April 2003 Archives

Yesterday was so great! I have lots to tell....

I did definitely notice it was Billy?s show. But boy does he know how to rock out!! Ahh! All those solos were so awesome, he would just come and stand right in front of me at the edge of the stage and do some soloing. And Jimmy! Jimmy is the drummer from the Smashing Pumpkins, and it?s a great thing they still have him, he was amazing last night during the first song (Jesus I --> God?s gonna set this world on fire --> soul machine). They were loud, but that is definitely an awesome way to be able to see BC rock out. Lots of energy. They did the Beatles cover right after the first song ? Don?t Let Me Down. They did not play my favorite quiet songs (For Your Love and Friends as Lovers) but Broken Heart and Heartsong were both very nice. I also screamed when they started to play the last song, Spilled Milk, it?s like their epic rock anthem.

Paz is my favorite female bassist. Her vocals were pretty last night. She is a classically trained violinist and pianist (she played piano on Don?t Let Me Down. The rest of the time Dave Pajo played piano if he wasn?t on guitar.) and she rocks at bass. She had a great stage presence I thought. Her shoes were really cute, I noticed them right away :)

So yesterday I got to see Zwan THREE times! Mathew and I went to East Atlanta and met LL for lunch around 12. It was really nice to catch up with her. She told us goofy stories about New Zealand. She said she?s been talking to C. again and he is going to be in town this weekend to visit his sister, but she and him are supposed to hang out Friday night and she?s not dating anybody else right now :x

I found out that Zwan was doing an acoustic LIVE X recording for 99x at 2, and I emailed the radio station guys at 99x telling them that I would do promotions (handed out posters and stickers) for the people there, so I was able to get into this show for free. Matt and I ended up going to this place called Tree Sound Studios and handing out promo stuff to people in line. When the band arrived we were allowed to go backstage with the band and management because of my work. Gooch, the band?s tour manager, invited us into this little room the size of our family room to listen to Zwan?s soundcheck. It was like our own personal show, Zwan was pretty much just playing to us. It was SO COOL!! All acoustic, and there was a piano right next to my spot. Billy came over to the piano and played Endless Summer, and we were so close that we could hear him sing without a microphone. After that they let the people in line into the room (there were about fifty people) and Zwan performed an acoustic seven song set that will be aired on the radio in the next week or two.

After that ended, we asked if we could get into the Tabernacle early to decorate it with posters. So we went to the Tabernacle, there were already kids waiting in line and by the tour buses. We went inside, it was completely empty, and we decorated the front bar and all the poles and walls upstairs with posters, but they were gone by the time fans entered the venue. We had time to kill once we were finished hanging posters, so Matt and I went backstage to the catering room to wait around. Dave Pajo (the Z guitarist who came out during the first band to play drums) came in and started to talk to us, and then we somehow ended up getting to eat dinner with him! It was great... Dave is really cool and nice. He talked about how people scare him which was funny because during the show Billy tried to get Dave to say something to the crowd and all he did was wave shyly. We talked about music with him for a really long time and said hi to some of the other band members (but not Billy, he wasn?t around). We also found out that Zwan?s band manager once managed the Cars which is really neat.

After that, Dave let us store our leftover stickers and posters and sweaters in his room so we didn?t have to hang onto them during the show. We got to stand in the very middle in front of the bar when the venue opened the doors and everybody came in. That?s why I got such a perfect spot :D

Then there was the show, which was amazing and I was very happy and excited. At one point, Billy tossed his guitar pick out into the crowd really fast, and I reached out and grabbed it ? he was impressed by my catch because he pointed at me with a surprised look :-p it?s a neat pick though... It has a drawing of his face on one side and says ZWAN on the other. All of the band members apparently have a picture of their face on their own guitar picks.

After the show, we went backstage again. We didn?t get a chance to really talk to Jimmy or Paz or Matt because their friends in Atlanta were there and we didn?t want to interrupt them. Jimmy did say he saw us enjoying the show though. Pajo came over to our corner and we ended up talking to him again for about half an hour. Billy only poked his head in the door but we shook hands and he smiled a big smile at me so that was pretty cool. He?s a really huge man, about 6?4. A bit intimidating.

Another funny thing ? I had several fans mistake me for Paz. Right after the show when I was sitting at a table, three guys ran up to me ?THAT WAS AN AMAZING SHOW!!? and they asked me to autograph something LOL. Later on I was standing near the window where about 100 kids were waiting on the band to come out to the tourbus, and I looked up and all of these kids were waving at me so I waved back. I looked out again later and they waved again. So when Matt and I left, we went out there to hand out stickers from behind the caution tape, and all these kids started to go pretty chaotic, and three people tried to take my picture (I told them not to) and I made this one boy mad because I wouldn?t sign anything and I was trying to explain to him my name is NICOLE not PAZ. There were just all of these arms and pens and cameras waving in the air. Security even started to protect us! It was hilarious.

Today I?m really tired but it was definitely worth that experience. I couldn?t have been happier. Dinner with Pajo, catching a guitar pick, having a private concert, getting to see them three times. Pajo emailed the person I work for and told him that we were really cool and that he says hi. Isn?t that nice?

On a side note, I think you would enjoy Pajo?s solo music... Under the title ?Papa M? his newest record is ?Whatever, Mortal? and it?s a very quiet, acoustic/poetry-based record