Concert Reviews
Thanks to Gary Dollinger (SgtGD) for the review and pictures below.
It started about 2 months ago at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago. The headlining act was Matchbox 20 with some guest that we never heard of. My girlfriend absolutely adored Matchbox 20 like so many other girls, so we showed up about 3 hours early just to get in front, which we did, and at this special night we got engaged. Matchbox 20 did rock, but the one thing we both remember was their opening act, Cool For August. We had never heard of them until this night, but when we heard them we were instantly in love. After the concert we went back stage to hopefully meet Matchbox 20, but they were busy doing meet and greets. We did get to meet Cool For August though, who were so nice and friendly. The bass guitarist, Andrew, got Matchbox 20’s autograph for us. We stayed back there and chatted with them for about an hour before the pouring rain caused us to leave. The next day we both went out and bought their CD. Now this is where the story gets interesting. That night we also got engaged, and about three weeks ago I finally got my fiancée a ring. It was an antique ring that has been in my family for 5 generations. I wanted some special way to give it to her out of the ordinary. That week I started talking to the drummer, Shane, from Cool For August. We talked many days and finally I came up with the idea of giving her the ring at a Cool For August concert. Shane helped by getting us 2 tickets to their concert with Creed in Buffalo, NY as well as back stage passes. The plan was to give it to her with the band all there. The day before the concert came, it was time to jump on a train for a 12 hour ride from Chicago to Buffalo, NY. It was a sleepless trip that led to us arriving in Buffalo at 8:30am. The only thing we could do was grab a cab and go to the Funhouse. Now we were sitting outside at 9am in freezing weather waiting for the band to arrive. For the next 7 hours we just hung around freezing and playing cards. Both of us hadn’t slept in a day or so and were beginning to feel it. Finally at 4pm a shimmering violet bus caught our eye; it was the tour bus for Cool For August. As the door opened, Gordon, the lead singer, and Trevor, the lead guitarist came out and said a quick hello. We had no clue of what was to follow. Finally Shane came out and we started talking for a while. He took us back to the bus and we were watching a little South Park. Then Shane asked if there was anything to eat so we got to go to lunch with the band at a little restaurant. That was so cool my fiancée, the entire band, and me. Lunch was totally awesome, but Shane needed a toothbrush (see, even a band cares about oral hygiene). We took a walk to the local convenience store for a little shopping. This was like a dream, we were hanging out with our favorite band like we were old friends. At about 6pm it was time for them to go to work. We went into the Funhouse and watched them do the sound check. They played “On and On” and “Spinning”. Both of these songs were awesome, even for a sound check. When the sound check was over, we went back to the bus to get pumped for the concert; this was so unbelievable. 7:45pm, concert time. We took our place in the front to watch them rock. They were better this time than the first time especially since we knew all the words and could sing along. They even dedicated a song to Libbie for me; it almost made me cry. They are a great performing group. Not only does the music rock, but they can give you a show for your money. When they finished performing, we went back to the bus. The band got changed and we sat there watching the last episode of South Park with their tour manager. Finally all the guys were ready and it was the moment I had been waiting for. The guys all huddled around us and I pulled the ring out of my pocket; she was speechless. Three weeks of planning has led to this great moment. We took some pictures with the band and then we all went back stage to party. When it was all over we were still in shock that this actually happened. We have never had a weekend so great in our lives. After 24 hours of sleep to recover, the memories still remain and the pictures will remind us of a weekend to remember.
Here's Gordon playinng some air hockey
Here's Shane playing foose ball.
Here's Gary and Libbie and CFA.
Hey! Below are some pics from the latest concert I went to, on May 4th in Vancouver BC Canada. A review will be up soon!
I saw Cool for August on Fri. Feb. 27, at Mercer Arena in Seattle Wa. They were opening for Matchbox 20 and did a swell job. Before seeing them, I had no idea who they were. I heard someone on The End (107.7) say "Cool For August" and I thought he was saying "Cool Frogest". So I was telling everybody "Cool Frogest" was opening. Now I feel Stupid.
Anyways, we stood in line for 5 1/2 hours and it was worth it! We got the very front row on the left side, closest to Andrew and Chris, when we got in we had to sit down for another hour, then we were allowed to stand up and the lights went out and they came on. I distinctly remember Andrew wearing a tight multi-colored green shirt. And he had a pierced tongue. He was really hot. And then Gordon looked stoned, but he was cool. He was really getting groovy with his dancing. He was all over the place. He was a great dancer! It was funny when he tried to lick Andrew's guitar. And then he went over to Trevor and like danced behind him and reached his arms over him, it was really funny! He got a water bottle and sprayed the crowd, the side of my face got wet and my friend also got wet. It was so cool! Then he said "would you catch me?" and made fake diving motions. Everyone screamed. A while later, in the middle of a song, he all of a sudden said "catch me" and jumped past the crowd security and into the crown! We were just about 4 feet away from him. Then the security people got him out and he climbed back on stage and started dancing again. A while later, Rob Thomas came out and sang with Gordon. I remember that Rob was really short compared to Gordon. He had to stand on his tippy-toes to reach the mic. Then after the show we went out by the buses to try to meet Matchbox 20 and we saw Andrew and we talked to him and got out pictures taken with him and got autographs. Then we talked to Trevor and got pictures and autographs.
A while later, Shane came out and we got pictures with him. He said my friends Gavin shirt was cool.
Then Chris came out and we got pictures with him.
They were really really really nice and we just loved them! We didn't get to meet Gordon which sucked cuz he was so smooth on stage. But we did get to meet Robert Kelly Thomas, so we were happy that nite. It was the best day of our lives!
The End.
Submitted by Brittany (MB20CFA3EB@aol.com)
Been to a CFA concert?? Send it to me, and I'll put it up. Include pics if you have them.
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