Venue: Farm Bureau Live at Virginia Beach (formerly Verizon Wireless Amphitheater)
Location: Virginia Beach, VA
Time: 7:30pm (gates 6:00pm)
Openers: Matt & Kim, My Chemical Romance
Headliner: Blink-182
Dismal day for a show but the lines outside the venue grew longer by the minute and nothing could have deterred the fans from coming in droves. Some dressed in black, some in colors and some hardly dressed at all. Oh and there was one banana… make that two bananas. The clouds dropped just enough rain to dampen everything to a miserable soggy mess and blew just enough wind to remind you how wet you’d become… and that was before the show! (badum-ch)
Location: Virginia Beach, VA
Time: 7:30pm (gates 6:00pm)
Openers: Matt & Kim, My Chemical Romance
Headliner: Blink-182
Dismal day for a show but the lines outside the venue grew longer by the minute and nothing could have deterred the fans from coming in droves. Some dressed in black, some in colors and some hardly dressed at all. Oh and there was one banana… make that two bananas. The clouds dropped just enough rain to dampen everything to a miserable soggy mess and blew just enough wind to remind you how wet you’d become… and that was before the show! (badum-ch)
Exuberance, giddiness, love for life, and joy in the surrounding chaos… these things do not even begin to describe the onstage presence that is Matt and Kim. A friend of mine assured me they were the happiest people on the planet. She was right! From the moment they stepped out into misty weather they laughed and jumped and smiled until the moment they left the stage eight songs later. The party started with Block after Block and a very enthusiastic thank you to the crowd for their equally as enthusiastic cheers. Kim often stood on her drum set, stood on her seat and even stood on the crowd’s hands shaking her booty. Matt and Kim danced for us in what can only be described as a “slow motion get down and dirty” before cracking themselves up laughing and running back to their instruments. Kim tossed out balloons for everyone to blow up and toss into the air during It’s a Fact (Printed Stained). The idea, while cute, fizzled when the wind blew them towards the stage. Kim slammed her sticks through Biz Markee’s Just a Friend and Matt’s smile rounded out a fantastic set with Daylight.
Queue the blackout and slow rise backdrop as My Chemical Romance (MCR) took the stage. Of course the crowd roared and pushed forward but only a little. Still plenty of room to dance and enjoy the space. Gerard Way and band started immediately into Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na) from their newest release Danger Days. Mass crowd jumping (my favorite) and fist pumping ensued along with sing-a-long style hysteria and continued all the way through I'm Not Okay (I Promise) and Planetary. Softer songs like The Only Hope for Me is You, Kids from Yesterday and Scarecrow lulled the angsty teens (and adults) into a sway of tempered emotions only to be thrown back into the pit of disenchantment with Mama and Teenagers ... a beautiful black pit. MCR closed out the show with Welcome to the Black Parade and a somber Cancer with only Gerard on stage.
The show ended without much ado after he left the stage and left the audience at the lowest point of the performance. MCR helped to create the black pit of anger and belligerence and we willing followed them deep within the core. At our weakest moment, MCR left us wallowing in the sadness and sorrow without a rope of hope for one more song. Never fear! This happy-sad-happy sandwich ain't over yet!
Just before we could lose ourselves in the abyss, Mark, Tom, and Travis tossed out a line and pulled us all back to our happy places. Feeling This and Up All Night caused a rush of excitement in the air and in the pit. The crowd crushed forward. Oh, no, wait. That was just one guy with the "I'll just push my way through" mentality. Didn't get far didya? After the initial shoving, the floor eased up enough to stand without fear of being knocked over in what I like to call the backlash wave. Most of Mark and Tom's back and forth banter came off unrehearsed but now and then the segues seemed rehearsed. Tom interacts with the crowd during Mark's vocal bits by making "hey baby" faces at the females on the rail and I think perhaps a few males as well. His immature gestures and lyric changes only solidify the image Blink-182 created 20 years ago. Never grow up Tom.
Mark, in his Debbie Gibson shirt and slightly less direct in his immaturity and humor, reminded me of the little boy that would pull the girl's hair and then run as he skipped to the far side of the stage, stood for a brief moment and ran back to his home side. At one point he finished off what looked like crackers towards the back of the stage but made a huge mess. The stage hand had to come out and clean it up while Mark tried to get it off his hands so he could play again. He flicked numerous picks at Tom and cursed at him for not acknowledging the attention.Travis, the baddest of them all, hides behind the drum set but he doesn't fool me. There's a prankster lurking under all those tattoos and smirks. Travis had two drum solos but the second solo brought him front and center... literally. A giant scaffold arm that resembles a fireman's ladder descended from the top of the rigs and connected to a flat metal surface large enough to hold a full drum set. Travis safely strapped in, the arm rises above the floor crowd and slowly extends out towards the seated audience. While the arm moves to the far left and back towards center, Travis kicks out tough beats with Can a Drummer Get Some from Travis' first solo record Give the Drummer Some released through Interscope in March 2011. The extended arm stops midway and the platform tilts forward until Travis is about 75 degree angle above the audience.
Overall, this show was fantastic. Full of energy and crowd participation. If only exiting the parking lot promised as much entertainment and crowd participation. It's called merging people. Google it!
More pics from this show (warning: a photographer I am not!)
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