"You say you want a revolution, well ya know..."

The revolution had nothing to do with the Beatles. It had everything to do, however, with rock and roll. OH MY GOD did it have to do with rock and roll.

I just got home from Projekt Revolution at Nissan Pavilion. Now, we didn't stay for all of Linkin Park's set, because I'm a wuss and have to go to work in the morning, but still. I have some new favorite bands.

Of all the bands we caught on the Revolution Stage, only one impressed me, and they were the last to play. Mindless Self Indulgence. Wow. They were incredible. Witty, and energetic, and interesting, and not just the same emo-punk as everyone else.

The Main Stage opened with Julien-K, which apparently used to be Orgy, who I remember having a really awesome video for "Blue Monday" back in the day. They were awesome! And they played their song "Technical Difficulties," which is on the Transformers soundtrack :D But really we were waiting for two very special bands...

First off, Placebo. Now, I haven't listed to much Placebo, but what I've heard I've liked, and plus, part of the band was in Velvet Goldmine, which is one of my favorite movies ever. My best friend has listed to way more Placebo, and I will be doing so in the future. Cos damn. And yes, they put on a good show. Very energetic, which is extremely important but surprisingly not necessarily a given. And Brian Molko is just adorable.

The band my best friend and I were really there to see was next: HIM!!!!!!! Yes, the extra exclamation points are necessary. HIM is the greatest band since sliced bread. And, notably, Ville Valo was the first singer to hit the stage wearing something other than skinny jeans*. That's because he's made of awesome. They played wonderfully, it was actually better than either of the small concerts I've seen them in, because *gasp* it wasn't a crappy venue, thus Ville was happy, which made for much better on-stage banter. So wonderful. Jaime and I were melting all over each other. So good.

I missed most of Taking Back Sunday, but they opened with their song from the Transformers soundtrack, "What's it Feel Like to Be a Ghost?" They sounded pretty good from the merch tent...

Then the impressive one. I never knew I'd become a fan of My Chemical Romance. But DAMN do they put on an awesome stage show. They had pyrotechnics and everything. Also, the lead singer had on a black cavalry jacket with a sherriff's badge. He proclaimed between songs: "I'm the sherriff of fuckin' emo-town!" Oh yes. Very much the sherriff of emo-town. And yet, their music is really not emo. Not really much at all. Just their look, and their stupid stupid fans. But yeah, WOW. Amazing. Such energy, such a good rapport with the crowd, and hey, any lead singer that "collapses" to the stage and starts up with the bridge from Queen's Flash Gordon theme song is awesome in my book. Meanwhile, I need a cavalry jacket...

So okay, I know you want to know about Linkin Park. Yes, they were fantastic. It would've been nice to stay for the whole set, but not getting home til 3 AM just was not an option. But wow. Chester is a maniac. And I love it. I really need to see them again sometime. Really freaking awesome. Overall, the concert was definitely worth the money and the travel. Definitely.

*A note on skinny jeans: GET OVER THEM, PEOPLE!!! I mean, they're not even jeans! At that point, they're spandex! It's just not right. And we definitely saw more skinny jeans today than I care to count. And not all on people that ought to be wearing skinny anything. Mostly on girls who are oh-so-tragically-'80s even though they weren't even ALIVE in the '80s. Man, I can't wait til Grunge comes back as a backlash against the '80s revival. 'S all I'm sayin.

Message in a Bottle

Okay, I did it again. I flaked out of a whole week. But I promise, I just wasn't home much so I wasn't around my computer. Which is getting to be an old excuse. And especially lame because of the excitement that I should've posted Saturday morning.

What is this excitement, you ask?

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHOOOOOOO I GOT TO SEE THE POLICE IN CONCERT ON FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!

OMGz it was freaking amazing. I had gotten tickets for my man (who is my enabler when it comes to The Police, as well as Sting's solo music) and my best friend, and another very good friend and her mom who is also a good friend, and so we drove to Hershey Park on Friday and had a blast. The seats weren't so great cos I didn't get tickets as early as I could've, but from my man's back I could see, and my friend's mom was the only other short person, so we were okay. Holy crap, STING! And Andy Summers! And, oh yeah, Stewart Copeland. Jerkface. I'm sorry, talking smack about your own reunion tour when you're not even two weeks into it? Lame. If he was still bitter, he shouldn't have signed on. But it didn't keep him or the others from playing awesomely. What a fantastic concert. I'm still excited about it. Wheeee!!!

And after that the weekend was busy anyway. Company on Saturday, and on Sunday I went shopping with my parents and *gasp* found pants that fit me! I am inordinately excited about this. Almost as excited as about seeing The Police. That's right. Almost.

But now it's Monday, and aside from being back to the daily grind that is life in the "real world" *pshaw*, it's also time to post some handspun goodness :) So here we have the llama that I got at MDS&W, all combed and being spun on my glorious olivewood Spindlewood spindle. Aside from the spindle itself being a dream to spin on (despite the slippery-and-breaky-ness of the llama), Steve, the guy that makes them, is a wonderful person and very accomodating. He emailed back and forth with me when I contacted him to order a spindle, trying to make sure I got exactly what I wanted. I couldn't be more pleased with the spindle. So here it is, complete with fiber and thread-like spun llama:







The wood is ever so slightly warmer toned than that, but as I've said before, my photography skillz are somewhat lacking. And yes, I spelled that with a "z".

P.S. After posting the above, I made a button of my own for Handspun Mondays. I know, people aren't really doing Handspun Monday very regularly, and those who do are few. But here it is, and should this ever become a trend, and should anybody want it, feel free to save it to your own computer and upload it to your blog. A nod in my direction would be nice, too, but I'm not gonna be hard-nosed and insist on credit.

Are you glad to be alive?!?!?

*not-so-craft-related post*

This morning, I wasn't sure I was. My ears were still ringing and I could barely move and could hardly feel the palms of my hands. Surprisingly I had a voice. Why was I so broken, you ask? Because I saw Cowboy Mouth from New Orleans, Louisiana last night. It's the second time I've seen them, and the second time I've been right up against the stage. This time was so much more intense. And I had a ball. Even though my favorite member of the band (if I even have a favorite) has quit, which means no more of his songs in concert. No Hurricane Party, no Shotgun in my Soul, none of that... However, my other favorite member was RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME and wow. That was hott (yes, I did just say that). He rocked out an inch and a half from my nose. And he high fived me. Hellz yeeeahhh!!!! And the drums were right next to me with the leader banging away and singing as though his life depended on it. Because his life does depend on it. And he makes you feel like yours does too, and no you're not allowed to stand still, and no you're not allowed to stop clapping, and no you're not allowed to stop screaming and YES you WILL have the time of your life dammit, and if you don't then what are you doing there so YES Fred I AM glad to be alive and YES I will scream louder than I thought humanly possible and YES I will jump up and down until I collapse in a panting, twitching heap of euphoria at just being alive. YES.

Okay to be fair, it did kinda suck to be barely able to walk and mostly deaf. I've never left a concert that deaf, and I've seen this same band before, standing directly in front of the drums. Last night was its own unique sort of glorious pain.

Anyway, if you ever have the chance to see Cowboy Mouth, do. You will never go to another concert that is more intense, more uplifting, more fun, and more gloriously and euphorically exhausting. By the time we left, my friends and I thought we were going to die. And we were pretty okay with that.

The bonus, now? One of their openers was this rather subdued young man with an acoustic guitar signed by B.B. King. When he took his place, I wasn't sure if he was a roadie warming up the guitar for the musician, or the musician himself. Then he started playing. Dear God. You know how some people are described as having an old soul? I think this kid is one of them. His name is Eli Cook and you should listen to him. If you have the opportunity to see him live, it just might be the closest to God you'll ever come in America. There's more talent in his little finger than the rest of us mere mortals have in our entire beings.