This show was at California State University in Monteray Bay, which is a really weird place! Up until a few years ago, it was a military base (in fact, Joel's dad went through basic training there). Now it's a school, but it's really deserted looking and spread out. It took my friends (Kelley and Susie) and I the longest time to find the actual club! We even stopped at the police station, but just our luck, it was closed! And of course, the only campus map was inside.While we were driving around, Susie spotted the van in a parking lot, so we knew we were at the right spot. When we got there, Jym was sitting in the van, so we went and talked to him first. He was really surprised to see me, since I went home a few weeks earlier, and they weren't expecting I'd be able to come back!
We went inside, and Frank was even more surprised than Jym. Joel came over and asked me if I'd run away from home (he always asks that when I show up unexpectedly in CA). We talked to them for quite a while, and I told them all about how terrible my new house in Michigan is.
I also found out that Jym has seen that Jym Mania page (you know, the pink one with all the hearts). His reaction was pretty funny. He said, "I saw that page! It was WAY too much. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's flattering and all, but still!" He then went on to tell us that he's gotten two marriage proposals (both from 15 year olds). Go Jym! Haha. If you haven't seen this page, you really have to take a look. It is so SCARY! Jym Mania.
MTX started doing their sound check, so we went over to talk to Joel's parents for a little while. Shortly after, people started coming in, and I noticed that MTX still hadn't set up their merch yet. I asked Joel if he wanted us to set it up, and of course he did. No one really bought much (this crowd was so screwy!), but it was still pretty fun.
After sitting through the terrible opening band, Kel, Susie and I pawned the merch selling duties off on Joel's parents, and went to stand in front. Believe it or not, we were the ONLY people standing! Everyone else was sitting at tables and couches way back from the stage. Finally during "Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba" some people stood up (to mosh of course...) but promptly sat down after the song was finished.
MTX played a great set, despite the lame crowd reaction. The people would hoot and hollar after the songs, and it sort of made me feel like I was at a football game rather than an MTX show. It was cool though, because MTX played a lot of songs that they don't play that often. They even played Book of Revelation, which was the first time I've ever heard it live! Frank made a couple little errors, but it was still fabulous.
They came back for an encore, and the absolute strangest thing happened. When they started playing "Sackcloth and Ashes" (the last song of the night) just about EVERYONE came up front! I don't think there was a single sober person in the group, and they all proceeded to "mosh" and flail around on each other. It was crazy!
After the set was over, I went back to rescue Joel's parents from the merch table. A few people came and bought stuff, which was cool, but it was still pretty slow. Susie packed up the merch while Kel and I were outside, and we helped them load out. We stayed around for a little while after the show, and then followed MTX off campus. It seemed like a lot longer drive coming home since we were all tired, but it wasn't too bad. Certainly more than worth the trip.