do was swim, sweat, and wish for death. Despite the unforgiving weather conditions, the show was amazing and I'm really happy I got to see them. At the end they played the shit out of their drums and everyone was flipping out. It was so cool. I aspire to be that rad. 


Seeing as I wanted to die, I went back to the air conditioned tent with Hope and the moms and we hung out there for a while. It started to monsoon and there was a lot of thunder and lightning and I was worrying that they'd cancel Vampire Weekend or do something tragic like that. Despite the fact that I moped for a solid three hours, Mrs. Kelly had to check on our tent in the middle of the rainstorm so she made a show of putting on her rain poncho and running out of the lounge with her arms spread as if she was about to take off and fly. That not only made me laugh, but left the entire tent in a state of uproar consisting of laughter and confusion.


And despite the drizzles, we went to see the wonderful Robert Delong. I loved him before the festival and I love him even more now. It basically boils down to the fact that he is so talented and watching him perform is incredible. He's a one person, electronic music making machine and he uses game controllers (Like a Wii remote and a typical joystick) hooked up to MIDI controls to make some of the sounds in his music. Blown away. He also has a full drumkit set up and he'll have the track playing, and then he starts drumming in the middle of the fucking show. It's remarkable. 





I also had the pleasure of meeting him because some artists have meet and greets. I bought his album (I had downloaded it and then decided that he deserved the money for being so fucking awesome...) and they gave me a wristband. Sadly, Hope didn't have money with her and I didn't have enough for her as well so I was a lone soldier. 

But I got to meet him and he was extremely cool. We took a (sadly, very over exposed) polaroid and he signed my album. He asked me what my name is and I told him, "Paige, with an I" and he said, "I love it!" as he wrote. I told him he was incredible and he said thank you so much. He also spoke aloud as he wrote, "You are... (and he paused to think of a good word) ...radical, the L is also an exclamation point." Then we hugged and I went on my way after saying thank you. I have a really hard time writing about meeting people because I'm never crazily excited externally. I also don't like to write about meeting said people but this made my day even better than it had been in the first place so I felt obliged to include it. 


After that Hope and I had burrito bowls and went to the end of Dispatch's set to get a good spot for Vampire Weekend. My friend had been saving a spot for me (front and center, too) but I never made it to her. Hope and I found ourselves about two people back, right in front of where Chris Baio would be standing, playing the waiting game. Vampire Weekend was the most important show for me to go to, namely because I've loved them for almost as long as I've loved Muse and I hadn't seen them until Firefly. I'd waited three years for that show. It's a life event for me. 

The show ended up being absolutely stellar. Baio smiled at me four or five times, Hope took incredible photos, and I got to see the band in the flesh for the first time. In addition, they played every song I adore, someone had a sign that said "PIZZA PARTY" (L'homme Run, reference), and Baio sweat through not only his shirt, but also his pants. It was absolutely incredible. No words. I stayed after the show and while I didn't get a setlist, I got a pick and I was able to watch the crew break down the stage.  I was very emotional. 






We then went to see Foster the People with the moms and Hope and I danced for a while before she and her mother left. My mom and I stayed until the end of the show. She asked me if I wanted to go and I said, "No, this is the last show of Firefly 2013 and I plan on enjoying every second of it." We both agreed on that so we stayed and danced and had a good time, despite dealing with the pain of standing and dancing for about three days straight. My mom only got photos of the video screen because we were too far back to get anything better. I don't regret that. 



In the end, Firefly was absolutely amazing. Nothing can ever really beat last year but I'd say that this was another one of the best weekends of my life. If I had to choose a top three shows it'd go as follows:  1. Vampire Weekend 2. Robert Delong 3. Red Hot Chili Peppers

Here's to Firefly 2014 and all the Firefly's in the future. I'll miss you until I get there.