So, say what's on your mind.

OH. MAH. GAH. THIS NIGHT CAN NOT BE PUT INTO WORDS. (Well, it can be, because I'm blogging about it.) I want to go to this concert every day for the rest of my life.

So, I arrive at Summerfest about 3 hours before the concert starts.

SO MANY FREAKIN' FAYLEYS WALKIN' AROUND. IT WAS AWFUL. (And they were wearing shirts that said PARAMORE in big letters and with No Doubt written under it in very tiny letters. SOME PEOPLE need to get their facts straight and show some respect, yo!)

My friend makes a beeline (No, not literally, if you got the Dane Cook reference) to the US Cellular stage, because she knows from past years that this is where all the "emerging rock artists" perform. She saw Sing It Loud there, in their pre-fame days! So, we sit and watch this one band, Holding Mercury. They are amazing. Afterwards, we met their singer/guitarist, who I might add, is extremely attractive.

(Please ignore the fact that I look like a douche.)

Then, since I have been here ONCE before, (for Warped Tour) I KNOW that there is a Chipoltle around those parts. I am determined. Sadly, I failed, and ended up with nasty, but still expensive, Mexican food. Buhhhh. Not to mention, afterwards, WE FIND THE CHIPOLTLE.

So, it finally comes time to walk to the ampitheatre for the concert. (OMGOMG.) We hear people yelling over and over again that there will be NO cameras allowed in, and we're just like, frozen for a minute and our faces are like WUT. But we did not let that stop us. My friend took her tampon box that was in her bag, dumped the tampons out, and hid TWO CAMERAS inside. YEAHHHHHDUDE. The security man was slightly suspicious, he was like, YOU IZ GUNNA STABZ GWEN ER SUMTHIN, UR BAGZ IZ HEAVY. He honestly asked my friend if she had a weapon with her.

So we walk into the ampitheatre, and there is NO PIT. NONE. Seats all the way up to the front row. LAAAAAMEEE LAME LAME LAME LAME. And I was much farther back then I thought. I was about halfway into the second seated section, which was covered. All in all, I was about halfway between the stage, and the very last person sitting in the very back on the lawn.

BEDOUIN SOUNDCLASH

I was really pumped about these guys opening, since I really like them. No one else really seemed to care, and I was extremely bummed by this fact. At this point in the show, people were still walking in, and no one was standing. At all. They played St. Andrews, which is one of my favorite songs by them, ever. I sang just about all the words, but while sitting in my seat. I felt farther away, because the stage was really small. The stage has all these curtains set up, and they just kept peeling layers off, almost. So by the time No Doubt came on, the stage was huge. But these guys- the space they had was about the size of my bedroom. Oh well, I really enjoyed the set. And APPARENTLY, no one else did. They just kind of made for walking in music. Buhhhhhhh. My friend left during the set to go buy merch, and she retruns and says:

CLAIRE I GOT YOU SOMETHING!

I've concluded that this shirt must have been custom made to fit Gwen's ridiculous figure, so if you're getting it, buy it a size (or even two!) larger than normal.

My wall just got 10 times awesomer. This sits right above NFG and the blank spot where my ATL poster (that's currently being shipped to mah homez) will go.

:D

Upon her return, Bedouin Soundclash is off, and I spied the occasional Zac Farro, Jeremy Davis, and Josh Farro. Possibly a Taylor York too. Once the backdrop is revealed, all these little 12 year olds start screaming. I have to admit though, it looked awesome. Even from far away.

PARAMORE

Not going to lie, I screamed and squealed like a true fan. My friend, who had made it clear that Paramore was the main reason she was there, was dancing and singing along like crazy. I didn't move around much, but I did sing. I don't have much to say about their set, I mean, it was good, but it was still light outside (despite how the pictures might have turned out) and people were still walking around. Not a lot of people were standing, but hey, they ARE an opening act. Nonetheless, I liked their set. It was perfect.

And I must recreate my favorite moment, which has always been something I've wanted to experience live in my entire life- Hayley's famous words:

"Well, Milwaukee, just in case you didn't know, or, perhaps, you might have forgotten! I don't know, it happens sometimes. I just wanted to let you know, that, on this day, in Milwaukee Wisconsin, at Summerfest, in 2009....

My friends....

WE!

ARE!

PARRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAMORRRREEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(LOL, she had me on the tip of my toes, she couldn't have possibly delayed that any longer. Like, after each comma, you need to add a 5 second pause.)

I loved how at the end of Misery Business, she just said, "Thank you". Very calmly, instead of like, screaming it while out of breath. It was kind of funny.

Also, Hayley was wearing her shirt with the suspenders on it, and I almost thought it was the ND shirt I had gotten. It wasn't. (But I may or may not know that OMGGWENSTEFANI has the same one.)

(Setlist in NO particular order): Misery Business, That's What You Get, For A Pessimist I'm Pretty Optimistic, Decoy, Decode, Where The Lines Overlap (Hayley played piano for about 10 seconds, and it was awwweeeesssoommmeeeee), Ignorance, Pressure, Let The Flames Begin (OMG, so when they started playing this, me and my friend started arguing over what song it was. She kept insisting it was Fences, even after I had sung LET THE FLAMES BEGIN in her face. It was so funny when she realized she was way off!), When It Rains, Crush Crush Crush.

I was also OFFICIALLY informed of the new album name, and the release date. Hayley tells us that it comes out on Josh's birthday, and says that it's plain rude if we don't buy it.

OKAY, SO OMG, during Let The Flames Begin and some other songs, I totally saw 2 No Doubt babies (Kingston being one of them!) dancing together to the the song sidestage with their massive earplugs/headphones on. SOOOOOO FREAKKINGGGGGG CUUUUUTTEEE.

NO DOUBT

So, it was a long wait for their set. I could see the white riserish thing being set up, and I could see the occasional band member walk around. And man, I really had to pee. Like really. I'm just about to get up and leave the ampitheatre when all of a sudden the lights go off and I'm just OMGILLJUSTPEEMYPANTSINSTEAD!

There was this giant white curtain covering the stage, except I could sorta see around it since I was way off to the side. NO DOUBT FREAKING APPEARED IN SHADOW FORM. Gwen kept dancing around for what seemed like the longest time, ever.

Then, the curtain fell, AND OMG I FREAKING SCREAMED AND JUMPED UP AND DOWN LIKE A 12 YEAR OLD. OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG  OMG OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

O

M

G

!

They opened with Spiderwebs, and from that point on, for the entire concert, I danced like a fool. I literally did not stop moving for the next two and a half hours.  

I have never screamed so loud and so much in my entire life. Ever. Right now, my throat is so swollen and sore, and I feel like I'm drinking knives. (LOL I'll stop making DC references.)

(Ohai outfit change!)

GWEN IS SUCH A SWEET PERSON. Not sweet, like, awesome, (but that she is!), but like, so freakin' genuinely nice. There was a guy in the front section (damn him, I wanted to be where he was) and he was holding up a sign that said "Living The Dream". Gwen reads it out loud and then said "Hey, that's what I'm doing!" and then she invited him up on stage, gave him a hug, and took a picture with him, totes ~myspace style~.

SETLIST: (I can't remember the order. At all. I have no idea how you people do that.)

Hella Good

I squealed and freaked out when I heard them start this song. IT IS SO FREAKING EPIC LIVE.

Excuse Me Mr.

Ex-Girlfriend

This was one of the songs that they actually played the music video on a screen behind them while it was being performed!

Simple Kind Of Life

Bathwater

This was one of three songs I called my friend during, and at some point I just screamed into the phone: OMG I DONT KNOW IF YOU CAN HEAR THIS, BUT OMG THIS IS SO AWESOME AHHHHHH.

And somewhere in about the exact middle of No Doubt's set, Gwen also invited three other girls up on stage and took pictures with them. It was so cute- the song was about to start and she's like "Ah! Hurry!"

(Right around after this song, they played an interlude and introduced each other. I think I screamed the loudest when Tony was introduced, haha. If not Tony, then I definitley screamed and cheered when Gwen was introduced. I thought I was going to seriously projectile vomit my lungs out my mouth. OHMYLANTA that would hurt so bad, and I don't even think it's possible.)

New

Hey Baby

Underneath It All

Running

OMG, they had a video montage from the past going while this was being played. People busted out their lighters for this one as well.

Different People

Don't Speak

It's My Life

So, while this was being played, I totally went back in my mind to that one day in bio class when I was listening to this on my ipod thinking of how epic this would sound live, and how sad I was because I was almost set on not being able to go. I almost cried from excessive happiness/not being able to handle the awesomeness of No Doubt being a football field's length away from me.

As ND fans, we are very obedient of what ND instructs us to do. The entire arena was seriously off their feet (except for my friends' parents and these douchey old guys in front of us) the whole show. I was jumping around so much that I fell into one of the chairs in front of me. My leg is bruised, but man, that bruise is like a freaking badge of honor.

Just A Girl

OMG. OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG. K, WHY DOES THIS SONG HAVE TO BE SO AMAZING? So, during the song, Gwen says: I want all of the boys to sing with me: I'm Just A Girl! I totally got my guy friend who was there to scream the words. Then, when it was the girls' turn, Gwen said: "Sing, I'm just a girl...from WISCONSIN!" And I was like screaming IIIII'MMMM JUUSSSTTT A GIRRRLLLL FRROMMM WISCONSINNNNNN!!!!!!

ENCORE:

Rock Steady

More lighters.

STAND AND DELIVER

OH MY FREAKING GOODNESS THAT WAS THE COOLEST PERFORMANCE OF A SONG THAT I WILL EVER SEE IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. And yes, the singer from Bedouin Soundclash does perform with everyone just as the singer from The Sounds did, in case you were wondering. He is quite good.

Sunday Morning

I seriously did not want the concert to end. Like, No Doubt, could you please just play music all night KTHNKS? But sadly, all good things must come to an end.

As we were on our way out of the ampitheatre, my friends are saying how they knew about 2 or 3 No Doubt songs, and I just start babbling about how I have every song and every cd. Some girl, who must have been at least 10 years older than me looks at me and smiles, and gives me a thumbs up. She says "I remember when I was 12 years old, and Gwen had first started making her own clothes, I did too. She's like, it." And I swear she couldn't have said that better. We also excitedly chatted about some of our favorite No Doubt songs, and how we both wished they would have played Big Distraction, or just The Beacon Street Collection in it's entirety.

As we were walking out of the ampitheatre, we passed the bus area, and I saw Jeremy riding around on his bike, and I'm pretty sure I saw Hayley over in the corner. The only thing that makes the Marcus Ampitheatre so completely douchey is that the bus area is totally unaccessible. Unless you were to jump through a shrubbery, which is just plain creepy. (I swear, the busses must have to drive through a tunnel that starts in the next state over to get to this area.) A lot of people were leaning over the bridge/ampitheatre exit and just creeping on the bands. We tried to look for like 2 seconds, but left. We will never know what became of that, I mean, who knows, if I had stayed longer, I totally would have thrown stuff down for them to sign. I totally put Riot! and AWKIF in my backpack as I left home, you know, JUSTINCASE. *sigh*

All in all, this is a night that I will remember for the rest of my life.