And On the Second Day They Napped

Seriously, Tuesday and I already had to take a nap. When do I qualify for Medicare? I'm 27, but I feel like it's going to happen sooner rather than later. My mom is probably shaking her head now.

Youth is certainly wasted on the young.

Head Bangers Ball

This weekend has been too-legit-to-quit. I partied like a rockstar. Not really, I just went to two awesome concerts in three days, had two photoshoots and somehow managed to clean my apartment, read half a book, see my parents and write lesson plans. My feet were swollen today. I'm officially 80 years old.

Before I get into my concert recap, I need to preface by saying that Metallica is Mike's all-time-desert-island favorite band. Needless to say, it was a happy day for my LOML (love of my life). I won't lie I was pretty excited myself. Oh, and pardon the quality of my pictures, I was only able to use my ipopple to capture the evening.

Above was the view from our seats right when the band came out in the midst of all these cool lasers. Don't let the distance fool you, were we actually pretty close.

Before we get to the part where the band actually played, I'm going to take you on a bit of a journey:

After braving the horrible Miami/Hialeah/Broward traffic, we finally got to the happiest place on earth: Chick-Fil-A. I stood in some bushes to take that picture. See those blue skies? That's God's way of saying he loves Chick-Fil-A, too. We met up with my rockin' cousin Josh and his buddy then began to house some chicken sandwiches.

Here are my feet as we walked to the venue. I have to note that the last time I was at the Bank Atlantic Center was when Yani and I went to see the New Kids on the Block a few months ago. It doesn't take a genius to guess that the crowds were slightly different--awesome in their own right, but different nontheless.

During our walk, a nice lady in a pair of strawberry boxers handed me sample sized packets of the new Trident Strawberry gum. Verdict: Great for the first 30 seconds, but then a belly ache.

We waited in line forever to get inside where we got to see a few gems.  Apparently, a prerequisite for going to a Metallica concert is that you have to dress in black, have some kind of skull paraphernalia, and look as bad ass as possible. I wore a black shirt (check), Mike’s shirt had a skull on it (check), but it was little and the shirt was white, and my cousin wore orange. We were able to pick him out of the crowd. We waved and everything. He totally had better seats than we did.

Ok, now to the music:
I have to say that this was one of the best concerts I have ever been to. Leaving it, I said it was the best, but now it's tied with The Killers concert we went to Saturday.

Up to that point, I had never seen a crowd as amped as that one. Mike was in heaven. I already spoke of his concert soulmate, Steven. They played hard, fast (that's what she said) and had a good mixture of new and old classics. There was fire! Moshpits! All around Badassery (new word!). I lost my voice yelling.

My highlight of the night besides seeing the joy in Mike's face, was when they played my favorite song of theirs,"No Leaf Clover". But I really dug "Master of Puppets," especially with the crowd going as nuts as it did. See for yourself:

It was well worth the price of admission and the late night. I didn't even mind it how, when we were going home, they completely shut down I-95 and we had to take the long route. I was in such as good mood that I didn't even notice I tired I was the next day.

Here is a parting shot of the encore. They turned on the house lights, "I want to see your eyes!" and released all  these balloons:

Tomorrow: my recap of The Killers extravaganza and the difference between a metal concert in Ft. Lauderdale and a rock concert in Miami, at least as far as attire is concerned.

What was your favorite concert? Ever seen Metallica live? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

Holgation

*Programming Note: My Metallica and The Killers concert recaps are on their way this afternoon, but I thought to leave you with a little something my dear readers.

I was finally able to develop the pictures from my very first Holga roll. Um...there is definately room for improvement. In my defense, I decided to break out my little plastic camera at night in two dark venues--a restaurant and a bowling alley. There is a certain charm to these, though, and I like them even if they aren't my very best.

Here is my cousin blowing out his birthday candle:

Here we are showing off some rockin' footwear:

I think I just bowled a strike:

This one was the best by far. I took it from my balconey on a cloudy day. I love the dark edges:

Personal Party

So the Metallica concert was yesterday and I'm so ready to write about it. You don't understand, I took notes. In a notepad. I also (of course) photographed  the event with my trusty iphone. It dawned on me, however, that I can't give you a proper recap without laying down some groundwork. You need to get a full understanding of one of my terms in order to appreciate a part of my Metallica concert going experience. Hence, the latest installment of Lainey's Terms: Personal Party.

Let me set the stage: You're driving down the highway on your commute home from work. You happen to glance over to the left and see a guy in the car jamming to the song on the radio. Not just jamming, but singing, doing an interpretive dance, playing drums against the steering wheel, just L-I-V-I-N'. That man, my friends, is having a Personal Party. There is no need for him to share his joy with the rest of the world; he is his best audience.

You would be surprised at how often I use this term in my daily vernacular. People all around this city have Personal Parties. It's brilliant to witness.

This gentleman below is the embodiment of a Personal Party:

He was Mike's buddy last night. We loved him because he was really into the Metallica. REALLY into them. And so made the concert more fun. My notes on Steven*: Boat shoes, Dane Cook T-shirt, awesome. P. Party (it was dark, I had to abbreviate). Though he was a big fan and Mike's concert soulmate, he lost points when he left for the bathroom during "Master of Puppets." Mike even told him something, "Dude, it's 'Master of Puppets.' What are you doing?"  It wasn't enough for Steven to enjoy the encore from the comfort of his seat. No, Steven had to go to the stairs to rock out. He was going to rock so hard that he needed the support of the railing. This is him in a particularly inspired moment. Personal. Party.

(*Note: We never got his name but I find it fitting to name people. He looked like a Steven. Just don't call him Steve; it's a sensitive issue).