Lancaster, part 2 and why i love this band so much!

first of all, make sure you click on the title to view the video of taylor's speech in ALLENTOWN. (in case i hadn't posted it yet, i can't remember and i don't really feel like checking either. i still have to post about lancaster and today's walk and i feel like i don't have enough time to say everything that i want to say, but at the same time i kinda have to and do it fast because otherwise i'll forget everything just like i did last year. if... no... WHEN they come to europe, we'll have to post everything. definitely.)

second of all, you'll find pictures in my photobucket (you'll find the link in the 'part 1' post. just click on the title.

the lancaster and asheville videos will be up soon. hopefully.

anyway though. back to lancaster.

the show was amazing despite the strange venue. i don't know if you got the picture yet, but i didn't SEE them. not until the encore anyway. the venue had like 3 floors and was so tiny that only people in front row could actually see. same goes for the people on the other floors. i ended up on the third floor, second row at first. i could see kate voegele performing through the plexiglass, but after her set was over, people started to move closer together and i couldn't see anymore, so i went to the back and sat down on the floor. why stand all night if you can't see anyway, haha.

the sixers were good, but after seeing them quite a few times it's not that much fun anymore. especially because kyle's not there anymore. geez, he's a cutie, lol.

well and i don't remember if it was while the sixers were still performing or after that that this girl showed up, asking me if i was having fun down there on the floor, haha.

i had a blast, i have to say. moire was really fun and told me this story about zac accusing her of being "a cheater and liar". ò.Ó
turned out he thought that she'd downloaded "you're enough" illegally because she asked him to play it, but she'd heard it in hampton beach. it took her like 5 minutes to convince him and in the end he apologized and gave her a hug. lol. but still... lol. she was like "i'm here to meet my favorite band and you're INSULTING me?" lol. OMG. that must have been priceless.

zac seems to be a bit bitchy at times (and he doesn't like piracy, but we knew that already, lol.) - there is a thread on h.net about it, but i really think that people should just stop complaining. well... of course everyone's allowed to say what they want to say, but seriously. i don't think zac's a rude person in general. he might be stressed out. it's tour time, his wife's pregnant and i bet he has to deal with a lot of people he'd much rather avoid, but he's still out there, cracking jokes, signing stuff, taking pictures. he's a sweetheart. that's what *i* think.

on a side note, did you guys hear about this radio station drama? apparently hanson was supposed to show up and this radio station DJ's were total jackasses and tried to take advantage of their jobs and make girls do humiliating stuff in order to meet hanson? something about kissing the DJ's feet and they even suggested that this one girl like... make out with her DAD? yikes. the guys called the radio station and asked them if that stuff was true and at first they tried to lie to them and say that they weren't doing any of this, but the guys got the picture and asked them to do what they wanted these girls to do. of course they didn't and hanson canceled the appearance.

from h.net:

A few days we found out about the fact that a radio station in Philadelphia that was asking our fans to do crazy and perverse things to win a chance to see us in the radio studio.
We called the station asking if it was true, and after they tried to lie to us and tell us they were not doing anything like that we pushed a little harder and found out the truth. Our stance was simple. “We will not come into the studio unless the radio DJ did everything they asked fans to do” and they were not willing to man up and do it.

I know all three of us felt very frustrated about how much disrespect they were giving our fans, women, and us by asking our fans to humiliate themselves to meet us, and to be clear radio guys are the scum of the music business and at best deserve to be kissing the feet of our fans.

anyone still wondering why they have so many devoted fans? i haven't heard of another band that's willing to cancel appearances that would probably bring them some publicity (apparently this radio station guy is friends with Howard Stern! but while they seemed okay to be asked questions about their sex lives and stuff like that, they obviously aren't okay with people disrespecting their fans.) and stand up for their fans. it's a disgusting thing to do and i don't think that people should take advantage of their job. this girl posted on h.net, saying that one of the security guards of the falls church venue got fired because she told a friend who knows the owner or something that he let his girlfriend and her friend up front after the opening acts which's not fair since lots of people had been there all day. people have to realize that they can't come waltzing in just because they "know" someone, ya know? also, he kept screaming at her and giving her a hard time, so i think he kind of got what he deserved. what goes around, comes around...
of course it's bad that he's lost his job, but he shouldn't have taken advantage of his position in the first place.

anyway though, i think i love these guys even more for doing this. personally, i do respect them and i think most of their fans do. there are always these people who don't get it and just want pictures and everything. even on the walks. i understand that most of them can't go to more than one show, but still. they're so passionate about this and that's why i'm starting to really admire taylor for his speeches. watching the TTW episodes might get tiring but believe me... it's different when you're there. you can practically feel the passion radiating off of him and that's truly amazing.

taylor never gets tired of pointing out that it's US who can change the world. it's not about one person changing everything, it's about every single one of us doing and giving little things. it's about realizing what it's like to lack the simplest things. like shoes. we have a choice. every time the walk starts i DECIDE to take off my shoes. those little kids don't have a choice. lots of them are born with the disease, many don't get older than 3 years and i can understand that taylor looks at his own daughter (all of his kids, actually) and is like WTF? what if it was her?

it's not about guilt. in fact, it's not about quitting your job and give everything you have. the smart thing to do is get a better job. try to make impacts and changes... not sometime, but NOW.
it's crazy that i'm sitting in my car, typing this post on my laptop while sipping a strawberry milkshake. i've spent thousands of dollars for this trip and i don't regret it. i might have realized a lot more things than i ever though i would. i'm still not HAPPY. it's going to be a long way to actually be happy and maybe i'll always be a generally sad person. i don't know what i've possibly done or why i can't shrug it off and BE happy. it's hard. my life's been a mess for the most part and many people don't even know it. or me. but it's alright. this is not about me or making anyone feel for me. i'm sure every single one of you has to deal with life, failures, sadness, losses. obstacles thrown your way are supposed to make you stronger and while i'm still scared shitless, while i still want to be a little child, i've realized that god doesn't hate me. i don't know how i'm going to do this, but i'll pull through. i might be sad, deperate at times, but i still love life. i don't want to die and i love seeing happy people.

i'm scared. i want to hide in my room (which's not even my room) and never come out again, but i'm going to.

i'm going to new zealand in a couple of months and i really wanna think about doing something to HELP. i met a few members of the SC street team and they were collecting money to donate it to HIVSA. 'twas a good thing that this girl, linsey i think, got the chance to speak up while the guys were still there. zac gave them twenty dollars and both isaac and taylor seemed to like the idea. and after that LOTS of people wanted to donate. lol.

they'd raised 600 dollars so far. i'm curious how much it'll be after tomorrow. hopefully a lot.

honestly, i don't know where i'd be right now if these guys hadn't given me enough strength and the will to carry on those past 2 years. if i hadn't randomly looked up hanson on google... i don't even want to know where i'd be right now.

i'm so incredibly thankful for that and maybe, one day, i'll tell them.

alright. this post was supposed to be about lancaster and i haven't talked much about that so far.

as for the setlist, it's coming right up. just let me copy and paste.

1) Great Divide

2) Been There Before

3) Minute Without You

4) Can't Stop

5) Crazy Beautiful

6) Hole In My Life

ACOUSTIC

7) Strong Enough To Break

8) Go

9) MmmBop

10) One More

11) The Walk (Zac solo)

Electric:

12) Got A Hold On Me

13) Blue Sky

14) If Only w/ Let's Get It On

15) Running Man

16) Let Love Rule

17) Penny and Me

18) Hey

19) Something Going 'Round

ENCORE:

20) In A Little While

21) Rock N Roll Razorblade

22) Great Divide chorus (a capella)

yeah, you already know that i pretty much freaked out when they started playing in a little while. GOD, FINALLY. i don't know if you can hear that on the audio, but this girl in front of me asked if that was "my song" and i told her that i wanted to hear it SO BAD. lol. yeah, so she let me go to the front and i was just the happiest girl, haha. so... i could actually SEE taylor and zac performing. it was great!

i had fun talking to moire and thanks to her i had a really, really great show.

i wonder if they'll come out after the show today... mh. i've pretty much given up on getting my iPod signed. i don't wanna be greedy. but being able to hand ronny a signed birthday card... that'd be amazing.

oh well... we'll see how i feel after the show. they might not come out because they have a show tomorrow and it's like 300 miles away. maybe i should try my luck tomorrow... hanson day... blah. maybe they'll come out then. even though they have another show the day after tomorrow.
we'll see. it's 7 o'clock now and i think doors will open now, but i already have my ticket and might just show up around 9 or 9.30.

i'm looking forward to going to shows with you guys. anyone willing to do the camping out thing at least once? i've never done it before and i'd love to do it. lol.

k, guys. i'll keep you updated!