So, say what's on your mind.

Real life franz that become e-franz = win. BUT NOT UNLESS YOU ADD THEM. 

Go on, just guess. 

I really wish the Song of Summer contest was actually based on content. Does anyone realize that it is 100% based on Buzz?

It's not fair to write poop, then notespam everyone into Buzzing your entry.

I honestly don't stand a chance at winning because the quality of everything I wrote really doesn't matter. n______n

HELLO EVERYONE! PLEASE READ THIS, AND IF YOU LIKED IT, DO A GIRL A FAVOR AND CLICK THE [+BUZZ] BUTTON AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE! THANK YOU!

I worked very hard to write this and put a lot of thought and creativity into it. I have been to very few shows and attend little to none most of the time because I can't afford ticket money. Winning this contest would provide me with the opportunity to experience a year of live music. If you are trying to help me win, I can't thank you enough. If this happens for me, I can only promise you that you will be rewarded with my unique write ups from experiences that YOU helped make happen.

I highly suggest listening as you read:

This song is so incredibly fitting for summer. It will never be tired out, overplayed, or become annoying to any pop-punk loving listener.

I barely got to sleep last night. But don't worry girl...I still had that dream again: That dream where I am in a perfect world with perfect blue skies...where no ones dies and we spend forever living in love. Nothing can be better than a perfect world with a perfect girl. We'd have so much time living out the good life. It's the good life.

This opening line of the song is what summer is all about: sleepless nights, pleasant dreams with the occasional dose of rest, and the idea of and fascination with a perfect world. Shortly after (vocalist) Shane Henderson mutters the words it's the good life, a steady up-tempo beat in an easy listening 4/4 is started, accompanied by the constant strumming of guitars and a good solid bass line. The musical interlude that appears before the first verse arrives is very simple, yet musically pleasing. There's something about the way the chord progression sounds that makes you want to roll down the car windows, turn up the volume, and get lost in the music.

From the moment my feet touched sand to the perfect skies up in the tall mountains. It felt so good to roll the windows down and drive these roads until we'd find ourselves. Then we'll go back to the life we want to lead. Yeah, we'll go back to the way things used to be. We'll find a way to make it right and live our lives. Step by step, we'll make it as we sing.

 The first verse is one of my favorite parts of the whole song, and almost perfectly describes my feelings about summer. From sandy beaches to tall mountains, the lyrics are not only describing beautiful outdoor landscapes, they are describing particular scenes that are fantastic places to be in the summer time. Rolling down car windows and taking long drives, taking the time to find yourself and just break away from your everyday life- those are all excellent lyrical aspects that describe the perfect summer.

Don't ever forget all the sleepless nights we stayed up late until the sun would rise. No matter how far you get, I'll be a step behind to catch you when you fall down.

The chorus of this song is not lengthy like in most other songs, but it gets the message across in a very appropraite manner. A story of two people in a relationship looking back on all of their summer memories, and how it created a bond between the two of them. It's such a fantastic line because there surely are many people who can relate to the lyrics.

I've met great friends, I've seen great times. I've been in love and I've seen love die. But nothing's as good as when I close my eyes and feel that road that's led me through this life. It's a good life that's kept me on my feet. It's a good life when I'm living in a dream where I'll take a chance on every breath like it's my last. Step by step, we'll make it as we sing.

This is the second verse, where we are taken through a person's life, and all of their experiences. They've seen the good and bad, but the journey through all of it has kept them going. They're appreciating their life- living freely and having a good time doing so. That kind of feeling and lifestyle always reminds me of summer, just living your life up and taking chances.

I packed my bags, I was on my way home. I was 400 miles away from being back inside your arms...it's where I always wanted to be.

The bridge gives me a visual of summer ending- coming home and going back to the way things used to be- but in a positive aspect. Being safe and back with someone you love and care about, and having a good feeling as your days of summer come to an end.

(And) with the return of the chorus, it's showing that even though summer has ended, there will always be great times to look back on that you will never forget.

 I barely got to sleep last night. But don't worry girl...I still had that dream again.

HEYYOOO, this was taken from my tumblr blog. Read it there, or here. Whatever floats your boat.

HELLOOOOOOOOOO. I can't belive it's already the end of day two. OMGGGG. So, since I never really update this dang thing, it's about time I should start. And, I guess I'll have a lot to say once I'm on the road and experiencing internet withdrawl. Oh, the life of being a teenage girl in the 21st century. (Which reminds me, I had a brief panic moment earlier on today when I misplaced my cell phone. I never thought I'd be unhappy without it, but trust me, I was. It was eventually found in the bottom of my suitcase after stopping at some very ~old school Sinclair station on the side of a rural highway.)

Alright, moving on. At the current moment, I'm sitting in the "Business Library" (aka OMG FREE INTERNET ROOM) of the hotel in Little Rock, Arkansas. I barely have any time, but I'm so glad I'm here sitting in front of a keyboard about to type my life away. This trip has barely started, as I've only been on the road for two days, but a lot of things have happened. We (my mom and I) yesterday around 8:30 in the morning, and managed to take our time, and turn an 8 hour trip into a 12 hour day. Of course. Our first day destination was my cousin's house in New London, Missouri, which is right outside of Hannibal. (Betcha didn't know that's where Mark Twain grew up! OOOOHHHH.) New London, well, that just about defines "the middle of nowhere", and despite my love for big cities, an area like that is just so refreshing. I don't think that I could live there, but spending time in those places or taking the occasional drive down a country highway is almost therapeudic. Hannibal, which we always see on the way to my cousin's house, is a cute, old, little town, with a very exident relaxed pace of life. (As my cousin describes it- "Dooo. Deeee do. Deee do. Deee do.") Although some parts do look quite economically depressed, it makes for some good photographic opportunities, and, it's right on the water, which is always nice. I'm going to be 150% honest with you and tell you that I'm leaving out so many fine details of this trip, because I'm not in the best ~blogging atmosphere~ I suppose. I need some time where I can sit down for a while and not being under pressure to write a bunch of crap down with a time limit/curfew. (Plus an angry mother over my shoulder.) I think I will try to do some more filling in on today and what's to come in a future blog. Hopefully I can sit down sometime before I come home and fill you all in. Otherwise, everything I have to say will have to wait until the 19th. 'Tis when I arrive home.

Oh, but I will tell you of all the places I will be stopping on my excellent journey:

Today, as I mentioned, I am in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Tomorrow, I should be arriving in Lafayatte, Louisina, and beginng Habitat work the next day through Friday.

Saturday, I leave Lafayatte for New Orleans, and I do belive I am spending two nights there. (At a hotel in the French Quater! I'm so excited!)

From Louisiana, I start to make my way home, and I think my first stop is in Tenessee. I double checked the reservations, and I am indeed staying in a hotel in Franklin. (Heh heh heh!)

(I think there is another stop somewhere in there. But I'm not quite sure of where it is.)

THAT IS ALL FOR NOW. I predict I will be in so much trouble for coming back to my hotel room late. :(

<3 CUH-LAIREEEEEEEE!

BEFORE YOU START READING: I have some photos, but not all of them. I will get them up as soon as I can. Of course, all of the photos that are unavailable are the ones of me with band members. Trust me, I want to see them as badly as you do. For the moment, they are stuck on my sister's camera. Which is not within my use.  

Alright, let's back up to the night before. My friend, who amazingly convinced her concerned mother into letting her go not even a week before, came over. We made some banana bread to give to our good friend in sound production. After all, he was the reason we got in for free. Later that night, after being extremely hyper and getting yelled at by my no fun parents, I went all $C3N3 K111111D on everyone, and took extra care into making my hair super straight.

At 6:30 the next morning, I wake up. My hair is still stick straight, so I am happy. After a little makeup and some hairclips, and making sure I had pants on, I was good to go. We left around 7:45. Halfway through a car ride of shenanigans and unnecessary white rap (oh, it happened), I realize that we forgot the directions. I made the painful phone call home to a pair of angry parents, and wrote the directions down on some scrap paper in the car. By around 10:00, it was Panera time! I was eating the nastiest grilled cheese, ever, when all of a sudden, Rhiannaresolution, favoritexrecord and fingersxcrossed walk through the door! My sister and friend weren't quite as excited as I was, so it was a bit awkward. But that wasn't the only time I would be seeing them that day. By 11:00, and after a short drive through downtown Miltown, we arrive at the park. Scenesters and punked out kids unite. The area is packed. I spy a band slut girl that I am unfortunate to know. I am tempted to hit her with the car.

I am walking down the street when I see a sign being held in the air that reads Can't Stop, Won't Stop. The Maine @ (insert stage here) (insert time here). We figured it would be surrounded by merch guys, BUT GUESS WHAT. I C U THUR THEMAINE. I C U!

Pat Kirch: Do you have our cd?

Claire: Yes!

Pat Kirch (to my sister): Do you have our cd?

My sister (in a mumble): mysisterhasitthereforeihaveit.

Claire: Can I get a picture with you?

Before we even make it to the park gates, we are bombarded by the first of many emerging artists of the day. This Condition. Eh, they were okay. I honestly told them that they sounded like everything else I listened to. I meant that in a good way, like, HEY, I LIKE YOUR BAND. We talked to them for a while, possibly longer than I would have wanted to. Then, we had this delayed WTF moment, because we were only slightly concerned on how to find our wristbands.

I've mentioned this before, I have a friend who is a sound guy on the tour. He was awesome enough to let us in for free. So, we made him banana bread. As explained above. We find the "will call" tent, and give our names. I seriously peed when the lady said "Okay, get these girls some VIP passes". That's right. The green wristbands. Oh yeah. Except for one dillema- we had no idea what these wristbands could do. We only dreamed of acquiring superpowers.

We walked around more than anything for the first hour. We purchased a schedule, and eventually went to the Smartpunk/Hurley.com stages to see Meg and Dia and The White Tie Affair.

We eventually make it all the way to the barricade for Meg and Dia's set, which ruled, might I add, when we attempt to sign language with a security guard on how to get backstage.

After lots of pointing, ridiculous hand gestures, and a couple WTF faces, we made it to the backstage entrance! We were super confused on how to actually get on the stage. We walked around and ended up in the catering line. OMG LOL. I was so embarassed. We thought for some reason we couldn't just walk up the stairs on stage, so we piled into an elevator with some really creepy looking photographers. Amazingly, we still ended up  (you guessed it!) on stage. Since at this point, security guards weren't very cranky as it was still early in the day, we stood quite close to the bands.

I could probably high five The White Tie Affair's drummer if I wanted to, but I decided let my inhibitions kick in. After Meg and Dia's set, we saw one of the band members packing up her gear. Since it was loud and we didn't want to bother her too much, we kind of just walked up to her, and shook her hand. Like a "Hey, you're awesome. We just wanted to let you know."

Then, we stuck around for The White Tie Affair. You might remember, but I saw this band a while back when they opened for Quietdrive. Remembering how much I loved their performance then, I was very excited to see them again. The energy this band has is incredible. Seeing them from backstage was a totally different experience than I could have possibly imagined. I left after about the 3rd or 4th song, because I was very determined to get a good spot for All Time Low's set. Even if that meant getting there very early.

Right before heading to All Time Low's set, we went to go visit our friend in sound production, and give him his banana bread. Unfortunatley, we caught him during BrokeNCYDE's set. I swear, he looked like a kicked puppy or something when he told me "I do this every day." He also informed me that The Millionaires and BrokeNCYDE share a bus. Basically, this was the worst 30 minutes of my life. As we went backstage, all the $C3N3 K1111DZ were giving us dirty looks. I heard some of the worst noises I have ever heard in my life.

AND NOW FOR YOUR DIRECT PERFORMANCE QUOTE:

"Diz songz called you make mah pee pee hard!"

I kept making ugly faces at the performers whenever I saw them. I was also pretty much vomiting on stage.

AND SO IT WAS ALMOST TIME TO SEE ALL TIME LOW. We get to the main stage towards the end of Bouncing Souls' set, and the crowd is completely packed. I also ran into Rhiannaresolution and fingersxcrossed again, and I got in on a picture with Rhianna. Between me, my sister, and my friend, a plan was formulated that as soon as we saw and opening, we were going for it. We wanted to get as close as possible.

ALL TIME LOW = ALL TIME DISASTER.

I would just like to throw in that I was quite upset with a few All Time Low fans who were dissing Bouncing Souls and their crowd. "WHERE THE FUCK IS ALL TIME LOW? WE WANT ALL TIME LOW!"

Insert disgusted face here.

People were being so completely crazy. Now, some of you out there might be thinking, All Time Low isn't even a real "punk band", you have no reason to even complain about a rough crowd. I usually think the same thing, except today it was proven that 12 year old sceeeeeeniieeeeezzzzzz can be quite bitchy and agressive if you're fighting them for a front row view of Jack Barakat. We were all doing fine attempting to stay together despite the major sways of the crowd that resembled the collapse of a Jenga tower, but after a while, it all just became too ridiculous and we had to get ourselves out of that mess. Too bad we were in the absolute center. A few girls who were close by, I believe one of them being brandneweyes hurr on Buzznet, were very nice and let us through, starting a path. The rest of the crowd...not so understanding, of course. You all know by now that I'm not a mean or angry person, at all, but I do recall I was literally screaming in people's faces saying YOU NEED TO GTFO OF MY WAY, OR YOUR FACE WILL BE PUNCHED. It was all just too much. (O c wut I did thur.) I had a Sharpie in my hand (which actually wasn't even a Sharpie. So we re-named it Farpie.) that came uncapped and for the rest of the day, my entire left hand was covered in blue ink.

FINALLY, we made it out of there, and just enjoyed the privilege of breathing. We listened to All Time Low's set from a far. And, honestly, in my opinion, they didn't even sound that fantastic live, at least in the musical aspect. BUT, if you are seeing All Time Low live, you must stay and listen to the LULZY dialogue they have.

Jack: Let's start a circle pit!

Alex: No, I think that's a bit too much for these kids.

Jack: A square pit!

Alex: Do you think that you can make an isoceles triangle pit?

Alex: Wait, which one is isoceles? Three equal sides?

(My friend: FAIL!!!!!!!!!)

Alex: Alright, I'm going to pick three people.

...NO, put your hands down. This is not a fucking classroom!

Okay, the dude in the hat and the green shirt, that looks like Jason Mraz. And you, with the blue shirt on, and you, the guy that looks like Scooby Doo. I mean, Shaggy. With the green shirt on.

YOU ARE THE POINTS OF MY TRIANGLE.

Jack: Wait, where the fuck did the other dude go?

That's just the best I can remember of what was being said. My sister got a video of it all, and hopefully, I can get that posted or at least provide some linkage to wherever it may end up.

At this point, I realized there was a Forever The Sickest Kids signing. But I never made it. Instead, someone tapped my shoulder and when I turned around, Chemicalapparatus was standing there! We talked for a little bit before going our seperate ways.

In between now and 6:15, which was when Valencia was playing on the Smartpunk stage, we just walked around some more, and bought more merch. To the best of my abilities, the list of people I met while doing so:

Sierra from Versa Emerge

Maika from There For Tomorrow

JD and George from Valencia

Nick from Bayside

Okay, so basically, I was hanging out at their merch tent, talking with Delicious. (You probably remember him as All Time Low's merch guy. He works for Bayside now. I'm pretty convinced we became as close to BFFs for the day as posible, if you can become BFFs for the day with a random merch guy in less than half an hour.)

Then, I realized that Nick was just hanging out. Kind of how he was the last time I saw him, WHEN HE WAS STANDING TWO FEET AWAY FROM ME. AT HIS MERCH BOOTH. It is at this moment in time that I remember I am wearing a Bayside shirt, so I ask him to sign it. He was all "Where?".

ON TEH BOOBIEZ, PLZ.

I'm JUST KIDDING GUISE. I awkwardly had him sign on my shoulder.

John Ohhhhh, Pat, Garrett, and Kennedy from The Maine. Howver, I met John seperatley. You are already aware of how I met the almost rest of the band, so here's how the run in with John went down.

I was hanging outside with some water, once the sun finally came out. I see John walking to his merch tent, with a mob of screaming girls surrounding him. I kinda laughed, like HAHA, oh, fangirls. Then I was like, OMG, and joined the mob, sans screams. I pretty much perform an act that could be classified as THE WORST THING EVER- I cut in front of the entire mob, very discreetly. Since I was basically forced into speaking on behalf of my sister and friend as well as myself, I had to hand him 4 shirts and a CD to sign. I thought he would be kind of pissed off about it, but he was actually SUPER nice. I was very surprised by how sweet he and the entire band were, considering they are constantly being followed by screaming girls. When he was about to sign my copy of The Way We Talk, he opened it up and started signing the inside, when I say WAIT!- and pull out the insert so he can sign the front. He laughed a little, and now there's a little sharpie loop on the inside of my cd. :)

TAT (yes, all of them.) They have the coolest accents, ever. And their drummer has an insane fro!

Alana Grace. A solo singer who was performing on the KIA Kevin Says Stage. She is EXTREMELY talented, folks. EXTREMELY. And she is such a sweet girl. My sister bought her cd, and she wrote a little note to her inside of it. I pretty much kept telling her that she was awesome, and I loved her performance.

In this free time, we also managed to catch some of TAT's set at the Hurley Stage. We were informed that at this stage, we could stand in the "backstage area", but we could not go on the stage itself. This was okay, considering we were the only people backstage for TAT's performance. Our eyes were at about the same level as their feet.

We left the set early to get our much needed/wanted Chipoltle, but we could still hear the music while inhaling our burritos. That was pretty awesome. On our way back from Chipoltle, we saw part of Alana Grace's performance. I've already mentioned this, but she was great. We stayed and watched a song or two of hers.

By the time 6:15 rolled around, it was time to see Valencia. I was so extremely excited to the point of peeing my pants. I kept saying/singing to my sister: MY DREAMS ARE COMING TRUEEEEE, I'M SEEING VALENCIAAAAAAA. LOL, I can be very weird at times.

We now knew the backstage routine, so we got up on stage, but we had to wait for a while during the first song (Better Be Prepared!) before the security guard brought us further out. By the time of the day, he was very cranky, so we could only stand so close. But still, the set FREAKING RULED!

Now, a certain Dave from Every Avenue was standing backstage next to my friend. And my friend, doing something that's totally ~classic her, taps him on the shoulder, and asks him who's playing next. She had no idea who he was. We both thought it made him kinda happy because they just carried on a normal conversation throughout the set, until he said, "Hold on for just a sec, I'll be right back." And proceeded to go on stage and sing with the band on The Space Between. It was pretty awesome.

Then, guess who showed up? DELICIOUS! I ran over and gave him a high five, and he watched the rest of the set with me, my sister, and my friend. Some of my favorite Valencia tunes were played, including Safe To Say, Holdiday, Where Did You Go? and Will We Ever Know How?

~More hangout-age until 8:15. T'was when we planned for our backstage viewing of The Maine's performance, the most anticipated performance of the day~

There was a very fair sized crowd. We just cut around the entire body of people, and were immediatley backstage. There were a few people there, which we talked to for a bit. We were so painfully informed again that we weren't allowed on the stage, so we leaned over the little stair/ramp that led to the stage, as we had done for TAT. We got a perfectly good view that way. All was good until AN ENTIRE HORDE OF CHILDREN SWARMED THE AREA. All of the purple-wristbanded-Music Saves Lives kids, which were much larger in quantity than those with green wristbands, were all allowed backstage. I still had my good spot though, so it was alright.

We were seriously considering just getting on stage anyways. We figured, it was the last set of the day, so if we got kicked out, it wouldn't be that big of a deal. Apparently, the rest of the kids backstage were thinking the same thing, because they ALL mobbed the stage. The security lady went APE SHIT and kicked them all out. Except for us, because we had different wristbands and more privileges, apparently. :)

But sadly, our view was blocked when all of these people got on stage and we couldn't see around them. My friend asked security if it honestly made a difference if we were to join them on stage. There were only 3 of us. That led to security talking with the band's manager while we kept our figers crossed. Apparently, only (MAJOR USE OF AIRQUOTES HERE) PERSONAL FRIENDS OF THE BAND were allowed on stage. The Maine has a lot of personal friends that resemble band sluts, and that's all I'm going to say. n_____n

We saw the entire band get on stage. The kind of do this weird marching thing, and stomp around on their way up the stairs. We all tried to high five John, but he ran on stage. THEN THE CUTEST THING EVER HAPPENS: he runs back off stage and says WAIT! then gives us all high fives. My sister took a picture of him doing so, but caught him at a very bad time. He appears to have 6 chins and no pupils in his eyes. But being the good fans we are, we will keep that photo to ourselves.

We eventually gave up on watching from backstage, and stood right in line with the front row, on the very end. We still had a very good view of the stage, or at least of John Ohhhh. The performance ruled, really just because I know all of the Maine's songs and they're so much fun to sing along to.

During Into Your Arms, John tried to get the crowd in a very romantic mood.

FOR ANOTHER DIRECT PERFORMANCE QUOTE:

"I want everyone to find their someone, standing next to them in the crowd, and put their arm around their shoulder. Now look them right in the eyes- No, stop looking at me! Look at the person next to you!. Now lean towards them, and just kiss them on the lips."

LOL THAT WAS SO FUNNY to watch people do.

Overall, the performance was great. We left a couple songs early since we were tired and had a long journey home, but kept singing along to the music as we were walking out.

To sum things up, this was a great day. I realized that I didn't actually see many performances in full, but I really did more walking around and getting a taste of all of the bands that were playing that day. And I think that's what made me that happiest, because I got the overall benefit of attending a music festival. Just walking around and enjoying a day of music. If I had only stuck to seeing bands I had wanted to, I never would have heard the music of Bouncing Souls, Anti Flag, Alana Grace, Bayside (Okay, I wanted to see them, but my sister didn't. I sung along to their tunes while walking around), Big D and The Kids Table, and many others. If you are yet to attend Warped Tour, or another music festival in the future, I encourage you to take on your day in this fashion. You leave feeling like you had a very eventful day, and who knows... you might just discover your new favorite band.

/END RAMBLE. PHOTOS TO COME ASAP.

10. Flawed Methods of Persecution and Punishment- Set Your Goals

THE NEW ALBUM RULES SO FREAKIN' HARD. If you don't have this yet, you need to get your ass to Target or your music retailer of choice and get yourself a copy! Right now!

9. Maybe- Ingrid Michaelson

I figured this one out on piano. It's very fantastic. Ingrid Michaelson has always been one of my favorite solo artists, ad hopefully, I can find a way to get to UW-Stout to see her in the fall. Her new album comes out on August 25th, so while you're already buying The Casualties' new album and the Jennifer's Body soundtrack, you can pick this up too. I garuntee you will love it.

8. Electric Feel- MGMT

Not like anything else I've ever listened to. But it's so awesome. My friend got me into the song.

7. Spiderwebs- No Doubt

Ever since seeing them in concert, this song has seemed to come up on shuffle a lot more than in the past. Not like I mind, though.

6. Girls Do What They Want- The Maine

LOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVE THE MAINE. Go ahead, say shit. But this is such fun music. AND THE MAINE IS SO FUCKING ADORABLE, MORE SO IN PERSON. TWO FEET AWAY FROM YOU. I WOULD ACTUALLY KNOW THIS FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. :)

5. Lost In Stereo (Cobra Starship Suave Suarez Remix)- All Time Low

So much fun to drive to. I love how it's been remixed.

4. I Don't Want To (Love You)- TAT

They are so amazing live. And also very nice people with the coolest accents. Tatiana DeMaria (singer/guitar) is insane, she does backwards over her head guitar solos!

3. Anywhere But Here- Mayday Parade

NEW MAYDAY PARADE SONG. THE KEY CHANGE MAKES MY HEART SOAR. Then again, I secretly hope all songs have key changes.

2. Fool The World- Hazen Street

I probably am the last person that you would think listens to Hazen Street. I feel the same way. I never thought I'd like music that's classified as "hardcore punk", well, because, it's not exactly what I'm in to. And as you can tell, I listen to music that is the complete opposite of this genre. But for some reason, this song is really good.

1. Safe To Say- Valencia

OMG VALENCIA OMG. OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG. I HEARD THIS LIVE AND PRACTICALLY PEED MY PANTS. I LOVE VALENCIA SO MUCH. OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG. OKAY THAT IS ALL.