So, say what's on your mind.

I'm positive I can finish this one and you're about to see why. First photo to come soon.

This is a shit picture and I took it before I neatly organized everything. I showed it all to my dad, and he LOLed at your ID card. Hahaha sorry. The poor pineapple lumps are crushed to bits, but OM NOM NOM THEY SO GOOD. I'm eating the crunchie bar for dessert, and I can't wait. I am ABSOLUTLEY in love with the printed photograph (on my keyboard), and I read the picture book and OMG IT IS SO CUUUTE! I'm babbling a ton because I'm so excited. I also lurrvee the bracelets, I'm wearing them now!

Guys, this is why we make BFFS on Buzznet and send each other stuff. Look at how awesome it is.

So I was out to dinner, and while waiting in line to order my food, I coughed a little. Some woman who was standing in front of me, who I do not know at all, just turns around and announces to entire restaurant, "SWINE FLU, SWINE FLU!" while pointing at me, and then turns back around.

How fucking rude and inconsiderate of you. Do you have any manners at all?

Just, ugh.

NO PICTURES, ONLY MEMORIES. JS.

(If you don't want to read my life story, skip everything until I say so.)

This has been edited at Katie's request. She felt unincluded. You all should know, she invited me to this concert, and it was for her birthday.

So, I recently experienced one of THE best nights/continuation of the best 48 hours OF MY LIFE. And because I love you, I'm going to fill you in on every single detail. Oh, the things I do for you all.

This all goes back to 2:49 on Friday afternoon, sitting in Honors American Literature and Composition, hating my life. The second it turned 2:50, I showed the teacher my early release note and like, literally just ran the fuck out of the classroom. NDB. Drove home as fast as I could (while being safe, promise =D), threw my stuff in a duffel, and left for Chitown WITH MY FRIEND KATIE. . It took a two hour drive and an hour and twenty six minute train ride before arriving.

KATIE AND I got to the hotel, which was right across the street from the House of Blues. (The Westin, not the Hotel SAX, for those familiar with the area.) Which I must say, looked really odd. It was this big, black, oddly shaped building and just looked weird. The hotel I was staying at was super fancy pants-esque. WE spent some time walking around the city, discovering that it was way too cold for my liking, and then went back to the hotel to eat some really weird food. Because everything was fancy and not normal.

The next morning, I woke up around 7:30, and after everyone was all ready, finally left the hotel around 9:00. There were already people in line outside the venue, but only a few. We openly called them freaks, because even though we did end up waiting in line for, uh, 4 and a half hours, we didn't get up at 5 in the morning and have a legit camp out session.

We (that being KATIE AND MYSELF) walked around the city for a couple hours, ate more food, and did some shopping. I GOT SOME SUPER SCENE GLASSES. LIKE YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE. THEY'RE PLAID, KAY?

(Important things start now!)

We got to the venue at 2:00, after quickly freshening up at the hotel. There were only two other people in line. One of those people being a dude in a chair who I believed was some form of security of HOB staff, until I later found out he was just a dad holding a place for his daughters. LAME. However, he also told me there were about 50 people in the restaurant that were technically ahead of the line itself, but to get in, you had to spend 15 dollars. I eventually thought that all of those kids would get kicked out and be sent to the back so I found a nice chunk of sidewalk, sat down, and started doing my homework. My friend's mom was awesome enough to run back and forth between the hotel and the venue, so for the first three hours of the wait, I studied (or lack thereof) while bundled up in a coat.

About ten minutes after arriving at the venue, these two girls show up. Their exact words were: "Are y'all here for the Paramore show?" We were all still unsure if we were waiting in the right spot, but we just decided to go with it. These two girls, eventually joined by about 6 more, stuck out the 4 and a half hour wait with us. We honestly became, like, BFFLS in that short amount of time. We all watched the show together, and somehow, found each other on Facebook within 24 hours following the show. Oh, the internet.

This amazing awesomeness that I can't really explain happened with all of our buddies over those 4 and a half hours. Including many trips into the Crimson Lounge, which was some really creepy place attatched to the Hotel SAX (where we were also told Paramore was staying...eeep!) we went to pee about 10 times. It was almost like an out of body experience.

Now, as far as the kids who were waiting inside- they all got kicked out. They were moved to a different line- apparently, in this line, if you pay 15 dollars, they let you in first. THE. STUPIDEST. THING. EVER. HOB staff kept coming by and trying to talk us into it, but I refused. I also wasn't positive if they'd keep their word, too. Jerks. Our line lost some people to this- and I was now forreal forreal at the absolutle front of this line. And, yeah, I felt like a big deal, because this line stretched all the way down the alley to the street, two blocks down the street, and over the bridge.

After a while, probably an hour or so before doors, more staff came out (after trying to scam us into buying their two dollar hot chocolate- in a 4 ounce styrofoam cup!) and made us get into two lines and stand for the rest of the time until we were let in. We weren't too happy with this, but we got over it. Some time after that, I spy Jonathon from The Swellers. If you know who I'm talking about (he plays drums in the band), he's the kind of guy you can point out easily. Er, he has really awkward ears. That's the only way I think I can describe it. I kind of whispered to my new (and old) friend(s), "Hey, there's the guy from The Swellers!" It took most of the line a while to really notice and or care, but eventually, we did, and we hung out with him and his brother, Nick, who is the the singer/lead guitarist from the band. For a taste of all the LULZ we had, make reference to the title of this journal.

The time finally came for doors to open, but again, the bitchy staff waited on letting us in the venue, so by the time I finally got in, there were three solid rows lined up already. MAN, I WAS PISSED. But I took my place on the right side of the stage as close as I could get, and continued inching closer and closer. There were so many kids there that kept trying to get in front of me. HA.

I honestly turned around, looked at this one girl, and asked her- "is this your first concert?"

(Girl nods, while discreetly trying to take my spot.)

I reply- "Oh, that's cute." And with that, I kind of (gently, geez) pushed her behind me.

THE SWELLERS.

Indescribably (spelling fail?) amazing. Holy fuck. I loved their set the most. All you Parawhores can go cry about it. They are honestly one of the best bands I have heard live to date. All of their songs were so much fun. The Swellers are the kind of band that I listen to often enough that I can recognize any of their songs when played live, but I'll never be able to sing any of the words. At this point in the show, I was standing with one of my "line buddies", who also happens to love this band as much as I do. It seemed like no one else around us was having as much fun as we were, which sucked. I recall dancing and getting really into the music and having a great time, while everyone else around me just kind of stood there and looked bored. That always makes me upset- I mean, the least you can do is look like you're having a good time, or get a little bit into the music. To end this section on a happy note- OMGILOVETHESWELLERS, KTHNKSBAI.

OH, and during their set, my friends pointed to someone on the balcony and they were all- OMG CLAIRE, LOOK! I've been without my glasses forever now, so I was completely blind, and had no idea who they were pointing to. We all waved to this person on the balcony, and after like, 2 seconds, they smiled and waved back. I was like, who was that? Oh, um, Hayley Williams. NBD.

Oh, and I got a guitar pick thrown at me. It hit me in the eye. And then some other girl got it. YAY.

PAPER ROUTE.

Just so I can say this right away- every single dude in this band is sooooo dreamy. They're also, like, sooooo married. Some really obnoxious girl screamed to no one in particular on stage- "You're dreamy!" One of the band members kinda smirked and held up his hand, displaying a ring. I laughed, like, hahahahaha, pwned. THEIR SET WAS SO BEYOND COOL. Again, this band- I know all of their music, and listen to it occasionally, but when I hear any one of their songs live, I immediatley recognize it. Some of my favorites were played, including Carousel, Enemy Among Us, and Are We All Forgotten (I do know the words to this one, and I sang along to it! Yeah!). Again, people looked bored and just stood around. I was less than amused. 

GUYS, BANDS HAVE OPENERS FOR A REASON. APPRECIATE THEM, KAY?

THINGS THAT WERE AWESOMESAUCE ABOUT THEIR SET:

1.) This cool, weird, metal thing. It was on stage. I had no idea what it was, until it was used. Then, I remembered that its one of those odds and ends type musical instruments, and that I learned about it at music camp 3 years ago. I freaked out when I realized this. Basically, it's this thing that's really sensitive to vibrations or something of any sort, so if you move your hands over it or something, it makes this cool noise. And basically, I freaked out, because when I learned this three years ago, I could care less and thought it was stupid. But when I saw it being used in this setting, I was all OMG COOL.

2.) They had this miniature drum set on a riser that was used during some songs. And I thought it was really cool. Because during one of the songs, their drummer would play these mini- drums on a riser, making him look cooler than everyone else.

3.) Overall- I wasn't totally thrilled to see Paper Route live. I mean, their music is decent, but people had been telling me that their set was boring and almost put them to sleep. I, myself could never even picture their music being played live, making me less than excited. But this performance changed all of that. Their performance was just beyond awesome. I almost caught a drumstick. The tall kid next to me caught it. I wanted to steal it from him.

And now, the part that you're all waiting for, and the part I bet you started reading at....

PARAMORE.

As usual, the wait in between sets was SO EFFING LONG. The other bands kept it to like, 15 minutes. THAT'S DEEC, GUISE. Paramore took like, 10 years. They played Sunny Day Real Estate, mostly Diary (and I'm just lucky because this is the only SDRE album I know), and Jimmy Eat World, mostly Futures (which is luckily one of my faves!) before the band came out. I got to about the 3rd or 4th row at best for the first half of the set. I'm pretty sure I didn't see Josh at all. Not once at all. Either he was ~hidden in the haze, I'm blind, or he was just on the other side of the stage. Could be a combination of all three. To be honest, I didn't even see the band come out, due to lamesauce tall people standing in front of me.

OKAY SO, this set was great. It was fun. Jeremy was actually really close to me, because he kept being awesome and standing on an amp and leaning over the crowd. Honestly, HE IS SO ADORABLE. Just...adorable. Hayley also got really close when she came to the side of the stage I was on. IT WAS SO COOL, basically because I never thought I'd ever see this band that close before. I'm going to try and remember most of their set for you, but I'll probably fail at doing so. HERE GOES:

They opened with their intro song- "Intro". This one wins the Most Original Title Ever award, I swearz. After that, they went straight into Ignorance. From this point on, I jumped around and danced to every song. I had been told by people on LJ (paramoremusic, wuddduppp) that the floor at Chicago HOB was like a trampoline, and when everyone jumps around, its really fun. I never believed them until I experienced this myself, and it was AWESOME. I almost thought the floor would cave in or something. I do believe that they played That's What You Get next. Wait, maybe I Caught Myself came first. I think it did. But I'm not entirely sure. As for That's What You Get- even though I totally overplayed this song two years ago (when I first became a fan, squeee!) and pretty much can't listen to it any more for that reason, I always get excited when it's played live. I don't think they played this song when I saw them over the summer with No Doubt. Naturally, I always look forward to singing along with the gang vocals, and that was really fun. I was sick at the concert (but was well armed with cough drops and Day Quil, so the illness didn't bring me down too much), and knowing that this weekend in its entirety was only going to make me more sick, I didn't sing as loudly as I would have wanted to. (But then again, you should never sing loudly at concerts. Its cute that the band encourages you to, but first, the band is not going to notice you or point you out if you sing louder than the kids around you, and second, if you can even hear yourself singing when you're at a show, then that's bad. Thirdly, never blame the band for losing your voice, idiot.) The songs that were played in the middle of the set consisted of  The Miracle Outro (but I couldn't experience all of the awesome passionate kneeling and extreme emotions, because I couldn't see. But it did happen), Crush Crush Crush, Looking Up, Turn It Off, Careful, Decode, Emergency, Conspiracy, Here We Go Again (with the outro) and Where The Lines Overlap. But not in that order at all. The middle of the set is always mushy when it comes to my memory, but I'm positive that they played all of those songs. Well, pretty positive. And just to let you know, Looking Up is my absolute favorite song on brand new eyes, no ifs, ands, or buts about it, so I got really excited when they played it.

FOR SOME DIRECT PERFORMANCE QUOTES, 'CAUSE THAT'S WHAT I DID REMEMBER GUISE:

(Hayley, in response to having a ring thrown at her on stage)

"Thank you! What almost killed me, I will now wear as jewlery."

To be honest, people threw a lot of things on stage that night. And what I found to be super cool was that she put on every single bracelet, and read almost every sign help up in the crowd. (Some loser who I knew from waiting in line had these papers his cousin gave him- they consisted of his name and phone number. Sadly, he got three of those on stage. He was yelling "READ IT, READ IT!" But I never think she did.)

(and another quote from Hayley, basically because no one else said anything except for her)

"Now, just becauase I have a mic stand on this song, doesn't mean it's slow. There's just the slight possibility that I might..uh...die."

Really though, she was kidding.

Then, as the set had to finally come to a close, they did the most awesome thing ever.

THEY PLAYED MISGUIDED GHOSTS. YES, MISGUIDED GHOSTS. It was so amazing and perfect- it almost felt like the band had left and they played the cd through a loudspeaker. But more awesome. The only part of it that sucked was that they all sat down, so I couldn't see them. (Except for Zac, who was standing, playing a really cool hand drum. This was the only time I really saw him.) I think what I liked best about it, was that the entire band was still involved, even though it was an acoustic song.

Following this song was, as expected, Misery Business. I think the lyrics should officially be changed and the word 'involving' should be permenantley replaced with 'HEY JOSH!!'. Jussayyin. I, and probably a lot of other people thought it would be their last song at first. But then of course, we all did the "one more song" chant. The band had left the stage, but probably less than a minute later, they all came back. 

"Did you think that was going to be our last song? Oh, well, we have one more for you!"

BRICK

BY

BORING

BRICK

Such an amazing song to be saved for last. It was PERFECT. And, in the final chorus, all of the band members came out and either sang, or did something to contribute to the song. One of the guys in Paper Route had a random drum and drumstick and played it held over his head.

And then, just like that, the best 4 hours of my life were over.

Also, I discovered that Hayley and I have the exact same shoes. WUDDUPP.

I tried to book it out of there and make it to the merch table, but it was insane. Every other show I've been to, I've always had to leave early, so buying merch has never been a problem for me. I knew that I should have left during Misguided Ghosts, but I really didn't want to leave. The area by the merch was super crowded, and once I finally got to the Paper Route booth, I was going to buy something, but they didn't have my size for that shirt. I told the merch girl (not guy! shocker!) that I'd think about it and come back, because I couldn't decide on a shirt. Paper Route was hanging out there, taking pictures with everyone, and the singer was being so adorbz. He said something like, DEES GON' BE DUH BEST PEEKCHA EVARRRR GIRLFRAAN! as he was taking a picture with a fan. I could barely see The Swellers merch, but it looked really cool from what I could see. Then, out of nowhere, a security guard comes and starts yelling, EVERYONE NEEDS TO LEAVE. YOU CAN'T BUY MERCH ANY MORE. Then, I see another guy pop up, and he told me, "If you're going to buy merch, I'd get over there" and runs away. I pushed and shoved my way up to the Paramore table, to FINALLY buy my copy of BNE, as I had planned, but another security guard was there and kept saying MERCH IS CLOSED. EVERYONE LEAVE. I was SO BUMMED. I even saw Aaron Holmes, you know, the guy I miiight have creeped on at Starbucks? (In my mind, he's TOTES FAMUZ.) I kind of looked at him, like, PLZ MERCH PLZ? and he looked at me like, SRSLY, GTFO. I was really sad. (Note, I bought my copy of bne at Target the next day.)

Oddly enough, I found my friend in all of this mess, we bought some 4 dollar Gatorade (it had to be said, because it really just sucks) and left the venue. We found our line buddies, and headed outside with them. We met up with The Swellers again, and since they're just SO COOL, they sold us our cd outside the venue. I got it autographed and all that shizzz, and then, as we were leaving, I went up to Nick and said, "Don't tell Paramore this, but your set was my favorite." And forreal, I was being super honest. OHMYGOSH, I really would like to belive I made this guy's day at that given moment. His eyes lit up and he was all "REEAAALLYYY?!", like, in a high pitched girlish squeal. He was really happy about that. I think I might have given him a high five, and we talked for a few minutes about random schtuff, including how he should get a life sized version of the cool metaly thing Paper Route has, and then use it via trapeze. This led to us talking about how ridiculously awesome P!NK is. I wanted to stay and hang out with the band and my new friends some more, but KATIE was beyond tired and we went back to the hotel. (I kinda missed out on more LULZ and a picture sesh.) I am a little bummed that I still have not met Paramore, unlike half the people on Buzznet. WUTEVS, some day.

All in all, it was the best night of my life. But then again, I say that after every concert I go to.