So I Really Need To Stop Procrastinating...

Last weekend was Ignite in Chicago. I've been stalling blogging about it because there's so much to say...I guess I'll just start at the beginning and when I get to the end, I'll stop.

So I love Chicago. Just for the record. I intend to live there someday. Not sure if I will, but I really hope to. Anyway, the trip there was fun. After checking into the hotel around 11 in the morning, we got pizza at Giordano's. Oh I forgot to say the car got a flat tire. It got fixed though during lunch. Anyway, we left straight from the pizza restaurant to the concert. We missed the first few bands, but we didn't know of them, so it worked out that we got to the baseball stadium just as Fireflight started their set.

After Fireflight came Disciple; I'm not very into music that loud, so I went to wait in a 30-minute line to meet Fireflight.

After that came Matthew West. Not my style either.

Then came Mark Schultz. I regret to say that I like him a whole lot less after seeing him live. He had no...no passion for what he was playing and looked extremely bored the whole time. And you had to pay if you wanted to meet him. Needless to say, I wasn't paying a penny to meet him, even though I used to love his music.

After him came Jeremy Camp. Still not quite my style, but he was very good and afterwards, when I met him, he was extremely nice.

Then came TobyMac. His show was quite flashy, but very entertaining. We had to leave early though, since his show ran later than scheduled.

The second day was the one I was more interested in. We got the stadium as Tenth Avenue North was just doing their sound check. I got to meet some of the bands that had played earlier that day, simply because they looked so sad sitting at their table, Sharpies in hand, with nobody wanting to meet them. They were very nice though.

After Tenth Avenue North, I went up to the front to go see KJ-52. He was definitely fun to hear. Afterwards, my amazing brother had waited in line the entire show for me to meet KJ since the lines were nearly 100 people long before the end of the rapper's set. So I got to meet KJ, but only for about 30 seconds and when my brother tried to get a picture of me with him, the two annoying girls ahead of us jumped in right in front of me. I did happen to get a really cool picture of him though.

After KJ came BarlowGirl. I'm really sorry to anyone out there who loves them, but BarlowGirl is one of those bands I just can't stand. My brother got to meet them, but I didn't even pay attention to their set.

After BarlowGirl came Family Force 5. Now, my relationship with their music is a bit love/hate. Sometimes I love it, but most of the time, it gets on my nerves. They're still 6th on my list of favorite bands though, and luckily, that day I was in the "love" mode. They're very into the show of it all, but they're also very good at what they do, so it was a great set, and I really liked it! My brother was once again amazing (and he hates them anyway haha) so he waited at the beginning of their line for me. I think it might have been the most exciting [non-Relient K] moment of the entire trip when I finally got to the table to meet them. For this one, I do have a picture. Well, sorta.

They didn't allow pictures with the band, so I had to take a picture of the band. [fangirl moment] See?? That's Chappy right across that table!!! :DDD[/moment] I got Dance or Die signed. The strange security guard person wearing a suit and tie tried to make them sign the back. I flipped it over when he wasn't looking so they signed the front.

During all this waiting in line and getting CD's signed by FF5, I missed the first two songs of Skillet. Fortunately, that's all I missed. Their show was quite amazing and I loved it! They sang pretty much all the best songs from Comatose (besides "Falling Inside The Black"...) and both their new songs. I wanted to pre-order their CD, but by the time I reached their booth they'd sold out of pre-order cards. I guess that's what the internet's for.

After Skillet, came the undisputed best part of the entire weekend - Relient K! Forgive the unusually frequent use of exclamation points throughout this paragraph. They started off the show with one of my favorite songs, "Chapstick, Chapped Lips, and Things Like Chemistry" They played some of what I consider their best songs, like "There Was No Thief" and "I Need You" Unfortunately, they only played one of their new songs, "Forget And Not Slow Down", which I gladly know all the words to, thanks to Matt Thiessen posting the official ones! I was right up near the front of the stage for their show and it was amazing! I got 29 pictures of the band, and if anybody leaves a comment asking for it, I'd be glad to send the link to the album.

They didn't meet the fans, so I didn't get my drawing signed, or my FiveScore cover signed, or my Mmhmm cover signed, or my hat signed, or anything signed for that matter. I was also going to do the big reveal of the first picture of me ever on this blog thing, but I didn't even get a picture with them, so that didn't pan out. Guess you'll just have to wait to know what I look like until I finally do get a picture with John Warne...

After Relient K came Third Day. They're not my favorite band (that would be Relient K) but they are pretty good. We had to leave halfway through their show though since we only were staying the one night in the hotel, and had to drive home straight from the concert. The whole trip home, I spent texting my best friend which was fun. I think I'm finally getting faster with the whole "qwerty keypad" thing. Not as fast as I can type on Lappy, but maybe someday. haha

So that's the update. It was an amazing weekend, and I highly recommend you see the following bands live: Relient K, Skillet, Family Force 5, TobyMac, and KJ-52.

Here's to Peace, Love & Chicago-Style Pizza.

~Lola