BAMBOOZLED!!!! day one

Bamboozle 2010 hit Meadowlands Stadium in New Jersey the first weekend of May. The two day festival had an amazing line-up, – Angels & Airwaves, Weezer, Paramore, Girl Talk, MGMT, – and those were just the headliners!

Saturday morning dawned and all my prayers were answered – sunshine, clear skies and perfect 80F weather. You really couldn’t ask for a better day to start the festivities. Jules and I left early to meet up with other people and made our way over to Jersey courtsey of a Jersey Transit bus. For some reason the bus we took didn’t drop us right at the stadium, but down the highway a bit so we got stop at Mr. Hamburger for drinks and then trek over the highway to where the music awaited!

This is what we look like in New Jersey

We got a bit carried away with photos with Bamboozle signs

The line to get into Bamboozle was kinda crazy and it stressed me out a little since Title Fight were one of the first bands on and I really wanted to be able to see them again, since it would mean I’d seen them in 3 different states in just over a month. We ran as fast as we could across the asphalt and got to the Zumiez Stage just as Title Fight started. Despite their early spot, it was rad to see so many people out to support Title Fight. Maybe it was the midday sun, maybe just the excitement of seeing Title Fight AGAIN, but I’m pretty sure I did my fair share of shouting out and singing along a bit too loudly.

Title Fight ARE STARTING!!!!

Title Fight are rad, you should listen to them

He's in mid-air!!!

He's kinda a babe

After Title Fight, we walked around to the main stages just in time to catch a few songs from the band Versaemerge. They sounded like a bad rip-off of headliners Paramore, which isn’t saying a lot really. Bamboozle got a dose of Gossip Girl next up though when Taylor Momsen (Little J guys!!) took the stage with her band, The Pretty Reckless. I’d heard they’re not that good so I was pleasantly surprised when Momsen actually managed to carry a tune (she really does have a good voice). She had on aviators and when she took them off her eye make-up was so thick around her eyes that it looked like she still had her glasses on. Nice to see some things crossover well from TV to real life.

versaemerge

The Pretty Reckless

Taylor Momsen and her heinous looking band of old men

Four Year Strong played straight after Taylor & co, and ripped up the stage. Not only did they play my favorite song, Heroes Get Remembered, Legends Never Die, but also songs from their new album Enemy of the World. A definite highlight was their new song Wasting Time (Eternal Summer).

Four Year Strong

More Four Year Strong

One of the bands on the line-up that I wanted to see was Relient K. When I was a teenager I really liked them and even went so far as to enter (and win) a contest to win one of their CD’s back in the day. I was disappointed though because they only seemed to play new songs because I didn’t recognise any of them. Kinda boring really. How could they not play ‘Sadie Hawkins Dance’?!

Relient K being boring and not playing songs I wanted to hear

Random cute dude with huge plugs

The Aquabats in their matching costumes, no wonder Travis Barker left..

So the next band we spent our time watching was (long ago) teen heart throbs Hanson. They’re all grown up now, Taylor doesn’t look like a girl anymore and apparently they don’t play ‘Mmmmmbop’ or ‘Where is the Love’ anymore either. Again, I was disappointed due to lack of songs I loved but it was still pretty cool to see a band I really liked when I was 13, all the way back in the 1990s!!!

Yes, that's Taylor Hanson

All of Hanson, in all their glory

So to get over the disappoint I felt in Hanson, we went back over to the Zumiez Stages to watch the surprise guests of the day Against Me! I’d never seen them before so it was totally awesome to be able to finally see them live. Pretty sure I’ve danced/sang along to their songs SOOOO many times at Hot Damn.

Secret/surprise guests Against Me!

More amazingness

While Against Me! were on I had to sit down in the shade near the stage, I could still hear/see them playing so I wasn’t missing out on anything, my feet just really needed some rest! Saves The Day were playing the Main Stage so we caught them as well, finally getting to hear the song ‘At Your Funeral’ was a memorable experience to say the least.

Saves the Day takes me to my happy place

Check out the mega babe with the fake moustache and the umbrella hat. HAH

To fill in the last hour before I got to see Tom Delonge again (hello Angels & Airwaves) we stopped over at one of the small stages to watch screamo duo I Set My Friends on Fire. I saw them at Warped Tour this past summer and the kids still love them!

I Set My Friends on Fire

6:40pm and it was finally ANGELS & AIRWAVES time!!! It may not be Blink 182, but it’s still Tom Delonge!!! He looks older now and seems to be sporting a bit of a beer belly, definitely still a cutie though. And you got to love his crazy dance moves. They only had 35 minutes to play, and because most of their songs are 4-5 minutes they only got to play 5 or 6 songs. Tom seemed to love extending ‘The War’ to make his introductions to the crowd, and despite it cutting into their other song times, it let a bit of Blink 182-Tom shine through.

Oh hai, Tom!! So nice to see you again!

Show us your moves Tom!

Tom, getting a bit serious

The sun came out from behind the clouds while AVA were playing and it looked really dramatic, like even the Gods loved them

The last time I saw Something Corporate was when I was 19 and one of the girls I went with to see them is now married with a baby. Times change but good music doesn’t. Sooooo cliched, but in the case of Something Corporate, so true. They played ALL their old hits, and even rocked out Konstantine, a song they hardly ever play live. It felt so fun to sing along to Punk Rock Princess, I Woke Up in a Car, Hurricane and If U C Jordan. Singer Andrew McMahon even got up onto his piano at one point and played with his feet!

Something Corporate!! Together!! Again!

More Something Corporate

Pop sensation Ke$ha was the only act to get to play both days of the festival and probably the cheesiest but funnest of the bunch! As soon as she started it was obvious she was singing along to a backing track but it was still a fun set. She was even dressed in an Indian headress and covered in glitter (of course!). I think Ke$ha is one of my dirty little secrets now, you have to give props to someone that sings a song with the lyrics ‘Don’t be a little bitch with your chit chat/Just show me where your dicks at!’.

Drake was up after Ke$ha but a friend of Jules and I got us backstage passes to the VIP Redbull Artists Lounge so after a song or two of his we hit up the lounge instead. Air con, free redbull, free vodka, comfy couches and a chill DJ. What more can you ask for when you need a break at a festival?

This is what we look like after a long day in the sun listening to amazing music

I’ve seen Paramore once before, when they played at the UNSW Roundhouse back in October 2007 and pretty sure I spent most of the show upstairs drinking with the support bands. This time around wasn’t much different, Jules and I watched a few songs, but as soon as Hayley Williams introduced the slow song ‘The Only Exception’ were bailed and headed back to the Redbull Lounge. I don’t know why or how but we arrived at the conclusion we both didn’t like her very much…

The first day of the party was over *sadface*

We got lost on the way to finding our bus back to NYC and ended up walking two miles along highways in New Jersey at midnight before we found a bus. This could only happen to us...

a bunch of photos.

The worlds largest pillow fight in Union Square

The cherry blossoms are out in full bloom, SO PRETTY!

Becks & Jules

Jules needed a job but then she found one

I already have one

(Indian) Summer in the city

Sitting on the steps of the Met, like a bunch of gossip girls

van Gogh is one of my favorite artists

More cherry blossoms in Central Park

The greatest thing about Turkeys Nest is taking their drinks outside and lying in Maccarren Park

a night at LIT LOUNGE

The day after Jaguar Love at Brooklyn Bowl was payday for me so festivities were sure to ensue. Jules and I started the night off after I finished work at our new favorite bar Mason Dixon in the Lower East Side. It’s a country and western themed bar and has a mechanical bull that you can ride for $5. I don’t think I’d ever EVER be convinced to ride it but it’s pretty hilarious watching drunk people think they can stay on and then laughing at them when they fall off after 5 seconds (I never said I was a nice person!).

After some happy hour drinks at Mason Dixon we headed on over to Lit Lounge to meet up with Mayan, Noa & Nira for some dancing fun times. It was rad to finally have all the girls out of Brooklyn and partying in the city for once!! Lit was pretty packed and even though Mayan, Noa & Nia left early, Jules and I stayed til just before closing time, party party!!! There was a weird English actor guy that tried to convince us that we should stay out and party with him, he didn’t seem to comprehend the fact that I had to get up in a few hours to go to work the next morning, and instead of ordering me a vodka sour like I asked, he got me bourbon which was absolutely disgusting so I couldn’t drink it. But apart from that, it was definitely a great night!

Bud at Mason Dixon

Pregaming at Mason Dixon

Reunited at LIT

I ❤ this photo!!!

Noa giving her best fierce look

Nira and Jules!

Jules' favorite drink

❤ ❤ ❤

DON'T TAKE OUR PICTURE!!!!

jaguars invade brooklyn

At the end of March Jaguar Love played at Brooklyn Bowl for only $5. Five bucks!!! Totally awesome.

Waiting for the $5 Jaguar Love show

Showing off my outfit and still waiting

The weird band that played before Jaguar Love

$5 shows on Tuesday nights are pretty rad

Jaguar Love

The show was really fun; the band played a stack of songs from old to new including Jaguar Pirates, Highways of Gold and Poloroids and Red Wine.

Jaguar Love

we went to virginia one weekend in the fall.

Only a week after the Texan adventures in Austin, Jules and I went to Richmond, Virginia for the music festival United Blood. Friday morning started before the sun even came up, we had to wake up at 5am to make it to La Guardia airport in time for our 9am flight. Not many people must want to go to Richmond early on a Friday because our plane was one of those tiny two-engine contraptions that only seat about 20 people. I’m pretty sure I spent the majority of the flight thinking I was never going to touch firm ground again!

We're hereeeeeeee

After a short flight we made it to Richmond and we were greeted by the prospect of no phone reception and no Starbucks. Instead, all there was Caribou Coffee, where they apparently don’t know what a Soy Chai Latte is. Oh well, the lady got it right on the third try.

Apart from those little interuptions, we got to our hotel nice and easy thanks to a very helpful cabbie, who took us on the scenic route through downtown Richmond and past all the pretty buildings and the Edgar Allan Poe Museum. The best surprise of the day though occurred when we got to our hotel room and discovered it was a suite, not a normal room! I swear the bathroom in the suite was bigger than my bedroom in Brooklyn, – having a living room, a huge bathroom and a huge bedroom was a bit of a luxury, even if it was only for the weekend.

Welcome to our living room

The hotel suite bigger than my apartment in Brooklyn..

The view from out our window

After we got settled into our room and unpacked we went for a walk to a local cafe and saw some of the sights along the way. Richmond is a really old city so there’s lots of super old buildings with pretty architecture, it gives off a feeling of ‘Old America’. We stopped at two thrift stores as well and I got a cute blue and aqua long sleeved mini dress as well as a 1960’s floral dress for less than $30 altogether.

I felt a bit like Little Red Riding Hood, but with a blue coat instead

We learnt the hard way that cabs are really unreliable in Richmond if you’re not getting picked up from the airport (we spent an hour waiting in the cold drizzle for a cab we’d called but never came) but finally made it to the venue Alley Katz for the first day of United Blood. The line-up for the show was pretty much amazing:

Friday (Doors at 3PM)
Alpha and Omega
Backtrack
Cruel Hand
Death Threat
Donnybrook
Dryspell
Mother of Mercy
Paint it Black
Title Fight
True Colors
War Hungry
Swamp Thing

Saturday (Doors at 1PM)
Blacklisted
Bracewar
Cold World
Concrete Reality
Fire & Ice
Foundation
Free Spirit
Harms Way
Madball
Maximum Penalty
Mind Eraser
Naysayer
Rival Mob
Steel Nation
Wasted Time

One of the early bands on Friday

More music.

The view from above

Cruel Hand

This was right before the DJ dropped Miley Cyrus and we lost it!

The next morning we got up early and went for breakfast at a cute little cafe that had lots of yummy vegan food. I think if I’d had enough money I would have ordered one of everything on the menu!

The yummy 821 Cafe

Jules' vegan chili burrito

My avocado and veggie burger

On the walk back to the Alley Katz for the second day of the festival we passed more pretty buildings and houses that looked like they were out of a scene in a movie.

This house was so perfect it even had a porch swing!

If you look closely, you can see the cobblestone road

Obviously Cam didn't get the memo that sunglasses inside isn't cool..

Resting our feet

Oh and the Virginia State Capitol Building was right across the street from our hotel as well. I swear its a mini version of the White House, for a state like Virginia it’s a pretty nice place for your governor to live.

The Virginia State Capitol, it totally looks like a mini White House

Goodbye Virginia

sxsw in photos

So its been a few weeks but the following are the most memorable photos from SXSW and some explanations behind them…

bff reunion, austin style!

Austin in the moonlight

Jules found the drummer from motorhead

The biggest drink I have EVER seen!

note the position of Jules' straw..it's at this point that Austin probably regrets letting us crash at his place for SXSW!

the streets of Austin after all the bars closed at 2am

the next day at a record showcase at Red 7

evergreen terrace playing. the line to get into the venue was super huge but andrew got us in, yay!

some random band that pays more attention to their hair styles than their music

the streets of Austin in the daytime

yes, there is a death metal pizza place in Texas!

trash talked played a free show at the death metal pizza place

more trash talk, look at lee's pretty hair

just chilling with the rad Kellen

touche amore. i'd never seen or heard them before that night and they were SO amazing

more touche amore. the crowd were actually lifting him up.

i can't wait to see them when they play with Converge in a few weeks at Santos Party House

there's so much happening in this photo

the last touche amore photo, i promise

trash talk twice in one day, who would have thought that could happen?? also, beerland is a super rad name for a bar!

whoever wrote this on the bathroom door is super bitter...

the big drink seemed to become a nightly tradition...

i only posed with this for the photo, i totally shared the rest with mayan!

this is Gizmo, Austin's dog, i think i was trying to imitate him

this building was so pretty, i love the way it looked like a cloud with the reflections of the real clouds

it really is the city of music!

just hanging out at the new england metal handcore festival showcase in the emo's annex

defeater. definitely another new favourite band find. thank you sxsw.

this is mayan. she was the first person i made friends with when i moved to new york.

jules and i really wanted to go to this but we have to work that weekend 😦

the dude in the costume is from gwar, they were actually walking around Austin like that. kinda scary

a real american house being built

the awesome jelly party venue!!! it was a bit of a walk outside of downtown Austin, but totally worth it!

i think this was yacht. whoever it was, they were pretty good.

at the time i thought this undeniably proved i was in Texas

don't remember who this band was, but like the last one, they were good

just chillin' at the jelly party

FREE VODKA REDBULLS!!!

kristina is awesome, she got us wristbands so we didn't have to wait in line to get into the party

still happy and the sun is going down

i can't remember what we were laughing at...

bff's!!!!!

a cool looking tree

it started to get a little bit cold

we had a hotel party and it got crazy, in the morning some dude was asleep in the bathtub!

adam is from california, heaps funny and says 'art' funny

at the AP magazine showcase: cymbals eat guitars, or maybe it was cymbals eat guitarists?

this is ruiner, they seemed super angry that they had to play this showcase

we were at a warehouse show where title fight, defeater, touche amore, ruiner and more played. i was so exhausted and cold though i went and slept in la dispute's van. i missed ruiner but i felt so sick i didn't mind.

back at the jackalope!

Austin might look better in my sunnies than me...

i'm guessing that a jackalope is a cross between an antelope and a jack rabbit??? its my new favourite animal!

random house party with crust gutter punks turned into one of the craziest afternoons/nights ever!

the van was the bone zone, super awesome name

sitting in the gutter on a sunny Texas afternoon

plastic cups are the greatest invention EVER

the party guests...note the huge paper mache skull in the tree - apparently it was filled spray paint cans that they were going to make explode later on

so much fun!!!!

yes, that dude is dressed in a skin-tight leopard suit

the paper mache skull

what, you mean people don't do bmx tricks off vans in your street??

Jules, what are you doing???

meet our new friend, Justin

it's not like the house didn't already have graffiti on it...

TEXAS, HERE I COME!

The clock has just clicked over to 12.02am on Wednesday so that means that later today I will officially be in Texas!! I’m so excited beyond words, I feel like my brain is going to explode.

It’s going to be five days of sun, music, parties and good times. The flight out of New York tomorrow afternoon connects with another one in Georgia (I will be in the actual South!!!!) that flies to Austin. I get in just before midnight but since I plan on catching up on sleep on the flights down, I will be ready for whatever happens as soon as I hop off.

I plan on taking a lot of photos and I promise I will try and keep track of all my adventures to write about on here once I get back on Monday afternoon!

one night we took a trip to astoria & san dimas…

Our night began at Bennys Burritos in the West Village catching up over Mexican food and $3 margaritas. With one last margarita in hand, we made our way over to Webster Hall worried that we would miss the one band that brought us all together that night. We caught the tail end of the third-to-last band and impatiently waited through the next band as well.

This is what we came for

The merch desk was hidden in the back corner of the room and apparently The Ataris had already sold-out of their merch this tour so there was no temptation to spend money. I’m not sure if having their merch sell-out so quick into the tour (there are still 30+ dates left on the tour) is a good sign – either they’re still really popular or they didn’t bring enough merch with them. Anyway, lack of merch aside, the second last band finally finished and the band began setting up.

This is Kris Roe, being a skilled multi-tasker. He sets up AND he sings!

Getting excited at the prospect of seeing Kris Roe & co. PLAY!!!

They had no roadies (they cost money yo!) so they did it all themselves and started playing pretty soon afterwards. They opened with the title track off the 2003 album ‘So Long Astoria’ and my worry that Roe and co. would play a stack of songs from the two most recent albums (both of which I don’t have) were unfounded as they got deeper and deeper into the set. Of the dozen or so songs they played I only didn’t recognize three, one which was a cover.

Just play a song already

The Ataris Setlist:

So Long Astoria

Unopened Letter to the World

Summer Wind Was Always Our Song

1-15-96

The Hero Dies in This One

In This Diary

New Song

Take-offs & Landings

Eight of Nine

Your Boyfriend Sucks

New Song

Broken Promise Ring

Cover Song

San Dimas High School Football Rules

So emo with their flannels

The cute drummer

All in all, it was an awesome night, the only disappointment was when the crowd shouted for ‘Teenage Riot’ and was met with the reply “You’ll have to come to Jersey tomorrow night to hear that one” from Kris Roe.

Mareesha wants to marry Kris

This one was for me

falling in love (yet again) with the lower east side

It’s hard to believe I’ve been in the US for over eight months now. Everything is still going really well, I’m still having a blast; it’s only 14 days until Texas time. There’s less than five months left though and it’s hard to stop myself from getting into a melancholy mood when I think about leaving. A few weeks ago my manager at work was talking about trying to arrange with the store manager to have me stay longer, i.e. renew my visa or something along those lines and it was weird because even though I would love to stay in New York longer I was a bit relieved when my store manager said they couldn’t sponsor me. Apart from the fact that my parents would probably want to kill me for not coming home, I’m not exactly sure why I felt relieved, maybe because in my mind I’ve been mentally preparing myself to leave since I got here as I’ve always known my time had an expiration date. Or maybe deep down I really do miss Australia. I know I miss my family and it’s weird being away from friends back home when they’re going through life-changing moments. Toward the end of last year one of my best friends got engaged and instead of hearing about it straight away I had to find out about it from a post on my wall on Facebook; then earlier this week when another friend of mine gave birth and the only way for people to let me know was via Facebook. It will be nice to be in the same time zone as the majority of the people I love and be only a text or mobile call away.

ANYWAY, enough of all of that. I just wanted to get all that off my chest. Now onto more fun and interesting things…

Last weekend was really fun, Friday night I met up with Nira and Noa at Legion but there were a bunch of unfamiliar faces there so that was good for a change. That place is so boring when it’s the same old crowd there. Saturday night I met up with Napua and we had drinks at Pianos, followed by more drinks at Max Fish’s, both in the Lower East Side. I have to say that I have a feeling that Max Fish’s is going to become one of my new favorite haunts, they have cheap drinks (for Manhattan), a pool table AND lots of cute guys that hangout there. Really, that’s all you need in a bar!

Napua, me and two new friends whose names I don't remember at Max Fish's

Sunday afternoon I took some ‘me’ time and went to pig out on vegan food at Wholefoods and scare myself silly at the Chelsea Clearview watching ‘Shutter Island’. After the movie I wandered around the West Village, which I love, – the hippie/bohemian atmosphere from the 60’s is still present there, it’s probably as close as you’ll get on the east coast to walking along San Francisco’s Haight Street. There was a full moon in an almost-cloudless sky which looked particularly beautiful as well. I saw the gothic-esque Hotel Chelsea (of Sid & Nancy fame) but as a result of the wide-eyed, open-mouthed awe that came over me while I was standing outside the building steeped in so much punk rock infamy I forgot to take any photos of it. Don’t worry, it’s definitely on my list of places I have to go back to before I leave the city.

Some buildings in the West Village that looked pretty with the full moon above them.

There’s a sense of renewal in New York at the moment, – the temperature is creeping up day by day, the snow is starting to melt, the days are becoming longer and I can feel the change of seasons renewing me as well. Just when I thought I couldn’t face another drab day filled with oppressive snow clouds and frigid winds, the sun has finally come out. I never thought the weather would play such a vital role in my mood but earlier this week when the sun made it’s first appearance I couldn’t help but smile involuntarily. I won’t get ahead of myself here, – the warmest it’s been so far is about 7C but heck, that’s ALOT better than -12C!! I can definitely tell the difference between the two temperatures. My wardrobe is ready to burst with the amazing spring/summer fashions I’ve collected over the past few months from various thrift stores. It will be so nice to wear my shorts, dresses, tees and skirts without having to layer them with tights, jackets, coats, scarves and gloves.

Hopefully the last blizzard of this Winter

Someone other than me is braving the weather!

Snow-covered trees in Morningside Park

just being a stalkerazzi.

The next few weeks are going to be pretty crazy, – theres lots of shows coming up, SXSW is happening in Texas and Jules is arriving from Australia so there will be many many adventures.

Here’s my calendar of events for the next month or so:

6th March – Blacklisted at the Cakeshop
7th March – Copeland farewell tour with I Can Make a Mess Like Nobodys Business, Person L (Kenny from the Starting Line!!!) & Deas Vail at the Bowery Ballroom
8th March – The Ataris at Webster Hall
9th March – Useless ID, Smartbomb, Money/Paper/Hearts & Lugos at Party Expo
12th March – Alkaline Trio, Cursive, the Dear & Departed at the Nokia Theatre (still not 100% sure on this one, it depends how much money I have left)
16th March – God Loves a Challenge (feat. the singer from Armor for Sleep) at Webster Hall
17th March – FLY OUT TO AUSTIN, TX FOR SXSW!!!!!!!! hopefully make it in time to see Trash Talk
18th March – SXSW – Artery Foundation free show – Evergreen Terrace, Breathe Carolina, A Skylit Drive, I See Stars & more; Full Metal Texas day party – Darkest Hour, Iwrestledabearonce, Iron Age, Your Demise, Lions Lions & more
19th March – SXSW – Heavy Hitter Showcase at Emos – Lions Lions, Acaro, We Are the End, Defeater, Legend, Mychildren Mybride
20th March – SXSW – Alternative Press Party – Sum 41, Never Shout Never, Circa Survive, the Rocket Summer, Title Fight & more
21st March – SXSW
22nd March – fly back to New York City
25th March – Chronic Youth Pary at Union Pool
26th March – United Blood Festival in Richmond, VA -Alpha and Omega, Backtrack, Cruel Hand, Death Threat, Donnybrook, Dryspell, Mother of Mercy, Paint it Black, Title Fight, True Colors, War Hungry, Wasted Time
27th March – United Blood Festival -Blacklisted, Bracewar, Cold World, Concrete Reality, Fire & Ice, Foundation, Free Spirit, Harms Way, Madball, Maximum Penalty, Mind Eraser, Naysayer, Rival Mob, Steel Nation, Swamp Thing
30th March – Jaguar Love at Brooklyn Bowl
2nd April – The Bronx at the Music Hall of Williamsburg

This time next month I’m pretty sure I’ll be very tired and very broke but it will all be worth it!