I just got back in town from seeing the Projekt Revolution Tour in Charlotte, NC. Despite the nasty temperature of 103 degrees, I braved the heat (by myself because I didn't know anyone who was willing to go--the losers!). I'm so glad I did, because the festival was great! I came around 4 o'clock (no offense to the bands that played earlier, but I didn't know them and it was too hot to stand in the direct sun by the Revolution stage) and got photos of all the bands from Julien K through Linkin Park. I was impressed with all of those bands but since my favorites are MCR and Linkin Park, those will be the only photos I'm posting for now.
A little background info...
When I arrived, I had a seat ticket for row U 20, which was where I was sat from Julien K through Taking Back Sunday. Right before MCR came out, there were still a lot of seats empty in front of me so I made a pact with myself that I wouldn't stay back that far if there was still an empty spot when MCR came out. I respected the seating arrangements before they came out and didn't move up or cause any trouble to people who arrived late, but by the time MCR came out, I figured if the seats weren't full, they wouldn't ever be. I was nervous I'd get caught (because I'm naturally paranoid) so I waited. Good thing I did, because the awesomest dude slid across the row in front of me to ask the guy sitting directly in front of me if he wanted to trade his seat ticket for a pit ticket. And the guy in front of me had the nerve to say no! I was like, WTF dude? So I told the guy with the pit ticket that I wanted the ticket, and he could have my seat. He was reluctant at first because he needed a seat for his girlfriend to sit in too, and I was by myself. I pretty much begged him (I was so nervous he'd say no and pass it on to someone else that I was shaking), and a guy on the other side of me said he wanted the other ticket, so long story short, I ended up in the pit during MCR and Linkin Park's set! I was so excited because I'd never been in a pit before, and it was so amazing because MCR was riggggghhhhht there! They had so much energy and I just loved it, what can I say?
Bad Photography Warning
Okay, so now for some pictures. Here's a warning. I was super excited to see MCR (therefore I was jumping around a lot) and if you're a fan then you already know that they are very animated when they're performing so it was hard for me and my humble little camera to catch them. I did the best I could, so bear with me. Also, I hope the pics aren't too huge.
Pictures and stuff I remember about MCR's set:
Right before MCR came out, the first one I saw was Bob standing behind his drumkit. He kept making these funny motions with his hands, which I assume were to keep his hands from cramping. So, yay to Bob and his clenchy hands! I couldn't get a shot of him doing that because he was too far away.
When MCR first came out onstage, Gerard strutted on like he was all badass with a black bandana on his face. For some reason, he reminded me of an anime cartoon character when he was wearing that. Anyway, the decision to wear the bandana came back to bite him in the ass later because he couldn't get it to untie from his neck when he realized how ridiculously fucking hot it was out there. I didn't realize it was still around his neck but he made a comment about it between songs when he was trying to catch his breath. Haha. Oh well, everything can't always go perfectly, right?
Anyway, since the picture of him (that I tried to take) with the bandana turned out all blurry and awful, here is a picture of Gerard just after he took it off. Might I point out how foxy his hair looks. Hooray for Gerard not looking like a mad scientist when I saw them perform!
Gerard made multiple comments on the heat, but you know what? He sort of deserved being hot since he was out there in his JACKET! It's a wonder he didn't pass out. He did spend a lot of the time lying on the stage or sitting. Early in their set (maybe three or so songs in?) he said something to the effect of (this is NOT a direct quote, just a paraphrase) "I was going to say something later about guys taking their shirts off, but, fuck it, it's too hot. Go ahead and take them off now." Then when they got to "Prison" he said it again about just the guys taking off their shirts and that he didn't care what size you are, you're still attractive. Gotta love Gerard and how he tries to make the fans feel good about themselves. I think he was just trying to charm the guys out of their clothes, though, really. He stressed that only the guys should take their shirts off and swing them around their heads. I think some guy threw his shirt up there and he picked it up and swung it around, but it could've been a rag or something. It was a black cloth of some kind, anyway. And of course, someone threw the obligatory feather boa up there, and Gerard put it on. I swear, Gerard must be crazy because he's in a jacket, singing his lungs out, on a stage with PYRO in the 103-degree heat for fuck's sake and he puts one of those itchy feather boas on.
Unfortunately, these were the only two pics that had Ray in them since he stayed wayyyyy over on his side and I couldn't see him. But his playing and singing was amazing as usual!
Right before the pyro came on Gerard said "Shit!" which I took to mean that he knew it was about to happen and he didn't want to feel the heat. I could be wrong, but that's what it seemed like. And just because it's pretty, here's the pyro:
Towards the end of the concert Gerard said (again just a paraphrase because i didn't get it all, unfortunately!) that he was sweaty and nasty and everyone should "make some noise" because of it. I love MCR and all of the band members, genuinely I do, but if Gerard didn't take a shower after that concert, he is officially a nasty motherfucker. :P
Frank was a little more sensible with his attire, since he was wearing a sleeveless shirt. He flopped down at one point and it just looked like he was hating the heat.
On the second song (which I managed to get video of! Woot Woot!) Frank's guitar string broke (I think that's what inspired his fit of rage) so he smashed up his guitar. Then he picked up the one with the zombie on it and started playing again. The picture above came after he smashed up the first guitar.
When he came down to my end of the stage, I could see that Gerard had something written on his neck again. I think it said "Truth" but it could just as well have said "Truce" because I could only see the first three letters. I don't know why it would say "Truce," but it could've (ETA: I read a review somewhere that it did indeed say "Truth". Stil havent seen any pics of it though). I tried to get a picture of his neck, but it came out blurry. Boo! Hiss! If anyone else has proof of what it said, I'd love to see the photo.
And for those of you out there wondering, there was some mild Frank/Gerard action going on. By the time it happened, I had already used up all my video space and could only take photos. But the good news is that my camera has a photo burst option which lets you take three photos in a row. They're not the best photos ever, but I did get the shots when Frank walked past Gerard and grabbed Gerard's crotch. And I got Gerard's reaction to it. It happened really quickly so it was easy to miss.
Oh and about halfway through, Frank put either a shirt or a towel over his head, presumably to mop up the sweat, but maybe he just wanted to be a weirdo. In the first photo it looks like Frank is smelling his armpits but really he's trying to wrap the cloth around his head.
He played with the cloth over his head for most of the song.
Now,here are some random photos of the guys:
Gerard singing...
Frank In Action:
Hey, someone tell Frank to lay off the beans before they come onstage...
Frank taking a sip of water in the dark....
...then spitting it on the audience. It didn't land on me. Not to sound horridly grungy or anything, but I kinda wished the water would've landed on me because I would've welcomed anything that would help cool me off at that point.
Frank and Matt in the same stance. And yes, Matt, Frank does have a nice ass.
Gerard pointing....
...AT A GIANT RADIOACTIVE SPACEHAMBURGER!!!!! NOOOO!!! WATCH OUT FOR ITS GAMMA KETCHUP RAY!
Okay, so the hamburger wasn't real. I told you it was really hot out there! Maybe I hallucinated a little....
And now for a little Matt Cortez:
Gerard said he's got "arms of steel"...
Matt Cortez, being awesome. Gerard even gave a shout out to him and walked by and ruffled his hair.
And because I thought it looked cool, even though it's blatantly crap, Matt and Bob looking like ghosts.
Okay, so that's about all I have energy enough to post. Here is the link to about 50 more photos I took:
http://s193.photobucket.com/albums/z258/RipTaylorJudgesYou/
I have a few bits of video footage. Note: the audio is messed up because my camera is a cheap piece o' crap.
1) How I Disappear: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYMS5lY7ou8
2) Frank breaking his guitar: http://www.sendspace.com/file/kmon34
3) I'm Not Okay: http://www.sendspace.com/file/6xaplq
Hope everyone enjoyed this!
