Wow, the big 5-0. I never thought I'd see the day. I was a billion times more excited for this show than usual, after all, seeing MTX 50 times is a pretty big deal for me. I was extra excited that it could be with the super Hi-Fives too. It was a little deja vu-ish though, because the first time I ever saw the Hi-Fives was in San Diego with Jon Couger Concentration Camp. And lo and behold, Jon Couger Concentration Camp opened at this show too.Kelley and I showed up at about 7:15, and the doors were at 8. We figured, 45 minutes early, it should be no problem for us to get in. It never has been before after all. There was already a line of kids out front, so we went to the back door to go find everyone. The security gaurd was pretty harsh, and wouldn't let us go inside! Hmph! He told us we had to go up front and have them let us in. Well, we went up front, and what did they tell us? "You have to go to the back, we can't let you in here." At this point it was quite apparent we were getting the run around, but we went to the back hoping someone we knew would walk by. We saw John walking outside, so I called him over. He said he couldn't help us (which kind of irritated me) but invited us to go across the street for pizza with them instead. The rest of the Hi-Fives came outside, and while we were walking John apologized for not sticking up for Kel and I, so I was less irritated after that.
We went to the Domino's across the street, and waited for the Hi-Fives' order to be ready. Todd (ex merch guy for the Groovie Ghoulies and leader of the Hi-Fives fan club thing) was there too. We watched the people make the pizzas, and then some kids came up and were staring in the window. At one point there was quite a crowd, it was actually kind of creepy. I guess they thought they weren't allowed in the store or something. The pizzas were ready after a little bit, so we all went back across the street.
Gary went and got Jym for me, so that he could battle the evil door guys for us. His birthday was a few days later (October 6th), so I gave him his present. It was this really cool Pez dispenser, but it's not like a normal Pez dispenser. It's this Marvin the Martian guy, and he reaches into his space ship and pulls out a Pez. I felt kind of bad that I couldn't find any sugar free Pez, but he told me where I can get some, so now I know for next time.
He worked it out with the door guy so that we could go inside, we just had to go back out later to get our hand stamped so we could go backstage without problems. We went inside and hung out with Frank, Joel and Jym for a while. At about quarter after 8 we figured that it would be safe to go outside and get our hand stamped. Boy were we wrong! The line was even huger! In fact, it went all the way across this giant parking lot, nearly to the street. We tried to bargain with the security gaurd, but he said we had to wait in line. Hmph. For a little while we waited in the seemingly endless line, but then I spotted Steve near the front with some of his in-laws that came to the show. I went up to talk to him, and he agreed to let us cut. Yay for Steve!
Steve introduced me to his relatives, and started telling them about the Mr. T Experience. I found it pretty amusing, because he said, "They have a new bassist, Joel, who's been in the band, I think three years now." And he's still considered new? Relatively speaking I suppose. He then went on to tell them about what a big MTX fan I am, and then said, "But now she's decided to share her love with some of the Hi-Fives, which I think is really cool."
By this point we'd reached the front of the line, and headed inside. It was my first trip to this club, even though Frank swore I was at the last one there. I guess I'm around so much it's hard to remember those times I'm not. As he once said, "I wouldn't be surprised if I saw you at a show in China! It would just seem totally natural."
Once inside, there seemed to be a lot less people then there were out front. I guess it was because the place was split up into two rooms (one where the bands played, and one where the merch was), with a long hallway in between. The stage set-up was kind of weird too. There were steps across the front of the stage (which wasn't all that high), with a big metal bar going across the stage about 4 feet off the ground.
Jym recieved a little raccoon toy for his birthday from someone else (it was a little log, that you stuck your fingers in to make the raccoon come out of the log), and he kept making it talk in this really funny voice. At one point, when we were in the Hi-Fives' dressing room type thing, he was making it sing the "Meet the Hi-Fives" song. (It's a song they often use as an introduction. It's mostly instrumental, except near the end they say, "Meet Gary... Meet Steve... Meet Chris... Meet John" and then they give each other hi-fives.) It was sooooo hilarious. John came in, and Jym wanted to show off his song, so he made Chris play the music, while the raccoon did the words. He screwed it up the first time, and then during the second try John said, "Am I really watching this?!" I was cracking up.
I forget whether it was before or after the raccoon act, but Jym said to me, "Hey, are you going with us on Tuesday?" "Um...Going where?" "For chicken and waffles!" Chicken and waffles?!?! Apparently there's a restaurant where they actually serve that. I was quite appalled. Steve said that if you order a plate of waffles, they bring you a side of fried chicken, and vice versa. Am I the only one who finds this completely sickening? Needless to say, I declined the invitation.
A little later, something very strange happened. Steve, John, Chris and Joel were in the Hi-Fives' room, and I went in to request something on the set list. The second I entered the room, Joel abruptly stopped talking. I asked him if he was making the set list, and he said, yeah, and that he'd be doing it outside in a minute (as I was being ushered out of the room). Then they slammed the door. I was pretty confused, so I sent Jym to investigate for me. He went to open the door, and Steve held it shut agaist him! (Thinking I was being nosy or something, which I guess I kind of was, but not that directly!) When Joel came out, I asked him what was going on, 'cause I'm not used to stuff like that happening. He said it was "personal stuff between the two bands" and apologized.
During JCCC's set, Kelley and I went out to watch them. Before we got there though, we ran into Megan, and went back to the merch room to talk to her. Shortly after, JCCC were finished, so I made my one set list request ("Somebody Who Cares") and Joel agreed to play it, being that it was my 50th show and all. Kelley got her camera, and we went to get a spot for the Hi-Fives. It was way crowded, so I asked Steve if he'd mind if we stood in front of the barrier thing. He had no problem with it, so that's what we did.
Joel was helping them set up, and these kids in the audience kept screaming "Joel!" and stuff. I mean, geez, can't you just walk up and talk to him when he's not busy? Of course not! You have to yell at him when he can't see you and is in the middle of something else. Joel waved in their direction, and one of the boys said, "Hey! Do you remember me?" Joel was like, "Remember you? I can't even see you!" and then he went back to setting up.
It wasn't the best Hi-Fives performance I've ever seen (John and Steve both broke strings and stuff), but it was still really cool. The only thing that kind of sucked was that I couldn't see Gary too well, 'cause he was way far back on the drum riser. Oh yeah, and these stupid idiots in the crowd kept throwing waded up pieces of paper and stuff at Steve. One of them was even on fire! It was pretty screwy. I was super happy because they finally played "I Go Ferral in Just Three Days," which I'd been requesting for a few shows. They played lots of my more frequently played favorites too.
After their set I went to get some water, then came back for MTX. I was so excited! I saw this kid I'd talked to online, Mike, in the audience, but I wasn't sure if it was him or not, so I didn't say anything. (I found out later that it was him, and talked to him briefly.) After what seemed like forever, MTX were ready to play. It was such a great set, as always. But somehow this one felt extra special.
Then, right before they played "Somebody Who Cares," my "big moment" came. Frank dedicated the song to me, and started talking about how it was my 50th show, and that I'd come all the way from Detroit, and he pointed me out to everyone, and stuff. It was pretty neat. I blushed. (Yeah, I blush really easily, but hey, wouldn't you if you were pointed out in front of hundreds of kids? I thought so!) I thought it was really cool though. The only thing that annoyed me was that during the whole set, all these kids were sitting on the drum riser and stuff. I mean, geez, like you can't go stand in front where you can actually see the band? And even if that's too much trouble, couldn't you at least stand up?! I guess that's something I'll never quite understand, but oh well.
I found Megan again after the show, and we talked to her and her friend for quite a while. Her friend has a big crush on Joel, which was really cute (yeah, about a million people have a crush on him, but somehow it's more cute when it's someone who's actually HIS AGE). She wanted us to introduce her to Joel, because she couldn't just go talk to him on her own. Aww! We obliged, although he was kind of in a rush, so they only met really quickly.
We hung out in the backstage area while everyone packed up and stuff (no work for us tonight! woohoo!). Jym came in while Kelley was labeling her film, and asked her why she was stealing their film and camera. What the heck? So Kelley told him that she was just labeling some pictures of some crappy ugly band, at which point he left. Then later Gary came in for a little bit. Everyone was getting ready to go, so we said bye to him, then went outside. We said goodbye to everyone, then left. It was about an hour and a half drive to where we were staying, which is certainly not bad at all. I certainly couldn't have hoped for a better 50th!