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leighblackI had decided that I wasn’t going to go to see Killingbird in Aurora, WI after all since I didn’t really have the money. Don’t get me wrong, I really wanted to see them live again and get to hang out and all, but sometimes you gotta look past all that when you’re broke. Then ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
xiolablux begged me to please go because she needed a weekend away. With the help of some bribery on her part, I agreed to go.
I was so damn hyped up that I woke up at 4:30am on Friday morning. I laid in bed for a while, but finally got up, finished packing and left for work. Oh, was that the LAST place I wanted to be! I sped through my work and flew out of the building as quickly as I could. The drive through Wisconsin pretty much sucked. I was on a lot of little country highways, with not many people around. However, there were lots of dead deer on the side of the roads.
Julee called me to remind me that Ponch (ROADHEADDOTNET from the Sludge boards) was going to have Christian on his radio show that afternoon. I was still pretty far away, but could kind of get the signal. It was some special show to celebrate the opening of deer hunting season, with lots of clips from the Nuge. (Remember, if you’re not in the NRA, you’re not for freedom!) As if I wasn’t scared already about how hick this was going to be, now it looked like there were going to be guys with guns all around. Grrrrrrrreaaat.
My Mapquest directions cut off about 15 miles away from Iron Mountain, but I was still able to find my way to our hotel. I think I pulled into the lot only about a minute after Julee did. We chilled for a bit, got some food and finally started to get ready for the show. I began to doubt my clothing choices, as did Julee. The town didn’t seem quite as hick as I thought it would be, but it was close. I’m such a city girl!
We were having the worst time getting directions to the C&R Bar. Everyone was like, you’ll just run into it. Well, we didn’t. We drove WAY past it, into the middle of nowhere. The complete darkness kind of middle of nowhere. Eventually, we made our way back and found the bar in this little tiny town. It had like one gas station, one restaurant and three bars. Typical Wisconsin.
Julee & I were kinda worried that we’d really stick out in the crowd. When we walked in, I was pleasantly surprised because there were a few other freaks in the bar. Ponch immediately spotted my Sluge shirt and pointed at me from across the bar. We didn’t stick out too bad, but we did get a couple “You’re not from around here, are ya?”s. Julee was drawn to the large amount of dead animal heads that were mounted on the walls.
We also saw Coyote there. No, not Mr. Shivers. Not even Wily E. Coyote, but a big stuffed coyote carrying a bird in it’s mouth. It was accompanied in its glass case by a monkey-type thing wearing sunglasses. Very bizarre.
We bellied up to the bar and started along our alcohol journey. My plan was to get drunk early so I’d have time to sober up before driving back to the hotel. And I’d have to say that it worked out pretty well. We saw the Killingbird guys meandering about, but I think Julee wanted to again test her theory of letting the rock boys come to us. It worked, as soon enough August wandered over to say hello. It was so cool to finally meet him! August remembered that I had been at the Blackboard Jungle show in June, which they played at. He expressed his adoration for BBJ, which I share, of course. He brought Skyla over and we all talked for a while. They were very appreciative that people would be willing to drive several hours to see them. It gets a little fuzzy at this point as I was on my third Red Bull & Vodka, plus a shot of Goldschlager. But at some point we also met this cool girl named Jessica from Racine, WI.
Ponch’s band Road Head got on stage and opened their set with “Bathroom Wall.” I was drunk and they were playing Faster, so I went out to dance. By myself. All alone on the dance floor. I really am a geek, you know that? Road Head was pretty good. The band sounded great, but their singer needed some major work. They did some really great covers, including Beautiful Creatures, Butch Walker, more Faster, Skid Row, LAG and Tuff. Tuff!!! I think I scared Julee with my enthusiasm for “So Many Seasons.”
Road Head ended and the hick bar with the dead animals on the walls started playing rap/hip-hop music. Yes, you read that right. Eminem, Nelly, 50 Cent, ‘Lil Kim, all that good stuff. Now, I know I really frightened Julee at this point. Because yes, underneath all the black eyeliner & goth girl clothes, I love this stuff. And I pretty much knew all the words to all of the songs. So, while we waited for Killingbird to start, I was out dancing. Eh, whatever, who cares? I was having fun!
Skyla came out and set his video camera down in front of us and told us that we should feel free to use it if we wanted to. Gee, was that some kind of subtle hint? I grabbed it and ended up taping their whole show for them. So that kind of sucked because I didn’t get to rock out as much as I usually do and I didn’t take any photos, but I’m always happy to help out so it wasn’t a big deal.
The show was great, even though there were some problems with the sound. But they didn’t play “Bruise” or “Death of a Superstar” which made me very disappointed. I grabbed the set list only to see that both songs had been on there and then crossed off. Julee found a table near the merch table after the show and we hung out there with Jessica. I still had Skyla’s camera and wanted to make sure that I got it back to him. August came over and I whined about not hearing “Bruise.” He told me that they’d be sure to play it the next night since I wanted to hear it. I asked him if he thought I’d be able to get a copy of the videotape and he told me that he’d be sure to get me one. Yay! I finally found Skyla to return his camera and he couldn’t believe that I’d taped the whole show. I was just worried that it would look bad since I was drunk.
It’s all kind of a blur after that. I started to sober up, but Julee kept drinking. Christian came over and said hello and that I looked familiar. I told him that I’d been at the BBJ show and he said “Yeah! You were right in front!” Now, I really don’t expect that he remembered me, but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. I got some photos with the guys…
August and Me
August, Me and Skyla
And we did some hanging out. They still all seemed rather amazed that we had driven so far to see them, but they were very appreciative. I found out that August loves Robin Black, which raised him up a few more notches on my coolness meter.
Road Head played another set and there was a lot of dancing and singing along on everyone’s parts. Booger spent the entire set dancing at the front of the stage, which was highly entertaining. Julee bumped into Gaz (literally) and brought him over to talk at the table. What a sweetie!
Me and Gaz
The night finally started to wind down and all the guys wanted us to join them at the party at Ponch’s house. I was exhausted and Julee was pretty drunk, so we declined. I wanted too, but thought I’d fall asleep or something. Ponch was trying very hard to persuade me to change my mind. He’s like the coolest guy! And he was wearing a Cathouse T-shirt, which I was very amused with. We all decided that we’d try to do something the next day instead, with the strip bar seeming like the obvious choice. Numbers were exchanged and promises were made. Skyla again thanked me for taping the show because they really don’t have much footage of themselves.
I tried to corral Julee into the car, but she kept trying to go back and talk some more. I finally got her settled and we went back to the hotel. There was a scary guy working the night shift who offered several times to open the pool for us since Julee wanted to swim. Neither the idea of Julee swimming nor the night guy watching seemed like a real good idea, so I pushed her into our room. She wasn’t feeling too good and passed out on the bed.
Saturday wasn’t a very productive day. Julee felt awful and I felt bad for her. We got up, went for breakfast, went back to bed, got up and ate leftovers, went back to bed and finally started really moving around about 7pm. August called at some point to say that they weren’t going anywhere anytime soon since they were all lying around still. That was cool, since we weren’t going anywhere either.
Clothing choices were again debated, but eventually we were off again. The bar looked to be closed when we pulled up, so we went to get Julee some crackers to snack on, which was a pretty good idea. I also bought some scrapbooking supplies, just to show my true geekdom. We went back to the bar and sat on our same barstools. Julee looked pretty bad and really just wanted to sit for a while. I decided to get drunk fast again, which ended up happening in under 20 minutes. I left her there and went over to talk to Skyla and August. Skyla mentioned that August had said I was at the BBJ show and told me that he remembered me there. I was like, oh sure you do. But he insisted that he did. Booger came over and introduced himself since I hadn’t met him the night before.
I was wearing my Jager Bitch shirt, which seemed to amuse everyone. Since I was wearing it, I felt like it was my duty to provide alcohol. I started buying shots & beer, but they made me take a shot everytime too. So I ended up completely plastered in a very short time. Gaz seemed especially appreciative of the alcohol and we ended up talking to him for quite a while. He also took my CD around to have everyone sign it while I sat on my ass. That was nice of him! Ponch had made up some lammies for them for the shows and it became my quest for the weekend to end up with one. Gaz suggested that either Booger or August would be my best targets.
August told me that they’d watched some of the videotape from the night before and couldn’t believe how it looked. I guess I did an okay job. And he promised me that I’d get a copy. Of course, I’ve heard that before from other rock boys.
Road Head played again. Then the rap/hip-hop stuff again between the bands. Gaz was out on the floor gettin down, which amused me to no end. Since I was so wasted, I think I was dancing more that night then I had the night before. I think Julee was really trying to make it look like she didn’t know me. At least she was feeling better by this point.
Killingbird had some sound problems again, but I really didn’t care. I had a great time during their show, jumping around, screaming and singing. I caught Christian laughing at me a couple times. He pointed at us and said “This song’s for you” when they started “Bruise.” Yay! My song!! They also played “Superstar” which almost sent me into convulsions. Talk about an orgasmic experience! Skyla fell down a couple times, and they all seemed pretty wasted. My photos turned out kind of crappy since there was a lot of fog and I wasn’t too stable on my feet. They ended the show by trashing their equipment, as every true rock band should.
Christian
Gaz
August
I found a table by the merch and somehow ended up helping them out. They were all hanging out and talking to people, so it wasn’t a big deal. I’d just go over to August every once in a while and hand him cash. Skyla was running around with a silver Sharpie and signed my arm. I tried to get his lammie off of him, but he couldn’t find it. I, uhhhh, did a little body search to help out. Just being helpful, of course. August eventually came over and told me that I was being too nice and tried to get me to keep some of the money. Like I’m going to keep their money! But I told him that I really wanted his lammie. He gave it to me and told me that whatever I wanted, anytime, was mine. Shirts, CDs, guest list, whatever. Now, I know he was drunk, but he better damn well remember that ‘cause I’m holding him to it! ;)
We decided that we’d join the party at Ponch’s after the show, which seemed to make everyone happy. We just didn’t want to leave yet since everyone was so cool. Honestly, these are like the sweetest bunch of guys I’ve ever met! We waited for them to get packed up so we could follow the van. Booger saw us in the car and opened my door to give me a hug. I told him we’d see him at the party, and he said “I’m not going to Ponch’s. I’m going to have sex.” Well, okay then.
We made it to Ponch’s and neither of us could believe his house. I thought I had a lot of stuff, but I can’t possibly compare. KISS stuff was everywhere!! I was fun to just look around at everything. Julee found a seat in the kitchen and we hung out in there. It became the geek corner of the party, as August & I started going through the alphabet and naming off rock bands that we liked. Ponch was just amazed that I had recognized Child’s Play’s “Day After Night” in about 5 seconds. He had some great music on. He kept commenting on my FP necklace, but there’s no way I’m giving it up. Everytime Ponch would walk into the room, he’d start going on and on about the 2nd Trixter album. I think he was upset that I had said I didn’t like it.
Somewhere in all this, the Sharpies came out. This poor girl ended up covered in ink, but she was encouraging it. Gaz had a silver Sharpie and would try to innocently stand next to someone and then suddenly grab their arm and scribble on it. I think nearly everyone at the party ended up with ink on them. Gaz tried to sign August’s sandwich, but he cleverly evaded the Sharpie.
Things started to wind down and the inked up girl passed out. Not a good idea. She ended up with all kinds of stuff drawn all over her face. “It’s time for the pentagram on the forehead.” I still can’t believe that she never woke up. She was WAY too drunk. Remind me to never, ever sleep in front of these guys!!
Julee & I finally left around 7am, after a round of hugs and promises to keep in touch. August & Ponch really wanted us to fly out to Vegas for the Sludge meeting and I told them that I’d think about it. We crashed at the hotel for a couple hours before making the long drive back home.
I am SO glad that Julee made me go. I had such an AMAZING weekend and we made some great friends!! August is one of the greatest guys I’ve ever met and he was such a sweetheart. All of the guys were wonderful and really took out time to hang out and talk with us. I can’t wait to see these guys again!
Killingbird.net
RoadHead.net
My Killingbird Photos
xiolablux begged me to please go because she needed a weekend away. With the help of some bribery on her part, I agreed to go.I was so damn hyped up that I woke up at 4:30am on Friday morning. I laid in bed for a while, but finally got up, finished packing and left for work. Oh, was that the LAST place I wanted to be! I sped through my work and flew out of the building as quickly as I could. The drive through Wisconsin pretty much sucked. I was on a lot of little country highways, with not many people around. However, there were lots of dead deer on the side of the roads.
Julee called me to remind me that Ponch (ROADHEADDOTNET from the Sludge boards) was going to have Christian on his radio show that afternoon. I was still pretty far away, but could kind of get the signal. It was some special show to celebrate the opening of deer hunting season, with lots of clips from the Nuge. (Remember, if you’re not in the NRA, you’re not for freedom!) As if I wasn’t scared already about how hick this was going to be, now it looked like there were going to be guys with guns all around. Grrrrrrrreaaat.
My Mapquest directions cut off about 15 miles away from Iron Mountain, but I was still able to find my way to our hotel. I think I pulled into the lot only about a minute after Julee did. We chilled for a bit, got some food and finally started to get ready for the show. I began to doubt my clothing choices, as did Julee. The town didn’t seem quite as hick as I thought it would be, but it was close. I’m such a city girl!
We were having the worst time getting directions to the C&R Bar. Everyone was like, you’ll just run into it. Well, we didn’t. We drove WAY past it, into the middle of nowhere. The complete darkness kind of middle of nowhere. Eventually, we made our way back and found the bar in this little tiny town. It had like one gas station, one restaurant and three bars. Typical Wisconsin.
Julee & I were kinda worried that we’d really stick out in the crowd. When we walked in, I was pleasantly surprised because there were a few other freaks in the bar. Ponch immediately spotted my Sluge shirt and pointed at me from across the bar. We didn’t stick out too bad, but we did get a couple “You’re not from around here, are ya?”s. Julee was drawn to the large amount of dead animal heads that were mounted on the walls.
We also saw Coyote there. No, not Mr. Shivers. Not even Wily E. Coyote, but a big stuffed coyote carrying a bird in it’s mouth. It was accompanied in its glass case by a monkey-type thing wearing sunglasses. Very bizarre.
We bellied up to the bar and started along our alcohol journey. My plan was to get drunk early so I’d have time to sober up before driving back to the hotel. And I’d have to say that it worked out pretty well. We saw the Killingbird guys meandering about, but I think Julee wanted to again test her theory of letting the rock boys come to us. It worked, as soon enough August wandered over to say hello. It was so cool to finally meet him! August remembered that I had been at the Blackboard Jungle show in June, which they played at. He expressed his adoration for BBJ, which I share, of course. He brought Skyla over and we all talked for a while. They were very appreciative that people would be willing to drive several hours to see them. It gets a little fuzzy at this point as I was on my third Red Bull & Vodka, plus a shot of Goldschlager. But at some point we also met this cool girl named Jessica from Racine, WI.
Ponch’s band Road Head got on stage and opened their set with “Bathroom Wall.” I was drunk and they were playing Faster, so I went out to dance. By myself. All alone on the dance floor. I really am a geek, you know that? Road Head was pretty good. The band sounded great, but their singer needed some major work. They did some really great covers, including Beautiful Creatures, Butch Walker, more Faster, Skid Row, LAG and Tuff. Tuff!!! I think I scared Julee with my enthusiasm for “So Many Seasons.”
Road Head ended and the hick bar with the dead animals on the walls started playing rap/hip-hop music. Yes, you read that right. Eminem, Nelly, 50 Cent, ‘Lil Kim, all that good stuff. Now, I know I really frightened Julee at this point. Because yes, underneath all the black eyeliner & goth girl clothes, I love this stuff. And I pretty much knew all the words to all of the songs. So, while we waited for Killingbird to start, I was out dancing. Eh, whatever, who cares? I was having fun!
Skyla came out and set his video camera down in front of us and told us that we should feel free to use it if we wanted to. Gee, was that some kind of subtle hint? I grabbed it and ended up taping their whole show for them. So that kind of sucked because I didn’t get to rock out as much as I usually do and I didn’t take any photos, but I’m always happy to help out so it wasn’t a big deal.
The show was great, even though there were some problems with the sound. But they didn’t play “Bruise” or “Death of a Superstar” which made me very disappointed. I grabbed the set list only to see that both songs had been on there and then crossed off. Julee found a table near the merch table after the show and we hung out there with Jessica. I still had Skyla’s camera and wanted to make sure that I got it back to him. August came over and I whined about not hearing “Bruise.” He told me that they’d be sure to play it the next night since I wanted to hear it. I asked him if he thought I’d be able to get a copy of the videotape and he told me that he’d be sure to get me one. Yay! I finally found Skyla to return his camera and he couldn’t believe that I’d taped the whole show. I was just worried that it would look bad since I was drunk.
It’s all kind of a blur after that. I started to sober up, but Julee kept drinking. Christian came over and said hello and that I looked familiar. I told him that I’d been at the BBJ show and he said “Yeah! You were right in front!” Now, I really don’t expect that he remembered me, but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. I got some photos with the guys…
August and Me
August, Me and Skyla
And we did some hanging out. They still all seemed rather amazed that we had driven so far to see them, but they were very appreciative. I found out that August loves Robin Black, which raised him up a few more notches on my coolness meter.
Road Head played another set and there was a lot of dancing and singing along on everyone’s parts. Booger spent the entire set dancing at the front of the stage, which was highly entertaining. Julee bumped into Gaz (literally) and brought him over to talk at the table. What a sweetie!
Me and Gaz
The night finally started to wind down and all the guys wanted us to join them at the party at Ponch’s house. I was exhausted and Julee was pretty drunk, so we declined. I wanted too, but thought I’d fall asleep or something. Ponch was trying very hard to persuade me to change my mind. He’s like the coolest guy! And he was wearing a Cathouse T-shirt, which I was very amused with. We all decided that we’d try to do something the next day instead, with the strip bar seeming like the obvious choice. Numbers were exchanged and promises were made. Skyla again thanked me for taping the show because they really don’t have much footage of themselves.
I tried to corral Julee into the car, but she kept trying to go back and talk some more. I finally got her settled and we went back to the hotel. There was a scary guy working the night shift who offered several times to open the pool for us since Julee wanted to swim. Neither the idea of Julee swimming nor the night guy watching seemed like a real good idea, so I pushed her into our room. She wasn’t feeling too good and passed out on the bed.
Saturday wasn’t a very productive day. Julee felt awful and I felt bad for her. We got up, went for breakfast, went back to bed, got up and ate leftovers, went back to bed and finally started really moving around about 7pm. August called at some point to say that they weren’t going anywhere anytime soon since they were all lying around still. That was cool, since we weren’t going anywhere either.
Clothing choices were again debated, but eventually we were off again. The bar looked to be closed when we pulled up, so we went to get Julee some crackers to snack on, which was a pretty good idea. I also bought some scrapbooking supplies, just to show my true geekdom. We went back to the bar and sat on our same barstools. Julee looked pretty bad and really just wanted to sit for a while. I decided to get drunk fast again, which ended up happening in under 20 minutes. I left her there and went over to talk to Skyla and August. Skyla mentioned that August had said I was at the BBJ show and told me that he remembered me there. I was like, oh sure you do. But he insisted that he did. Booger came over and introduced himself since I hadn’t met him the night before.
I was wearing my Jager Bitch shirt, which seemed to amuse everyone. Since I was wearing it, I felt like it was my duty to provide alcohol. I started buying shots & beer, but they made me take a shot everytime too. So I ended up completely plastered in a very short time. Gaz seemed especially appreciative of the alcohol and we ended up talking to him for quite a while. He also took my CD around to have everyone sign it while I sat on my ass. That was nice of him! Ponch had made up some lammies for them for the shows and it became my quest for the weekend to end up with one. Gaz suggested that either Booger or August would be my best targets.
August told me that they’d watched some of the videotape from the night before and couldn’t believe how it looked. I guess I did an okay job. And he promised me that I’d get a copy. Of course, I’ve heard that before from other rock boys.
Road Head played again. Then the rap/hip-hop stuff again between the bands. Gaz was out on the floor gettin down, which amused me to no end. Since I was so wasted, I think I was dancing more that night then I had the night before. I think Julee was really trying to make it look like she didn’t know me. At least she was feeling better by this point.
Killingbird had some sound problems again, but I really didn’t care. I had a great time during their show, jumping around, screaming and singing. I caught Christian laughing at me a couple times. He pointed at us and said “This song’s for you” when they started “Bruise.” Yay! My song!! They also played “Superstar” which almost sent me into convulsions. Talk about an orgasmic experience! Skyla fell down a couple times, and they all seemed pretty wasted. My photos turned out kind of crappy since there was a lot of fog and I wasn’t too stable on my feet. They ended the show by trashing their equipment, as every true rock band should.
Christian
Gaz
August
I found a table by the merch and somehow ended up helping them out. They were all hanging out and talking to people, so it wasn’t a big deal. I’d just go over to August every once in a while and hand him cash. Skyla was running around with a silver Sharpie and signed my arm. I tried to get his lammie off of him, but he couldn’t find it. I, uhhhh, did a little body search to help out. Just being helpful, of course. August eventually came over and told me that I was being too nice and tried to get me to keep some of the money. Like I’m going to keep their money! But I told him that I really wanted his lammie. He gave it to me and told me that whatever I wanted, anytime, was mine. Shirts, CDs, guest list, whatever. Now, I know he was drunk, but he better damn well remember that ‘cause I’m holding him to it! ;)
We decided that we’d join the party at Ponch’s after the show, which seemed to make everyone happy. We just didn’t want to leave yet since everyone was so cool. Honestly, these are like the sweetest bunch of guys I’ve ever met! We waited for them to get packed up so we could follow the van. Booger saw us in the car and opened my door to give me a hug. I told him we’d see him at the party, and he said “I’m not going to Ponch’s. I’m going to have sex.” Well, okay then.
We made it to Ponch’s and neither of us could believe his house. I thought I had a lot of stuff, but I can’t possibly compare. KISS stuff was everywhere!! I was fun to just look around at everything. Julee found a seat in the kitchen and we hung out in there. It became the geek corner of the party, as August & I started going through the alphabet and naming off rock bands that we liked. Ponch was just amazed that I had recognized Child’s Play’s “Day After Night” in about 5 seconds. He had some great music on. He kept commenting on my FP necklace, but there’s no way I’m giving it up. Everytime Ponch would walk into the room, he’d start going on and on about the 2nd Trixter album. I think he was upset that I had said I didn’t like it.
Somewhere in all this, the Sharpies came out. This poor girl ended up covered in ink, but she was encouraging it. Gaz had a silver Sharpie and would try to innocently stand next to someone and then suddenly grab their arm and scribble on it. I think nearly everyone at the party ended up with ink on them. Gaz tried to sign August’s sandwich, but he cleverly evaded the Sharpie.
Things started to wind down and the inked up girl passed out. Not a good idea. She ended up with all kinds of stuff drawn all over her face. “It’s time for the pentagram on the forehead.” I still can’t believe that she never woke up. She was WAY too drunk. Remind me to never, ever sleep in front of these guys!!
Julee & I finally left around 7am, after a round of hugs and promises to keep in touch. August & Ponch really wanted us to fly out to Vegas for the Sludge meeting and I told them that I’d think about it. We crashed at the hotel for a couple hours before making the long drive back home.
I am SO glad that Julee made me go. I had such an AMAZING weekend and we made some great friends!! August is one of the greatest guys I’ve ever met and he was such a sweetheart. All of the guys were wonderful and really took out time to hang out and talk with us. I can’t wait to see these guys again!
Killingbird.net
RoadHead.net
My Killingbird Photos
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
OMG!!!!!!
Date: 2003-11-18 08:16 pm (UTC)AHHHHHHHH!!!!!! I HAVE TO SEE THIS BAND!!!! They covered ALL OF MY FAVORITE BANDS!!!!!!!!!
*kicks self til bleeding for not going*
Ok, time to go read the rest...
no subject
Date: 2003-11-18 08:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-11-18 08:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-11-18 09:30 pm (UTC)Ok, who am I kidding, yeah I would. Heeeee!