CLUB NSSN 2012 at the Mezz

So technically I didn't win tickets to this show but Kristin and I did get to go for free and we had such a great time we basically did win. In the Charlie Sheen sense... as in we were "WINNING!!!!!!!!!!"

So Atlas Genius from Adelaide, Australia opened up the show... The only reason why I know exactly what city they are from is because they have this little promo on Live105 that plays before their single "Trojans" where the guy says that's where they're from. I'm not that stalkery. Sometimes. Okay a lot.

ANYWHO. They were freaking great! They really knew how to read the crowd and play up or down. I always have to commend artists when they can actually hit their high notes live so well done sir! And it just looked like they were having the best time, which always helps us (the audience) have a great time too. Also, they were pretty hot. I don't know why I wasn't expecting hot guys to come out, I mean come on. They're Aussies (oi oi oi!). OH and they are really, REALLY good at playing their instruments. I thought I had a photo of them but I guess I don't. Le sad.

However... Walk the Moon was next and they were freaking amazing! I love their single, "Anna Sun" and it was even more fun to dance to. I was also super impressed at how well they hit their high notes. They's talented yo!

Walk the Moon. Via PuddingCam on iPhone.

Walk the Moon again :)

 And of course, last but certainly not least. Mr. Mark Foster doing his DJ set. Some idiot yelled, "Play something we fucking know!" And I wanted to shove them and say, "Eejit... he's doing a DJ set. Do you see his band with him? No? THEN SHUT IT." He's such a fun DJ too! I am so glad this time that I have a witness because Mark and I caught eyes... twice. I may or may not have swooned. First time we caught eyes was in Ireland at the Electric Picnic festival in 2011. Twas just as amazing the second time.

If you squint you can see Mark.

Thus ends the first night of me and Kristin's stream of shows :)

Treasure Island music festival 2012

I won these tickets a few months ago from Live 105 (yeah I love them). Really I was just excited to be able to finally go especially since I still don't have a job and can't afford to do anything I really enjoy. I wanted to take my sister because she's a PhD student and she would've welcomed the break but it just so happened that weekend got a bit too crazy so she had to forfeit her ticket. Instead I went with my best guy friend, Tim, and we met up with our other friend on the Sunday of the festival. But let me back, back, back it up for a hot second.

The Lineup

Saturday was freaking INSANE. Unfortunately because I had a hankering for brownies (not those kind) AND I woke up late, we couldn't catch Grimes... Le sad. Completely and utterly my fault. I warned Tim that I'd get "real dancy" because he had never seen me like that and I wanted to make sure he wouldn't be super weirded out. Really I was just warning him because if I bumped into him with my crazy dance moves, he couldn't say that I didn't warn him.

Aaaaaanywho, I'm terrible at writing so I'll just show some of the (not great) photos from my phone that I took. Starting with Saturday!

Matthew Dear 

Toro y Moi... SO FUN

Public Enemy... yes. They were great and hilarious. Oh Flava Flav. Excuse me I mean,  FLAVERRRRRRR FLAAAAAAAAAAAV

Porter Robinson! SO SO GREAT! Definitely one of the best acts of the day.

Timmy and I rocking our sunglasses. I obviously look better with my dog hat.

The Presets.... Danced a lot to them too!

Getting ready for the greatness that is Girl Talk!

HE'S HERE!!!! 

It was super cool, he had like a party on stage basically with random folks. 

Loved this stuff

Freaking amazing

 So all in all, Saturday was full of dancing... It was SO humid and gross. Like I felt like I was sticking to everyone. The crowd was actually pretty good. Some annoying bros but what can you do. They're everywhere. My ears were happy (albeit ringing) and my feet were screaming at me ... But that was okay but it was a GREAT day. We knew Sunday would be way more chill but still, dancey.

Brunch at Venus in Berkeley to fuel up for the day!

The War on Drugs! SO happy to catch them... Was super stoked to see them :)

Ty Segall... rocked out like no other!

Ms. Joanna Newsom... so freaking cute! Her voice is so amazing.

Her adorable drummer AND her amazing flying fingers!

The amazing sunset with the city skyline. I love San Francisco.

Best Coast! They were SUPER fun

Wait... for.... iiiiiiiiiiit. Greatness happening and more to come....

BAM! M83!!!! LOVE

Loved their whole set. She is gorgeous

Via PuddingCam app

Such a great band!!! He was so energetic and fun and like I said, she  is so pretty and her voice is SO great

SAXOMOPHOOOOOOONE... Midnight City obviously!

So Tim and I debated on leaving our awesome spot and going to see Gossip, who I've been wanting to see for YEARS but for some reason have always missed (no money, no tour date near me, etc). We thought we would admire them from afar and dance to them in our place... From what we heard, they were GREAT but I am a little sad that I didn't get to see Beth be awesome in person. Le sigh. I guess... there's next time. I love The XX so I figured this would be worth it.

Getting ready for The XX

Jamie and Oliver... so cute! Well.. also Oliver's voice is incredibly sexy

ROMY! LOVE LOVE LOVE HER!

Full Band finally captured... Loved the simplicity of everything

HOW CUTE ARE THEY?! Adorable.

Aaaaaaand good night!

My favorite of Sunday? M83. As much as I love The XX, it was a very mellow end to the day/weekend. Made sense because Saturday was nuts but I think I just wanted a bit more. We did get a bit dancey but not much. Anyway in my humble opinion, Saturday was raw fun and Sunday was more a great time for the ears :) .... In any case I'm super annoyed that I was not dressed for the weather and felt like I had heat exhaustion the whole time. Well... maybe next year I'll be better prepared! Thanks again Live105!

BFD 2012

I won tickets to BFD and 'twas freaking great. Just good alternative fun. I was in Santa Cruz surfing that morning so I missed a good chunk of it which I was super bummed about missing Walk the Moon, Geographer, Of Monsters and Men, and Grouplove. I saw Neon Trees a couple years ago when they opened up for 30 Seconds to Mars a couple years ago and they were great so I wasn't too sad to miss them. But seriously... the bands I mentioned... I WAS SO FREAKING SAD. Love love LOVE them... ugh. But my love of the sea and family surpassed it that day I guess... I didn't get to take too many photos either because I forgot my real camera and my phone was dying so I had to conserve. Meh. 

Caught Pennywise!!

Fun. via PuddingCam app

So FUN. GET IT?!!?

Love Nate's crazy hair

He was SO dancey! So great :)

Tail end of Cake. A smidgen disappointing but I've seen them before so not too bad.

GARBAGE. SO EFFING GREAT. SO SO SO GREAT. Really wanted to try to "bump into" Shirley but alas, it was not fruitful. Le sad.

Then the phone died. Jane's Addiction blew up the place which was expected. And Silversun Pickups sounded great! Still bummed I missed SO MANY bands but there's always next year. Thanks Live 105!

Recap: Grammys 2012

As promised, the Grammy's post (is it Grammy's or Grammys? ... ugh neither one looks correct). How did I explain this huge win to my parents? The Oscars of music. Accurate? Let me know.

So the day started off with my dear friend, H, who let me stay with her even though I wasn't bringing her (before you get all "Oh you're a biotch" to me, she didn't really mind because the person I took, S, is way  more into music than she is and if it were the Oscars then H would've been my first choice). Anywho. I took this GREAT Vietnamese bus service from San Jose to Los Angeles. It took about 5.5 hrs and I pretty much slept the whole time which is great because usually I'm worried about getting pulled over or my poor Fantito (my car) dying on me. Also it included a bottle of water and a banh mi.

To the meat of the sandwich. We (me and S) got ready and grabbed a snack a drove towards the arena. Oh my goodness as we got closer the more excited I got. I basically was yelling to S the whole time of different things that we saw...

One of the times I'm yelling and S is like dood stop

OUR PARKING PERMIT!

Right after I yelled, "THE RED CARPET!!!!!" with the window open... She was pretty annoyed. Haha

We've arrived! 

Some of the "hip and trendy" fashion... so weird

Deadmau5 outfit!!!

I walked where Ms. Ross walked... 

One part of the stage!

David Guetta :)

One of the very long parts of waiting

Chris Brown... The boy can dance but I still don't like him

Foo Fighters

DEADMAU5!!!!!!!!! 

DEADMAU5 LOVE HIM!!!

And then I flew home. On the smallest plane I've been on in the US. Probably one of the best Los Angeles trips I've ever had. So ends my first Grammys. Hopefully not my last.