Liz From St. Louis

Last nite I had the pleasure of attending the ‘St. Louis’ (technically Sauget, IL) stop of the 2009 AP Tour. And let me tell you what, those good dudes and dudettes at AP Magazine sure knew what they were doing when they put together the lineup of bands, it was a phenom. The kids didn’t stop rocking out all nite and everyone left sweaty and tired but with huge smiles on their faces.

Check out the rest of my photos from the nite…

I was able to catch 3OH!3, The Maine and Family Force 5 – I missed Hit The Lights and A Rocket to The Moon due to the fact that I had work obligations. All three of the bands that I saw were really great live and had the crowd going; seriously I haven’t seen such an enthusiastic crowd that was ready to P-A-R-T-Y in such a long time, it was awesome. 

Being the ‘old fart’ I am, I had only ever heard the names of The Maine and Family Force 5, never having listened to their music before. I was completely blown away by Family Force 5 – from their comical coordinating outfits, their sheer energy, ability to work the crowd, sweet dance moves and OMG can we talk about some awesome beats and sampling? It literally was just this frenetic dance party that didn’t stop for a second, that band made my nite.

Be sure to check out Family Force 5. You can thank me later

I guess I have to admit to being a Fall Out Boy fan.

I download their albums, sing along when a song’s on the radio and okay… some of my favorite songs happen to be by Fall Out Boy. I can’t deny the clever and poignant lyrics and the catchiness of it all. And let’s face the facts, all of the ‘fame’ and hubbub surrounding the band ridiculously adds to the package. I think Cobra Starship has a little song that sums up my relationship with the Eff-Oh-Bee’s… guilty pleasure.

Tonite I stood in the freezing rain/snow for an hour and actually got into the ’secret’ Fall Out Boy show at the Creepy Crawl. It really didn’t feel real to me because the other times I’ve seen them have been at Warped Tour or big arena shows, there’s something about the atmosphere of places as small as the Creepy that lend to a magical sort of feeling around any concert. (Plus, I find it odd to read about Pete Wentz on PerezHilton and in People Magazine and then see him 10 feet in front of me. – Surprisingly, I’ve never met the dude before)

The back of the line around the back of the Creepy Crawl

Crowd

PW

Patrick

And can someone please explain to me how, after all these years, that Patrick still sounds like he’s in the middle of running a marathon when he’s singing? He sounds out of breath and horribly off… something I just assumed he would have worked on in the few years it’s been since I’ve seen them live. I don’t know if there was something up with the sound system or if he wasn’t feeling well, but the vocals sounded rushed and strained. Dude just sounded bad.

The best part of the whole nite, the thing that was worth my $20 and battling shitty kids and a tall shitty dude with shitty tattoos that was shoving to get in front of me, was the fact that they played “Yule Shoot Your Eye Out.” I was on the verge of actually screaming with delight (something I NEVER do, unlike the high school set that were standing beside me) – the big surprise is that, while I was practically yell-singing along, it was almost dead silent… hardly anyone else knew the song! “YSYEO” is easily my favorite Fall Out Boy song… soooo goooood!

Second in my excitement to hearing “Yule Shoot Your Eye Out” was that they played “Nobody Puts Baby In the Corner” – that song brought back soooo many good memories of college. There was at least one nite of partying at the infamous duplex of 2615 Old Hwy 63 in Columbia, where “Nobody Puts Baby In the Corner” popped up on someone’s iPod that was plugged into the stereo and one time someone got out an acoustic guitar and played it, with a few guys and all of girls singing along. It was like… something I’ll never forget, just one of those moments that in my mind, could totally be a scene in a movie.

“America’s Suitehearts” is easily one of the best tracks off the new album and was really energetic played live. The small bit of “Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet” that was played sounded good as well, Pete proclaimed it was his favorite song they’ve ever written and I can see why, it’s a great song.

All-in-all, it was pretty cool seeing such a huge band at such a shitty little venue. (The old Creepy Crawl location holds many memories for me, the new locale is still growing on me) Kids stormed the stage during the last song “Saturday” and I got freaked so I left… getting a good glimpse of the band fleeing out the back door and into a black Escalade. Pete said they wouldn’t be sticking around because they had a 7am flight and he had to go iChat with his 9-day-old… ykes… that’s totally that dude I suppose.

Welcoming you to Cleveland Ohio where I’m laughing at your face!

Well kids, today was an amazing day.