Billeh: I don't have an Instagram, gurl. I'm sorry
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So I got to see The Airborne Toxic Event, last night, for my fourth time
It was super amazing, as always, and I just figured I'd tell you all the story of what went down now. Depending on what time my sister posts her pictures on Facebook, I might be able to save a couple and post them on here for you guys to see.
In the meantime, here's my story...
It all starts off where I have to wake up for the day. I knew I was going to school, which felt quite strange and annoying because I hadn't gone for the past two days due to being sick. In fact, I was still very much ill, which only made me get more angry.
So, eventually I left my house with my sister, and we began our 12-minute walk to the bus stop. Once we were almost there (about one street left to walk), we take a turn onto that street, and we see this black cat lying on the side of the road. Now usually, because there are so many stray cats in my neighborhood, we thought it was just sleeping.
But, as you may probably tell, it was not sleeping. It was dead.
It was such a terrible sight to see (I would say the details to enhance how dreadful it really was, but I don't want to make you guys depressed). It really tore apart my heart and my sister's, considering not only are we passionate animal lovers, but we also have bonded very closely to all of the cats in our neighborhood. They were basically just like any domesticated animal that I would keep as a pet because of how much I saw them and how close we were.
Also, when I had seen the cat, and I thought it was sleeping only to discover that it got killed, reminded me of my dog, Sunny, that died a couple of years ago from diabetes. The day that my dog died, I had just come home from school with my sister. I was peeking into the back room where both of my dogs were (we had to put them back there because Sunny kept accidentally peeing on everything. We didn't care if the back room got ruined.), and I saw only Sunny's body lying there on the ground (his head was hidden behind a box we had in the back room). When I opened the door to say 'hello' to my dogs, my other dog Shannon ran out immediately and whimpered a little bit. So, then I went into the room to see Sunny, kind of happy but knowing something was wrong (before I went into the room, I tapped on the glass on the door to see if he would move; usually he would). When I finally got to him, I said his name, I bent down to his side (still not able to see his face), poked his stomach, and that's when I knew he was gone (his body had already stiffened).
But just finding the cat dead, almost in the same way I found Sunny (minus the poking and the difference that my dog was not killed by a car, probably), it really tore my heart to pieces.
So, this ruined my entire day. My sister and me were crying all the way down to the bus stop, on the bus, even a bit at school. I could tell that everything was just going to get worse as the school day progressed on, knowing I still had to survive block period: Gym (block period is the longest class of the school day, and also the first class of the school day), that I had to make up possibly two quizzes in AO (AO is like a study/homeroom at the end of the school day), and finally that I had to take a HUGE history test.
I will not go into full detail about what went on in each class; that would be way too tedious for you guys, and it's also not the main point of what I am talking about.
Finally, it was the end of the school day and I was walking down the hallway to meet up with my sister before we went to the bus to go home. To recap how I felt:
- Completely disgusting: My hair was hideously messed up because of the strong humidity. My face and body was covered in sweat and stickiness from the heat and humidity. My face broke out the most, yesterday, for no reason. My outfit was annoying me. Overall, I just felt so very ugly.
- Depressed and angry: The cat was still bringing my spirits down. Everybody in school was more annoying than usual [everyone kept staring at me (probably because I was so gross) and it really frustrated me]. I just wanted to go home, but once I did, I knew I still had to go to the concert.
My sister, actually, hadn't waited for me at the end of the hall like she usually does because she was trying to avoid some boy that has an annoying/clingy crush on her (I understand her motives. It didn't anger me much more).
I eventually started heading towards the bus, but I was behind this boy that I have a crush on (he's in my sister's grade; may possibly like me back or at least has some interest in me). So I was immediately really happy. And then, HE HELD THE DOOR OPEN FOR ME. TWICE, IN FACT.
He looked genuinely pleased to see me and to be a gentlemen for me, which got me pretty darn flustered, but I did my part and said 'thank you' at the appropriate times (and I did not say it awkwardly, for once).
I was proud of myself, until I got on the bus and realized how absolutely horrifying I looked. He probably will never hold the door open for me again, or look at me during gym class anymore (the only class I have with him).
So, now I get off the bus, hoping that someone buried the cat so when I walk down the street, I don't have to have my soul ripped apart. But no, the cat is still there and much more dead- flies have taken over (before, in the morning when I first saw it, the cat was freshly killed). My sister and I get sad again, we both complain about how terrible the day was.
I finally get happy (even though I still felt insanely ugly), knowing that this concert will not let me down. It never had before.
My sister and I fix ourselves up, my dad gets home from work, and then we are on our way.
Here comes the real experience, guys. Sorry if before this mark, was extremely boring and depressing to read (you could have skipped over it if you really wanted to). I just had to make sure you knew how horrible I felt, and now how quickly that would transition into happiness at the concert.
The car ride was actually really great. I was happy. The sun was out. We did not get lost trying to get parking.
We left the parking garage, and we used my sister's GPS on her phone to get us to the House of Blues (which is, by the way, my all time favorite venue. I seriously love that place). We are also trying to find a bathroom for my dad, in the meantime, as well. Eventually, we stop trying to find a bathroom and we just try to find the venue, but we get lost.
We actually get pretty close, and we thought we were on the right street, until this hot dog guy tells us we're on the wrong street. We get the right directions from him (he had a strong Boston accent. Pretty funny).
As we arrive on the correct street, it is crowded.
Let me tell you guys right now: The Red Sox AND The Bruins were playing in Boston that night. And the Red Sox Arena is RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET from the House of Blues. It's crazy.
But as we are almost to the line outside the venue, we see the band's tour bus. AND WHO IS THERE? OH MY GOSH IT'S MY BUDDY STEVEN CHEN, THE GUITARIST OF THE AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT. Now, I say buddy because I've met the entire band 3 times before, and he loves me the most out of my family that goes to the concerts with me.
So, we go over and call out his name because it seemed like he was going to get in the bus, but he comes back out with his skateboard and greets us so happily. It was a reunion, because I hadn't seen him in about 2 years. My dad, as soon as we start talking, embarrasses me by saying "Dude, I like your new hairdo. My daughter loves it, as well. She wants to touch it!" *facepalm* Thanks Fasha, now I seem like a psycho fangirl.
He kind of acted skeptical after my dad said that, but not just to me, which still make me feel terrible, but.
We get pictures with him and his skateboard, which is legendary because not many fans get to meet him before the show AND with his skateboard (which is always in the pictures the band tweets).
He then says he off to watch the Red Sox game with a couple of friends and some of the band, which surprises us because he has to perform that night, but he assures us he would be back in time and that he'll see us later. We depart.
We get in line and see only a couple people are there. We are guaranteed the front row, which is fabulous.
The two guys in front of us, from what I heard of their conversations and could make out, were college students, only seemed to have wanted "that one thing", and were not big fans. It got me pretty angry that they got there before us. However, I knew that they were probably going to hang around the bar the entire night.
One guy, looked very similar to Ian Somerhalder (you can look him up), but had much lighter hair. He was gorgeous, even though I knew he was an idiot. You guys should have seen his beautiful blue eyes though, my lordy.
Anyways, almost 30 minutes until the doors opened, these two girls who worked for 92.9 (a very popular rock station in Boston; also my favorite rock station of the radio) wanted to take pictures of us (my dad, sister and me) to put on their website. We got the pictures taken; I still cannot find the pictures on their website though, but oh well
Finally the time comes where the doors are opened.
We go through the ticket people, ONLY TO SEE that there are PEOPLE ALREADY THERE IN THE FRONT ROW. WHICH IS WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME AT THE HOUSE OF BLUES WHEN WE FIRST SAW THEM. STUPID. FRICKEN. SOUND CHECK AUDIENCE. OR. STUPID. FRICKEN. PEOPLE WHO WIN CONTEST AUDIENCE.
However, even though I wanted to be on the right side of the stage where I usually stand at this venue, my dad and sister found that on the left side of the stage, there was still some space, so we were in the front row. FINALLY. AT THE BARRIER. IT WAS AMAZING.
Now skipping ahead to the opening band, Kodaline. They are from Ireland, so Boston immediately loved them. THEY WERE SO COOL. AND THEIR MUSIC WAS AMAZING.
During their performance, I kept making eye contact with the wicked bass guitarist who was on the other side of the stage where I would normally be. There was a connection.
Now, once they left, and the crowd was sad because they were such a great band, it was time to wait for Airborne.
Again, I will just skip ahead to when they come out.
It was BREATH-TAKING, which is how I feel whenever I see my favorite band walk out on stage.
THEY OPENED WITH SONGS FROM THEIR FIRST ALBUM. I ALMOST CRIED. And during the second or third song, MIKEL WAS ALREADY IN THE CROWD SINGING, which he usually doesn't do until the middle of the show.
AND THEN HE WAS ALREADY CLIMBING UP TO THE SECOND BALCONY. AND THEN HE EVEN WENT TO THE THIRD. AND HE WAS STILL SINGING HIS HEART OUT. AND THIS WAS ONLY IN THE BEGINNING OF THE SHOW, STILL. WHAT.
He eventually came down, and joined the rest of the band. By this point I'm about to break down into a pile of mush because Airborne, people, are SO FRICKEN EPIC when the perform. I WAS DYING.
They play some more songs, Mikel tells the crowd about some of the songs.
- Timeless: a song he wrote for 5 family members that died all around the same time. He was talking about how, in the past, he used to be kind of obsessed with death. He had a very sad and tragic life, and many of his lyrics and songs show that. This song was just another one to the bunch. He explained it all very well (I'm missing a couple of strong details, but).
I cried so much during that song because it made me feel so sympathetic for Mikel. He's such a darling and only deserves the best in life. I also cried because I thought of the cat again (which if you didn't read the beginning of this post, I explained there about a cat), and so I dedicated the song to the cat in my head.
- Wishing Well: He said this was the first song he ever wrote. He apparently used to play it over and over in an apartment, and his neighbors would bang on the wall telling him to "shut the f*ck up". The crowd laughed; I laughed.
When he played this song, you could see how passionate and dedicated he was to this song considering it was the first song that led him to where he was now. And where he is now, is probably the best place he'd ever want to be.
Eventually the concert ended, and Mikel was greeting the fans that were at the barrier. Of course those who were not at the barrier but were still in the venue crowded all around him. I WAS SUFFOCATING. I'VE NEVER BEEN IN SUCH A SMALL AND CLUTTERED PLACE BEFORE FOR ABOUT 15 MINUTES.
But anyways, he came on over. Here's what happened:
As soon as he stood in front of us, he had a huge smile on his face and looked at my sister and me. He said, "AW look at you guys! You guys are so cute with your little faces and pretty smiles!"
*dead*
To which I replied, "- even though we're all sweaty, but..." I shrugged and smiled jokingly. He laughed and said, "Oh, that's all right." He shrugged, as well, and gestured to his sweaty face. He smiled really big again and my sister and I went in for a hug. While embracing, he said "thanks for coming to our rock show."
*dead again*
Apparently, now that I can think about it without having a fog surrounding my head, my lips were basically kissing Mikel's shoulder. I was at a weird angle, all right! And I wasn't puckering so... I guess my lips were just smooshed into his super sweaty shoulder.
But I didn't mind
Also, while going into the hug, I got a BIG whiff of Mikel's sweat. At first it caught me off guard because I never smelt his sweat before, despite meeting him before, but then I was just like "this heavenly smell. mm." :LOL:.
Anyways, once the hug ended, he was almost moving onto the other people, but I said "Timeless made me cry a lot, especially with what you said about the song".
and he replied, "Oh really? I didn't think people would like that song very much."
It's their top single for their new album.
I lastly said, "Oh no! It's beautiful..."
he said, "Oh, thank you very much." Smiled greatly once last time, and moved on.
I was crushed by the crowd for another ten minutes, and then I broke free.
BUT WHO DO I SEE AS ONE OF THE PEOPLE WHO WAS IN THE CROWD?
MY FRICKEN. SPANISH. TEACHER. FROM LAST YEAR. WHO WAS ALSO. MY SISTER'S SPANISH TEACHER. ALL THE WAY. THROUGH MIDDLE SCHOOL.
SHE WAS THERE/
WHAT.
I kind of wanted to say 'hello' to her, but it just would have been so awkward. But I'm glad she's a fan. I think I might have seen her at one of their other concerts before, now that I think about it... strange.
Anyways, we buy our new merchandise, and I see the bassist from Kodaline where his band have their merch. BUT HE LEAVES JUST BEFORE WE GET TO GO UP TO HIM.
So I get kind of angry, and we leave the venue. We wait around Airborne's tour bus, hoping they would come out like they usually do. BUT THEY NEVER COME OUT.
Now, this was the first time I've ever left an Airborne concert without meeting them and getting pictures. I was disappointed.
But I had an idea of why this was.
Anna, the band's viola player and back-up vocalist, is from Boston and her family was there. So the entire band was probably with her family and such.
sigh.
We wait a little longer, I'm just looking around at all of the drunk people. My sister gets a high-five from this random guy who I guess was at the concert.
AND THEN I SEE HIM. THE BASS PLAYER. OF KODALINE.
I tell my dad this and he immediately goes on over. I'm shouting after him "No, don't do it! He's about to leave! It's going to be awkward! drftgyhjk"
I see that my dad begins talking to him, and I go on over beckoning my sister to follow.
Here's what went on:
First off, I saw that he was gorgeous on stage, but up close guys, even. more. beautiful.
AND HE'S IRISH. SO HIS ACCENT WAS AMAZING.
He's such a funny guy; I love him. He was so bubbly and laughed at everything- cracking jokes here and there.
I wish I could recall exactly every word we exchanged but here's what I can remember.
- We were talking about how great he and his band did.
- We asked if we could get his signature. He said, "Oh yeah, sure, let me just get a Sharpie from the bus!" He leaves for a moment. In the meantime, the group of people that put away the equipment are, well, putting stuff away. And since we were next to some stuff we had to move.
There was this one guy though, who came to get the spear that was lying by my feet and he said, "Excuse me, ma'am, I need to get this spear to shove up my ass." I was so surprised he said that, but he and I both laughed. He then did an impression of Gandalf, like a fricken pro: "You shall not pass!"
And that's when I noticed the bassist came back out, ready to sign, so I kind of felt embarrassed that I was laughing around with this other guy. Oh well.
The bassist guy showed us this cool trick of how to open a CD from the plastic. I will forever use his trick.
- We talked a little about U2, considering they're from Ireland.
- We got onto the topic of The Cranberries, which are another band from Ireland and very popular world-wide. We told him about how we saw them exactly a year ago to that day. He was really jealous but he explained how he and Kodaline opened for The Cranberries in France some time during January. He said it was such an amazing experience.
My dad told him how he hoped The Cranberries would come on back to Boston and that there wasn't much information about their tour, to which the bassist replied, "Well, you know, Dolores is one of those temperamental women! *he laughs again for the billionth time* She does what she wants to and if she doesn't feel up to it because of some reason, she won't let the band go on itself *he laughs*".
- My dad asked where Kodaline was going next. The bassist replied, "We're playing with Airborne for two more shows, but then we're heading back to Europe for some festivals. We'll most likely come back to America, especially Boston for obvious reasons. *he laughs*"
- We then bring up who will be playing with Kodaline at the festivals and what festivals they will be playing at. He says, "We're playing Glastonbury-"
"- with Muse?" My dad asks.
"No, I wish, but we're playing with uh.. *he thinks for a moment*. Biffy Clyro!"
"Oh, they opened for Muse when we saw them!" we all say in unison, in which the bassist laughs incredibly.
So then we talked about Muse for a while. He said he used to be so obsessed with them for the longest time. And I immediately fell in love.
- The bassist eventually asked for my name with the cutest smile on his face.
I said, "Haley" and he put his hand out for me to shake. I shook it, but I accidentally stabbed his palm with my nails *facepalm* I felt so bad and awkward after. However, he replied, "I'm Jason. It's so lovely to meet you."
*dead*
His hand was so soft.
he then asked for my sister's name, the same thing happened, but I noticed he said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, too."
he lastly, did the same for my dad.
But guys, he said "lovely" for me. you know. um. I'm dead.
He then said that he had to go, and that is when we departed. He said he didn't really want to leave, he was having a nice time talking to us (mainly my dad because my sister and I were shy).
Then, we had our journey back home.
And that is it.
geesh, I typed a lot. 5 hours of typing. YOU GUYS BETTER READ THIS THEN.
I will probably post some songs by Kodaline in the Other Bands thread.
Adios.
I'm @americaneejit 
