We've got a little catching up to do.

I've been to quite a few shows since the last entry, and I don't exactly remember a lot of them very well, but here we go.

Nov. 13, 2007- Hanson at Pop's.

All that really needs to be said is, Taylor Hanson may have the best head of hair to ever grow on this earth. Also, even though I only went for the always popular "Mmm Bop" I had a really great time. They've grown up so much from their pop days, can you believe Zach is like 23 now? Both Isaac and Taylor have kids. It's insane. But their sound now is a less pop Maroon 5 if you can picture it. They've got a lot of jazz influence in their sound, and the piano in every song is amazing. Seriously, check out their new stuff it's good. Oh, they opening band was like this country boy band. It was decent, but strange.

Nov. 17, 2007- Valencia, The Audition, All Time Low, and Boys Like Girls.

Oh my, bad haircuts and outfits gallore. I only went because my boys in The Audition were playing, and I like Valencia, and All Time Low is growing on me. But by the end of the night I swear I wanted to stab everyone in the eye. I'm sorry, but when bands like Valencia are playing I think that I should be able to breathe. Honestly, it was rediculous. Valencia put on a real good show, playing all my favorites and bringing a lot of energy to the stage. The Audition really upset me, they played two new songs which just sound odd to me. They aren't what I'm used to hearing from The Audition. And on top of that their set list was just insane, upset much. Plus, Joe Audition failed to make an appearance after the show and he normally always does. Tisk tisk. So after that I was done with this admitted twelve year old's elbow in my neck and not being able to breathe a Boys Like Girls show, so I left the floor. All Time Low sounded great. I seriously wanted to vomit the entire time BLG was on.

Nov. 23, 2007- Autopsy of an Arsonist, Beyond the Fatal Shore, This Hollywood Machine, Salt The Wound.

AOAA, basically horrible riffs and decent vocals. I won't put myself through one of their performances again. Beyond the Fatal Shore actually sounded really good, but that may be thanks to Sam for turning down their vocalist's mic so he couldn't be heard over their amazing music. They honestly have such a good sound, but they need a new vocalist because this kid they've got now has no business in grindcore. This Hollywood Machine was an upset as usual. Salt the Would was br00t4l, and I loved it. They are probably one of the best grindcore bands I've heard, the vocals are spot on.

Nov. 27, 2007- Pierce The Veil, Vanna, Four Year Strong, and From First to Last in KC.

Okay, four and a half hour drives with grumpy people are not very fun. Then mapquest gives us the wrong directions, but luckily I figured my way to this random saloon. Which by the way there are like four on the one street, no joke. So we show up, Kansas City is made up of twelve year olds or at least kids that act twelve. I've never been so appreciate of the St. Louis scene ever in my life after standing in that line for two and a half hours with those kids. So the show finally starts and Pierce the Veil put on a great show as always, they sound so great all the time. Vanna was boring, and Vic from PTV agreed. Four Year Strong reminded me of So They Say. From First to Last sounds better without Sonny. Matt Good still needs some practice at being front man, he was so shy. But he pulled it off well. While my boy Travis was hillarious. I've never forget their dialogue about PTV's merch guy, crackheads, and menthol cigarettes. The drive home was so intense, I think Mandi is the only person I could have done that with.

Nov. 30, 2007- Disturbing Lou, Dead City Dregs, Brain Failure, Whole Wheat Bread, and Big D and the Kids Table.

Dec. 7, 2007- Straylight Run, The Color Fred, Dear & the Headlights, Casino, and some local band.

So we got there a little late because I got so mixed up going to the Creepy from 40 east. So we show up and some local band is playing, they were awful. Good thing we only had to through like 10 minutes of it. Next was Casino? I think that's it. They were really good, tiring, but good. The melodies were just so soothing. Next was Dear & the Headlights who I have to say I LOVE. They were so much fun and sounded so original. His voice is absolutely gorgeous. I think I smiled throughout the whole set. The Color Fred was good, I like him much better in this band than TBS. Finally Straylight. They were so much better than the last time I saw them. They played a lot off of their new album, but they also played a lot of old stuff that I had forgotten about like "For The Best". Then John came back out for an encore and played "Your Name Here (Sunrise Highway)". I wanted to cry.

Sunday November 11th, 2007 also could be called the day Spitalfield last played in St. Louis (or Sauget). It wasn't a sad night though, parts were, but for the most part it was a party. So, supposedly Spitalfield was going to play an acoustic set before the show for those who had preordered tickets. I showed up roughly two hours early with a ticket in hand hoping that they would still let me into the acoustic set, no. The ticket sales were so low they had just decided to cancel it. So I show up and there's about twenty other people there and no one else really starts showing up until around six, six-thirty. I knew Spitalfield wasn't that big, but c'mon. Almost ten years as a band, that's probably what upset me the most. So they open the doors at seven, and after dealing with Ben having to pee every five minutes and just being creepy, I was ready to go inside. They only have the side stage open, and I'm pretty happy about it. This means I can sit during most of the bands and still see them fine. The first band was Catch The Light, never heard of them before. The go on stage and they're all cute and talkative with the crowd. Thir songs were halfway decent. I'd see them again. Next was The Graduate, who always puts on a good show. Their sound is so complete, and they actually bring that sound to the stage. It's a show I definately suggest for everyone to see for themselves. Next was Ludo, who played acoustic. Strange. I had my money on the guitars saying, "No, we can 't do this," then walking off stage. Despite the fact that it was extremely awkward, it was amazing. Sitting down they still brought the energy of an electric show, I think it's just their personalities. I bought a Ludo toothbrush. After them was The Forecast, who I'm not a real big fan of, but I really do like a couple of their songs. I used to listen to them without knowing who it was, I seem to do that a lot. But I just couldn't get into their show, maybe it was the killer headache I had all night. Their bassist, however, amazing. Most girl bassist just kind of stand there and look awkward, she rocked it. Props mystery girl in The Forecast. Finally, time had come for Spitalfield. (Which the correct pronunciation is SPIT-alfield, not SPITE-alfield.) A lot of people left before they played, another upset. But I was okay with it that just meant less space between me and those sweet boys of Spitalfield. They played songs from throughout their history and I feel it was a pretty nice set, with the exception of the missing Van Buren. Anyway, there were some pretty sweet drunk kids standing next to me starting a dance party during every song, and during the breaks too. I loved them. Spitalfield loved them too I do believe. Even though I know that was my last time ever seeing them, it still feels great. It was a great show, and the kids in the crowd were great, and I don't know. It was just a good show, and nothing's going to change that. After they played two encores, I mosied my way over to the amazing Mark Rose. That's right, he's amazing. Talked to him for a quick minute, took a picutre, then decided I must go see his solo act in Chicago sometime. So he told me to add him on MySpace, and that's exactly what I did. One huge paragraph. Yeahhhhh!

That's it.
Listen to "Van Buren" by Spitalfield.

We'll call this, "Halloween"

Friday, October 26th, 2007 there was this pretty neat show in Belleville, and thanks to the magical pockets of Auggie, I was able to go inside this one. It sucks being broke. Anyways, it was a Halloween show and each band that played covered a bigger band. I thought it was a neat idea, it made sense and it was fun. My favorite of the evening was Butt Nugget, although I personally hate them. They covered the Misfits, and went all out. They painted their faces to match the Misfits' skull, had the whole crowd into, acted like hardasses, and believed they were the Misfits. It made me smile. My second favorite of the night was some band I hadn't seen before, and I don't think they ever said it. They covered Fugazi. Talk about relaxing, Fugazi is amazing and they played it right on. How To Steat and Cheal covered Anti-Flag, it was a lot of fun. You could tell that Auggie didn't really listen to Anti-Flag, I'm sure it was all Nick Schmidt's idea. They still played a solid set Plus they incorporated the horns into Anti-Flag which made me smile considering horns are what get me Give me anything with a good trumpet in it, oh yeah. I didn't really watch anyone else play. I heard someone play when we first got there, but I don't remember who it was. Stiff Kittens played, but I had no idea who they were covering. All-in-all, it was a decent time. On a side note. Before the show me and Mandi walked around downtown Belleville. They were having this trick-or-treat thing with the shops. Seeing all the little kids dressed up was so cute, I love little kids.
Next show? I think Dance Gavin Dance. If not, Spitalfield.

Amanda Gelso says you should go check out Propagandhi.

But can you swing dance?

I'll cover UnderOATH briefly. Showed up late due to my mother's birthday and the Spaghetti Factory's slow service. Walked up to the door as soon as Maylene finished "Caution, Dangerous Curves Ahead," which is my absolute favorite song by them. Sat on the balcony, we had an okay view. Poison The Well was... lame and boring. Every Time I Die was exactly how I imagined. They were fun, they played well, and they were wasted. ETID really did make my night. I met Jordan, he was super nice. UnderOATH really did put on a good show, they sounded great. However, their performance lacked passion and so did Spencer. It made me really upset, but I knew it was going to happen. All in all the night was a bust. I'm over it.

Now for Chiodos. The crowd, insane. The bands, amazing. The day leading up to the show, br00t4l. So my day starts off with a headache, great. Next thing I know I can't get ahold of my bestfriend who has my ticket along with Mandi's. Hmph. Getting a little bit angry. Give up on that around 2:30 and decide just to buy my ticket. Go get Mandi, I need gas so I stop by the gas station you know. Who knew getting gas was a half and hour experience. I thought pumping gas was supposed to take like five minutes, not in Fairmont. The pump I was at was broken or something, and they didn't care to post it. I was enraged by this point. I finally get my gas after having to deal with two different idiots. and we're on the road. We show up at Pop's and the box office isn't open yet. Then after waiting for three hours and dealing with a mess of different people, most of them extremely annoying, we go inside.
I had decided on staying on the floor, after about three minutes I changed my mind. I knew it was going to be ridiculous. So, I go up to the balcony. I hated half the people I was around, but hey it's a show, it's expected. First band is The Devil Wears Prada, they set the show off right. I had never really given them a chance considering a few of the kids that I don't have any respect for, worship them. They proved me an idiot. TDWP was my number two of the night, and that's saying something since they were the only band I hadn't listened to before. Following up was SKSK, pft. They played two old songs, and of course they closed with My Darkest Hour. I was disappointed. Emery was okay, they didn't play the one song I like. Their performance was good though. Chiodos gets a seperate paragraph.
By this point in the show I was very upset. To the point where I wanted to leave, but I had to give my boys in Chiodos a chance; hoping they wouldn't leave an impression similar to that of UnderOATH. They didn't. Craig Owens brought a smile to my face unlike anything else has in a long time. When he spoke, his words were true. When he sang, it was with passion. The whole band had an energy about them that was amazing. Add that to the fact that they played an equal amount of new and old songs, along with an acoustic set. I mean c'mon, they brought it and they brought it big. I just wish it could have lasted longer. I would have stayed there all night if they would have kept playing. I haven't been to a show that inspirational since last school year. Knowing that they are as big as they are and that they're still that real, wow. Also, the crowd was so active. Having that much crowd response to a cd you released two months ago is an amazing feat. Then to not let it go to your head, astounding. I'm still in awe, I'm going to be thinking about this show for a long time. Not only becuase it was amaizng, but also because it gave me a lot of time to think and lots to think about. I think I want to be a psychiatrist, or something like that. Really.

Amanda Gelso.

My last three blog titles have started with B. :)
Go listen to "Paper Rock Sisscors" by JamisonParker.
Then maybe check out I Am The Universe.

Belleville's growing on me.

On Friday I went to Belleville for a show at the Broadway Center of Arts (a really neat venue if you get a chance to go) featuring Superfun Yeah Yeah Rocketship, Hood Kicks, Stiff Kittens, and the Daydream Astronauts. I didn't watch most of the bands, actually I sat outside and listened to everyone except Stiff Kittens and Superfun Yeah Yeah Rocketship, for them I was inside dancing. Superfun makes my life, there's no doubt about it, even if he wouldn't play HorseBANG! I also am starting to like Hood Kicks, who is somewhat like Superfun but his music is more 80's. He's extremely nice and wears the sweetest clothes. Check him out, he plays in Belleville a lot. Also, Pat Cadaver played in between bands. Pat Cadaver plays his acoustic guitar and sings songs about pogo punks and ska fags unit! He's funny, and makes me smile. I don't know, it was just a really relaxing night exception of a few grumpy friends and a douchebag. I'm slowly starting to get comfortable with these Belleville kids, they play good tunes and know how to have fun.

Amanda Gelso.

I'm not excited about the new Saw movie.

Basement shows are quickly consuming my life.

I've decided not to write about the BlessTheFall/Escape The Fate show except for the fact that it's made me even lessen my view on the "hardcore" scene.

But I did go to another show this weekend, oh yeah. Sunday night Josh Penn decided to have a "Roach (who I call Nick Schmidt)'s Birthday/Columbus Day Extravaganza" featuring How To Steat And Cheal, Suburban Epidemic, and Model Citizen. Now I've seen all these bands many times before but they never get old. How To Steat And Cheal is a relatively new band, they played their first show in February and have already opened for bands such as Whole Wheat Bread. They've got a classic ska sound and the personality to back it up. Nothing beats a handful of teenagers playing old fashion ska, it makes me smile. Next would be Suburban Epidemic who should really be a ska/punk band, but considering their frontman Sean O'Rourke doesn't believe in ska/punk bands they just went with punk. Now this three piece has a good sound, with a good message, and hot bods to sell it. I've been to almost everyone of their shows and let me tell ya, it's always a party. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, the song titles of their songs are priceless: "Josh Penn Cybers 12 Year Olds", "Sex Is Only Dirty If You Do It Right", "Landon Wants To Be In A Ska/Punk Band", also "Rancid IS Better Than Common Rider". It just adds to the character of the band. Lastly, Model Citizen plays... punk? We'll call it that. They don't sound like anything else we have around here and that's hard to say. MC is also a three piece, but most the time I like to think of them as only guitar and drums considering their bassist is so drunk half the time he never plays right. It still makes for a great show. So throw those three bands and about forty sweaty kids in a basement and you've got my Sunday night. You'd also have to add in the "spank machine", Steak 'N Shake (which is nowhere near as good as Denny's), some birthday cake, and a banana suit. Yep, that just about sums it up. Amazing.

Amanda Gelso.


"You Spoke To Me" by The Smoking Popes seems to pop up on my ipod a lot.
It's a real great song, by an inspirational band.
My number one show of all time goes out to them.

Fashion show at Pop's?

For the past two weeks Mandi and Jane have been pressuring me into going to Bring Me The Horizon with Bury Your Dead at Pop's and with the events of this past weekend I said, "Why not?" So we show up and I swear to you, it was the same six people over and over again. I laughed, real hard. It felt like a huge fashion show with most of the kids wearing something along the lines of a black cutoff t-shirt with "HIGH VOLTAGE HEAVY METAL" printed on the back. Oh yeah.
The bands:
Some random band from St. Louis that made me laugh extremely hard considering their frontman kept mentioning 50 cent and tore off his tall tee to expose an airsoft bullet-proof vest. Entertaining. Needless to say they didn't get much applause.
This Hollywood Machine who always put on a great show. No matter what I will always love these boys, they're super hillarious. All of them (except youngin Will who's 17) are over 21 and love zombies. They only like to play music, read The Zombie Survival Guide, play Zombies, and read comic books. Plus they're all so musically talented; guitarists Justin and Tim are twins that have been playing together from the start, bassist Aaron is just amazing he really puts his all into it, drummer Will knows how to throw out them beats. I really don't have an opinion on this new vocalist, he can scream I'll give him that.
Next was Nights Like This (or Nights Like These, I can't remember) they had a different sound. I liked it a lot. It can only be described as mellow heavy. It made me smile.
The next band I wanted to shoot, I didn't care to know their name.
Bring Me The Horizon was epic, yes epic. First of all, british accents. Secondly, good hair. And most important, they sound just as good if not better live than on their record. Oliver was so hype, he put his all into it and that's all I needed to see. The crowd I hated, but I dealt with it. I don't know, all in all they made me smile. They need to come back asap, but being from the UK it probably won't be for a while.
I left before Bury Your Dead.


What happened to my writing?
It's so unorganized.

Amanda Gelso


"Don't Let Them See You Cry" by Manchester Orchestra
By far my favorite song right now.

Of course.

October 21st, 2007, what will I be doing you ask? Not at the Pageant. Not enjoying the best show ever to come to St. Louis. Not dancing to the sweet tunes of Brand New. More than likely, driving around listening to Brand New only being thankful that I won't be at the one show he'll ever attend. Unless I convince Benjamin Waitukaitus to sell me his extra ticket, which I doubt he will even though he owes me for buying him pancakes. Let's hope.

Amanda Gelso.

Go listen to The Honorary Title.

So Easy.

Last night, although it started off rocky, couldn't have gone better. So I had been debating on going to this Lorene Drive show for a couple weeks now and yesterday I was like whatever I need to dance I'm going. Lauren was supposed to go with me. Needless to say she didn't. My friend Katie had offerred to go with me if she bailed, she didn't answer her phone. It was just me by my lonesome and I was perfectly fine with that. Well, I headed to St. Louis early to stop by my sisters and grab something to eat, and while I was being sweet and stuff I got on MySpace and saw that SoTheySay had posted a bulletin. So I opened it. Come to find out the Creepy had cancelled Lorene Drive's show at two o'clock that afternoon and told them only when they arrived in St. Louis, shitty. But some awesome kids in Last Night's Vice hooked them up with a show at Hessler's in South County. I was syked even though I had no idea where this bar was, but it was eight dollars cheaper and the doors opened earlier. So off I was to this random bar on Tesson Ferry by myself.

When I get there about fifteen other people are there, all just standing around staring at each other. It was real awkward, but after about ten minutes of this uneasiness this random girl calls me over (she was sort of drunk) and starts talking to me. She was real nice and told me that if I ever needed anyone to go to a show with to call her, then she got my number and my name even though I never learned hers. Then after about another forty-five minutes of standing around randomly talking to people Last Night's Vice goes on. They were real fun. I suggest you go see them October 13th, however I won't be there. After seven or eight super dancy tunes The High Court played. Ohhhh my. They were really good, they seemed so excited to be playing. And let me tell you their guitarist had probably one of thee most amazing guitars I've seen in a while. They won me over so quick with a bassist who had a beard, an amazing guitar, and a sweet sound. Oh, and come to find out these random girls I was talking with helped set up the show and The High Court basically just stayed at their house all day and smoked weed with them? How odd. But they sounded good, so I tipped them three dollars. Finally with a wasted lead singer and killer sounds was Lorene Drive. Daniel was so excited that he could be wasted while playing this show it got intense. He had the sound guy put extra reverb in his mic, it was fun time. There were probably only six other people that knew the words to any of these songs one of these being Joseph Hamilton (lead singer of SoTheySay) who kept assisting in furthering Daniel's wasted state. On top of their fun melodies LD also has this amazing guitarist named Stephen, I'm pretty sure he's my idol. He can play those six strings like a god.

Last night was the good show I needed, it felt good to be around just a few people who actually cared about the music.


Amanda Gelso.


I've been listening to Taking Back Sunday "Where You Want To Be" Lately.
Strange.

Writer's block.

I actually did end up going to two of those shows. First was the Belleville show on Friday featuring How To Steat And Cheal and Suburban Epidemic. It was okay, King's Queen Jack played for like an hour and considering they have probably three songs of their own and covered around six Blink 182 songs I wanted to stomp everyone's face in. I didn't even get to see Suburban Epidemic because they didn't get to play until midnight and that's when Mandi had to be home. I was real upset that night. You probably didn't want to be around me. Then I was asked to go to Drop Dead Gorgeous on Sunday by Mandi, because she didn't have a ride and what was I supposed to do, say no? Definately not. That's so unlike Amanda Gelso. So I went and I missed Novella, which I was somewhat upset about because I wanted to see their new bassist. Then it was 1997 who were amazing, they put on such a good show and had a complete sound. (Plus v-necks with vests always win me over.) Still Remains played after them and killed it. They were so hype and into it, the sweat was pouring off of their guitarist after about six minutes. It was amazing. Their lead singer, I haven't gotten around to his name, was a real sarcastic asshole and I loved him. I love it when band members are totally down with just sitting around and talking with you. We had an interesting conversation. Ahhh, next was Drop Dead Gorgeous. They did alright, not a fan and their performance didn't persuade me otherwise. It was all decent. We only stayed for a few songs of Aiden and I didn't really pay attention because after having to deal with some extra annoying girls during Drop Dead, I wasn't quite down for it anymore.

But Monday! Yes, Monday was The Used with The Bled, Army of Me, and Josephine Collective. It was a fun show. I'm not a big fan of the Pageant, but I still managed and had a good time. First up was Josephine Collective, they've got a good sound and a couple of jackasses for vocalists. I seriously wanted to strangle them both with a mic cord, they were distracting and really took away from the performance. Up next was Army of Me who were amazing but definately were the odd ones out on the tour. During AofM there was a little disturbance that kind of left me bitter for a while and took away from the rest of the show, but oh well it's over. Next was the Bled who I so thankfully got to the pit for. I love them, I really do. They've got a good sound, they're fun, not to mention his hair. Although I was ready to knock of these girls behind me who only wanted Bert's nuts. Please. They opened with The Last American Cowboy which got me really excited then didn't play anything else I liked, which I'm fine with but I wanted to hear Guttershark real bad. Lastly was the almighty Used who if you want my opinion really disappointed me. I was hoping for the Used that inspired me, I wanted I'm A Fake, Blue and Yellow, Sound Effects and Overdramatics. I don't like their new sound. I think I was just expecting too much of them, I was expecting them to be the show of the year. They're just another band, maybe it's just because I've changed musically but I know if I would have heard Bert yell the intro to I'm A Fake it would have made my year. I just remember the passion I used to see in them. I saw it in Jeph and in Quinn. After talking to Dan I got it. I don't see it from Bert, I think this is just a career to him now. I don't like that. Oh well, it's what happens.

Next show, probably Hanson.
I need a really good show soon.
I hate Collinsville.

Sign off.
Amanda Gelso


Song: "Exit Signs" Playing With Matches

If you have the chance to...

there are three shows this week alone, none of which I will be attending. I hate being broke. But back to the shows. The first one is tonight and will probably be such an amazing show. It's Mustard Plug and Mu330 (even if they are playing with BAMF! and Mustache Heroes it'll be great) at the Creepy. I believe it's ten dollars to get in without the surcharge. The next show is this Friday at The Broadway Center of Art featuring Suburban Epidemic and How To Steat And Cheal (who if you want my opinion is probably number two for local ska) at 7. It's only five bucks and it's HTSAC's drummer Mikey's last show. To keep your weekend going you could always head back to the Creepy to check out Koffin Kats with quite a few local bands such as Benedict Arnold. It's ten dollars plus probably a two dollar surcharge. I would totally go to all these shows and dance my heart out, but I'm broke. So you should probably go and experience it for me. :)
Oh yeah, Drop Dead Gorgeous with NOVELLA Sunday. I wouldn't suggest going, but hey if you dig it you dig it.

.Amanda Gelso

and if you want to check out Amanda Gelso Likes to Rant About Nothing go here.

With September 10th Brings Sad News.

Today at roughly 5:20 p.m. (Central Time) relayed to me through a MySpace bulletin was the saddest news I've heard in a while; Spitalfield is calling it quits. Now, those of you that know me know that Spitalfield was a big part of my life for a while, and upon reading said bulletin I shed a tear. That's right, I cried. But with the sad normally comes a glint of exciting. That glint this time would be that they're doing a goodbye tour and for the first time in months they'll be hitting up the St. Louis area, more like Sauget. This makes me so happy, even though it will be the last time I ever get to see them at least they're giving it one last bang. So everyone mark your calenders for November 11, 2007; Spitalfied, The Forecast, The Graduate, Attention, and LUDO (or so that's the lineup I'm led to believe right now) at Pop's. It should be a fun one, so start saving now, I'm sure it won't be much, and you'll be garaunteed the chance to dance.

Signing off,
Amanda Gelso.


Current Obsession: Valencia.

And in the beginning Amanda Gelso created a blog.

I was going through one of my handful of previous xangas the other day and it just brought back so many memories of these great shows I had been to and forgotten about. I need to start doing that again, not only to look back upon one day but to help you kids realize one of the healthier (and I feel best) outlets out there. So here it goes..