so i said earlier that i wasn't gonna post my portland show review anymore, you can just read it at the 30STM boards?...well, the boards have been all wonky lately, so for the benefit of those who want to read up...here's the excerpt...enjoy.

DAY TWO: Portland, 2/16/07

me and jennifer (macleod) left seattle at around 3 PM (i kinda wanted to go shopping...haha), and a trip to portland that was supposed to take 3 hours became 5 hours because of the HORRENDOUS traffic in the highway...i've never seen anything that bad since i moved to canada from the philippines...but yeah, we finally arrived in portland at around 7:45 or so...then we got lost on the way to the venue...so we thought we were late.

when we finally get to the wonder ballroom, the line-up was still there...they had just started to get people in, so it's all good...chiodos was already playing when we arrived...as i entered i quickly sauntered into the merch table and got the distressed echelon shirt and trinity patch...and got my wristband for the signing line.

i listened to the rest of chiodos' set (they were alright), and just before they finished i left jennifer and opted to squeeze myself to the very front of the stage...and it worked...basically right in front of tomo...and i mean RIGHT IN FRONT (there were no barricades)...we waited about 40 minutes before they finally came out...and at around 10 they started their set.

the set list:
O Fortuna intro
A Beautiful Lie
Battle Of One
From Yesterday
Buddha For Mary
The Kill
The Mission << fucking hell yes!
Capricorn (Jared's solo)
The Story (Jared's solo)
The Fantasy
Attack

the actual set list had R-Evolve, but because of tech difficulties (again), they had to skip and change the set list to accomodate the problems (pythagoras, for some reason, kept on having problems as they were about to start "the story"...when the roadies still couldn't fix the problem, Jared just said "fuck this, let's just go straight to The Kill"...so yeah.)

it was pretty freaking sweet to finally hear "the mission" live...i had to scream as loud as i can when Jared gave us the option of playing either a new or old song...even though reception to the s/t songs was pretty weak (i mean, half the crowd were new fans, seeing 30STM for the first time)...great energy by the band (especially shannon at the end of "attack"...they had little drum solo thing...and tomo rocking it during "attack" as well)...and standing right at tomo's feet was cool...just seeing how they all perform that close was pretty awesome...shannon has a pretty awesome looking new drum kit cover as well...kinda annoying too that the girls beside me the entire time kept on screeching and shouting "i love you, Jared!"...YEESH...after the set, i quickly asked the security guy to give me a copy of the setlist (yesss)...then i met up with jennifer and jill (bowieweiland)...but jill had to go soon so we said our goodbyes as well.

the signing line then soon followed...the crowd was not that big, but security still had to get them all together...which wasn't working...they were pretty hardass to those who didn't have a wristband...and were pretty pushy too, damn it...i thought at first that they were going to do it at the actual merch table, so me and jen were shoved to the back of the line, near the stage...and then, out of nowhere, they decided to set up the table RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME...so i was first in line...haha...J came out soon after, and then the rest of the guys came...funny incident: he looked at the door behind him that said "emergency exit: will beep when opened", Jared asked security, "Is this true?, and they said, "yeah"...and he opened the door anyways...haha.

anyways, i took the setlist and the liner note of ABL to sign...saw tomo, gave him a fist shake (you know, the thing howie mandel does?)...then they signed both, and kinda did it quickly...matt was saying "no pictures", just to reiterate the fact that they want this done quickly...J saw me and recognized me from the night before in everett, smiled and said "nice to see you again"...i told him to come back to vancouver soon...and then me and jen went off my merry way...(edit: i had to pick up the banner i had made for echelon philippines that i had accidentally left at jennifer's car...i met some awesome filipinos who are 30STM fans, and as a favour i gave the band a letter written by these fans...and as a surprise, i made a banner which the band eventually signed and took photos with...i'm sending the signed banner to one of the filipino echelon...i'm so happy it went through!)

we then waited outside, not too long of a wait...tomo came out first and took photos with everyone...i asked him to sign this banner i made for echelon philippines (also gave him a letter written by filipino 30STM fans), and also made him hold the banner while i take a pic of it...then shannon was there with his camera, talked about it (yay, he uses the nikon D70...i use it too!), made him sign the banner, and then he gave me a hug...matt soon came out after, made him sign the banner and got a pic with him (he didn't come out the buses in everett)...we then talked to some of the fans outside, then met up with chris (GhettoKameleon) and kristina and talked for a bit, as we waited for jared to come out.

J was immediately swarmed once he got out, so i waited for a bit until he was finally near me...we took a photo together (he was quite amused by my finger flipping...haha...i didn't even realize he gave his signature evil grin)...then i talked to him about the filipino echelon and made him sign the banner as well, and took a photo of him holding it...then i gave him a hug and he thank me for coming...and i told him that they should come back to vancouver soon (again...geez)...after that, we decided to hang out some more and just chat...ended up talking again with chris as jared molested (i mean talked to, haha) him...i asked J if he was aware of the promo work problems, and he said that he's now aware of it and has talked to people responsible for it...then we said our goodbyes (they had to leave at 1 AM to get to san fran)...we drove back to seattle and got back at around 4 AM...and i had to leave for vancouver in 2 hours...so i had no sleep, but definitely in very high spirits.

so glad that i was able to come...it made up for the not-so-good ToC set, and i love them when they play small venues...thanks to jennifer to making it happen!...you have been such a great new friend and i hope we see each other in another show soon!

...

so, c'est tout...wow, it's been exactly a week since all this happened...i still can't believe too that i got THAT photo with jared...can't stop staring at it...let's look at it again, shall we?



teehee. :D

and still remember him in your prayers...God knows how much getting sick sucks (heck, i know the feeling.)

anyways, i'm going to bed now, still got an early shift tomorrow morning, then off to see jars of clay with my friends.

and then do my homework while enjoying the oscars...let's see how disctracted i get...haha.