@Paula: I hope you can see them the next time they go to Australia! Their live shows are definitely worth seeing.
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Since the last time I posted in this thread, I've seen ATL 5 times in various places: Japan and all over California. I'll do a little write-up on them.
I did end up seeing ATL in Japan at their Tokyo show in Shibuya, and that was probably one of the craziest shows I've been to! Most of the crowds here in CA are filled with younger (as in 13 or so!), annoying girls who don't know how to act properly at lives. -__- But, in Japan, it was mainly older teenage boys (16+) and they were pushing, shoving, and going crazy while having fun! It was fun being in that crowd and feeding off of their energy. At one point I managed to get to the third row directly in front of Alex, but I moved more towards the back a few songs in because it was crazy and I didn't want to keep trying to fight to stay in my spot. But yeah, that was probably one of the best ATL shows I've been to. Same when I saw them at Punkspring 2012 in Kobe. Japan ATL shows >>>> US ATL shows.
After the show I waited about an hour for them to come out, but they were taking too long and the last trains were about to stop soon, so I unfortunately had to go. The next day I looked on Twitter and found out that they did come out probably a little after I left, and I also found out a few days after that that I had missed out on a Hustler Club M&G! I was so sad after that!
haha.
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The next time I saw them was in LA two months later in early May. I had gotten a Hustler Club M&G for the show, but my friend and I unfortunately had a test in one of our classes that we needed to take right before the show. We got there too late and just barely missed out the M&G. The third one in a row that I missed. lol I had been having terrible luck with missing M&Gs.
Another friend and my boyfriend had luckily gotten there on time so they got to go to the M&G. My boyfriend brought one of the Japan tour-exclusive towels we got at the Shibuya show and had them sign it. They were all surprised and Rian said, "That's probably the only signed one in the US now!"
ATL's set that day was all right; they weren't the main headliners and I'm not too fond of the venue they played in that day.
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A few days later they had a free show in San Diego (about 2 hours south of LA) that my friends and I went to. I managed to get a spot on the barricade for the first time in a while. It was a pretty fun show!
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Fast forward four months later near the end of September. They were playing a non-tour show in Ventura (about an hour north of LA). We had gotten M&G and I was determined to be able to go that time, so I made sure we got there early. Since we had time to kill, we walked around the main street of the city a bit. In case you're aware of it or not, it's pretty much a given that copious amounts of bras are thrown on stage whenever ATL plays a show. We decided to head to one of the many thrift stores on the main street and find a decently sized bra to throw on stage. While we were searching for a good one, I managed to find this super creepy baby bear-doll...thing:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]lol after we bought that and a huge bra, we headed back to the venue to wait for the M&G. I showed them my own Japan tour-exclusive towel and again they were surprised; I guess they really hadn't seen another one of those since my boyfriend showed them his four months prior. I had them sign it, so now there are two of these in the US.
I had gotten a front row spot on the barricade again and was directly in front of Jack, so I wrapped the bear baby doll up in the bra and threw it on stage during their first MC. Jack saw it and bent down to pick it up. He made a weird face and was like, "Dude, look how f---ing creepy this is! What the f--- is this? F---ing Silence of the Lambs s--t!" Then he started trying to make the same face as the doll. hahaha. He walked around stage trying to decide what to do with it, then tried to put it on his mic, then tried to hang it from the bras hanging from his mic, and finally gave up and put it on the amps near the back of the stage lol. At the end, he sat down on the stage and started signing autographs, and I noticed that he had stuffed it down his shirt:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]One of my friends had gotten side stage for the show and had another separate M&G after the show, and she said that he had even brought it there as well. That's pretty awesome that it amused him that much.
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This past Saturday I saw them in Anaheim (about an hour south-east of LA) and went to their Soundcheck Party where I got to watch them soundcheck and take a picture with them on stage. It was awkward when you went up to them since everyone else who had gone before you was was right in front of the guys and watching/listening to you talk to them. I went up to them and showed them my Japan tour towel and they were like, "Oh yeah, I remember that!" Maybe now they're finally starting to remember me after eight years. haha.
Oh, and as I was about to walk away, Jack suddenly held out his arms kind of awkwardly to me, expecting a hug. I wasn't expecting it and was like, "Okay..?" and we hugged each other. It was kind of weird lol
I also still haven't finished that conversation with Alex about SCANDAL!
I NEED TO SEE MY HUSBANDS! LOL xD
