Jessica, Ronnie (Jessica's dad), and myself left Jessica's house around 12:00 PM. The three of us arrived in Columbus, Ohio, a little after 1:00 PM, or something in that approximate range of time. After we arrived at the venue, and took care of parking, we decide to walk around the area of the venue for a while to pass the time, as we had arrived several hours early -- the doors to the venue did not open up until 6:30 PM. The weather in Columbus, Ohio, on February 18th was absolutely atrocious. In fact, the weather was down right cold. Bitter, bitter cold. Without keeping track of the wind chill factor, it was around minus zero. Then, adding the wind chill, it was worse than that. After walking around for a bit, we decided to go into Starbucks to take a bathroom break, and to sit down and to enjoy some hot chocolate. After we were finished with our cocoa, we headed back to the venue, where we became the third group of people waiting in line, which would turn out to be four hours of waiting, after everything was said and done.

While waiting at the doors, Jessica and I continuously kept peaking inside the venue doors, where we seen three band members. Lzzy, from Halestorm, Pat, from Flyleaf, and James, from Flyleaf. I was first to see Lzzy, as I was the only one peering into the building. I noticed Lzzy waving at me, so I waved back with this ridiculous grin on my face. Halestorm is not my cup of tea whatsoever, but I was happy to see Lzzy. I do not have to be a fan of the band, but I can still maintain a level of civility, no? Pat and James walked by several times more, and Jess and I continued to watch (Those boys are just adorable, by the way....).

We continued to wait at the doors, counting the hours, and hoping it would get closer to 6:30 PM. As time passed, more and more people arrived, making the show sold-out. Pretty soon, everyone heard sound check. Shinedown's sound check was first, then Flyleaf's, then Halestorm's. For some reason, we did not hear Seether's, which I found to be somewhat odd. I cannot tell you how happy Jess and I were when we heard Lacey singing. I think I squealed, and my eyeballs got really big, because one of the men who were standing by us was giggling at me, and making fun of me in a playful manor, saying ''OMG! IT'S LACEY! LACEY, I LOVE YOUUUU!''. I suppose he thought I was thinking that in my mind, given my facial expressions at that time.

Finally, after much (cold) waiting, 6:30 PM arrived. We found out that women and men would be patted down for our safety, and everyone seemed to think that to be legit. Women were to go to the right, and men to the left. From there, we handed in our tickets, and we made our way inside the venue. Jessica and I were dead center. When I say dead center, I mean dead center. Though we were inside the venue, there was still a lot of waiting to occur.

After about 45 extra minutes of waiting once indoors, Halestorm made their way to the stage. As I stated once before, Halestorm is not my cup of tea. However, for the music they make, they are okay in my opinion. Halestorm is not a band I would find myself going to see live anymore, etc., but they were not terrible for what they do. I make this decision after seeming them live more than once, by the way.

Each stage change took somewhere around 20 - 30 minutes. You had the technical people on stage working to take the sets apart, and you had the band members themselves helping out as well. So, that helped to dwindle the time it took to put everything back in it's own, individual, place. Flyleaf was up next, after Halestorm, and Jessica and I were just ecstatic. Jared came out on stage first, and I told Jessica to yell to him, and she did. Jared seen us, and he smiled and waved. Sammer did sound check while James check his drum set. Lacey and pat were last to come out. While Jess was watching Jared hook his guitar up, I noticed someone bringing the microphone stand all the way down. I cannot believe how tiny Lacey is! It is absolutely adorable! Flyleaf's set they put on was fantastic. In the room, there was incredible energy. Nearly everyone was moving, screaming, crowd surfing, etc. Lacey for some reason looked rather sad. Or, perhaps she was tired. Anyhow, once more, Flyleaf was fantastic, and I cannot wait to see more of them live!

Shinedown made the stage, and everyone was happy. Like Halestorm, Shinedown is okay for what they do. I think there is a chance that I could end up liking Shinedown. I cannot make a legit decision at this current time because I have only seen them live one time, and judging off that would not be fair, quite simply. Shinedown's set got everyone worked up, more so than how everyone was during Flyleaf's set, which, I did not think was possible, as the mosh pit was going insaaaaaaaaane. The lead singer of Shinedown kind of frightened me, because he was making his eyes bulge out of his head, and he was growling out people, saying he better not ''hear one more fuck you comment'' or he'll find you, and get you with his ''army''. He was also making himself shake, and he was just being flat out weird....

Seether was the last band to go on. To be completely honest, I am quite disappointed in Seether's set tonight. Out of the times I have seen Seether live, this was my least favorite. The band kept dragging the songs out, adding too many extra things into the songs, changing lyrics back and forth like mad, so much in fact, you could hardly keep track of the song. Another thing that got me was the set list. I do not remember the set list exactly, but I think there could have been a better set list. This is my opinion, however. It may not seem legit to you, but, that is how I feel.

After the show, Jessica and I went to find Ronnie. Ronnie was across the venue, waiting for us, holding his signed Halestorm EP. Jess and I immediately ran to the Flyleaf merch booth, where signing was being held. After three years of being a fan, I finally got to meet Flyleaf. Everyone was so nice, and so kind, I could not believe it. Lacey cheered up, too. All of the band members shook my hand, and attempted to make conversation, but Jess and I had to hurry up and leave because it would take a while for us to get home. After I purchased nearly all the Flyleaf merchandise (everything save for one shirt.... I ran out of money), we left.



The show was great, all around. Sure, I was disappointed with Seether, but I still love them, and they are still fantastic. You cannot expect every concert to be 100% flawless to the ''standards'' that you set.

Oh, I do have some complaints....

The mosh pit was starting to scare me. Especially because the mosh pit was right by Jess and I. We were in the heart of it. There were countless people crow surfing, and people were not simply passing them along, they were throwing them, and trying to hurt people. One guy landed on Jess and I.

There were also many, many drunk people who were trying to start fights. There was this one group of girls, who were about to break out in a huge fight. These girls were trying to push Jess out of the way, so these other girls pushed them out of the way, and told them to stop. They didn't, so alas, I told the security guard who was less than arms length away from me, and he did nothing. So, the men standing next to Jess and I pushed them and their little boyfriends away. That was the last of them. But, we did have one idiot girl piss on the floor. This girl was highly intoxicated. Even when you are intoxicated, you still have self-control. Especially at age 23. She pulled her pants down, and she pissed on the floor. What is worse is that Jess and I had to stand on it. She practically pissed on us.

Just when I think I'm So Sick was down and out, the song is having a second wind at Active Rock pulling into the top 20 for the first time and rising steadily. Could be looking at a run similar to 10 Years where Wasteland quietly, but surely creeped into the top after about 5-6 months of airplay.

Aside from that, the song is #4 on the Music Choice Rock channel. The song has been charting for about a month and has been playing for about two.

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so here are some really crappy pics i took of flyleaf. haha. it was hard, cuz i was trying not to get caught with my camera. i have a few more...

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so here are some more poor quality photos from the, but people wanted to see what i got...so here it is. haha
edit: i also have a small video, which is pretty cool when played without sound...since it's completely distorted. if anyone's interested pm me, and i could send it to you...or possibly upload it to my website.

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Jessica managed to capture a few photographs from our concert in Columbus, Ohio, this past Saturday:

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...liaison/01.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...liaison/02.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...liaison/03.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...liaison/06.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...liaison/08.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...liaison/04.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...liaison/05.jpg

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That's pretty cool!

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Me, too. The minute I heard "Supernatural" I decided that I want to life my life to be like that. That song is one of my all-time favourite songs. I especially life the part where Lacey sings "and his/her voice never raises" and the lyrics "He is teaching me what love really means." I relate to that song so much and that last line I quoted defines everything I've been through during the past year.

I, sadly, have never heard this song before.

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"I'm in a band. How smart can I be???" Ben of Breaking Benjamin