So, say what's on your mind.

This is actually a "during-listen".

THE. ALBUM. RULES.

I'm not quite sure what else to say about it. The above line pretty much speaks for itself. There is a great solid sound, Danny's voice is practically flawless (but still signature Danny sounding) and its insanely catchy.

I will say that the melodies are more catchy than Champion, and the mood overall is different than Controversy Loves Company. So far, I would like to say that it is their best album.

GO BUY IT. Sad news: its not at Target. I got mine on iTunes.

However, what I did get at Target:

Seriously, this is 6 BUCKS. It is a 20 song compilation and it also has a DVD of 13 music videos/live videos.

I will share what was on the back of the cd:

Take Action! was founded in 1999 by Hopeless Records in connection with their non-profit organization Sub City to encourage young people to make a positive impact in the world. A portion of the proceeds (Equaling 5% of the suggested retail price) earned by Sub City from the sale of this release will be donated to DoSomething.org, a national not-for-profit that believes that young people have the power to make a difference. They inspire, empower, and celebrate a generation of dooers: young people who recognize the need to do something, believe in their ability to get it done, and then take action.

The CD features: Cute Is What We Aim For, Motion City Soundtrack, Emery, There For Tomorrow, The Spill Canvas, Breathe Carolina, Forever The Sickest Kids, Versa Emerge, Meg & Dia, Ace Enders, Anarbor, Every Avenue, You Me At Six, Bayside, Red Car Wire, Sing It Loud, Cinematic Sunrise, Four Year Strong, and All Time Low.

At first, I was a little unsure of buying the cd because I had a good portion of the songs already, but, the DVD has a lot of great music videos and the cd is simply a great one to pop in your cd player and just listen to... it's not necessary to put it on your ipod or anything. All of the songs are great.

I also picked up a copy of The Open Door EP by Death Cab For Cutie and One Of The Boys by Katy Perry. Those are available at Target and are relatively inexpensive. :)

Well, thats my musical spill. What have you guys been listening to lately? I will post the "D" band shortly.

We'll start with the good news first.

AUDIZZLE'S NEW ALBUM COMES OUT TOMORROW. YES, TOMORROW.

I do plan on getting it. If I can't find a physical at Target, I will buy it on iTunes. You can expect a review sort of write up on it's awesomenes, post listen.

ZE BAD NEWS:

My computer has this naaaaassstttyyyy virus. Really bad and scary awful. Like, (I'm not quite sure how to explain this, and it sounds like complete bullshit in a way, but) it will randomly play clips from the radio. Yes, the radio. It's like I am listening to the radio, skipping around between stations...on my computer. The noise will randomly fade in and out, and quite frankly, it's a little freaky. I actually heard a police call on here? Almost like my computer is ~haunted~. Oooooohhh. Basically, now that I have explained to you how much of a clustereff my computer is in, it means that when it gets to being fixed, it will most likely be a long and complicated process, and I will have to be gone for a while. I AM SO SORRY! I will probably have to just be gone for a while without notice, so this is why I am telling you now. I thank you for being patient.

-Claire

PS. GO BUY AUDIZZLE'S NEW ALBUM TOMORROW. YOU WON'T BE DISSAPOINTED, MY FRIENDS!

Ah, where do I start! It was such an amazing night. First, I would like to say that it most definitley topped the last time I went to The Rave.

Fireworks. We got there during the last song. I must say, I was impressed. I couldn't find their cd anywhere though, which did make me a little sad. I'm stuck listening to the 30 second previews on iTunes now, wishing I had it. The worst part being, my dad isn't letting me go to Target today or anytime soon to get an iTunes card to get their cds. Boo. Conclusion of my ramble- you all need to listen to Fireworks. They currently have one full length (All I Have To Offer Is My Own Confusion) and 2 EPs out (We Are Everywhere, and Adventure, Nostalgia, and Robbery) out on Triple Crown (first 2) and Run For Cover (last one) records.

Set Your Goals. I was not pleased. NOW, before you go crazy on my opinion, let me say this. I do own Mutiny, and enjoy listening to it from time to time, but live was just too much. There was so much of a drone that you really couldn't tell the difference between singing and shouting. Plus, they were the only band with an insane circle pit, so me and my friend were standing right in front of the sound booth, in possibly one of the worst spots ever.

At this moment, they played Holiday by Valencia while setting up for Bayside and Claire sang all of the words and danced around, earning herself strange looks. It was so totally worth it.

Bayside. Simply amazing! I love Bayside, despite the fact the I know very few songs by them. (A couple from their debut self titled, and all from Shudder.) Now, the first thing that made the set already a bajillion times better was our new spots. We had moved all the way around the crowd to the left, and came in just a couple rows from the front, on the end. We could see the entire stage. I'm not quite sure what they opened with, it didn't really sound like a full song. But they immediatley played Boy after that. I didn't recognize any from the rest of their set (minus Moceanu), but then, they finished with Devotion and Desire. Claire went crazy and sang along.

 The wait was incredibly long, and the anticipation building up is practially indescribable, but it finally happened:

New Found Glory. Jordan came out wearing a pirate hat of sorts, and it was quite amusing. The artwork was covered until the last second, but it looked absolutley amazing. They opened with Listen to Your Friends. For just about all of their songs, it was so loud that I could never tell what the song was in the beginning, but once I realized what was being played, I totally sang the words at the top of my lungs. Best feeling ever.

At one point or another, the following happened:

Chad mentions that (he's kind of ashamed about it, but) he started a Twitter for himself. Then he took a picture of us  (BTW, I'm totally not in the picture, but if you look at where the blue plus sign on the screen is, I'm about there) and told us he'd Twitter it. Then he told us to follow him on Twitter. It was Twittastic, basically.

Some kid named Jon held up a sign asking if he could play drums on Dressed To Kill. (Also Twittered) They put emphasis on that if he messed up, they would have to start over, and that would ruin the song. Fortunatley, he did not. After this happened, he walked past me and my friend. I wanted to give him a high five, but he was about three times my size. I decided not to. Then, everyone started chanting Jon's name repeatedly, and Steve said that Cyrus had to come back, with Chad adding "Wait, Cyrus is cool, right?" and then starting to chant Cyrus's name.

Chad also talks about how so many different kids were at the show, and how you don't have to dress a certain way or look a certain way to be a true NFG fan. Which was cool, especially considering I was in a purple shirt covered in sparkly stars with pigtails in my hair and having a feeling that I didn't fit in.  

It was asked for those who have all of NFG's albums to make themselves known. I was like YEAHHHHHHH, but then I realized that people were probably thinking something like: Wow, she's like 12 years old, she so totally doesn't know of all of their cds, so I stopped cheering.

My friend told me that she would be so happy to the point of peeing herself if they played Hold My Hand. They played it. We went crazy and danced and sang along. Again, best feeling ever.

Other songs they played (in NO particuar order at ALL):

All Downhill From Here

Truth Of My Youth

Failure's Not Flattering

HOLD MY HAND

Kiss Me

Better Off Dead

Dressed To Kill (Featuring Jon on the drums!)

Sincerely Me (Jordan was like, "We're going to take you back to the year 2000!" as the song started. I then realized that I was 7 in the year 2000.)

Hit Or Miss (I had to leave as they were playing this song. I was actually buying merch and watching the merch guy dance to the song.)

Right Where We Left Off

Don't Let Her Pull You Down

Listen To Your Friends

47

Truck Stop Blues (I heard this one from outside the venue while waiting for my parents, going AWWW MANN!!!)

Don't You Forget About Me (also heard from outside, boo.)

Undersatement

Head On Collision

Tip Of The Iceberg

And as I can assume, they ended with My Friends Over You and played Too Good To Be as an encore, as I had previously heard from people who went to other shows. I also have a feeling they played Intro, which I am bummed that I missed.

A few downers:

This. I thought it would be at the merch booth. It wasn't.

I thought this would be there too. It wasn't. I really wanted it.

THIS GUY (better known as Nick from Bayside) was seriously standing right next to my friend as we were buying merch, and I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING. I'm not quite sure why, either. Not to mention, I totally had a Bayside shirt in my hand, and he's probably looking at me like "Wow, this girl probably doesn't even know who I am. Geez." I swearz, Nick, I totally wish I could have run back into the venue and said hi/have you sign my shirt.

An upper:

Possibly the coolest band shirt I own now.

That's about all I have to say. Yes, it sucks that I had to leave early, but the drive back is seriously highway hypnosis at its best, and even with leaving early, I didn't get home until 1 in the morning.

My friend got a few pictures and videos on her phone. I will upload those once she sends them to me (and give her creds, no worries.) She got some sweet videos from Bayside's set.

I promise, I will journal everything and start to post pictures. Just not now.

I've already taken at least 10 photos for my 365 project. Yay.

Here's a spoiler of a few photos:

Monterosa- Cinque Terre

And my weekly playlist- with a new twist! Guess the artists. First one to get all of them right will get a surprise.

Never Give Up

My Lovely

Don't Let Me Down

A Call To Arms

Black Mamba

I Can Get Back Up Now

5 Years Time

One of Those Nights

...Good luck!

-Claire

I have about 2 seconds here.

Italy is fantastic. I will be home in like, a week.

Thanks so much for all of the birthday wishes.

-Claire :D

And then another plane to Venice :)

Leave all the notes and comments you want, but I will not be back here on Buzznet until about the 19th or the 20th.

And a week after I return, I am lucky enough to see New Found Glory in concert, so you can expect two MAJOR blogs upon my return.

Love, Claire

PS. Do not tell me to take lots of pictures, because I've been told that way too many times. I am bringing 5 GB (3 memory cards) with me.

PPS. Do not bother me about uploading photos once I announce that I am back- the process will be slow, and I will have so many to upload.

PPPS. If someone continually spams my page while I am gone, go eat their face. PLZKTHNKS.

PPPPS. I'll be packing like crazy tonight, but I'll still be online probably until I go to bed, so we can talk and stuff for a while before I take my Buzznet leave.

CLAIRE HAZ THE RESULTS OF THE WRITING CONTEST. I totes appologize if I didn't get back to you on your story (although Paija did) but I did read each and every entry.

1st place goes to:

JOMEQI with her story I Want To Fall In Love Tonight.

Claire's thoughts:

Your story is amazing. Simple as that. I love love love everything about it! The entire story line, from the beginning paragraph, to the extensive flashback scene, to the ending- which was tragic, emotional, and thoughtful. Just, amazing.

My favorite part in the entire story:

How does someone describe a concert? Because honestly, there were too many words to describe what I went through. This concert, scratch that, this gathering of different bands, was an impeccable and fantastic experience. Dan, with the help of another guy, lifted me into the air, my legs resting on both their shoulders, my hands reaching out to the air. Now as light as I was, I didnt believe I was this light. I felt like I was floating, not being carried. I prayed I wouldnt fall. But this was nothing compared to the musical experience. The music. It flowed through my veins, pulsing the crowd and giving us all a reason to sing. The lights flashed on back and forth as a guitars sound echoed throughout the room and sent people cheering a thundering cheer, loud and somewhat musical to the ears. Though it was hot and boisterous, filled with sweaty, tired people, I knew they all enjoyed every minute of it. I watched in awe as people all around us were surfing the crowd, falling back to the ground and being thrown in the air again. This crowd here was packed inside this large warehouse, but the sound in this place was fabulous, and I'm sure they all forgot about the time and place. They sang their hearts out, probably filled with adrenaline. I closed my eyes and smiled, taking a heap of air and letting it fill my lungs. It was amazing what music did to you. It vibrated. It made the atmosphere electric. You felt high by just being here. Music.

It's just so amazingly descriptive, and has certain tone to it. This entire story reminded me of a movie. I had a very clear mental picture the entire time.
Also, knowing that Dan had died after the first paragraph, your writing had kept me on the edge of my seat until his written death.

Oh, and the tears blending in with the rain- I see that a lot, but you used it well.

GREAT JOB!

Paija's thoughts:

Eeerie ending! But this was so well written. You really used the right word choice and imagery that connects to the reader and hits them emotionally. Like me, the sap.
Keep up the amazing work!

2nd place goes to:

Rememberthestars with her story Remembering Sunday

Claire's thoughts:

Wow! Wow, wow, wow! I really loved this. The way you describe every scene, I felt as if I was right there, experiencing it all. The flashback was simply amazing, and I loved the emotion throughout the story. (Nothing personal to Joshayley fans, but) I love to see Josh and Hayley angry at each other. Most people aren't good at writing that way, but my friend, you definitley made it clear that the pair was quite angry. I loved how you got Hayley to eventually break down, and the "backwards proposal" was so cute. Great job!

Paija's thoughts:

I always love reading your stories. You have your own style of writing and to be frank, you rock at it. The way you use imagery and how you show each persons different emotions and sides of their personality really makes it more realistic to the reader. Job well done!

Third place goes to:

Stonegrillo with her story Cautioners

Claire's thoughts:

Oh my, great great great story! I loved it! The details and descriptive adjectives were amazing, and I had a ridiculously clear picture in my mind. The emotion and drama in this story is perfect! Well done!

Paija's thoughts:
This was incredibly well written. I really felt like I was next to Melanie, listening and dreading the whole scene. It really felt real. You have an amazing talent and I hope you consider becoming a writer someday.

and, HONORABLE MENTION goes to

Createthejoy with her story Please Don't Let Go (which has more chapters, yo. Go read it!)

Claire's thoughts:

Oh. My. Wow.

Your story left me absolutley..just...speechless. I was sitting on the edge of my seat from the moment I started reading this, and I was on the brink of bursting into tears. (and you KNOW that I like, never cry.)

The emotion in this story was unbelieveably strong! I love how you wrote the story, with the issue about Ansley and her relationship with Alexandria, and how it spiraled into an emotional conflict for Ansley. The way you described the pain and trouble she was going through was just...perfect.

The cut scenes were perfectly described. It very much reminded me of "The Way She Feels" by Between The Trees, but I liked your Copeland reference :)

I also liked the way you got Ansley's friend to find out about her cutting, and of course, how he didn't betray her at the very end. That was a great way to end the stroy, and made it very emotional.

so like, OMG GREAT JOB!

Fantastic job to everyone who entered! Yay!

JAMIE YOU SHOULD BE SO PROUD OF ME OMG!

Bayside and FYS's covers are the best. Wanna argue 'bout it?

My mom wanted to know why I bought this. She almost thought Death Cab For Cutie changed their name. Oh, my mom. Anyways, total legit reason: I only had a demo of I'll Run. Now, I have the awesome version.

Can you believe I actually didn't have this before today? And I call myself a Paramore fan. *hangs head in shame*

Considering I'm seeing them in less than 3 weeks, it might help to know more than one song of theirs. *Curses Target for only having new releases*

Just like Sydney and Sky, I will make a Nothing Personal blog in honor of the new All Time Low record. Great idea, I give you two props!

Nothing personal, but I am so sick of people criticizing my musical taste and letting it define me. People always assume that I'm "too cool" to listen to bands other people have heard of. That is THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE of the truth. I can listen to whatever I please.

Nothing personal, but I can not tolerate this ridiculous Joshayley obsession. GET OVER YOUR TWELVE YEAR OLD SELVES. You need to undertand that they were never meant to be, and that they would never date anyways because dating within a band is far too awkward, and wouldn't be picture perfect like you imagine it. And while I'm at it, stop talking shit about Chad/NFG, because I happen to be, well, a NFG superfan (SQUEEIMSEEINGTHEMINCONCERTIN22DAYS), and you have totally made all of them, but Chad in particular, look like the biggest shit faces in the history of assholes. He's not a drunken abuser/sex offender/child molester/Hayley's uncle.

Nothing personal, but I don't like Fall Out Boy. The singer's voice gives me the creeps. However, I do enjoy playing the FOB trail. It is seriously the best way to waste time.

Nothing personal, but I have the biggest hate for angled pictures. Especially when a weird looking chunk of an arm is in the picture because its so extremely angled.

Nothing personal, but I hate the midwest. I need to get out of it. My parents were just asking me if I was considering going a ways for college, or staying close. I think I've made up my mind.