Alli's Articles
INTERVIEWS, REVIEWS, CULTURE PIECES, MUSICAL RAMBLINGS.
I have done 7 of these already but, with overwhelming confidence, I must say that this episode of ATOC is the craziest yet. It isn't just because of ONE crazy event like some of my stories, but it's a combination of a million tiny crazy ingredients to make this concert one bizarre-tasting soup.
The events of this day turned out even crazier because everything was multiplied by the fact that I also saw Dear Evan Hansen (That is another story for another in depth article, though. For now. let's focus on Hippo). So by 6:30pm, I was sitting on the Ferry, completely exhausted, heading to Staten Island so my cousin, Gerri, and Mom could pick me up and drop me off in Brooklyn. That exhaustion was replaced with anxiety, because it was getting close to when doors were opening and I was stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic. My other cousin, Jessie, was sitting in the venue, having been there since 4:00pm. The line outside Brooklyn Steel was dizzyingly large, which made me wonder if I would be able to get to the barricade. Would people yell at me for pushing them? Would I have to cry and blame the crowd for separating family members? I stuffed all my essential things (money, permit for ID, and phone) into my pockets and go on the no bag line since there was no one on it. I wanted to do everything I could to make sure I could get to Jessie. But, I always seem to forget how these concerts go. There was no one there. Everyone was either waiting for VIP, talking to the nice Planned Parenthood ladies, or buying hipster alcoholic beverages. I practically skipped to the large doors and saw that there was virtually no one at the stage yet. There, I saw Jessie at the barricade, with a huge space next to her! Another classic example of how my anxiety makes waiting for things 100 times worse when, in reality, everything turns out ok. Now that that huge cloud blew away, I could think about what was going to come next. While waiting for Sure Sure, the opening act, we were greeted with airdrops of Spongebob memes from people throughout the crowd. As this meme popped up on Jessie's phone, the lights dimmed and the band came out. I listened to some of their songs before, so I knew enough lyrics to semi-sing along. There was a lot of funny banter between the four members, the main subject of it being the drummer, Kevin. Example: Charlie, singer: "When you're on tour, everything looks like a snack. Even Kevin. Kevin is a snack." Kevin: "Well if I'm a snack, then you're a full course meal!" (This exchange caused the entire crowd to cheer Kevin on every time a song ended and even when he came back on stage to clean stuff up at the end.) Sure Sure's set was amazing and made the whole crowd dance. My personal favorite moment was when they introduced a song by saying "Ok guys, whenever we say 'put your hands up keep your head down,' put your hands up, put your head down, and bounce." Everyone did what they said, and was so much fun! When they came off, Jessie and I group Instagram live streamed to our staggering 3 person audience. We sung 500 miles as they played it in the venue, and probably annoyed the two girls standing next to us. If they see this, I'm sorry! Your outfits were really nice! In the middle of my performance of Tighten Up, the lights shut off and Hippo came on immediately. My heart rate went rapid, and I fell in love with them all over again. Their show was so amazing that it felt like the first time, standing in Webster Hall in October of 2016. When they came out to Poems, that is when I realized "Wow, I truly am growing up with these guys." I went crazy. I swung my arms out of the barricade, almost hitting innocent photographers, yelling, no YODELING every word. They played two new songs. TWO. AND NATHAN SANG ON ONE OF THEM. They need to release it right now. Like, I'm not even being funny. I can't just watch the 40 second video I recorded forever. They called us the best show on the tour yet, which was pretty amazing but not surprising. NYC is always the best. We lit. Here are some top notch quotes from Hippo: Jake: (before traveler) "I'm getting f**king sweaty, baby! Alright!" Jake: "This one goes out to the Yankees! ......or Mets. Screw it! It goes out to the Knicks!" Nathan: "This goes out to Johann Bach! He's a real inspo of mine...if that even matters.." (it does!) Jake: "This one is about tennis! *baseball plays*" Jessie had a realization during one of the songs that Zach is her favorite. She did not know his name, so I told her Zach. She thought I said Dan. I laughed abnormally loudly. This was also the first show I saw with DeCarlo! I loved that he would still jam hard, even when he didn't have a trumpet solo coming up. At one point he was showing Nathan stuff on his phone. Me as a performer. The rest of the show was absolutely amazing. Like I said earlier, it felt like the first time all over again. I will never get sick of seeing them live. There always will be a new opener, new fans, new merch, and new adventures. The adventures did not end when they walked off the stage, though. Hell, the memories were just beginning. Jessie and I chilled for a little while, took some pics next to the stage, and had a dance off with some drunk 20-somethings to Electric Avenue. Even though we waited to leave the stage for 10 minutes, the lobby was PACKED. It was like a sea of hyped-up teen girls and the occasional annoying group of guys that made fun of said teens. We blended in with the crowd and pushed to the merch area, which was not a good idea at all. Everyone was pushing towards the exit, so the merch-buyers were getting screamed at by the exit-ers. Some guy whispered to me, "You know, you're causing this huge issue here." Sorry for wanting to buy a $5 pin! And plus, I'm only 120 pounds, you could push me over if you wanted could, but since you'd rather complain, you probably couldn't. I really hope he sees this. I was stuck in front of this guy who really had to pee. He then said my favorite quote of the night: "Man, I really should have pissed on the side of the building." After 10 minutes, an employee finally spoke up and made all the buyers get in a line. That's when Jessie and I met these ladies who tried to sneak beer in. Leading up to another golden exchange. Lady: "Yeah, I couldn't bring my alcohol in here! They even took my fake ID! I spent $56 dollars on that!" Jessie: "Wait...are you over 21?" Lady: "Nope." *The worst awkward silence ever. Jessie stood there in shock. I started laughing and talked to her about how I'm used to hearing about fakes on SI.* Soon the line moved up. I waved goodbye to my new law-breaking friends. I looked in my wallet to see what I could buy, but realized I only had $20. I started panicking. I did not wait 20 minutes to walk out empty handed! That is when everything got 100 times weirder. Two members of Sure Sure, Kevin and Chris, were standing behind the counter signing free posters. Like, so nonchalantly. I was never expecting it. I skipped all of the people buying Hippo stuff and began talking. Jessie started singing for them and asked Kevin if he would be interested in taking her to her Junior Prom. He sadly declined, for he had to tour. I talked to them about what it was like to live in LA, how we both went to Canada this year, and how everyone spells Allison the wrong way (IT'S TWO LS!). They told us that they had a sure at Rough Trade on 4/20, but I told them that my prom was two days after, so my mom would probably say no. They understood. I signed up for their mailing list and as we were about to leave, another Sure Sure member magically appeared! We complimented Michael on his shoes and his Canada Goose jacket, and ran outside to my mom, who, as she was waiting for us, became best friends with the security guard. We ran outside clutching our precious signed posters in the pouring rain to the car. There was a group of hipsters blocking our way, so we said excuse me. We were about to run off again when we heard a voice yell "Yo, do you guys want your shit signed?" We turn around, and it was the FINAL MEMBER OF SURE SURE. I'm realizing I'm talking like each of the members of Sure Sure were bosses in a video game and we just got to the last round. Charlie was surrounded by a bunch of his friends, including the one who yelled out to us. "I'll do anything for the fans," the guy later remarked. We got our final signature, talked about my tweet for them, and then finally left as some girls pulled up blasting Super Bass by Nicki Minaj. As I got into the car, Jessie said she wanted to stalk the Hippo CampBUS (my mom literally thought the bus said that), but I said no thanks. I already met them once, and to be honest, I couldn't have been more exhausted. I was sweaty, I couldn't hear a thing, and I looked horrible. I was in no shape to take a good-looking close up selfie with any member of Hippo. Jessie was, though! And she took some great ones. So, that's how it ended. I couldn't go to sleep because I was just LAUGHING at everything that happened. That's the thing with me. It doesn't matter who I'm seeing or who I'm going with, I always end up in the most bizarre situations. Hey, it's a good thing. It makes for amazing tales like this one.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |