This is a concert review for The Black Clouds And Underdogs Tour which indcludes Fall Out Boy, The All-American Rejects, Hawthorne Heights, From First To Last, and The Hush Sound. WARNING: Extra long and personal. Okay so I went with Jessie, Katie, Jessica, and Elyse. Jessie and Katie are sisters and Jessica and Elyse are sisters. Elyse is Jessie’s best friend and Jessica is Katie’s best friend. Funny how that works out. My dad used to date Jessie and Katie’s mom and blah blah blah we’re still close. Katie and Jessica were the only one’s that hadn’t been to a general admission concert before this. I’m going to refer to them all as a group as ‘the girls’. On the morning of March 16th, 2006 the girls came to pick me up around 10:30. Since I was going to be sleeping at Jessie and Katie’s brother’s apartment down in Portland that night I stuffed my sleeping bag and pillows into the trunk where everyone else’s belongings had already been crammed. I piled into the backseat next to Jessica and Katie (Jessie was driving and Elyse gets passenger seat because of seniority or some shxt like that). I had them stop at the local Rite Aid to get two disposable cameras because it wouldn’t have been safe to bring my digital camera. After that we drove a bit until we reached Bangor where we stopped at Dunkin’ Donuts because that’s where the girls wanted to go for breakfast. Everyone besides Jessica and myself got lattes. I ended up getting a Pepsi (I don’t like Pepsi but they didn’t have Coke products). Afterwards we set off on our long journey to Portland. The whole way down we only listened to Fall Out Boy’s From Under The Cork Tree and The All-American Rejects’ Move Along. Those were the only CDs of the bands they had. Weak, I know. In the car we played Have You Ever and I won once. It kind of wasn’t fair because we pretty much know everything about each other and we all know what we’ve all done (for the most part). We played about five games of that. Asking all different questions each time. I know, fun right? Finally we arrived in Portland and stopped at a McDonald’s for lunch. Jessie and Elyse went out to the car but Katie was in the bathroom so me and Jessica waited for her. When we were waiting for her a creepy guy (that looks like the stapler guy from Office Space) came over and was like “you can’t go out that exit,� because it said emergency exit on the door. Jessica and me were like ‘okay…’ and then he quickly said, “I’m just kidding.� And he started laughing really weird and wouldn’t stop. I started to lose it and turned around and hid my face in my jacket because I was cracking up so bad. Katie finally came out and I ran out the door and lost it. I was laughing so much my eyes were watering. I don’t know why it was that funny, but it was. I’m laughing right now typing this up and my brother and his fiancé in the other room probably think I’m going insane. We all piled into the car once more and made for Ryan’s apartment. We got to his apartment around 1PM and put all of our junk into his room. We all sat in his living room and watched random shows on TV. We came across Mr. Rogers on PBS Kids so we decided to watch that. I never realized just how funny that show is. I don’t know how I put up with it as a child. I was laughing pretty much every second. Everyone was cracking jokes about it and they were all so true. You’d have to watch it to know what I mean. Finally it was close to 4PM so we all decided to get ready to leave. I didn’t really need to do anything so it didn’t take me long. When we were all ready we bid Ryan a farewell and headed out (he lives five minutes [driving time] from the Civic Center so we walked). We were all wearing just t-shirts so it got cold real fast. Eventually I couldn’t feel anything anymore, though. After a couple blocks of walking it finally came into view. The Cumberland County Civic Center in all its glory. Okay, well it’s not that great. It is only Maine, you know. Our mouths dropped as we saw there was a mile long line heading from the main entrance of the Civic Center all the way down the sidewalk to the side of it. It felt like we walked forever to get to the very back of the line. I was thinking we should’ve just said we knew someone in line and been like “hey Julia, long time no see,� and just slip in with some people even if they did look at us like ‘who the fxck are you?’. I wanted to cut corners, but that’s not the way the girls do things. So we waited, and waited, and waited some more. The line barely went anywhere the first forty minutes. During this waiting time we got a free Hawthorne Heights CD (only one song, no big deal), free stickers, the whole line got attacked by seagulls (my guess was that they wanted to steal our tickets to see Fall Out Boy. I’m just kidding…), and made up a song called “Lettuce In� (I sang tenor) as in we really wanted to get inside the Civic Center. The last twenty minutes wasn’t even about the fact that we wanted to see the concert. We just wanted to be WARM. Everywhere I looked everyone either had a jacket or hoodie on. I knew they’d be sorry later, though and that made me feel better about my just t-shirt. Finally they were letting people in and the line started to move every five minutes. We reached the entrance doors at last and felt the warmth and walked in. It was chaos but we somehow managed to find the right doors leading into the actual arena and slipped down the stairs and onto the floor. So many people were there already. I told them we needed to be there earlier but they didn’t believe me. Psh to them. Well people that were on the floor had to sit down. I’m not sure why, but we just had to. The people that were past the sitting line got to stand up, but they were in the way back. I looked around for people I knew but no such luck. A bunch of people were in the seats. Crazy people. Why would you go to a general admission concert only to sit on the sidelines? Heck no. The floor is for me. I like the sweaty bodies, no good breathing air (pretty much no air at all), almost getting an arm ripped off, and being packed like sardines. Finally they let us up and EVERYONE on the floor fxcking rushed the stage. We were all running to get a good space ahead of us, and to keep from being run over from the people behind us. I told the girls that we would eventually be split up. They didn’t believe me, but hey it happens. I knew we would be and I had no problem with it (even if Mommy did tell me I wasn’t allowed to split from the others). I got a lot closer during this rush and wasn’t far at all from the stage. On the overhead screens they played random commercials and videos. When a clip of Fall Out Boy’s “Sugar We’re Going Down� came on, everyone flipped and screamed. Yes, it didn’t make sense but we were all full of adrenaline and any source of excitingness was going to well, get us excited. The lights went out and everyone flipped twice as much. The Hush Sound was announced and they came out. They actually weren’t as bad as I thought they would be. I had previewed their music like a month ago and thought they sucked but they sounded better at the concert. I didn’t really pay attention to them, as I was slipping my way towards the front of the crowd. I was successful and got even closer. About ten feet away from the gate at the front of the crowd. The girls were still near me at this point, but behind me. I think they thought they had to follow me or something. The Hush Sound’s set was over with and the lights came back on for intermission. I worked my magic through the crowd some more and ended up five feet from the front gate. The lights went out again and everyone flipped, including myself even though I don’t really like FFTL. They came out and the stage lights went on. They did pretty well. I didn’t know any of their songs, but I thought they sounded okay. I took pictures of the guitarist that was over on my side and of Sonny when he came near. I got even closer to the gate, about two or three feet away. I knew that this was my permanent spot. There was no way in hell I was going to get any closer. I guess Sonny kept saying “are you ready to get infected with the latest plague?!� or something like that but I didn’t hear him (Jessie and Elyse told me later). I love it when bands say something like that and everyone is like “YES DO IT!�. Their set finally ended and the lights once again came on. I looked around to see where everyone was. I could only see Katie and Jessica. Elyse and Jessie were nowhere to be seen. Katie and Jessica weren’t right behind me but they were within view. When you’re looking back at that many people it’s hard to tell who anyone is. So many people tried to cut in front of me but I think I was the most aggressive I’ve ever been. I elbowed, kicked, and hit anyone who tried to slide past me. Hell no, I had worked too hard for my place. The lights went off and the stage lights came on. There were Hawthorne Heights. I flipped out very much so. They were my second favorite band at that concert. They of course did awesome. A lot better than I thought they would (bands like that usually don’t sound good live, and that’s okay). I sang along to every single song because I’m awesome. I totally flipped out when “Ohio Is For Lovers� because I love when Casey does his little scream/growl. I did it right along with him. You know, “CUT MY WRISTS AND BLACK MY EYES!� after JT sings it, he screams/growls it. During this set four people totally slid past me without me even knowing (seriously, it happens) and I got so pissed off because I had a really good place. I’m pretty sure Hawthorne Heights told us (Maine) that we had attractive people here, but they’re such liars. Everyone in Maine is a dirty bxtch. We definitely aren’t California or Florida. Their set ended (to my disappointment) and the lights came back on. All the while during these intermissions the security guards would come by and give us all water, which I got a lot of (but somehow not enough) because I was up front [[smiles]]. I started muttering about the skanky bxtch who had cut in front of me. I’m not kidding when I say ‘skanky bxtch’. She was skanky. And she was a total bxtch. Not to say I wasn’t being a bxtch, but that’s beside the point. My hand kept getting caught in her skanky hair so I complained about that (I complain when I’m mad and don’t get what I want). She muttered ‘bxtch’ under her breath so I said “skank� loud enough for her to hear. She turned around and was like “how about you stop talking about my fxcking hair?!� I was like “how the fxck do you know I was talking about?� in a really disgusted voice and she was like “because you’re staring right at my head!� There were just a lot of ‘F words’ in the conversation (if you want to call it that). I proceeded to talk nasty about her (I get like this when I’m mad and frustrated. I know what I said was dumb but I’m not good with comebacks) and shoved her and rammed my shoulder into her back and kept it there. She of course was talking rudely about me to her friend. All the while Katie and Jessica were standing right behind me. I complained to them until the lights went off. The stage lights came on and The All-American Rejects came out. Tyson Ritter (what a cool name, right?) in all his hottness. His voice sounded really funny because the music was so loud that my ears didn’t really receive sounds the right way at that point and because his voice is kind of high pitched anyways. They played really well (duh! They’re The All-American Rejects!) I tried and tried to get back up to where I was before but to no such luck. I did however move a little further to the left while maintaining the same distance from the gate. Everyone was doing back flips when “Move Along� came on. Katie and Jessica told me that after The All-American Rejects were done they were going to leave (that was the band they came for) so I was like “okay�. They dedicated a song to Fall Out Boy for bringing them on tour with them. How nice is that? I thought it was cute. Their set ended and the lights came on. Tensions were high because we all knew who was coming on next and in our own little minds everything had to be perfect. Or maybe that was just my mind. Well everything wasn’t perfect for me. No matter where I moved to in that crowd there was always someone taller than me right in front of me. “Good god I wish I was tall�. I tried to make the best of it, though because THEY (nah, I can’t say who it is?) were next and all that mattered was them. I was really creepy during that intermission. There were some people my age (probably a year younger) talking together (that were all from different towns in Maine) and every time they said something that I thought was funny, I laughed. I never said anything to them, just laughed at their jokes. They just looked at me and smiled. I must have looked special. I guess they played a clip of THEM or something on the big screens (I couldn’t see, I was too far up front) because everyone flipped out for what I thought was no reason. It’s funny; even when you know nothing is going on, you flip out just because. They put down a huge gray cloth around the whole stage so no one would see what was going on. Someone started a beat on the drums and people screamed for that, thinking it might’ve been Andy. It might’ve been, it might not have been. Who knows. Then someone started doing sound check and everyone was convinced it wasn’t Patrick but it sounded a whole lot like Patrick. And Pete definitely said something into one of the mic’s because he has a really distinguished voice. FINALLY the lights went out, the gray cloth fell to the ground, and there they were. Fall Out Boy. In all their perfect glory. My husband (Pete, if you want), Patrick (my second not-as-much-known husband. He‘s a shy guy, what can I say?), Joe, and Andy. Pete was looking super hott in his hoodie-under-jacket outfit along with the tight jeans that everyone loves him for. But enough about his hottness. We all already know about that. THEY WERE SO AMAZING. Better than I could have ever imagined. I should’ve given them more credit. They opened up with “Our Lawyer Made Us Change The Name Of This Song So We Wouldn’t Get Sued�. I don’t really know the whole set list they did. I know they did a lot of older songs. No one around me knew them but I did. And I sang to EVERY SINGLE ONE of the their songs. Even when I felt like I was going to pass out. When I was too tired to do anything. I sang my heart out. And I will admit, I did almost let a few tears of happiness escape. I get so caught up in the moment at these kinds of concerts. Sometimes I forget to breathe. And sometimes I get teary-eyed because I just can’t believe it’s happening. I mean seriously, it’s fxcking FALL OUT BOY. Who would’ve thought that I’d get to see my second favorite (Fall Out Boy will always be the B-side to Green Day. Hah you like how I put a little FOBness in that? Yeah you did) band? Really. I never thought I’d be so lucky. Pete (like always) was the only one talking. He was like “who here saw my naked pictures on the internet?!“ And pretty much everyone screamed in answer. Including I. What a sight that was. In accordance to that, he did the whole “from day one I talked about getting out, but not forgetting about how my worst fears were letting out. He said ‘why put a new address on the same old loneliness?’ When breathing just passes the time until we all just get old and die. Now talking’s just a waste of breath, and living’s just a waste of death! And why put a new address on the same old loneliness! And this is you and me, and me and you! Until we’ve got nothing left!� and “XO� started up. They did my favorite song (along with Kristina), “I Slept With Someone In Fall Out Boy And All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me�. Pete was talking and then said, “vampires will never hurt you� and you just knew “A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch Me� was coming on if you saw their newest video and it did. Their backdrop changed once in a while. They were huge pictures that I supposed their friend that drew the official picture for the Black Clouds And Underdogs Tour had drawn. They also had pyrotechnics during two or thee of the songs. They took a break a little into it and Dirty came out. He mixed a bunch of random shxt into a cup and drank it for us. Then he tried to scare the people by throwing stuff in an identical cup into the crowd but it was only paper. (A/N: I know none of this is in order, but you get the idea of it). Dirty went back and Fall Out Boy came back out. Pete talked about how they had a wardrobe change. He said, “I want everyone to dance!� And “Dance, Dance� started up. I was jumping up and down the whole song. That song gives me a lot of energy. When he said “drink up this last call, last resort� I held up my hand as if gripping a cup (like he did in the video), and when he said “love� I made a heart with my fingers (also like he did in the video). At some point in the concert Pete stage dived into the crowd and I was so very jealous of the people right in front of the catwalk. SO VERY JEALOUS. I’m not going to say I wasn’t. Who wouldn’t be? I bet even the boys were jealous. He went out on the catwalk with just a mic (he gave his bass to some random roadie to play) and I guess he sang but I couldn’t hear because a bunch of crowd surfers had come upon us at that very time. Him and Joe swung their basses around themselves just like they always do (in their videos, too). And they flipped out. He climbed up on Andy’s bass drum and jumped off onto the lower stage. The crowd loved that move. Well everyone was having such a good time. But all good times come to an end. They ended the set with “Saturday�. Pete said a quick ‘goodbye’ and left the stage. They were so amazing. I know I said that already but they really were. Patrick sounded exactly like he does on the Cds and stuff and I was amazed by that. Usually bands like that don’t (like I said earlier during the Hawthorne Heights bit). Everyone else sounded amazing, too. Joe came over to our side A LOT even though his place was on the other side of the stage. My spot in the crowd was actually right in front of Pete’s mic so that was pretty cool. I officially am in love with them. So overall the whole concert was amazing amazing amazing. If they’re coming to a town near you, GO!!! I swear you won’t regret it. Even if you only like ONE of the bands, you’ll be blown away by all of them. I only went for Fall Out Boy and Hawthorne Heights and now I can say that I really like The All-American Rejects too. I probably will end up downloading The Hush Sound’s music, too. Maybe some From First To Last, but that’s pushing it. Really. It is so cheap for the awesome show they put on. I would not miss this tour for anything. **NOTE: This is also on my quizilla account and myspace blog.