If you only knew...

Ok so I know I’m a bit behind on my blogging but I’ve been trying to catch up on my sleep since I got back home from seeing AFI twice in a 2 day period. Ok so here goes epic blog time…[Oh and if you were there and I talked to you, please let me know!]

Brandy, Alex and I left my house around 10:00-10:30 pm on Friday (11-20-09) night. We went and slept at my grandma’s house for a few hours and planned on getting up and getting ready at 12am so we could leave town by 1am but our alarms didn’t wake us up so I had to go without straightening my hair. I put on my contacts, got dressed, grabbed my stuff and headed out. We (Brandy, Alex and I) packed into Alex’s little car and left town headed for our first destination, Houston Texas. Houston is approximately 284 miles and about 4 and a half hours away from where I live so we knew we would be driving for quite some time. We left town around 1:45. We were 45 minutes behind our schedule.

We got on the road way before the sun had even begin to rise and listened to some weird music that was on Alex’s ipod for a long time. About an hour into our drive, Alex decided that it was ‘AFI time’ and so she put all of her AFI songs on shuffle. It was really fun to have all three of us singing the split parts to whatever song would come up. We would even alternate parts without thinking about it. AFI sing-a-long was totally fun. We listened to AFI for about 2 hours before Alex decided she was in the mood for Eminem…? Yea, it was totally random but then our AFI sing-a-long turned to Eminem and it was fun too.

Time passed relatively quickly and before we knew it, the sun was starting to come up. We stopped at a small gas station to take a bathroom break and get some food about 45 minutes outside of Houston. Brandy and I went into the bathroom and straightened our hair. I realized I had forgotten to pack hairspray so I had to buy some at the gas station. There went $4. Anyways, we got back on the road and soon enough we were looking for somewhere to park that was behind the Verizon venue. I was so excited that we were hours away from seeing AFI again. The Texas weather was icky, it had been raining all night and it rained some throughout the drive to Houston but once we’d arrived at the venue it was only a faint mist. It was however, very cold. I didn’t pack any blankets with me because I was in a hurry when I left my house. All I had to keep me warm was my clothes, a letterman jacket and my AFI hoodie that I had bought at the merch table in Tulsa. (It didn’t help that while walking around the venue to get in line, I stepped in a huge puddle, soaking my only pair of shoes and 1 pair of normal looking socks.)[We also saw AFI’s bus behind the venue!]

We were very shocked and elated to find that we were the first people to arrive at the venue. Brandy and Alex had said that they had never been first in line for an AFI show before and they were really excited. I was excited that no matter what, (DF line or not) I’d be one of the fist people in the venue and I’d be on the barricade. We got there about 7:30am. I took off my wet shoes and thanked God that I had packed a pair of long, fuzzy purple socks in case my feet got cold. I was shoeless, but the socks helped to keep me from freezing. The Hard Rock Café that was right next to the venue didn’t open until 11am so we didn’t know what we were going to do if someone had to use the bathroom. There weren’t any gas stations for a few miles so that was out of the question.
Around 8am, Brandy and Alex decided to go in search for a bathroom. Alex used her phone to look for the nearest place…which happened to be a McDonald’s. They said they’d be back soon. I was left there at the venue, all alone. I was cold and really tired. Time passed by really slowly and I kept falling asleep. Ever so often, I’d wake up and check the time and notice that they were still not back. Finally when 10:00am rolled around I started to get paranoid and worried. They’d been gone for a long time and I was sitting there alone in the cold. I was kind of freaking out. I called and texted them both, a few times, but they wouldn’t answer either. I began to freak a little more. About 10 minutes after I’d given up calling and texting them, they come walking back. They told me that they walked for blocks and blocks and blocks just to stumble across this McDonald’s that they thought was way closer than it really was. Once they found the McDonald’s the people working wouldn’t let them use the bathrooms until they bought something. Weak, I know. Anyways, they settled back down.

A couple came and got in line behind us. They were quiet and kept to themselves. Later on, a group of I believe 3 or 4 people came with blankets and other things to keep them warm. They settled beside the couple. Not long after that, a family of 3 showed up. The poor girl was wearing shorts and it was rainy and cold! Her parents had blankets and things to keep warm but I felt that she was probably freezing to death. A few more people showed up and we had a little AFI lover circle going on where we were all kind of talking and getting to know each other a bit. Once 11am-12pm rolled around, me and Alex began to get hungry so we decided to look around for a Subway. She said that there was one across the street from McDonald’s and we agreed to get food at Subway instead of the Hard Rock.

We walked for about 10-20 minutes before coming across the Subway, which was packed. We ordered our food then I stopped to adjust my hair and use their bathroom. Then we set off toward the Verizon venue again. Once we got back, we noticed that there were a few more people then when we’d left. We sat and ate, thankful that the rain had stopped long enough for us to walk to get our food. We hoped the sun would come out soon so it wouldn’t be so cold but that didn’t look like it was going to happen since it was noon-ish and the sky was still grey. I got up and walked around and talked to a few people in line to pass the time. I took a nap after eating because I didn’t want to be tired, on the barricade before AFI came on again like I was in Tulsa. I woke up and there were quite a few more people in line.

Over time, the line only grew larger and longer. I don’t know exactly what time it was, but I think somewhere around 2-3pm some guy came out of the venue and slapped a DF line sign up on the door. I jumped up and ran to be first again.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jess_bl...7622864507616/

We stayed in line again for a long time. I knew that a few DF people that I talked to were going to go to this show but none of them were there yet so I just sat and observed. A circle of people developed near an outside table at the Hard Rock and some people were talking. I had gotten a text from Brooke (B-r-o-o-k-e [DF]) saying that she was now at the venue. I spotted her in the circle and waved. A little while after that, I went over and started talking to her. I got to talk to a few other people before getting a text from Lauren (Polish Chicken [DF]) saying she was now there too. I’d met Lauren at Cain’s in Tulsa for the AFI show on October 3rd so we instantly started talking. I then was introduced to a tall guy with black hair and snakebites. He told me his name was Deven (Clandestine337 [DF]) and we talked for quite some time about AFI and AFI merch and his 7 AFI tattoos. He was totally cool and we clicked instantly. That’s one thing I love about DF people. You can know them for 10 minutes and it will feel like you’ve known them for 10 years. We got along great. Besides, we are family. DF family! He introduced us to his group of people that he’d traveled with. I don’t recall his female friend’s name but I do remember the guy’s name was David. (Yay! I remembered some names!)

Once it started getting dark, everyone got anxious. We knew Smith would be coming out soon to hand out the DF wristbands so we were all afraid to leave or spots. Even to use the bathroom. I made one last run to the car to put up my stuff and get my glow sticks. (Which I later had to throw away because the venue didn’t allow them >:/ ) Smith came out and gave us the bands, which were pink of all colors. I asked him why pink because the other ones I’d seen were gold to which he replied “I don’t know, I guess they’re trying to switch it up!”

More time passed and some more friends mine showed up. I finally got to meet Dallas (Ethlora [DF]) for the first time, even though it was only for a second. Then not too long after her, Geoff (GeoffreyDavid [DF]) showed up. They didn’t think they were going to be able to get a DF band because they had missed Smith by only 20 or so minutes. Thankfully, some guy who worked with AFI came out to give bands out to those who had missed it the first go around.

{Part 2 is on the way!}