KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas Night #1

The first thing to say is... my ears are STILL ringing!

Jason and I were given pit tickets to the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas Night #1 from my dear, sweet, beautiful, available friend Shane. I originally set about to get the tickets because I thought Jason and my brother-in-law Neal would want to go. Neal declined the ticket (surprisingly!), so I decided to go with Jason.

I had a great time. Jason had a guitar lesson, so we arrived to the ampitheater late. It was at Gibson Ampitheater (formerly Universal Ampitheater) and it's surrounded by CityWalk, which has tons of restaurants and stores. We decided to get a drink at Tony Roma's before going into the show. Good move because they had Bud Light for $11(!) inside.

We saw the last song by Avenged Sevenfold and that was good. We saw Fall Out Boy and they were a group of dorks!! And not in a good way! Then the big names started...

Korn - I only know their popular songs, but it was cool because they had a lot of stage presence and really got the crowd going! They did a cover of the Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" or whatever it's called. They also did a cover of Metallica's "Master of Puppets." Jonathan kept walking to the right side of the stage and putting an oxygen mask on. Seriously, he did it at almost every song and sometimes during a song. He also played a bagpipe.

Nine Inch Nails - Trent Reznor has been working out! He's got a whole Henry Rollins look going on. Very short buzz cut and buff!! He was awesome. He played a few songs off of his new album, a few songs from Pretty Hate Machine and Closer. At the end, one of his band members threw his keyboard out into the pit and there was a scramble for it and the guy who ended up with it was hanging on to it for dear life!!

Our worst moment was during this set when the short, fat, alcoholic b*tch behind us kept leaning on Jason to steady her cameraphone and sticking it right between our heads. When Jason asked her to stop, she started screaming, "F*ck you! F*ck you! I love you Trent!"

System of a Down - They started off their set like the beginning of the Mesmerize CD. It was awesome! I love BYOB, so that was cool to hear it live. Their set was very long (maybe it was because my feet were hurting at this point). The lead singer's hair is long and curly. He has a big nose too, so all he needs now is messed up teeth to look like Dee Snider! The guitarist was funny!! I think his name is Darren. If you saw him on the street you would never know he was in a big rock band. He's pasty white, untoned, and looks like a middle aged regular guy.

Overall, it was a lot of fun... A very impractical Christmas gift for my husband!!

My people-watching observations: Fat chicks should not wear revealing clothes (please, please, please! Stop the insanity!!) and drunk people suck...

I'm an idiot

I'm an idiot.

That's about all there is to say...

Here is a little story about what happens when you don't take your time doing something right...

KROQ is a radio station in Los Angeles that has a two day concert every December called the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas. They always have fabulous line-ups and I always try to win tickets. This year they have an especially good line up (see www.kroq.com for the details). My husband Jason really wants to go to Night 1, so I've been trying like a madperson to win tickets to either night.

They have been doing a contest called the 12 days of Christmas. Every morning they give out a clue designed to hint at where they have someone stationed with tickets for the pit and backstage passes.

Today they were giving away tickets to Night 2 which has Depeche Mode, the White Stripes and Coldplay. The day of Christmas was "5 Golden Rings". I figured out the clue almost immediately to be a very popular engagement ring store chain. There is a location RIGHT by my house (about 2 miles away), so I jumped in my car and drove over there. I didn't see anyone who looked like they had tickets, so I rushed off assuming they were at another location.

Well, they announced a winner about 45 minutes later and it turns out that I was at the right location!!!! There was a girl sitting on what looked like a bus stop bench and she had the tickets. Like a complete moron, I didn't get out of my car and go talk to her because she looked like she was just waiting for the bus and I was in a rush to try to get to the second location of the store.

I'm an idiot. I've been beating myself up all day because I KNEW where they were and I screwed it up. AARRRGH!!! Why am I so lame? The lesson I learned is to slow down and do something right. If I had actually parked my car and got out to look around, I probably would've talked to her and hence, won the freakin' tickets.

I know it's only a concert, but still, I just can't believe they were RIGHT THERE! and I missed them!!!! Chances are the next clues won't point to locations 2 miles from my house.

I just can't believe it.
I really can't.

My advice to everyone out there... take your time and do it right so you won't be an idiot like me.