Belated '08 Wrap-Up

I'm terrible at those wrapping-up-the-year lists that people make, top 10 songs/albums, etc. Usually I end up putting fall releases higher on the list than they ought to be, just because I'm listening to them at the time I'm writing the list. I can, however, do a pretty decent concert wrap-up. I probably spent atleast 20x more on shows than CDs last year, anyway, so it seems appropriate.

I went to 76 shows and saw 135 different bands (and saw 86 bands for the first time).

I saw these bands atleast 5 times:
I Am the Avalanche, You Me and Everyone We Know, Four Year Strong, Lannen Fall, Socratic, The Graduate
I saw these bands atleast 3 times:
Farewell, Forever the Sickest Kids, A Loss For Words, Danger Radio, Every Avenue, Hit the Lights, Holiday Parade, Just Surrender, Mayday Parade, Paper Rival, Paramore, The Scenic, This Is Hell

Top 5 shows this year:
1. Inklings Birthday Party (The Graduate, Socratic, Lannen Fall)
Imagine that you're watching one of your favorite bands, and you and pretty much everyone around you are completely shmammered and shouting along to every word (and those that aren't are thanking you for introducing this band into their lives). Also you put on the show. I think Naomi and I spoiled ourselves a little with this show.
2. The Starting Line final hometown show (w/ Bayside, Four Year Strong)
Not only was this definitely the best Starting Line show I've ever seen, it was one of the best shows in general. I hadn't seen them play The Drama Summer since the first time I saw them back in 2002.
3. Long Island Warped Tour
Maybe it's cheating to list a festival tour, but sooo many bands killed it at this date.
4. Butch Walker
I'd never seen him, or really listened to him much before this, but he is to Naomi what Michael Jackson is to me. The first 20-30 mins of his set were acoustic & piano songs, which were unbelievable, and the rest of it was full band, and all those songs sounded HUGE. This is what musicians need to aspire to...and it doesn't hurt that he's one of the most sincere & laid back people we've worked with for Inklings.
5. Four Year Strong/I Am the Avalanche/This Is Hell/A Loss For Words tour
We saw this tour twice in California-- once at the Knitting Factory, once at a Veterans Hall. So different, both shows so solid.

Band I travelled the most/furthest for this year: You, Me, and Everyone We Know
Technically this should go to FYS/IATA/AL4W because we saw them in California...but YMAEWK gets it because I saw them 6 times, but not once in NYC. Also because of the pain-in-the-ass transportation issues coming home from most of those shows...like when I got home from our first shoot with them at 3:30am to find out I locked myself out of my apartment (I slept on the couch at work for an hour until Naomi took me in to sleep on her couch), or the time when there was no EZpass in the car we'd rented to go see them with The Dear Hunter and they tried to charge us an extra $100 for returning it late. Good times.

Best venue I went to in 08: The Electric Factory (Philly)
Worst Venue I went to in 08: Vibe Lounge (Long Island)-- aka Death Trap. I would like this place to get shut down asap...I always feel like I might die every time I go there, plus every band sounds TERRIBLE there. I worry that now that the Knitting Factory's gone/moved, MORE bands will play there :(


2009 has started off a little slow for Inklings, but have no fear, things will be picking up immediately!

YMAEWK

I feel like I've spent the weekend with You, Me, and Everyone We Know. Friday and Saturday were a big edit-fest to finish up their interview & acoustic performances, and then today I headed to Starland ballroom to see them play with Just Surrender, Rookie of the Year, and approximately 29 other bands. (also, the first sentence I wrote sounded funny in my head, but just looks creepy now that I've typed it.)

For the record- Starland ballroom: not so easy to get to. Their website makes it sound like a breeze, but it required a 40 minute subway ride to Penn station, an hour train to Jersey, and then an $18 cab ride to the venue (then reverse all that to get home). Whatever, now I've learned not to go there unless I can dupe someone into picking me up at the train and chauffeuring me to the venue. The show itself was pretty sweet. I thought that You, Me, and Everyone We Know were pretty solid when I saw them at Bamboozle, but tonight's set probably blew Bamboozle's set out of the water.

As I mentioned, all the stuff we shot with You, Me, and Everyone We Know is posted on Inklings now, so go check it out. If you think that the spider that crawled onto Ben's arm in the middle of Do It Again was distracting, I will tell you that it doesn't come close to the random guy who almost walked into the shot while they were playing Dirty Laundry (the first time.) A guy was riding his bike by, and decided to come check out the huge tree/bush that the guys were sitting in front of. We were literally in the middle of shooting an acoustic performance when the guy walks up maybe 5 feet from Ben and Ryan, and leans over to read the plaque behind them. I got really confused, but they kept playing so I kept shooting. After the guy walked away, Ben lost it and we ended up starting the song over. It was by far the weirdest thing that's happened during one of our shoots. Naomi missed the whole thing because she was so focused on getting good shots. She was very confused when everyone just burst out laughing and they stopped playing.

In any case, if you are one of the (estimated) 4 people who actually reads this blog, and you somehow have not already heard You, Me, and Everyone We Know, go do yourself a favor and download their EP. Seriously.

It's been a long day. I don't think I've ever been at a show for more than 6 hours when it wasn't Warped Tour/Bamboozle.

I think this week I'm going to see Goldfinger for the first time since I was 17. I'm pretty excited.

Later!
-Carrie