LIFE IN THE FAST LANE

Shockingly enough I actually have things happen at home sometimes too! Let's just say that September has been one crazy-ass month! I feel like I have been going going going constantly, but that is how I like it most of the time! On Sept 10th I started my 5 concerts/festivals in 7 days heavy concert season rap-up! My boys in Seether came to town here at home for concert #1. When I heard they were coming, I about had a freak out! As before mentioned I'm pretty obsessed with this band and I constantly argue with myself if they are my favorite band or if it's A7X. The mystery may never be solved. They played at The Complex which is in downtown SLC. It's not big by any stretch of the imagination, but I think it was just about right for them. They had a couple local bands open up for them which I thought was pretty cool. I wasn't particularly crazy about either of those bands, but I was excited for the opportunity they had to get out there and share their stuff. Seether freaking blew my socks off. Possibly the best concert I have ever heard them play. I'm always worried when they play indoors because sometimes it has gone terribly wrong for them, but somebody got it right this time. They sounded amazing! You could tell they were having so much fun up there and it helped the crowd get into it as well. It was a full house which also made me happy. Being in Utah, I always fear that there is going to be a great rock show and no one shows up and it's a total flop. We don't need that kind of bad exposure. So even though i hate being crammed in a venue rubbing up against strangers, I would do it for them. It was such a great night and it was so glad that it went so well! Hopefully they will see that people here love them and want them to come back!

Concert #2 was Chevelle out at the Great Saltair in Magna. I do love Chevelle, don't get me wrong, but I had seen them so many times last year that I wasn't overly ecstatic about the concert but I had to go. Anytime anyone worth while comes to SLC I will most likely be there, if anything, to support the cause of live rock here at home. So I bought tickets to support some great bands and show them that there is a market here. It was a pretty full concert, not a sell out, but a decent crowd. The bands that played with them were Dayshell, who were okay, and Kyng who was pretty great. Chevelle put on a solid show and we had a lot of fun. If you are ever at a concert at the Saltair, look in booth #2 upstairs, second booth from the left, and you might see me! If I'm ever at a concert there, that's where I'm at. I just love the VIP rep for Saltair, she is the best! We are now on a first name basis with hugging involved which means I go to way too many concerts lol. It was a great night once again. I love when I can see great bands here at home.

On Friday night Shelly and I hopped a flight to Sacramento California to go to the Aftershock Festival on Saturday and Sunday making for concerts #3 and #4. Saturday was (like usual) really freaking hot. I think the high was like 102 degrees, so we were roasting. This was the second year we have gone to Aftershock and sadly I think they didn't handle this year as well as they could have or even should have. The whole time I just thought, man I need to get a job organizing these things, because who ever did this one should be fired. The VIP lanyards were super ghetto compared to last years. The seating in VIP was terrible. They had what I would call poolside chairs that you lay out on, and only 100 or so. So most people didn't have a place to sit. Total waste of space. The worst part, and the part that made me the most upset was the 3 stages that were way too close together and played in conflict with each other. The first year there were only 2 main stages and they just rotated between the two so you never had to choose which band you wanted to watch. This year, 2 of the 3 stages were playing at the same time so they were playing on top of each other. Plus you were forced to choose! I hate choosing, I want to watch every one! For the most part it wasn't too bad but I have to say that poor Nothing More got totally screwed. They had to play at the same time as Black Label Society and you could hardly hear them! BLS is way louder that NM and so they were drowned out. It was just sad because they are such a great band. Lineup wise the weekend was pretty great, Godsmack was there as well which was awesome! I do love them and didn't mind seeing the twice in like 2.5 weeks. I also saw Seether. Again.  and it was amazing. again. I was seriously ecstatic that I got to see them 3 times this month. Each time was new and different and amazing. Ah it was heaven. We also got to see 5FDP again. I had missed them. It was also crazy dusty so we were so dirty and sweaty and smelly (it was CA so naturally there was freaking weed everywhere). None the less it was a great weekend and a great way to go to our last festival of the season. I was sad it was over, but frankly I am ready for a break! Festivals are exhausting, but they are seriously the best!

The 5th and final concert of my 7 days was back at home. 5FDP, Volbeat, Hellyeah and Nothing More opened up their tour here and it was seriously the best! We had 9 of us all together that went and it was SO much fun! Every band played a great set, and thankfully the concert looked to be just about sold out! It was especially great to get to be a part of a friends first concert experience. It was crazy to see how excited she was! Her first and what seemed like my millionth. It was fun to share some of my knowledge of do's and do nots and to see how she reacted to the environment. I'm sure there are many more concerts in her future!

What a way to end my concert year, right?! What an amazing summer it has been! I feel so blessed to get to do the things I love and live out my dreams of basically being a metal groupie. If only I could do it for a living! That would make my life all but perfect! My next adventure starts in an hour from now and I'm pretty excited! Life is great!

LABOR DAY MADNESS!

Wow! It seems like every time I write I have a ton to fill you in on! I actually have a free second so I figured I would try and catch up! So we left off just before my crazy crazy Labor Day weekend. So Friday night my mom, cousin Jen and I caught a red eye flight to Tampa Florida. I have never been much of a fan of the "red eye" flight, but living the lifestyle that I do, it tends to be my best option. So we hopped a plane and flew to Tampa. We had a layover in Denver which meant our longest flight was only 3.5 hours long. That meant that we only got 3 hours of sleep that night. Plus, let's be honest. Sleeping on a plane isn't very restful so it was a crappy 3 hours of sleep. We got to Florida at 5:30 in the morning and we were just exhausted. We grabbed the rental car and then headed to St. Petersburg to watch the sunrise on the beach. Well I shouldn't really say we, I should say they because I was passed out in the back seat of the car to catch an extra 15 minutes of shut eye. Afterwards we headed to Ft. Desoto state park so Jen could get in her run (she was training for a marathon). Shelly and I hung out by the beach for a while and then ended up just sitting in the car. By this point I was too tired to even sleep so I just stared off into space until Jen was finished. By this time is was most definitely time to grab some food. We found some wacky hole in the wall road side diner and ate breakfast/lunch. The place was pretty weird and the food wasn't anything to write home about, but we still had some fun. We killed some time in the parking lot until it was time to head out!

Of course we went to Florida for a concert! It seems a good 95% of the trips I take are concert related. This particular trip was for the Rockstar Uproar Festival. Usually Uproar comes to SLC but for some stupid reason they didn't this year. I was BEYOND pissed about it, especially since the lineup was killer, so I found the weekend that worked for me and chased them across the country. Sadly not all of the bands were at all the stops so I didn't get to see Skillet, but I've seen them enough times to get the gist. So we got to the amphitheater and immediately sought out some shade. I don't know if any of you have ever been to Florida in the summer months, but it is pretty freaking miserable. It was so freaking hot (which seems to be a theme at my festivals this year), and not to mention humid! I was pretty sure I was going to die and that I couldn't be any more uncomfortable. As most festivals do, the smaller bands play first on the smaller stages so we decided we would hit the VIP tent and stay there until it was time for the main stage. About an hour before the first band was supposed to play on the main stage it started to rain. OK not just rain, it was basically a monsoon. It was like someone was standing over us dumping large buckets of water! We started to freak out just a tad. We did NOT just fly across the freaking country to have our concert rained out! So we just sat in our tent and waited it out. Thankfully right before the first band was due to start, it finally stopped. So we headed to the main stage, dried off our chairs and watched Pop Evil start us off right. The second band was Seether. If you know me at all you know that I am basically OBSESSED with Seether and have every intention of marrying Shaun Morgan some day. They played pretty well, I have seen them do better, but I have also seem them play much worse. I was content with their performance. The headlining band was none other than Godsmack! Oh how I had missed them! They did such a great job! They had been on hiatus for 3 or so years and apparently they almost broke up. Thank goodness they didn't because their new material is flat out amazing. We had a great job rocking out, but all great things must come to an end. So at 11:30 or so that night we headed out to the parking lot to drive to Orlando where we were spending the night. By time time we got to bed it was around 1:30 AM, making this what felt like the longest day of my entire life!

So I'm sure you're thinking, "well at least you got to sleep in the next morning, right?" Wrong. We woke up, got ready and were at Universal Studios Orlando by 9 am on Sunday. We had head that the new ride in Diagon Alley had the longest wait and that we needed to get there first, so that is right where we went. The ride was called "Escape from Gringotts" and was a replica of the bank from the Harry Potter movies. The structure itself was amazing and the whole atmosphere was fantastic so I had really high hopes for the ride. Now enters the new segment of my blog lovingly called "What the HELL! (things I wish I knew)" So for today's entry of WTH I will give you a pointer. DO NOT RIDE THIS RIDE IF YOU HAVE TO WAIT MORE THAN AN HOUR!! We waited 2.5 hours and it was the biggest let down of my entire life. It was beyond stupid and by the time it was over, we were SO mad that we were literally speechless. We just sat there thinking we had just wasted the first half of our day for nothing. So that didn't start off our day particularly well. So for the rest of Sunday and half a day Monday we ran around like mad between the two parks trying to fit in as much as possible! On both days there as a 20 or so minute stint of torrential downpour which apparently is a thing in Florida. That was a bit annoying but we had fun with it and made the best out of it. Thankfully there are a lot of indoor things to do so it wasn't too bad! We did the Despicable Me minions experience (I would call it a ride, but they aren't rides they are 3D experiences where you get taken on a fake ride while sitting still for the most part. Sadly I'm not big into the whole 3D thing, so I wouldn't say many of these "experiences" blew me away). The minion thing was cute, I liked that. We also rode (or not rode, experienced) the Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket (which was pretty good), Revenge of the Mummy (an Indiana Jones deja vu) , Twister (weirdest, most random, stupid thing I have ever done), Transformers (not a fan, too much going on and the 3D didn't sit well), Jurassic Park (meh), and the Cat in the Hat (don't judge). We also did the Dragon Challenge and the Forbidden Journey in Hogsmeade which were both pretty awesome! The Dragon Challenge was one of the few real coasters at the parks and I would say it did not disappoint! The Forbidden Journey was flat out amazing. It combined actual movement and 3D to make for a ride that will seriously kick your butt if you are even a tiny bit prone to motion sickness. It messed with me somewhat, but it seriously kicked the crap out of poor Jennifer. It was still awesome and we ended up doing it both days because it was awesome none the less. Hogsmeade was seriously the coolest thing ever! We had so much fun running around and spending way too much at all the little shops. It was great! Of course I had to try the butterbeer which was pretty good! I liked it!  I would have seriously spent SO much money in there, but thankfully I was pretty broke at the time so it wasn't an option! So I just decided that I will have to go back! You can also ride the Hogwarts Express between the two parks if you have the ticket that gets you into both parks so that was pretty awesome! You hop on at one HP park and get off at the other! It was really cool and I seriously wished my sister was there the ENTIRE time. She would love it!

So after 1 festival, 1.5 days of play at Universal and what felt like a million miles walked, and what felt like 0 sleep-it was time to catch a flight home! We got home late that night and then had to head back to reality the next morning. We seriously had so much fun and I wouldn't have traded that weekend for anything. It was nice to be home though. I absolutely love traveling and experiencing the world, but there is just something about coming home that makes everything right in the world!

MAYHEM FESTIVAL 2014

My latest trip took place over 4th of July weekend! When we saw that Korn and A7X were co-headlining the Mayhem Festival this year, we knew missing was not an option. We decided we would go to the first stop on the tour-San Bernardino CA. Thursday night we stopped in Vegas and spent the night at the Bellagio. We had prepaid for a room with a view of the fountains, but they had given away all of those rooms before we got there. The lady got on the phone with her boss and they decided to upgrade us to a suite! I figured it was going to be a "suite" as in the room is a little bigger than a regular room but nothing spectacular. Oh how wrong I was! We had to use a special set of elevators and had to swipe our key to even get to our floor! When I saw that I knew. This was going to AWESOME! We got to the room and I about died. It was HUGE! 1000 square feet. 2 1/2 baths, spectacular views of the fountains, and everything had a freaking remote! They had a fruit tray waiting for us as well as some Belgian chocolates (the tray of fruit had a card addressed to someone else, apparently 'Edward' didn't show up, so we got his room. and his fruit. sucker!) One bathroom had a jetted tub and the other had a shower/sauna which was way cool. The mirrors had remotes and so did the drapes (that was my favorite part-opening the drapes. from my bed. like a boss). Not to mention the beds were like sleeping on a cloud. It was the best nights sleep I've ever had. It seriously felt like something out of the movies. Needless to say it's going to make staying in a normal people room in Vegas next to impossible because I know what I'm missing now. Totally worth it though.

The next day we just played on the strip and did some shopping and ate lunch at the Grand Lux Cafe which I love. Around 4 we decided we had better start the next leg of our trip which was a 4 hour drive to San Bernardino. We got there around 8, checked in to the Holiday Inn Express which was a far cry from where we had just come from. Somehow we survived though! We went to Red Lobster for dinner and mentally prepared ourselves for what was about to happen to us the next day. 

    The concert was held at San Manuel Amphitheater which apparently is the largest outdoor music venue in the country. After seeing it and seeing how many people were there, I can totally believe that. We got there around 3 in the afternoon and it was wretchedly hot. It was only 100 degrees but it felt so much hotter because of the humidity. Thankfully we had enough sense to buy the VIP package so we had access to the private lounge complete with couches, shade, private bar, and free ice cream! There were 4 stages total-3 on the outside and then the main amphitheater stage. We wandered around to the three little stages and watched Mushroomhead and a few other smaller bands, but ultimately we didn't like any of them enough to sweat to death for them, so we headed back to the lounge after visiting the merch booth. It wasn't too long before they opened up the main stage area that I began to notice some familiar faces in the VIP area. Famous faces. Jonathan Davis's (Korn's lead singer) youngest son walked right past me to go get an ice cream. Members of Asking Alexandria's crew were hanging out at the next table over and Da Kurlzz from Hollywood Undead was standing a few feet away. I swear he is at every concert I go to anywhere from California to Las Vegas. I see him every time, but I always wuss out and never get my picture taken with him. Maybe next time. Tons of famous people too numerous to list were hanging out in there to the point that I almost wondered if I was in the wrong place! It was crazy cool. We finally went out and took our seats at the main stage area and watched Trivium and Asking Alexandria do a pretty good set. Apparently most of the crowd wasn't feeling AA, but I thought they did pretty well. During this time I also noticed that Ice-T was sitting a couple rows behind us! That was pretty cool. Once Korn came on all hell broke loose in that place. Bon fires on the lawn (border line out of control fires might I add, no wonder that state is always on fire...), lots of crazy crowd activity and true to form for every CA concert I've ever been to, that familiar haze hung over the crowd from all the weed. Korn performed the best set I've ever seen them do, which is saying something because I saw them 4 times in 7 months last year alone. honestly I think I've seen them a total of 7 or so times. They were amazing! It was fun to see the crowd respond so well to them. At the end several of the band members brought their kids out of stage to jam with them for the last song. It was adorable. 

   Finally A7X was up again and they were simply incredible as always. It was my 9th time seeing them and as always, it was life-altering. I could seriously see them perform every day of my life and be completely happy. They put on one of the best live shows ever. Everyone should see them at least once in their lives, but once will never be enough. I've decided that for my 10th time seeing them I want to chase them someplace really cool. Maybe out of the country? Who know, that remains to be seen. That's the goal though. By the time the night was over I was sweaty, smelt like illicit drugs, and had ruined my poor toms but it was such a great night! San Bernardino sure knows how to party! Apparently they are having Knotfest at that same venue in October. If it was any other month I would SO be there, but sadly because of work I'm missing out on what is sure to be one of the biggest rock weekends ever. Definitely disappointed, but frankly if the crowd was that out of control for Mayhem I can't even image the level of crazy they will bring for Knotfest. So maybe in the end it is for the best. 

    Sadly I don't have any rock concerts planned until Labor Day weekend where we are going to Tampa FL for the Uproar festival. Sadly they haven't announced if they are playing in SLC yet, but they have a few dates left open so I'm really hoping we snag one of them. Then I will just go to Uproar twice this year. It's going to be amazing! 

   Well here are some pictures from Mayhem. Hopefully it won't be so long before I post again! Stay classy. 

Ice-T just hanging out at the concert after his set

A little portion of the VIP area

Flaming Gorge Days 2014

Like I said, we are playing catch up here. I'm breaking up all the adventures I forgot to tell you about into their own posts. I hope that helps! So my next concert after ROTR was technically Kiss and Def Leppard here at home, but there isn't anything of merit to tell. So just know that I was there! My next destination concert however, was Flaming Gorge Days in Green River WY. We are always on the look out for a reason to get out of dodge, so when we heard about this dinky little concert happening in no-mans-land WY, we decided why not! It was a very small concert compared to our usual 20,000+ concerts that we attend. It was still fun! The bands were Pop Evil, Redlight King, Royal Bliss and Otherwise! Pretty good lineup for the middle of nowhere, right? But as small town concerts usually do, there were some technical difficulties with Otherwise which made me so sad! I was there with some family members that had never seen them before and I had told them how great they were, but that night they made me look like a liar... The sound was all sorts of off and it actually made it painful to sit through their set. That has never happened for me with them before so I was pretty sad. The second band to play was Royal Bliss from back home in SLC. It never ceases to amaze me just how amazing they are live. I love everything about this band, and not just because they are from home. They are genuinely the nicest guys and are so down to earth. They aren't a big band by any stretch of the imagination, but they have a pretty good following. I could seriously watch them perform all day. Such a great band. Frankly I wanted to support them, so they were my main reason for even driving up to this concert. I had literally just seen Redlight King and Pop Evil the month before, so I wasn't exactly waiting with baited breath for their sets, but they both did a decent job. Sometimes I go to concerts like this, not necessarily for the bands themselves, but to support live rock music. I was hoping for a big crowd so the bands didn't feel like they were wasting their time, but was a little disappointed by the turn out. Then again we were in the middle of nowhere and it was a miracle that people showed up at all. I don't know the rock music scene in WY works, but somehow I think it's even worse than at home. At least at home we get some concerts! So I was happy to get up there and freeze my ass off in the name of rock music. Plus I got to go play on the lake the next day so that made it all better.
  I don't know if people really read this stuff or if I'm just shouting into the void, but if you're reading this I beg you to get out there and support the bands you love. Without our support they can't do what they do. When you hear a band you like on the radio, let the station know you loved it and to keep it up! Take for instance today. I listen to Sirius XM radio because where I come from rock music on the radio is all but dead. So I turn to satellite radio to get my fix (I listen to Octane station 37 for those of you who have it-look it up!). They played a Royal Bliss song this morning! I was seriously elated to hear our hometown boys played on a nationwide radio station! If a band that you like is coming to town, get out there and support them! Let's be honest-you can get concert tickets pretty cheap if you need to, so get out there. Show them some love and let them know that rock isn't dead. It's people like us that will keep it alive. So do your part. Stay Classy.
-Nicole

I'm Baaaaaccckk!! ROTR 2014 RECAP

 Long time no see!! I feel like a major slacker and frankly I forgot I even HAD a blog for a little while. That's how crazy my life has been these past few months! So let's play catch up. Brace yourselves. I will start off by saying that a few posts back I mentioned taking a "break" from the concert scene. Yeah, that didn't happen. I tried I really did, but it just wasn't meant to be. I literally cannot stay away from the music scene. at ALL! When they released the 2014 line-up for Rock on the Range in Columbus, OH I was feeling SUPER conflicted about it. I desperately wanted to be there, but I had told myself I just wasn't going this year. It wasn't in the budget and I needed to take a break. The presale dates came and went, and the regular sale dates came. I had a pretty severe meltdown, grabbed that freaking credit card and said f*@k it, I'M GOING! I'm pretty sure this is going to happen every year as long as this festival is around, just saying. May FINALLY came around and we headed out. This time we got to the airport plenty early because I wasn't going to almost miss my flight like last year! We had a layover at O'Hare in Chicago. A VERY short layover. Like less than 40 minutes. I was so stressed about making the flight myself that it didn't even occur to me that my luggage was going to have the same damn problem! We got to Columbus around midnight and headed to baggage claim where we waited. and waited. and waited. and our bags were no where to be found. I seriously thought I was going to have a heart attack. I had heard horror stories about lost luggage and I didn't know if I would ever see my bag again. While we were waiting there was this incredibly hot guy that I had been playing eye-tag with the entire flight from Chicago who appeared to have the same problem. Waiting at the turn-style we kept the game up, and soon realized that we were both in the same predicament. Lost bags. So he and his group of friends as well as myself headed over to the scary little room to report that our bags hadn't made it. We finally talked and I learned that they were from Canada and had also come for the festival. Their bags got stuck in customs, while mine just didn't make the transfer because there wasn't enough time for it to hop planes. So after spending what felt like an eternity describing our bags and giving them the info on where to ship it when they finally showed up, we parted ways with our Canadian friends and I feared I would never see them again. My eye-tag buddy in particular because he was freaking hot. I knew it would be nothing short of a miracle to find him in a sea of 50,000 crazy metal heads. We parted ways and Shelly and I headed to the nearest Wal-mart for a 1 AM shopping session for the essentials to get us by until our bags showed up. We finally made it to the hotel and got a little shut eye before we had to head to the concert the next morning.
    Day 1: Being that this was our 3rd year, we know the ropes. We know where to go to get in the quickest. We know that you buy field tickets. We know that you have to stake your place near the main stage early if you want to get a good seat and keep it. So we found our gate that got us in the fastest, and headed straight for the merch booth because that's exactly how I roll. I'm going to be honest here. I spend a crapload of money on concert merchandise. Like I could probably put a down payment on a house with all the money I've spent on concert shirts and jackets and hoodies and whatever. But it's completely worth it. I had literally started saving months in advance because I knew I was going to be dropping some serious cash. Every day started this way. Get in, get merch, get your seat. The lineup (the bands that I watched anyway, there is no way to see every band and keep your main stage seat) for friday consisted of Thousand Foot Krutch, Redlight King, Black Stone Cherry, Killswitch Engage, Black Label Society, Seether, Staind, and Guns and Roses. It was a pretty epic day with so many great bands! My favorite of the day was without a doubt Seether. They are my #2 band and I am seriously in love with the lead singer Shaun Morgan. They were downright amazing. It was really cool to get to see BLS and GNR for the first time. We left the first day on a pretty great music-induced high, with sore butts and happy hearts.
  Day 2: Rain. Lots and lots of rain. I was deathly worried about how this was going to impact this day. This was the best day lineup wise and I was seriously going to die if things didn't clear up. We got in and one of the little booth merchant guys was selling blankets and ponchos. Smart, smart man. I'm sure he made a killing. We bought two blankets and two ponchos and waited out the storm. This was a day that I was so sad I wasn't seeing all the bands that played because they were all awesome. Every freaking one. But the bands that I saw were Rev Theory, Fuel, Pop Evil, Theory of a Deadman, Chevelle, Slayer, and my personal favorite, Avenged Sevenfold (A7X). It was cold. Damn cold. The music was worth it though. By the time A7X came on I couldn't feel my feet, but I didn't care. They are my favorite band and I just prayed that their pyro was strong enough to warm my poor toes! Obviously A7X was the best band of the day, but Pop Evil, Theory of a Deadman and Chevelle all did really great as well. It was pretty cool to say I've seen Slayer, but they aren't my favorite. It was a fantastic day and I always hate saying goodbye to A7X, but I finally had to go home and get warm before I died. A7X made the whole cold rainy day worth it. Best. band. ever.
 Day 3: By this point we are pretty exhausted. 11 hours a day for 3 days straight is draining, but it's our favorite weekend of the whole year so we nut it up and have a great time! The lineup that I saw consisted of Trivium, Adelita's Way, Wolfmother, Mastodon, Alterbridge, 5FDP, and Kid Rock. Day 3 was the complete opposite of day 2 in the weather department. It was hot. Damn hot. I got some serious sun that day, but after the day before I didn't even care. Bring on the heat. It was a pretty good day, with my favorites being Adelita's way, Alterbridge and 5FDP. I was sad to see the weekend over, but it was amazing and it just gets better and better every year.
    Now you may ask, what happened to Mr. Canada as I lovingly refer to him now. I saw him. Every day. Somehow despite impossible odds I saw him every day. I wish I wasn't the big freaking chicken that I am, because if I wasn't, I would have talked to him. But I didn't. I just stared. Needless to say this experience is helping me change a few things in my life so I don't have to be scared put myself out there sometimes. All in all this weekend was a complete success and I already can't wait to go back. I love Columbus. I love ROTR weekend. Best weekend of the year. 57 bands, 150,000 people who all come together for one purpose. To prove that rock and roll is alive and well! Below are some videos and photos from my amazing weekend- as always parental discretion is advised!

Thanks for stopping by, you stay classy!

-Nicole

Next Up...

For my next band, I chose a band that I love very dearly, not just because of their kick ass music, but because of the people that they are as well. So without much further ado... I chose PAPA ROACH from California!

This band started back in 1993 and are still going strong. I first saw them when they opened for Nickelback in 2009. I honestly couldn't even tell you how many times I've seen them since then. At least 4, possibly more. I absolutely love everything about them. Having seen them so many times, I can honestly say that they work just as hard and put on just as good of a show on for 300 people as they do for 30,000. Jacoby Shaddix, who is the lead singer, has a great way of interacting with the crowd and engaging them in the performance. He always ends up out in the crowd with the fans. He sure knows how to get a crowd riled up! Also I have to mention the hair! I freaking love his hair. Don't ask why, it's just badass and I love it.

What I love most about them is not only do they write lyrics that ring very true and can definitely be related to, but they are great people. Jacoby is a family man, and has been fighting addiction, and has stayed clean for quite some time now. Looking at him, most people just see a rock star covered in tattoos, but what they don't see is what a great father and role model he is. I love when I find artists that are amazing people. It helps to us to connect, knowing that they are real people with real problems and real triumphs. The last time I saw them was at Aftershock in Sacramento in September. He ended up having to leave right after his performance because his wife was in labor! It was actually really cool, and like I said, it reminded us that he is a real person, just like the rest of us. I wish Papa Roach nothing but the best, and hope they keep on giving us amazing music for another 20 years!

Below are a couple pics and a link to one of my favorite songs of theirs, go check it out! Seriously, they are amazing and I could watch and listen to them all day!

My latest idea...

    I was trying to think of something interesting I could do with my blog during my down time from the concert scene. I finally decided what better to do than talk about the bands that I love so much and maybe introduce you to bands that are the best in my book. So as I was driving home from work today I decided on this idea that I believe has the possibility for greatness, I shuffled my iPod and the first band to pop up was to be the first band up. The band that popped up? Otherwise hailing from Las Vegas NV! 

    Otherwise first entered my life in 2009 at the 48 Hours Festival in Las Vegas. They were the first band to play, and honestly, I had never even heard of them! After seeing them the first time, I thought they were a little dramatic and wasn't completely convinced that I liked them. I did like their sound, so I decided to give them a chance. I'm so glad I did! I've seen them 3 more times since then and can honestly say that I really enjoy watching them perform and listening to them pretty regularly. And it's not just because their bass player is my future husband (haha ok not really, but a girl can dream right?), but I genuinely love their vibe and message. They aren't overly negative, and most of their songs are something I can relate to. 

    This band has definitely put in their dues and I think they deserve to make it big. Sadly, I don't think my concert schedule this year will be nearly as big as last years, but I do hope that Otherwise and I cross paths this year!  Below I have linked one of their videos for one of their bigger songs. It was the first song of theirs to grab my attention, but I suggest that you check out the entire album! I chose this song for a couple reasons. First, I believe this song to be a good gateway song into rock music. It isn't overly hard, but still has great guitar and vocals. Second, they don't have a video for my current favorite, 'Crimson'. Like I said, just go out and check out the whole album. I hope to see this band go places, preferably places where I am. Check it out :)