so after an awesome first day of the festival we headed into the day that was by far the most anticipated, at least it was for me! lucky for us we got to skip the shuttle because my AMAZING friend RJ came and picked us up from our condo and then we walked from his which was less than a mile from the festival.
this was the day of the iron man - there was nothing marathon about this. this day was not a sprint, not a marathon, but a flippin iron man. i feel like after surviving this day the three of us should be able to get some special tattoo. another great analogy to this day would be those car contests... where you have to be the one to keep your hand on the car the longest - if you beat everyone else you win. thats how we felt about being front row. it had to happen and nothing was going to change that.
so with that mindset we got into line... and waited, again (this time i brought a BLL with me to enjoy - i knew it was going to be a long day so i need something to refresh me during the wait!) and of course megan had another wonderful outfit for day two at the fest, enjoy below!
can you really go wrong with zebra shorts? i think not.
once we got into the festival it was like natural instincts kicked in. we headed right over to the hangout stage to claim our territory... like we were some type of early explorers that were going to put down their flag and claim that sand as their own. and that is exactly what we did. this is a key skill for any festival i'm sure - with acts that we were determined to be up front for later in the evening we had to hold down the fort so to say. this is where the sheet comes in REALLY hand. i would recommend queen sized personally.
the beginning of the iron man - megan and i
the day started off with Mariachi El Bronx. i've still yet to figure out my thoughts on this band - but my first thought was DAMN they must be hot in those mariachi suits. perhaps they will be the uprise of mariachi music?? they had a very interesting stage presence as every song they sang came with a little intro... which all in all isn't the interesting part, more so that every song was about ex-cons, perverts or prostitutes. i mean whatever inspires you i guess! what i REALLY wanted them to do was a little LaBamba remix - which didn't happen (disappointment!!) post hangout i did notice that they would be opening up for the foo fighters for some of their n. american tour - music match made at hangout? i think so.
a little mariachi to begin the day
next up was slightly stoopid. these guys were a lot of fun. this band wasn't really on anyones list of "must sees" but they were at the hangout stage and so were we. between the bowl hits on the stage and their really chill cali-vibes the show was a really good time. they ended the set with 'leaving on a jet plane" which i like to consider one of my anthems because there are some months then i feel like i might spend more time traveling then home at my apartment. post show the band came down to the front and took pics with fans - only band that we saw do that, so major points for them. considering i was saving my energy for later in the evening, i didn't make and effort to get up, but katie (RJ's date for the weekend) wanted a pic. mr slightly stoopid singer noticed me below and was just "oh hey just put your crotch on her head for the pic thats fine!" needless to say katie and i became just that much closer at the very moment.
slightly stoopid!!
Slightly Stoopid - Leaving on a Jet Plane
up next was mr cee lo green. let me just interject, even as i begin to type this, my heart starts to move just a little bit faster - because this is just about the best moment of my life... NO NO, not seeing cee lo green, but what happens when cee lo DOESN'T want to come out on the stage. so there we are... waiting, waiting, waiting. its probably a little more an a half hour INTO the set time for mr. green and by this time the crowed is starting to get a little angst - by a little the crowd was booing cee lo. then a guy comes out onto stage (which just so happened to be the head honcho for hangout fest (owner of the hangout restaurant) you know, kinda a big deal) - so when i see him i'm pretty sure mr. green will not be making an appearance (but from what i've read post-fest, he's been pretty infamous for that, blowing off his coachella set in april). so mr. hangout himself beings to apologize for the delay, blah blah blah, but to "FORGET CEE LO GREEN!! FOO FIGHTERS ARE COMING OUT INSTEAD!" holy sweet baby jesus - i think i almost died at that moment!!
the festi-three awaiting cee lo green - enjoying some miller light in our "limited edition" koozies
so the joke had been that i was going to cry when the foo fighters came on, because for like the entire month prior the jokes was that i shed a tear every time i got excited for hangout (i never really shed a tear, almost, but not quite!) needless to say i was prepared for the evening set and was not going to allow for an emotional overtake... but i wasn't ready for this! in talking with RJ afterward the festival he properly described my reaction. as soon as the announcement was made that they would be coming out apparently my entire face got really red, like all the blood rushed up there, my mouth was dropped and all i could say was OMG!! and yes i shed a tear. rj and katie push me up to the front and i enjoy an amazing quick set of the foo fighters covering some classics - alice cooper's schools out for summer, tom petty's breakdown (yes i really almost died, my favorite band covering one of my favorite artists!!!), queen's tie your mother down and then they went in to prince's darling nikki. this is when it gets a little crazy - so about half way though darling nikki, mr. dave grohl says a few words along the lines of - "hey we really like cee lo green, and would hope that if hes here he would come out and join us for this song" --- enter stage right, mr. cee lo green himself (all 300 pounds of him) singing some darling nikki with the foo fighters, oh no big deal..... EPIC!!
Dave Grohl - SOOOOOOO amazing
Foo Fighters - Breakdown (Tom Petty Cover - omgeeeee!!)
Foo Fighters & Cee Lo - Darling Nikki Cover
so after darling nikki the foo fighters departed the stage (disappointment!) to allow cee lo to do a few songs. or rather a few partial songs because he didnt really finish one he just kept moving onto another. the crowd was so hyped from the foo fighters that i don't think anyone even boo'd cee lo. i gotta say, i'm happy it was a mini set because honestly, thinking back on it, he really wasn't that great live. though good times were still had because you really can't go wrong with yelling "and fuck you too" at the top of your lungs!
oh hey cee lo - so nice of you to join us (and damn hes a big boy!)
Cee Lo Green - Forget You... very much so unedited
so during the foo/cee lo set, it started to get a little bit tight on space, enter queen sized sheet to help us hold down our location! we patiently awaited the avett brothers performance - megans must see of the weekend. so, i've listened to a little avett brothers here and there - purely because alex & jasin (the commune roommates) love them and the same with megan. i was excited to see them in concert to see what the buzz was all about. their set was amazing - truly great performers!
the avett brothers - great set!
more avett's!!
post-avett's the three of us realized that we had basically had NOTHING to eat all day, except one-and-one/third of a granola bar. we were hungry (at one point threatening to eat someones arm if they tried to get any closer to us up at the front - they laughed, i wasn't joking!) but what could we do?? we were FRONT row and the crowd was getting a big rough. enter the amazingness that is briana v!!! this girl risked her life to get us food - bless her! how the heck she ever got back to us with 3 huge slices of pizza like 5 beers and 3 waters - i shall never know, but this was truly taking one for the team. this provided enough nourishment to get us through the rock show :)
needless to say... this show was all that i could have ever asked for and more. we were SO close i could basically touch them. 35, 000 festi-goers and we were FRONTflippinROW. dave grohl is one of the best entertainers - providing funny banter between songs - he can eloquently add the adjective "fucking" to any and all statements - including his love for hangout fest "perhaps the most fucking fun festival i've played in 20+ years." they played all the favorites plus so many more (my hero, learn to fly, breakout, monkey wrench, let it die, times like these, all my life and best of you) - but to kick, they ended with everlong (such a fav of mine) with FIREWORKS going off in the background. it was BEAUTIFUL!!! my life is complete and i'm still not sure how i could EVER beat this evening. now i just await the foo to release more n. america tour dates and hope they come back close to me (fingers crossed, because i am SO there!) so pics from the evening shows aren't that great, but enjoy the videos :)
Foo Fighters - My Hero
Foo Fighters - Times Like These
Foo Fighters - All My Life
Foo Fighters - Best of You
Just a little Foo Fighters jam session
thank god for RJ again as he drove us back to our condo so we wouldn't have to fight the shuttle lines. i still get a little adrenalin kick when i think about the complete amazingness of this day - but hangout isn't over quite yet - get ready for day 4!!
until then - peace, love 'n and the sexiness that is dave grohl
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