My bamboozle revoozle

Bamboozle was amazing and fun like expected. I'm still so tired and recovering. I don't even know if I could give a complete, full recap, like that of Jessica's or the neatly concise version of Erica's, but I'll try. We were pretty much everywhere I stated we would be in my last journal. We did the Paramore show on Wednesday with a High Voltage party at Sutra afterwards. Aaron Gillespie was DJing but sadly, I wasn't impressed. It may have not been his fault, though...I heard there was another guest DJ on hand. Thursday was the book release party for that emo book everyone's been talking about "Everybody Hurts." We claimed our table in the back of The Annex and just sat back listening to acoustic sets by some of your favorite emo bands. It was a laid back, chill night (for me, at least) and later headed off to Angels & Kings for the afterparty. I was so sleepy, though and knew what was in store for the weekend, so I headed home close to 1:00. Friday is what began the official kick-off to Bamboozle weekend with pre-parties. It became a longer day than had expected so we skipped out on first party at Fontaine's and headed straight to Angels & Kings for the bringing-back of the Stolen Transmission party. It was only my second night there, but I was already developing my opinion on it. A little small for our usual dance party, a little bit too much of a random crowd, but in time I could see it's potential. Once the hype of it all dies down, the bridge-and-tunnel people realize this is no longer their original commuter bar, and they get sound proofing the ceiling and walls, it's all game from here-on out. We met up with friends and met new ones too. Everyone is town for the festival so we met lots of west coasters and friends from the south...all of which we planned to hang with later that weekend at the actual festivities. Saturday came and the place was fully loaded with all sorts of scene and emo kids...something I have grown to be fascinated with since discovering only 2 years back. I almost have this motherly instinct (ok, more like a big, older sisterly instinct) to want to nuture them and help them with all their problems while complimenting them on their piercings and tattoos (something I would never have the guts to get but have always secretly wanted). See...in high school, I never had the opportunity to rebel (too afraid of my parents) or listen to such emotionally satisfying music because well....quite frankly, MTV was blocked from my tv at home, 90210 was forbidden, and I had to be home before 11:00 at night. You can see where that lead my teens years to go. Exactly, I had the reputation of a goodie goodie, one who did her homework, went to basketball practice, ate her dinner at the kitchen table, and then went off to dance rehearsals. Oof...was I born in the 50s?Anyways, back to the boozlistic fun...we saw so many amazing bands (a lot of which I've never seen play live before). PlayRadioPlay!, Paramore, Cartel, Say Anything, Great American Freedom Machine (that Motion City tribute band), The Matches, Powerspace, Monty Are I, and a little bit of Circa Survive. The crowds made for some intensified performances (i.e. almost dying in the crowd to see Max Bemis, I just like saying his name, for the set of Say Anything. Was anyone else a little scared? Maybe I'm just a wuss.) Anyways, PlayRadioPlay! was pretty cool...he's what, 17 yrs old and loves Jesus? Can't get much better than that. Paramore, an obvious favorite. Cartel...ummm, band in a bubble, need we say more? Say Anything...again, Max Bemis, the name. Great American Freedom Machine...best cover band I've ever seen. The Matches...doesn't even need an introduction. Powerspace, I could get into them. And Monty Are I...face-melting, amazing live performance, if you haven't heard of them yet-you best be getting on that, set. So now after reviewing all that we did manage to catch, I'm saddened by the ones we didn't. Due to an awful cold brewing late friday night and saturday morning, my game wasn't up to par and resulted in walking around all weekend with a stuffy nose, watery eyes, sore throat, and what felt like daggers going through my entire body...still, I was trooper. Some bands I really wish I got to see but didn't: Boys Like Girls, Bayside, HelloGoodbye, The Receiving End of Sirens, The Spill Canvas, The Rocket Summer, Meg & Dia, The Almost, Envy on the Coast, Thrice, Brand New, Armor For Sleep, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Taking Back Sunday, Young Love, Relient K, Jack's Mannequin, The Oohlas, RX Bandits, and Sherwood. The problem with these kind of festivals is that the more there is going on, the more there is to miss. *sad face* But while I'm on misery side of Bamboozle...let's get to talking about how Giants Stadium needs to work on their communication towers. There was no service the entire time!!! As you can tell, that really perturbed me. This festival is based around and held specifically for those types of kids who have carpal tunnel due to excessive texting and have sidekick, cell phones, and blackberry imprints in their hands. This just made it nearly impossible to find friends around the premises...a major bummer. Enough huffing and puffing though...the weekend was still amazing and I had so much fun. We made it to Angels & Kings for the afterparty and a third-time appearance (just barely....gunmen & bears jumpin in front of our trainz made it kind of difficult...half joking, half not). We managed to do this after squeezing in a 30 minute nap that felt like heaven. I believe the word used most throughout the night was "delirious." Anyways this year's boozle fest was overall bamtastic, and I believe it could only mean bigger and better things for next year. Do I hear a countdown? Ok, maybe not yet.