Texas Wahine

Join Date 08/2004

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I Ripped My Pantyhose But I Had a Good Time

3 Doors Down Concert Rehash

Tonight Adrian and I went to a 3 Doors Down concert at Pipeline Café in Honolulu. We had a blast.

It's been just about two years since our last concert (an outdoor concert...RHCP and Snoop Dogg...pouring rain) and 3DD was a great one to break our concert celibacy.

Tickets were sold out for tonight's concert...in fact, 3DD will be having another one in the same place tomorrow night because of the huge response. Pipeline Café is a small venue (smallest I've ever been in for a concert), but Oahu is a small island...soooo..

We rushed to get there, worried that we wouldn't be able to find the place. Traffic was horrific (rush hour) and we met up with the downtown area around 6:45 pm (the concert started at 7 pm). Luckily, we found the place easily (it helped that there was a HUGE line outside the back of the building to tip us off) and we were able to grab the last close parking space.

We stood in line in light drizzle and fretted over whether we were actually in the correct line and whether or not there was some sort of dress code (Adrian was wearing shorts)...and we laughed at a guy who was wearing his wife's purse (imagine the sound of a whip cracking here). As we neared the door (and beefy, goatee'd Hawaiian ID and ticket checker dudes) jarring music began spilling out of the open doors to the café.

Crap...we were late.

We showed our IDs and became certified as "hotties" (hehehe...the over 21 arm bands declare that we are hotties, so it must be true). As we walked through the door another guy scanned the barcode on our tickets (this was new to me) and we were in!

We glanced up at the stage, and were shocked to discover a little Asian woman singing in a manner that would make Pantera seem like easy listening.

Good, we weren't late. It was the opening act.

The place didn't seem too crowded. We secured a nice floor spot mid-way between the band and the DJ booth at the back of the room. Everyone had personal space. It was beautiful.

As the opening act droned (or screeched) on, amid manly shouts of "Shush!" more and more people began filing in and staking out spots on the floor. By the time the openers were on their last couple of songs, the floor was full. Pipeline Café sells 2,500 tickets per concert...there were a few people watching from upstairs in the Tiki Lounge, but most of them were packed into the floor area.

I hate crowds. They freak me out.

But I love concerts. I love being packed into a moving crowd at a concert. And this one was perfect...the crowd was robust, but there was just enough space that we were only grazing the people around us...no full on body contact. It was beautiful.

I made the bright decision to wear my knee high boots to the concert...the opening act was not even finished when I started feeling the screaming pain in my feet. Why, oh why do I do this? I can't tell you how many times I've suffered due to inappropriate footwear. But I'm a tough chick. I shifted around as necessary and soldiered on.

The last two songs by 'Missing Dave' were covers of Evanescence's Bring Me to Life and a song (sorry, don't know the name) by The Killers. The last two songs...especially the Killers cover were really rockin'.

After much 'witty' banter and far too many lame songs and weird facial expressions by the opening act, the lights finally dimmed.

We all screamed. The excitement in a room waiting for their band to come out just can't be matched. It's a great feeling.

The first thing I noticed when 3DD entered the stage was this: the lead singer looks much different...dare I say cute?...in real life. If you've seen the videos, you'll understand when I say that I always thought he looked like he bit a brick. Fugly, yes. But in real life he looks like a different guy entirely. And I think the fauxhawk he sported helped, too. Even Adrian noticed this, so there's got to be something to it.

I ended up behind the tall guys. As usual.

Adrian held me up so that I could see the band as they began preparing to jam. It was cool to get to actually see the entire stage, but less cool to feel my only pair of fishnet hose rip.

The lead singer didn't waste time talking and warming up the crowd (we were already blazing)...they went straight into "Kryptonite" amid hearty shouts and piercing whistles and rock n' roll hand signs and the bright lights of the camera phones.

Everyone sang along...and the great thing about concerts is that no matter how much your singing sucks, no one will ever know (much like if you fart at a concert...your chances of getting caught out are slim...still not a kind thing to do, though). The crowd was moving in the way that only rock concert crowds do. There are three key "moves" in a rock concert...there is the head nod, which is appropriate for slow songs and song you don't really know that well...there is the jerk-your-body-to-the-beat move...and then there is the jump straight up and down move...this is an advanced move and really should only be practiced when the entire crowd is doing it...you don't want to do the jumping move alone...you'll look stupid and probably knock someone over. The enthusiasm in the crowd was incredible. Adrian stood behind me, with his arms around me while I sang my lungs out and moved around uncoordinatedly (which is completely acceptable at a rock concert).

The best thing about a concert (besides that 'group feeling') is the way the loud, loud, loud beat of the music fills up your body. I love feeling the music thump inside my chest. Every beat reverberates through your body.

Three Doors Down played hit after hit to the ecstatic crowd...and I answered Adrian's dare to yell "yee-haw." The time flew by as the band cranked out the tunes and hammed for the crowd.

A couple of things I noticed that were different from my previous concert experiences were this: Pipeline Café doesn't allow smoking on the floor section...it was bizarre to see the band without the usual thick cloud of haze (although the distinct aroma of pot smoke still clung to the air) and the whole "hold your lighter up" thing has been replaced with "hold your cell phone up and push the button so that the screen stays lit." Ahhh, change.

The band finished their set and began walking off the stage despite the roaring crowd behind them. Yes, my friend, it was time for the obligatory and yet still oh-so-cool encore. We shouted "Encore" and "Three Doors Down" and we screamed and screamed and screamed and we whistled. The pace never slowed and the volume never wavered. This went on for what seemed like an eternity. Adrian, despite his encore chanting, whispered in my ear that if this was the end of the concert we wanted to head right for the door so we wouldn't get stuck in traffic. Finally the band made their way back to the stage, beaming at the awesome response.

They finished out with a few songs including a few of my personal favorites...Here By Me, Here Without You, and Loser. It's very easy to be overcome with emotion when hearing a song that means a lot to you being sung live...and particularly when a couple thousand other people are singing along just as you are.

We left the concert elated and satisfied...it was such a fun experience. I love concerts. And our car was where we parked it and not missing any parts, which was a bonus.

Tonight's concert ranks right up there as one of the most fun I've been to.

And just for fun, here's some miscellaneous for you:

Lyrics to Here Without You...a big hit with the military crowd.

A hundred days have made me older
Since the last time that i saw your pretty face
A thousand lies have made me colder
And i don't think i can look at this the same
But all these miles that separate
Disappear now when I'm dreaming of your face

I'm here without you baby
But you're still on my lonely mind
I think about you baby
And i dream about you all the time
I'm here without you baby
But you're still with me in my dreams
And tonight it's only you and me

The miles just keep rollin'
As the people leave their way to say hello
I've heard this life was overrated
But i hope that it gets better as we go

I'm here without you baby
But you're still on my lonely mind
I think about you baby
And i dream about you all the time
I'm here without you baby
But you're still with me in my dreams
And tonight girl its only you and me

Everything i know,and anywhere i go
It gets hard but it wont take away my love
And when the last one falls
When it's all said and done
It gets hard but it wont take away my love

I'm here without you baby
But you're still on my lonely mind
I think about you baby
And i dream about you all the time
I'm here without you baby
But you're still with me in my dreams
And tonight girl its only you and me

And here's a pic Adrian took of me before the concert.

misc

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I love concerts too, 3 DD was in Wichita Falls a coupla years ago as was ZZ Top. We saw them and Ted Nugent in Oklahoma City and the list goes on...all the way back to Aerosmith in the early eighties. We try to make at least one concert a year. Pure entertainment! I kick myself for never seeing Zeppelin. Damn...

Nice pic! A lot easier on the eyes than my sunburned, peeling and unshaved face over on my blog : )

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Well even though you were late, it sounds like you still had a good time. 3DD is a pretty awesome band. To tell you the truth, I've never been to a concert in my life. I'd really like to go to one. But when you can't drive there yourself and your parents don't want to go with you.....then you have a problem.

~carebear~

P.S.~ I agree with Little Whip and Shovelheat about the pic. You look so cute in it!

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*tsk*

Isn't that a band for 14 year olds?

bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhaahaha

(mikey the music snob, signing off)

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Tex, nice pic, love the outfit!

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Shovelheat:

That's awesome. It's always a fun experience...and it's different every time because of the type of music being played and the way each band interacts with the crowd. My dad is a big Ted Nugent fan and still talks about the concert he went to back in the day.

Nice pic! A lot easier on the eyes than my sunburned, peeling and unshaved face over on my blog : )

Thanks.

I'll have to check out the sunburn pic...bless your heart...sunburned face really sucks...

littlewhip:

Ahhhh...it's been far too many years since I attended a concert....far too many....Thanks for the trip down memory lane, chikka.

Glad you enjoyed it!

Do you get much in the way of concerts over where you are? (We don't get much here...and usually nothing I'm interested in...it's not a big money-making opportunity for bands to fly all the way over here to play to such small audiences).

(cute outfit, too!)

Thanks! It might have been a bit over-the-top, hahahaa...but I'm 26, have a college degree, have given birth to two children and kept them alive for several years...I think I've earned the right to be over-the-top now and again...hehehe...

carebear:

Well even though you were late, it sounds like you still had a good time.

We actually wished we could have been later so that we would have missed the crappy opening band, hahaha...

3DD is a pretty awesome band

I like their stuff...and they are really great live.

To tell you the truth, I've never been to a concert in my life. I'd really like to go to one. But when you can't drive there yourself and your parents don't want to go with you.....then you have a problem.

Definitely something you need to do! I was 17 when I went to my first concert...my parents were pretty strict (and with good cause, hahaha)...I went to Tulsa, OK and stayed a couple of days with a friend (I even got to miss school!) and went to a Bush/No Doubt/Goo Goo Dolls concerts...it's one of my favorite memories...find a concert and a ride and go for it!

P.S.~ I agree with Little Whip and Shovelheat about the pic. You look so cute in it!

Aww, thank you!

Myrrander:

*tsk*Isn't that a band for 14 year olds?bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhaahaha

Why yes, yes it is...and yet...I feel no shame.

(mikey the music snob, signing off)

Hehehe...Brandie is a music whore... (btw...I am still enjoying the Doughnut song...it really grows on you)

ForeverSerenity:

Tex, nice pic, love the outfit!

Thanks so much!

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I went to an NSync concert a long time ago. I remember fifteen year olds girls yelling for Justin Timberlake. It was so much fun. The venue was so loud, I could barely hear the singing. But it was worth it. I enjoyed it so much.

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Dusk:

Hehehe...it takes a brave woman to admit that...although I'm sure you're right...I'll bet it was a blast...the energy of the group of people gathered together all excited...it's an incredible experience...and NSYNC really did it up with their concerts...I'm sure it was phenomenal.

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Yeah, I'm going to have to gather some friends up sometime in the near future. Hrmm...maybe this summer or something.

~carebear~

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carebear: I'm glad to hear that! Make sure you tell us all about your first concert experience!

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Wow...I'm wondering if everyone was put off my the length of this article, hahhaaha...did anyone read all the way through? Bad Brandie...must make articles shorter and more entertaining...hehe

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I can't believe you used the word phenomenal to describe N'Sync.

bwahahahahahahaha

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Myrrander: I say this with much love...

SUCK IT!

Hahahhahaahahahaha

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I am like you in that I love live concerts. There is something about the atmosphere of a good sized crowd all eager to see the same band or bands. The only thing better is being on stage in front of such a crowd. Now there's a buzz...

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