AFTERSHOCK: After the fact...

So back in mid-September my mom, sister, and I went to an up and coming festival known as 'Aftershock'. We had decided that this festival would be a good way to go out in style, as we have decided to take a hiatus from the traveling festival scene next year (I'm pretty sure we said that last year,  which clearly didn't happen. But we are at least going to make an attempt this year to slow down!). Mostly, we wanted to go because our favorite band was playing there, and they have been MIA since December 2011. We were having severe separation anxiety from said band, Avenged Sevenfold, or A7X for short. So naturally we had to go. Ever since Utah radio went to hell and stopped playing metal music, we were certain that our odds of seeing them at home were severely diminished. So we went to them. In Sacramento.

After work on Friday, we drove to the sad, sad town of Reno NV. A town which I hope to never see again. We stayed in a sad little Motel 6, since we didn't want to pay for a nice room when we would only be in for about 6 hours if that. So we braved the very scary hotel, and then drove out the next morning to Sacramento for Aftershock day 1. Can I just say that Sacramento isn't exactly what I expected it to be. Lots of vacant buildings and homeless people. It was kind of sad frankly. So I guess it was a great thing for them to host a festival that pumped several million dollars into their economy. Goes to show that rock can serve a purpose for the greater good!

Day 1: The line up consisted of Otherwise, P.O.D, Steel Panther, In This Moment, Testament, Buckcherry, Skillet, Papa Roach, Shinedown, Megadeth, and Korn. It was a seriously awesome day. They were all freaking amazing. We bought VIP passes like always, which was pretty nice. We had places to sit, shade, and private food vendors. Korn was probably my favorite, but that is usually the case. They aren't for everyone, but I sure do love them! Steel Panther was also crazy fun. They are terribly dirty, but they are more like a stand up comedy show. It was my second time seeing them and I loved it! We left the concert exhausted and smelling like weed, but it was completely worth it.

Day 2: The line up consisted of Gemini Syndrome, Soil, Pop Evil, Filter, All That Remains, Falling in Reverse, HIM, Halestorm, Asking Alexandria, A Day to Remember, Volbeat, Five Finger Death Punch, and finally A7X. Melissa and I stood in line for an hour and a half for our freaking merchandise. I have NEVER waited that long ever, it was pretty miserable. Was it worth it? You betcha. Melissa and I got the last 2 A7X jackets, which was a freaking miracle. I spent way more that I should have, which is usually the case, but I don't even care. The best bands were definitely Halestorm, ADTR, Volbeat, 5FDP, and A7X for sure. Seeing A7X perform their new material was seriously life altering. I got chills listening to 'Hail to the King' which has been my favorite song for the past couple months. Ah it was completely worth the horrible night full of driving that followed. We left from the concert and drove straight home to work. Working an 8 hour day on only a couple hours sleep is DEFINITELY not recommended. We survived, and proved to ourselves that we can basically do anything.

It was such a fun weekend, but I'm kind of sad to be stepping away from traveling the country in search of awesome rock and roll. I wouldn't trade my last two years of crazy rock festivals spanning from Atlantic City to all over the west coast, and many places in between. Let's be honest though, it gets insanely expensive. I think it's completely worth it, but we need a year to recover. Not to worry though, we will still hit the local scene as hard as possible. Let's hope that losing our only rock station on the radio doesn't cost us too many good concerts here at home. Stupid freaking cumulus. Not to worry though. I will stay true to the name of this blog and keep you up to date on what I'm listening to, and going to see.  See below for some kick ass pics of our kick ass weekend! Much love!

                                                                Five Finger Death Punch

                                                                      Papa Roach

                                                                          A7X

                                                                         Steel Panther

                                                                         Korn

                                                                       Halestorm

                                                                        Steel Panther

WORK HARD, PLAY HARDER

You know that song that talks about working for the weekend? That would be my life story. I bust my butt during the week so I can have crazy weekends like I just had. The whole reason I even started this blog was to fill you in on the crazy adventures I was having, most of which are centered on rock and roll. This was one such weekend.

Back in May, we were driving through Vegas on our way to a rock festival in Arizona when I saw a billboard announcing that Black Sabbath was coming to the MGM. Right then and there, I vowed that I would be in the crowd for that. When Ozzy comes, you go. This is not up for debate. The man is known as the godfather of metal. It would be a sin against all that is rock to skip out on what was probably a once in a lifetime opportunity.

I had been waiting ever so patiently for this last weekend to finally arrive, and I was getting antsy for another vacation. My mom, my sort of cousin, and myself headed out Friday night for what was sure to be an epic weekend. A couple nights before, we decided that we needed to go to Six Flags Magic Mountain on Saturday. Why waste a perfectly good holiday weekend NOT going to the real happiest place on earth? We were already going to be most of the way there, what's a couple more hours in the car? Plus those season passes weren't going to use themselves! Once we got there, the park wasn't nearly as crowded and I feared, but we still bought the Flash Passes anyway. The Flash Pass is God's gift to hard core coaster enthusiasts. It's a way to buy your way to twice the rides and twice the fun! Essentially, you make an appointment for a ride, when it's your appointment time, you wait maybe 5-10 minutes, get on the ride, and if you want to-you can ride twice without getting off. It's completely worth every penny. We had a fantastic day at Six Flags. I think we rode something like 15 massive coasters in 8 hours. By the time we were done, we felt like we had been hit by a freight train. These rides aren't for sissies. They beat the crap out of you and leave you wanting more.
Towards the end of the day, I could feel a migraine coming on. Mix that with some bad amusement park food, and spending most of your day upside down, makes for a really really crappy night. My migraines make me sick, so I had a feeling I was in for a bad time. Let's just say that there are a lot of plastic bags along the freeway between Valencia and Las Vegas that should be left undisturbed. Poor Kevin and Shelly had to put up with the constant pulling over, and I was praying for the sweet release that only death could bring. Somehow, we made it back to Vegas, after the worst car ride of my life.

I LOVE Las Vegas. One of my very favorite places to go. We stayed at the Excalibur because it was just across the street from the MGM where Ozzy was playing. Sunday, we wandered around, ate at the Rainforest Cafe (for some reason I ALWAYS end up there. It's not even that fantastic. The mystery may never be solved), and went shopping. Vegas is a terribly dangerous place for a shopoholic such as myself. My credit card was quivering in my wallet, but it made it out of all the malls unscathed. Deep down I knew I was going to need it come 7 PM when it was time to buy my Black Sabbath merch. Who knew that MGM had a ginormous arena hidden in there? I sure didn't. After fighting my way through the crowd of old rockers past their prime, and the die hards like myself, I got my merch and somehow made it to my seat.

Can I just say that seeing Ozzy Osborne live, with his band that hasn't played together since the 70's, was seriously epic. They may be old, but they can still bring it! Ozzy is one funny guy. It's funny to think that he went from biting off heads of pigeons to doing the "old man shuffle" across the stage and constantly dunking his head in water. I couldn't help but laugh and think about the bands that I love now. That will be them in 50 years, if they last that long. I can honestly say that I got chills listening to them perform "Iron Man". It was one of those great rock and roll moments that you KNOW is going to go down in history. Realistically speaking, this is probably the last tour they will do, and I am SO glad I was able to be a part of it. My favorite part of the night was being in the crowd of thousands of crazy rockers, pouring out into the casino, all dressed in black, chanting OZZY at the top of our lungs. There are no fans like rock fans.

Thus concluded the Black Sabbath part of my weekend. Monday morning we booked it out of Vegas as fast as our tired asses could move. Shelly and I had tickets to the Rockstar Uproar festival that night out at USANA. After a long day in the car, we dropped our crap at home, said hi to the fam for about 5 minutes, and headed out to yet another concert. To be honest, this years Uproar lineup sucked in a way I would never have expected. They have always had awesome hard-hitting bands on their tour. This year was seriously a bunch of freaking douchie bands, with the exception of one. Alice in Chains was the headliner. We saw them back in May at Rock on the Range, so we knew that they could put on a show. We made it out to the concert just in time to hear Jane's Addiction playing something that I can't even classify as music. We finally got to watch Alice in Chains, and then called it a night.

As if all of that wasn't enough, we had tickets to yet another concert on Tuesday night. My favorite foreign band was coming to town and I had to get out there and support them. The night consisted of All That Remains, whom I love despite the fact that they keep trying to blow my eardrums, HIM, which made me want to die they were so bad, and finally Volbeat. I love Volbeat and could seriously see them constantly and be completely happy. They are such a great band, and genuinely work hard to be where they are. They have certainly put in their dues, and deserve to make it to the big time. Plus, any rock band that loves Johnny Cash is a-ok in my book. I was terribly disappointed that more people didn't come out and support them. Maybe that is why Utah just lost our one and only real rock radio station. It's freaking pitiful, and if they don't clean up their act soon, we are going to freak out.

Needless to say, I am freaking exhausted. I wouldn't change a thing though. I live for rock and roll, and if it means that I have to run myself into the ground to experience everything I want to, I'm going to do it every time. I can't believe I only have two more concerts and one more festival on the books, until my possible hiatus from the traveling concert scene for a year (except for Rock on the Range, no one will keep me from that festival). These are the weekends I live for. After all, you're only young once.