adamcruse, AvengeCasperSRU, Chronologic, dirtyblue, DrZappaman, drzappamanjr, jmcollide, jws6874, kaf11, Karl, LeedsIsDead, maggie, mich, nastynav, Natasha_K, porcupiny, redfoxx, slaa, strainedxsilver, SuzyCreamscheez, ZAPthis

LeedsIsDead says+2 Votes UP / DOWN
Holy fucking shit. The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club gig was so fucking awesome, the best I think I've ever been to!!!!!! So many wonderfully amazing things happened. So here is the fucking novel adaptation to my evening:

We got there around 6:15 pm and as soon as we got to the front doors, I saw Peter Hayes, the singer and guitarist. So, I was shocked as hell, but wasn't positive that it was him, because he had his hair all slicked back and it looked very gray. We then walked inside and I stood there for a moment, contemplating what exactly to do lol, when Peter and the girl from Morning After Girls and some other people walked inside, and Peter said hello as he walked by. Now I'm like, freaking out, so we walked to the end of the hall to the doors to where the stage was and being that we were two hours early, the only people around were staff and such. So, I stood by where it said "Those without a backstage pass are prohibited beyond this point," and Peter came back! so I asked for his autograph, and he was really nice about it. He signed both Kevin's and my cd booklet things. Two things: Yes, his hair is very gray, and, he's actually pretty short.

So, after that we sat down in front of the backstage area, and we (Kevin, Tonia and I) weren't even sitting for five minutes when a fellow with Corrado Soprano glasses walked by and asked us if we were waiting for something, I said "We got Peter's autograph, so we're watinng for the other two, ha ha." So, he opened up the door closest to us and said inside "Hey, there's like three people out here wanting autographs, should I just let them in?" He then ushered us in the room where WE HUNG OUT WITH NICK JAGO AND ROBERT LEVON BEEN!!!!!! We walked in, and Robert was sitting right by the door, behind a computer. He seemed really shy, I said hello to him and he waved really timidly, and I asked him to sign my book and he was like "Oh, yeah, sure." So he signed mine and then Kevin's and then said, pointing to Nick, "That's the one that's gonna be hard to talk to." So I walked across the room to where Nick was sitting on a couch fucking around on his laptop, with no shirt on. OMG he was so fucking hot, seriously. His hair was all dirtyish and had pieces of white shit in it, and real ripped jeans and glasses on (that kinda look like mine), but he was hot. Anyhow, I walked up to him and asked him if he would sign my book, he did and then signed Kevin's and then he was like, "Hey, have a seat." So we sat down and he said "I'm trying to decipher the absolute worst sound in the world," in his really cute Brit accent, pointing to his computer. Apparently, he was on a web site that has apalling sounds on it, and you rate them accordingly, to horrible, not too bad, etc. So he played one that sounded kinda gross and asked all of our takes on it, "So, we're all in agreement that it's horrible, then?" he said. He then asked us our names, and we told him, but he thought Tonia's was Conia, so that's what he called her lol. Tonia and Nick talked about the movie The Odyssey, and cyclops, cos she said one of the noises sounded like a cyclops, "A cyclops? Is that from a fancy movie or something?" he asked her. Then he played another sound that sounded like some kind of animal being eaten by what I would assume was a bear, but he said "It sounds almost like rat or something, being eaten by a fox." And the next one according to him sounded, "Horrible, like nails on a blackboard!" A few that were really annoying and repetitive, he didn't find very irritating ( Think "An Attempt To Tip The Scales" by Bright Eyes, and the part where Conor is being interviewed and there's that annoying noise being played in the background.) So I interjected a comment right after he played one that sounded like someone having the major shits, I said "I was always under the impression that John Tesh's music was the most annoying sound ever..." he replied, "Ha ha, I think that guy over there is a fan of John Tesh." he said pointing to some random dude in the corner. It was great, I got him to joke about Tesh! He had a really cool pair of boots lying by the table in front of where I was sitting by him. I noticed that all the members of the bands had boots on lol, and all black, except for Nick in his tattered jeans (and eventually a blueish gray shirt). Also laying on the table was a bright yellow package of smokes that reminded me of Damon Albarn, since he's the only other person I've seen smoking them. After he ran out of sounds to play though, we kinda took that as our cue to leave, so I stood up and I mentioned something about getting a good position at the show, and he waved goodbye to all of us individually, and he said "Bye Tonia, Bye Kevin," and then like just waved and said bye to me, not my name or anything lol. He seemed to really like Tonia though.

So, after that head-fuck, we went back outside, hid our cameras cos we weren't allowed to take them in (Sorry, that means I have no pics to share, goddamnit!! It fucking blows!) and stole some flyers off the wall. We then fucked around and waited for about another hour. In the meantime, Nick walked out of the backstage area carrying all kinds of shit, probably out to the bus. Hee was soon followed by Robert who had on a peacoat, that looks a lot like on I have, and a really kick-ass dark and light green striped scarf. And then finally,they let us in and we bought out shirts and went to the very front and center of the floor, up against the barriers, and didn't move out of position, for fear of someone stealing our place.

The Morning After Girls came on first. They were pretty good, surprisingly, they reminded me a fucking lot of B.R.M.C, cos of the distorted guitars and whatnot. Plus, the singer was hot lol. When they were done, some random dude handed me their setlist, so that was cool. Then Elefant came on and were fantastic. The lead singer, Diego Garcia looked like a relative of Nick Jago, so suffice it to say, he was very good looking. During their whole set, he would get real close to the edge of the stage and like, stare right at me while he was singing or talking or whatever, it was really cool. He reached out and grabbed my hand and such, and then Kevin's and Tonia's. But he kept like, sticking his foot out, like he wanted Kevin to shake his boot LOL. Then, once, he was staring at me and then like, made a motion over his heart, it was cute lol. The bass player looks a lot like a younger William Bradley with shorter hair. He was kinda magoo, like bobbing his head weirdly and smoking lol. When they were finished he like, threw his water bottle on the floor...which just happened to land RIGHT by my feet, so I kept it of course! (And after the show there was still a bit of water left in it, so yeah, I drank it....lol. Seriously.) I then went and bought one of their albums, and after I paid for it Diego walked right up beside me with this harsh gray duster sweater thing and a blue shirt on, (Which was unusual, cos every member of both bands all had on black, he did too, onstage, and looked really hot, and had a fucking harsh tan belt). He shook my hand again, and I told him that he was really amazing, the band is great, blah blah blah. So he autographed my cd, and wrote "Gina, I love You, Diego." even though he wasn't sure how to spell my name, apparently he thought Gina was spelled with a J?

Then I made my way back to Kevin and Tonia and at precisely 11 pm B.R.M.C took the stage. They played for exactly two hours, and it was so fucking awesome. First thing, Peter came on and performed solo on the piano, which was followed by a nice mix of songs from all the albums, but mostly "Take Them On, On Your Own." I was so impressed with Robert's playing, it was just so awesome. Dont' get me wrong, Nick and Peter were fucking great as well, but Robert was almost hypnotizing to watch. "Heart And Soul" and "Spread Your Love" were my favorite songs they did. During "Spread Your Love", Peter got offstage, walked right up to Kevin and handed him his guitar pick and let Kevin strum his guitar, it was so fucking cool. Robert mentioned that it was Peter's birthday and said "I won't embarass him like he embarassed me on my birthday, by singing to him, so I won't..." The highlight was when Peter pulled out the trombone or whatever it was, it was just really kind of funny. It was also funny when out of nowhere Nick was like, all shocked and said "I've lost my shaker!! Oh no, I found it!" pulling his tambourine triumphantly upwards lol. Speaking of, he must not have a very good memory, cos he had to look at the setlist between every song lol, he even wore his cute glasses onstage.

"Heart and Soul" was the last song, followed by a fucking ton of feedback that left my hearing slightly impaired, at least temporarily, but I don't mind in the least. The lights were really cool during the whole thing, and there was a shitload of smoke that added a very sweet effect. Nick's drums were really awesome, they were blue, but transparent. They left the stage at 1 am and I then realized that there couldn't have been more than 60 people total, there. But nonetheless, I asked the same dude who introduced me to Nick and Robert if he would give me B.R.M.C's setlist, and he did. So, as we were walking out, the chick from Morning After Girls was signing some of the staffs' shirts, so I asked her to sign my B.R.M.C setlist. I found out that she too was British (I thought Diego was because that's how he sounded onstage, but when I met him I found out that he isn't) so she signed my setlist and was like, "Hey, this isn't our setlist! haha." I felt dumb, but I was like "Yeah, I know, but my friend has yours..."

So, all in all, it was a fucking awesome day, and one of the greatest concerts I've ever been to. Plus, I have a whole new respect for "Howl" after hearing the songs live and played somewhat differently.

- Gina
Posted Sunday, February 12, 2006 am28 at 9:31am
redfoxx says+1 Votes UP / DOWN
Hi
I can't begin to top Gina's review of the gig, that was in such great and amusing detail. But I will say that Slippery Rock was the most surreal BRMC gig that I have ever attended. I feel like I need to pinch myself to wake up from a dream. The audience was extremely subdued and by the time the last chord was played probably only 50 people remained. One of the photos in the archive proves this. Definitely a try out, small crowd in a town at a university that was without alcohol, picture taking and cigarette smoking.

The highlights of the night for me was Peter's unusual jam song (title unnamed), when he came to the audience to ask the fan to play a chord on his guitar and the overall setlist that included Shade of Blue. The setlist, by the way was cut short and there was no encore, although I can't remember which songs were skipped but I don't remember hearing Mercy. But I could be mistaken. BRMC played for a solid 2 hours and the place was filled with dry ice.

The Morning After Girls rocked the house too and I love when Aimee asked the audience exactly what Slippery Rock meant and someone yelled out a slimy pebble. Interesting...hmm...

The boys put on a spot on gig - especially Peter who didn't let the crowd size get him down. Peter certainly had a birthday to remember. Robert was incredible that night too.

- N
Posted Thursday, February 16, 2006 pm28 at 8:26pm
mich says+2 Votes UP / DOWN
There are few times in your life when you truly think something special has happened. Sure, you have moments you remember later, but rarely do you stop, take a moment (or evening) in and are overcome with a sense of pure amazement. February 11, 2006, was one of those rare experiences.

We'd joked about going to Slippery Rock. We had no idea where it was, or why we needed to go to a fourth gig, but we just thought it was necessary. After being begged by some very persuasive people, we decided to rent a car and drive there on very little sleep with very few directions. Somehow we made it safely and in one piece.

Having missed the acoustic set by minutes (we watched the boys loading up as we drove by), we felt a great need to get to the venue early. The Student Union was so small, yet felt very comforting.

Pete found me before the show to thank us again and asked me to pass on a message to fans. Liane and I were once again happy to have been able to be part of it all.

The actual auditorium felt like a basement. We felt as if MAG, Elefant and BRMC had invited 100 of their friends over to their house to play a few songs.

You could stand wherever you wanted and could get a fantastic view anywhere. The bands and their crew were able to come out during the sets and watch. It was very intimate and extremely surreal.

MAG seemed even more energized than they had been the past few dates, and the crowd loved them.

Elefant had trouble generating some support. A few of the girls in the front were into it, but everyone behind us just stood there. Diego resorted to holding my hand and giving me a hug. Poor Diego...

BRMC started with Feel It Now again. It was even better. I think Pete said something like "here's a song none of you have probably heard."

The set was so amazing because it kept changing. We'd seen the list before, but no one really knew what was going to happen next.

"Shade of Blue" has always been my favorite song from TTOOYO. Pete had really wanted to play it for his birthday, and I was glad to see he was able to do it.

A (somewhat short) jam session started, producing an unknown (or perhaps new) song sung by Pete. Liane was lucky enough to get it on video.

Despite the lack of audience and general exuberance from those who were there, Pete was really into the show. He even allowed a fan to play his guitar. The guy definitely deserved it and was touched. I think it made his year.

At one point Natasha said something like, "This is a gig people will talk about for years" and she was right. It was one of those legendary shows that people who went never forget and those who did not regret missing.

DrZappaman did such a fantastic job planning it all! I will go to any gig he plans in the future...assuming I have a way to get to Slippery Rock. I certainly know the way now.
Posted Saturday, February 18, 2006 pm28 at 2:06pm
porcupiny says+2 Votes UP / DOWN
Slippery Rock was definitely an interesting experience, Michele, Natasha, and I booked flights and car rentals at the very last minute and we just got their as quickly as we could from Columbus - which was about 3 1/2 hours away. We actually got to that brewery at 3:30 PM, right as we saw the band packing up stuff and leaving. The experience of being in a small middle of nowhere town for BRMC was an exciting and unusual one.

SRU's show was in the student union and there was huge staff of students and I guess other employees. During Morning After Girls, a bunch of people were standing in front of the stage - which kind of annoyed me for no good reason. I noticed Spike standing behind me during their set, and he said he liked the acoustics of the room and of course, their performance.

Elefant were amusing as usual, with Diego's usual kicks and stares. This time, he held Michele's hand and gave her a hug at the end of their set. The bassist Jeff seemed to become friends with her too, and he smiled at her in between playing and smoking a cigarette.

BRMC's set was shorter than their set list indicated. They began with "Feel It Now," which I recorded despite it mostly being Peter's back in very low light. Some songs were extended with different jams at the end of songs including a totally new song by Peter. It was really cool and "Shade of Blue," which has always been a favorite song of mine. The ceiling of the student union was very low and the stage was really low too.

During "Spread Your Love," Peter actually walked off the stage and played right next to the front row. I believe he handed his plectrum to an audience member and asked him to play a little. Then he came over to play to Aimee of the Morning After Girls, who was standing next to me.

I got some nice video footage of this and I think she did too, since she had a small video camera. There was no encore, but BRMC still played a long full set which didn't include "Happy Birthday" - though Robert did mention Peter's birthday before they ended with "Heart + Soul."
Posted Saturday, February 18, 2006 pm28 at 8:05pm