S&S INC. + B.

I

SPENCER

Spencer is definitely on my "A List". This last Tuesday he arranged to have his parents watch our boys, while he and I dined out and headed up to Salt Lake for what I thought was going to be an evening at the Energy Solutions Center watching the Jazz basketball preseason game against the Lakers. I wasn't actually looking forward to the game- I get bored watching basketball and
usually just end up distracted during games people watching, but I was thrilled to have some time away from the kids and be alone with my man. Obviously I don't follow basketball, because if I had I would have known that the Jazz weren't even playing the Lakers in Utah, but that their match was in L.A.! Spencer informed me after we left the restaurant that we weren't headed off to a Jazz game, but instead we were going to the E Center in Salt Lake to see and hear Angels and Airwaves and Weezer live in concert!!! I was STOKED- not only because I wouldn't have to watch a boring game of basketball, but because I LOVE Angels and Airwaves!
I wasn't even aware that the two bands were on tour together and that they were making a stop here in Utah; I've never heard or seen Weezer live in concert and the last time I watched Angels and Airwaves in concert was nearly two years ago- when I preggers with Ian.

We had a bit of trouble getting into the show initially. It turns out we, along with something like 20 other couples, were all victims of a scam. We had all gotten our tickets through a man who stole some lady's credit card, used it to buy a couple of tickets to the show, then made 50 (give or take a few) copies of the same tickets and he posed as a ticket vendor online, sold the copied tickets to each one of us for $50 a piece, he personally delivered all the tickets to everyone (so Spencer actually met the scumbag face to face- although he wasn't aware the guy was a scumbag or I'm sure Spencer wouldn't have purchased the tickets from him and I'm sure if Spencer had any idea the dude was cheating us, he would have kicked him in his nutts); after delivering the tickets and collecting every ones money, the guy then returned to the E Center 2 hours before the show began and got a refund on his original two tickets- talk about cheap and what nerve the guy had!!! Anyhow, we had to stand in line with everyone else this dirt bag preyed upon and fill out a police report so if the police ever catch him we can prosecute him- and if that day ever comes- I'll be the first to kick him where it hurts.

Moving past our ticket troubles- since our tickets we bought were fakes, we had no choice but to buy another pair of tickets to the show. Thankfully the show wasn't sold out and the E Center isn't huge, so we actually got really good seats directly in front of the stage- just past the general admission crowd.

We missed the first act but we were seated just in time to watch Angels and Airwaves perform. Tom was amazing of course- some bands just don't sound the same in concert, often sounding worse, but he sounded great- right on tune as if I were at home listening to his album. The light show was pretty awesome and his energy was up there, despite how half the crowd showed no enthusiasm, they were clearly there and only there to watch Weezer perform. NERDS.

(If you don't know who I'm talking about, check out the music I have playing on my blog page, most of it is Angels and Airwaves. Tom was the original founder of Blink 182- another band whose music I LOVED growing up- it's sort of funny to me that the first time I heard any of his music was in 1994- I was still in Junior High and I heard their song "M&Ms" on 91X's radio station; I was a HUGE fan instantly. Later on that same month I scored a taped copy of their album Cheshire Cat from my friend Nicholas. I played that tape over and over again until the ribbon in the tape got damaged by sand at the beach. Funny that 14 years later I'm still a fan of Tom's music).

Weezer was pretty amazing in concert too. They sounded perfect up on stage. I don't listen to the radio anymore, so I hadn't heard any of their new stuff off their new album until I was at the concert, but they played a lot of their old stuff, in which instances, I sang right along with them. Weezer's actually one of those groups whose music seemed to narrate my life through high school and college. I have a memory for nearly every one of their songs off of three of their albums- "Pinkerton", "The Blue Album" & "The Green Album".

The Blue Album reminds me of car trips during college. Anytime my roommate Danielle drove myself and others down to Provo from Rexburg, we listened to Weezer. We had EVERY word from each song memorized off that album and we'd belt out the tunes over and over again as we drove the distance to and from our destination.

I haven't thought of this kid in years, until Tuesday night while Spencer and I were at the concert, but I remembered this kid named Bruce I met my freshman year at Ricks during a devotional while arm in arm with my boyfriend Mike. I started talking to Bruce because he was seated next to me and he sported a cute pair of skate shoes. I wanted to know where Bruce was from- half expecting him to say he was from So. Cal but to my surprise he said Preston, Idaho! I'd met a farm boy! He seemed nice so I invited him over to our apartment, not really expecting he'd come to visit... but I was wrong of course - that very same night he dropped by with some of his friends. My boyfriend Mike was already at my place, so imagine how upset he was to see this kid I'd met earlier in the day show up at my doorstep! Bruce actually ended up being pretty cool- it didn't hurt that he was cute too, but of course I wasn't shopping for a boyfriend because I already had my own. He sort of looked like the main singer from Weezer- Rivers Cuomo- (of course I didn't make that connection until a year later after I'd seen one of Weezers videos on MTV and I couldn't figure out why the lead singer looked so familiar to me- as if I knew him personally- and then it struck me- I had mistakened him for Bruce!) and he could sing or play any Weezer song on the guitar too! It was fun having Bruce and his friends over at our little apartment so that he could play any of our favorite Weezer songs upon request. I think my boyfriend thought of Bruce as a threat to our relationship, and it was only a week or two later when Mike attempted to break up with me by accusing me of "flirting with the whole world"- those were actually his words, of course though, what he really meant was that he was upset Bruce and I were friends. Anyhow, my friends and I had fun with Bruce but when it became apparent to him that I just wasn't interested in dating him, he no longer came around and our nights of "Weezer Live" in our little apartment were over. Oh Brucey, seeing that band up on stage suddenly reminded me of you- those were the good ol' days.

Okay, so seriously back on track. I had a great time at the concert. Both bands were awesome. Tom actually came out and sang vocals for Weezer during the "Sweater" song. Then Rivers surprised us all by calling 30 of the biggest Weezer fans who play instruments onto stage to preform a song with him and the band. It was pretty cool. There were guitarists of course, but also guys and gals who played the french horn, the accordion, the saxophone, and the trombone along with other varieties of instruments- the group actually looked like a high school orchestra. They played "Beverly Hills" and "Buddy Holly" while Rivers sang.

We had a fabulous time at the concert; I'm already looking forward to next year when Angels and Airwaves will be back here in Salt Lake to tour their new album they'll be releasing in 2009.

Note: Sorry no pictures from the show (the pictures in this post are from another source); I thought I was going to a Jazz game so I no desire to bring along a camera. I kinda wish I had now. I do have to admit though- I'm a bit relieved I decided not to wear the Jazz shirt I had considered wearing to the game with jeans- I would have looked pretty silly showing up at the concert in it.