A lot of SHIT has happened too, but the amazing things keep balancing them out. I expect this pattern to continue, but no matter what happens from now on in, everything that happened at San Fran will put a surreal smile on my face for the rest of my life.
I also want to post about my time in San Fran but that will come once I get the concerts and happenings off my chest.
Anyway.
After we arrived in San Fran, we decided to stroll past The Warfield Theatre where the concert was. I wanted to check out the line. I wanted my mini Patton to have a photo op:
At the time, the line was non-existent, so we went around the side of the building and chatted up the security and such. We talked to this one super friendly security guy who reminded me of everyone's crazy stoner uncle with crazy stories of The Grateful Dead and gave us some convoluted travel suggestions for San Fran.
Later we got in line - some of my FNM fan friends were holding us a spot near the front of the line.
Aside from seeing my favourite band ever live for the first time, I was also super excited to finally meet the FNM Coachella Boardies, Twitterers and Bloggers that I had been geeking out with over the last 6 months. Everyone I met was even more awesome in person.
Anyway, as soon as the doors open, Mike (my bf) and I make a beeline for the very front. Last time I had such an awesome position at a concert was in 1996 when I saw the Smashing Pumpkins at Seattle's Moore Theatre.
This picture above is actually taken by the photographer for the San Francisco Weekly. It appears on their website here. I'm pretty sure I'm actually watching the Cloggers in this pic (see below).
As you can see from that photo too, we were in a prime spot (the Warfield is a small theatre) to witness everything up close, including the opening acts:
Our MC for the night(s) the terrible Neil Hamburger (who is so bad he's good...sometimes..."What's worse than 911? 311!")
Ex-Dead Kennedy's singer Jello Biafra (politics aside, he put on a good show)
And the Barbary Coast Cloggers....yeah....what? A troupe of dancing men opened for FNM? They did.
Then came GO TIME. Mike Patton came out with his pimp silver velvet suit, playing the melodica for their opening of Midnight Cowboy which then led into The Real Thing. Unbelievable.
The concert was unreal. I was hella squished though, having the mosh pit at my back and pressing me into the rail. Sometimes when a heavier song kicked in I was like, OH NO, but I survived. Helped that my bf was behind me too and not some stranger rubbing up to me. There was this really annoying guy next to me who kept distracting me from the concert though...he was singing obnoxiously and trying to toss his business cards on stage. I kept praying for Patton to take him out but alas, no such luck.
But none of that really mattered since I had the same concert the next night...this is why I had no qualms with going to two back-to-back FNM shows. As soon as the concert was over I just wanted to relive it all over again.
That aside, this concert's(Tuesday, April 13th, Warfield) highlights were King for a Day, The Real Thing, I Started a Joke, Richochet, Be Aggressive and....MJ's Ben?
You can see my wee blonde head in this video, immediate front left of the center security guard in blue (who later was like, "you have the coolest shirt ever" re: my Tomahawk shirt), and beside a bald guy whose hand is forever in the air AND IN MY FACE grrr. :P
After the show was over, me and my FNM buddies went to a local Irish bar to rehash the show and get our drunk on.
When that was over, the latter highlight of the night came. Three of us decided to walk past the Warfield since it was on the way to the hotel (on the way through the worst part of SF haha). Our friend was already there, hanging outside. It was 3AM at this point but we thought, why not?
Upon arriving I can already see maybe 10 people outside, as well as guitarist Jon Hudson and bassist Billy Gould.
Both of them were so nice...Jon is aways super quiet, so it was no surprise that he was a super chill, polite guy.
And Billy. I LOVE BILLY! Seriously, he is so down to earth and I follow him on Twitter, so I couldn't wait to finally meet him. He and Roddy, the keyboardist, are part of the original members and the most vocal and supportive of the band (Patton and Jon came later).
He was just as nice as I had imagined, and so wonderful and gracious. Gah! You're awesome Mr. Gould!!
After Jon and Billy left, we waited a little bit more and then Mr. Patton came out. Drunk as a skunk, haha, and super mellow and chilled out, which isn't really the Patton you see very often.
I got him to sign my mini Patton, which was hilarious.
At first he looked at it like: WTF is this? Is this me? He looked so confused until someone pointed out that it was indeed him and that his record company Ipecac company made the figurine.
He was like, "Oh, right, yeah" and then signed the top of mini Patton's head.
The world imploded.
Actually it's quite amazing how intricate he made his signature out to be, considering how distracted he was. It's so detailed it looks like a chinese character.
Anyway, we all talked to Mike for a little bit until his handlers pretty much made him leave in a cab.
It was an amazing end to an amazing night. And the next night got even crazier!
NEXT POST I'll answer such questions as: How did Mike Patton kick me in the head? Will I look like an idiot on the upcoming Faith No More DVD? And, did Chuck Mosley (one of the original singers of FNM) ever end up bumming a ride to LA from someone?
Plus...cheerleaders.
