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Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Faith No More in SF Warfield - Part two

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"Check out my epic blog post, Mike"
"Wow"

OK folks, you're going to have to bear with me a bit with this post. I appear to have a mild concussion and my writing skills are a bit off (that's my excuse for a crappy post, haha). This post will also be long and filled with many pictures.

A concussion, you ask. How did that happen?

Well, I don't know if I have one or not, I have many symptoms today but I also suffer from Labyrinthitis (yes, it's a thing!) so it could be that. Going to the doctor tomorrow to get it checked out.

But a concussion is one example of how crap my trip turned out to be at times. Yet how I got it was awesome. So there was a lot of "WORST TRIP EVER" muttered by my bf and I, followed by me smiling uncontrollably. Consensus: a crazy motherfucking vacation.

PS if you wanna go straight to the concert review and pics, you can scroll down and ignore my bitching and whining.

Let's pick up where I left off:

So, grinning like an idiot from just having met Jon Hudson, Billy Gould and Mike Patton (see previous post), my bf and I go back to our hotel (The Powell) which was down the block. It was about 330AM at this point.

We go to bed. I have weird dreaming about scratching myself. I finally wake at 5AM and scratching myself raw in my sleep. My face feels swollen, my arms are lumpy and I have a sinking feeling I have been through this before.

I get up quickly and look in the mirror. I am covered in welts, including one on my cheekbone and on my eye, which has caused one eye to almost swell shut. I look like the elephant man.

I look on the bed and see tons of bed bugs crawling about. I look at my bf, decide not to wake him, then book it downstairs to the front desk in my pjs. The front desk guy looks aghast at my face and quickly gives us a new room on a different floor.

I go back upstairs, wake up my bf and yell "we've got to get out of here!" and quickly pack up everything. Well, almost everything. more on that leter.

Luckily our stuff was not near the bed, so the chances of bedbugs hitching a ride were not as great - this has happened to me before.

Anyway, we move rooms, so tired and hungover and go to bed. I take an allergy pill (i'm allergic to bedbugs) and konk out.

Wake up at noon the next day. I am so groggy and my face is a disaster. How can I go to the concert like this? I thank my lucky stars that I had met Mike Patton the night before and not this night (didn't want to look like a freak in the photos).

There are no bedbugs in the new room, but that doesn't stop us from spraying everything we own with Lysol, just in case. We also plan to wash everything the next day on the drive to Palm Springs.

I look like hell and I feel like shit. My bf complained to the hotel and they did give us a free night which was nice. But by now it's late in the afternoon, I wanted to get in the Warfield lineup at 5-ish and all of our plans for the day are cut short. So much we were gonna see and do and now we were running out of time.

As I try and put makeup on my swollen face, I text my friends whom were sharing the Coachella hotel with me.

Turns out, they have an irrational fear of bedbugs. Even though I was the one brutally bitten (therefore making very sure that no bugs were coming along for a ride), they bailed on the hotel with us. Leaving my bf and I $400 in the hole. Money we do not have.

So, I cried and freaked out. How was I going to come up with $400? I saved the exact amount of money for this trip and there was no way I could pay for the hotel now. Meanwhile I'm covered in bites, I feel like shit, and now WE were majorly screwed over ( my bf is equally as poor as I am and was just as fucked). Where do we get the money??

My friends did try to find us a new place to stay at, but whatever they found was still more expensive because we still weren't allowed to share a room with them, plus it was out of the way. I had booked my hotel in December and it was a 10-min drive from the venue and I did budget my gas costs into that as well.

I did however find some friends of mine who were screwed out of a place to stay, so for a day it seemed like they were gonna take my friend's place. But alas, fate laughed and in the end they didn't end up staying with us. Go figure!!

But, despite all the shit, I was still smiling. I was so happy from meeting Patton and watching the concert I had been waiting for for years, that I pushed the crap aside.

ON TO THE SHOW


We even managed to get up to Haight and Ashbury on the craziest bus ever, and took a walk around that awesome area...but I'll do a post on that later :)

OH and before that, we walked past the concert venue and talked to the security guard I befriended the day before (very Chris Farely in Wayne's World haha). I told him my bedbug story and as I was doing so I saw Roddy Bottum (FNM's keyboardist and Twitterer) going in through the side door.

I waved at him, surprisingly nonchalantly "Oh, hey Roddy!"

He stopped and poked his head out the door and waved back, "hey, how are you?"

"I'm good. Awesome show last night, by the way. Looking forward to tonight!"

"Cool, thanks very much. See you tonight!"

And then as the door was closing I yelled "PLAY CRACK HITLER!" then turned back to the security guard and finished our convo. Lol. So surreal.

Anyway, after our Haight and Ashbury tour, we got in line at the Warfield where I saw a bunch of my friends from the night before. Made the hour fly by, just being surrounded by crazy FNM fans everywhere you turned. Lots of people liked my homemade Mr. Bungle tank top and also took pics of my Angel Dust boots, which was cool

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When the doors opened and we went into the building, I made a beeline for the first tier railing. The night before I was at the barricade with my bf and we had earlier decided to not be in that squish fest again.

But when I saw my friend Josh going for the barricade again, I had a change of heart. Call me greedy, I needed to be at the front again! So my bf decided to stay at the railing with a new friend of ours and I went to the barricade, committed to the bruised ribs and hips chaos that i knew would follow.


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Josh and his wide legs saving my spot.

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Mike and Andy at the railing.


Just as it had been the night(s) before, Neil Hamburger was once again the MC. But instead of JellO Biafra we got White Trash Debutantes, which was a kooky concept that got old pretty fast (and included a horrendous lead singer who looked like Edie Izzard in 20 years):

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And instead of the Barbary Coast Cloggers that we got on Tuesday, we got....


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The El Camino High School Cheerleaders?

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YUP! It was hilarious. They apparently won a contest to perform. I know it couldn't have been easy to have them doing their stunts in front of confused and scary-looking Faith No More fans, but they did great and I was cheering them on extra loud!

Finally, FNM came out. They started with their cover of "Reunited" straight into From Out of Nowhere and Land of Sunshine. Personally I liked the Midnight Cowboy into The Real Thing intro that they did the other night, but man I was happy anyway.

This night was better for me. Despite the itchy bug bites, I wasn't as squished this time at the front and I was a lot more into the music (because I had my friends around me and not some annoying pushy guy jabbing into me every five seconds).

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Mr. Bungles!

Also, because I was to the side of Patton and in front of Roddy, I was out of the way of crowd-surfers. Or so I thought.

I thought the set-list from Tuesday night was better, but I thought Ashes to Ashes was tighter this night, I loved Digging the Grave, was so happy they played King for a Day (which was gorgeous!), loved the cover of Lady Gaga's Poker Face as the intro into Chinese Arithmetic and went CRAZY for Cuckoo for Caca. It's one of their harder songs but man I loved it live. The only weak link I thought was Evidence...but that's just me! Was still cool to watch.


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Anyway, the concert was legendary...I just had the best time, I didn't want it to end.

But it did have to end...when Patton did his encore of "Just A Man" by climbing on to the speakers on the side of the stage, we knew something special was going to happen.


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No one can scream like Patton

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No one can wear...skull socks?

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Takes concert-goer Eddie's hat

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Not looking 42 here...looking very Angel Dust-era, no?

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Looks to Roddy as if to say "Should I jump on the fans?"

Roddy's face says "No."
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But this happened (YOU MUST WATCH):



He flipped (FLIPPED!) over my head, and with all his kicking as he crowd-surfered towards me, he - Mike Patton - ended up booting me right in the head.

I dropped my camera and quickly ducked down into the crowd, searching the floor frantically for my camera before it got trampled. My head was killing me and for a minute I thought I might actually pass out, but I did find my camera.

I came back up, totally out of sorts but happy my camera wasn't broken.

But everyone around me thought Patton had kicked me unconcious. Even the cameraman and security gaurds were looking for me, thinking I was out cold on the floor, getting trampled. At the end of the video above, you can see my friend Aleem grab Patton's feet to stop him from kicking and then look on the ground at me.

Anyway, a huge bump immediately formed on my head and it felt sick to touch it but I brushed it off - I thought it was hilarious, actually - and continued to watch the show.

Then I heard the start of one of my favourite songs, As the Worm Turns. I was all psyched to hear it as a second encore and then....

Chuck Mosely came out.

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Yes, the singer that Mike Patton had to replace. He originally "sang" Worm, We Care a Lot, Anne's Song, etc in the 80's. He was going to do The Real Thing but the band kicked him out for being a moron and brought Patton on to record vocals (when Patton was 22) at the last minute.

ANYHOO - It was awesome to see Chuck come out, mainly because this was history in the making. This will never happen again, and once Patton and Chuck did a duet of Introduce Yourself, we all knew it was something we would never forget.


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And they got a standing ovation from the crowd:

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My friend Dave got the setlist from someone from Minnesota (just like him) and I talked to one of the staff members I had befriended and he gave me one of Jon's pics.


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So the show ended and we came out into the street only to face the camera crew who were filming the show for the upcoming FNM concert DVD.

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Man, this was hilarious. I don't remember much of what I said (kinda just high from the show!) but I know I showed them my Angel Dust boots, I know they asked us "Why do you love Faith No More so much?" but for the life of me I can't remember what I said!

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Then we talked for a bit about other stuff, I don't really remember, and was entertained by pick-pocketing cancer survivor who had no idea who FNM was, but just wanted a dollah. Man, I hope she's on the DVD!

After the filming was over, we all went to a sports bar up the street. While we were perusing Dave's setlist and having a few beers, my friend Wendy texted me saying that Puffy had just come out of the Warfield. Now Puffy was the one band member I hadn't met yet.

So we finished our beers and then I remember booking it through the crappiest neighbourhood in San Francisco (at 2AM, no less) in order to get there in time.

Turns out Puffy (and Roddy) had come and gone, but we did manage to get Billy again, which was awesome just because he's so awesome. Filmed him talking to my friend Mark for a bit too, Billy's really enjoying the FNM reunion, hints at a future (at least, he's got a lot left in him).

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We decided to wait it out for a bit, maybe see Patton again, plus the film crew was still there. But then, lo and behold, Chuck Mosely came out.

I'm not a Chuck fan but it was pretty funny to see him. He kinda looked like he had bedbugs himself lol. He was nice though and chatted to us for awhile...OK it turns out he was asking people for a ride to LA.


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photo by Aleem Khan

He even signed my friend's ticket stub: Chuck was here. LOL. Classic. And a funny moment. But once the novelty wore off, we knew we were still waiting for Patton.

And then he came out...round two.

Unlike the last night, where Patton was super mellow and a bit distracted, this time he was equally drunk but as snarky as you expect Mike Patton to be. It was a nice change lol, now this is the Wolfmother-slagging Patton we all know and love :P

I wanted a picture with him, this time with him actually looking in the camera, so we did:

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Yes, my swollen face from the bed bug bites. Ugh.

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photo by Aleem Khan

That's a better angle.

It's funny...there were many things I had always planned to say or ask Patton when I met him. I forgot the night before to ask him the stuff so you would think I would have remembered again the second time.

But alas I didn't. Musta drawn a blank. But then I remembered, as he was talking to someone else, that I should show him my boots.

So I went up to him again and was like, "Oh wait, you've gotta see my boots."

I was a bit pushy, so it probably served me right that he looked down and said, "I did NOT need to see those."

I remember not having a clever comeback, then turning to my boyfriend, making a fake sad face and saying "I was pwned!" lol.

That was pretty funny though, so I just watched my friends talk to him and get their pictures taken too.

That was until the camera man spotted me and yelled at Patton, "hey check out the bump on the blonde girl's head, you kicked her there."

Well, Patton turns around and looks at me and I'm like "OH GOD, this is embarassing."

I shrug and look at him, "It's nothing. Just a love bump." (Love bump? WTF? Good one, me)

But then he sighs and gives me his drink to hold.


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Feels the bump on my head...

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photo by Aleem Khan


And says, "Oh, there is no bump on your head." Clearly, there was, because I could feel his hand going up and down over it but yeah, I get it, the minute he admits he kicked me in the head, he's liable.

But I honestly didn't mind and I told him so. The way I see it, I could have been kicked by any crowdsurfer but instead it was by my idol. Makes a good story, anyway.

So, after that somewhat embarassing incident happened (thanks for singling me out, cameradude), I turned and mingled with the rest of the crowd.

Turns out there was a very nice girl whom Patton kicked in the FACE. She had quite the bump on her cheekbone and I immediately didn't feel very bad about my situation.

Then the cameraman called me over to talk to him (off camera). He asked how I was feeling and I said, "I'm totally fine, it hurts to touch but that's about it. At least I wasn't kicked in the face" and gestured to the other girl.

Well...Patton was standing on the other side of me and I guess he was listening to me and the cameraman talking because he turns around, glares at me (he's a good glarer :P) and says, "I did not kick anyone in the face either."

Normally, you'd say that I probably pissed him off, but that's just Mike Patton. I missed his smart-alecklyness the first night and was happy to have it now. And despite our little kerfuffel, I still admire him greatly and think he's a super cool dude. After all, he was taking the time to talk to us, sign things and pose for pictures and he was really nice to everyone. Well....except me :P Go figure!


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My bf Mike stares down Mike as Mike stares down a toy monkey


So that was the end of that epic night. It took me a while to write out because there was just so much to remember and share but I thank you for staying with me on this looooong post. I'm sure I'm coming off as really annoying right now, but I'm still just so overjoyed at the surreal experience!


Photobucket Mike and my friend Mark have a contest on who can glare at the camera more.


It was seriously one of the best nights of my life.


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Oh right. The "concussion." Well, the bump happened a week ago, and on Monday it was still really sore to touch. It's still there too but has gone down a lot.

Well, this morning I woke up horrendously dizzy. Like walking into walls kind of dizzy, room spinning, so tired, etc.

I do suffer from Labyrinthitis from time to time, so it could be just vertigo. Or it could be a mild concussion showing up late. I'm going to the doctor tomorrow to find out for sure. If it it is a concussion, then the story gets even funnier...especially when people ask how I got it!

Seriously though, still lots and lots of Patton and FNM love from me. I think even MORE now. Uh-oh! Can't wait to see him when (and if) he tours with Mondo Cane. At least there would be no crowd-surfing there!


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Oh, and stay tuned for Coachella posts over the next few days. Believe it or not, I had another crowd-surfing incident with Patton on Saturday...but it turned out much better!


(pictures with date stamp by Wendy Kennedy, first photo by Andy Steffen)

37 comments:

Jessi said...

Girl, this is crazy! Bed bugs and potential concussions from rock stars?! Glad you had fun!
xoxo J

Roshan said...

Cool girl, you got to enjoy a concert and meet your idol ...not once but twice. I'm so happy for you. Sounds like it was mostly all fun.

Wanderlusting said...

That pretty much sums it up...mostly all fun.

More bad stuff happened though at Coachella, but also more good stuff, so...it's a balance!

Couture Carrie said...

So fun, gorgeous!
Love these pics, especially the cheerleaders!
Sorry about your concussion!

xoxox,
CC

smokeyandbella said...

Loved reading about the whole FNM experience through your words. Funny how you and I were the only girls in the group photo in front of the Warfield! I do not have words to describe the experience of the shows, meeting everyone from the board and meeting FNM and my idol, also, Patton! Never did I think that would happen. Had such a great time, it will be a week I will hold on to forever!

Wanderlusting said...

Me too Wendy. Can't wait till we can do it all over again!

I'm listening to "Just a Man" right now and can't help but add in Mike's: "Side to side, side to side" haha.

Anonymous said...

You realize if Mike stayed on stage to sing As The Worm Turns the roof of the Warfield would have blown clean off!!

-M

FASHION CHALET said...

You're so cute!

Ra RA RIOT was pretty awesome live. Definitely catch them next time if you can. I so wish I was at Coachella!!!!



xx

smokeyandbella said...

I add that everytime now!!!

Kass said...

Awwwe man, you totally passed up the opportunity to wisecrack Patton back! Dirty fangirl! lol.

Wanderlusting said...

Dude, Patton would own me in wise-cracking every time. I am no match for his sass mouth.

Kass said...

You should have been practicing lol. I'm sure he would have appreciated the attempt?

smokeyandbella said...

Nice link for you on FNM 2.0!
•Commenter Lusty has got the second part of her Warfield post up on her Anywhere but here blog. Billy, bed bugs, Bungle tshirts and bed bugs right this way.

Agree that the roof would have blown of the Warfield if Patton had sang As The Worm Turns!

BonBon Rose Girls Kristin said...

Geesh lady. That WAS one crazy vacay. I hope you aren't concussed!

Fashion Court said...

the only word to describe this post is epic. haha. seriously! your entire experience (sans the problems) was amazing!

and even with bed bugs - you still look gorgeous! SERIOUSLY!

ps: i'm not sure about the price of the pella wedges :(

Fashion Court said...

OH and feel better! head injuries suck :(

Agata said...

Awesome pics I wanted to be here so badly.

Anonymous said...

haha that is a great story!

daisychain said...

Eek poor head.


But totally in awe of the rest of your post!

xx

AsianCajuns (Cath) said...

Wow - what an adventure. It's definitely one of those vacations that you don't realize how great it was until well after it happens and you can't remember any of the bad stuff.

Fashion Cappuccino said...

I'm so sorry to hear about your beg bugs story! I have suffered from them and I know exactly how you feel!! You look gorgeous though!! xxoxoxoxo

Tracy said...

Wow Lusty! You look totally great...how can you have bed bug bite welts when you look so gorgeous?! :D
Sounds like quite the roller coaster ride of a trip..but surely lots ot talk about, yeah?

GS said...

I can't believe you made it up to the front again! Potential internal organ damage via mosh pit there. And bed bugs... holy. That's pretty awful if you could actually SEE them!! Uuughh. Well at least you got a free night. you shouldve got your whole stay free! PS: sunshine blog award for youuuu on my blog, scroll down a post. yiii!

Anonymous said...

Wow Your story is Amazing. Thanks for share everything with us. BTW I love your ADs boots

OnTheGuestList said...

You're very lucky to have got such fantastic photos with everyone and you look really good in all the photos. Mike looks great in them all, too(did he flirt with you...? I bet he did!)

OnTheGuestList said...

You're one of many of us who has received a Patton injury this year.
He fell onto me and a few others during the Melbourne concert on February 25th. I was having such a great time, then I didn't realize how bruised my legs were afterwards and there was dried blood all over my small toe on my left foot. My toenail had come off! and it's still not grown back properly. Mike Patton did that!

Wanderlusting said...

Patton should come with a warning!

No flirting, he just made fun of me with sarcastic glares, looks and comments.

Unless that's his way of flirting. I wouldn't be surprised :P

Cupcake Blonde said...

Only you could turn bed bugs and a concussion into one of the greatest nights of your life! :)

OnTheGuestList said...

Sarcastic comments, glaring, staring, random weirdness and odd behaviour...
That's typical Mike and oh yeah, he definitely liked you. The trick with Mike is that he often likes to "test people out" and he laughs if you're clever and brave enough to answer him back in an even more sarcastic and funny way. He seems to get off on being challenged, especially by women. I made him laugh a few times in Australia and I was satisfied. A lot of people who have met him do find him very intimidating and don't get it, though, so it he can make them nervous.

Wanderlusting said...

Yeah, I didn't come back with a snappy response (brain too slow) but by the end I was glaring back at him. I just kinda expected him to act like "Mike Patton" and I was right.

He was really like...Xanaxed, the first night I met him so it was nice to see his smart-ass side :)

Wanderlusting said...

That said, I don't think he was too impressed by me and my boots, or my bump. I feel like he had complete disdain for me. Probably just some blonde airhead fan...which is only partially true. LOL.

OnTheGuestList said...

Being blonde doesn't mean you're an airhead. I'm blonde and I couldn't give a shit if people think I'm an airhead. Let 'em! In fact, I have to admit that you're the best looking girl I've seen pictured with Mike Patton for a long time and I've seen LOADS of photos of Mike with fans, but mainly much younger than him. Be proud!

Wanderlusting said...

Aww thanks!

I'm not an airhead but I can be scatterbrained. And I am blonde. People like to assume.

I have been thinking about dying my hair dark so people take me more seriously, but then I think I should just embrace being blonde, and fuck em all :)

Annie Spandex said...

OK, now that I've seen the set list I am officially jealous!!! DAMN <3

victorian inn bed and breakfast said...

This is a great event and big fiesta, which is supposed to be a wonderful entertainment for all with a kind of enthusiasm and zeal & zest for sure.

Murdox said...

I must admit, I wouldn't stay in a hotel with bedbugs either. My friends have been through way too many horrific situations with them. They've brought them on their clothes to other friends houses and then those friends went through the same hell having to get exterminators to treat their apartment multiple times...just...BLECK. Nonono.

Why didn't you demand a refund for the extra rooms booked? I would have been livid! Not going to pay to sleep in bugs, thanks. A free night just doesn't cut it!

What a lame situation :\

Murdox said...

PS. I laughed SO hard at the Mike Patton encounters. What a crab.