Sunday night we decided to check out Action Item’s final show of the Stronger The Love Tour in Sayreville, NJ. New Jersey is where the band is from so we figured it would be nice to see them at their hometown show. Little did we know that it was a bit more of a marathon than a show! Doors were at 3:30, so we thought we’d be leaving by 8pm to head home (mostly the reason why we opted to go – it was an early show) but we were WRONG. Band after band was taking the stage…
But before I talk about the stage – let’s go back to the beginning. We stopped at Dunkin Donuts to pick up some food and use the restroom and while we were there – Forrest from Burnham was in line buying stuff! We didn’t end up saying anything to him though. Then once we parked, the guy doing parking said we weren’t close enough and told us to park even closer to the car in front of us. Then the MOM in the car wanted to get in the trunk, so I backed up for her (keep in mind she was lucky we were still in the car!) and then she told me not to pull back so close the next time, instead of thanking me for moving back for her! EXCUSE ME? You may be a Mom, but you are not MY mom (thank god) and I only did what I was told by the parking guys. In fact, I had parked farther away before the guy instructed me to go closer! 😛 (sorry, had to vent)
Finally doors opened and the guards offered a seat to a girl in front of us who had a full leg brace on (and a mini skirt.) When she refused a seat, we asked if I could have one and they said no – because the other girl had on a full leg brace. And I was like “So? My brace goes up to here” and pointed on my leg where it went to. And they seemed confused (sorry, I had on PANTS and not a Mini Skirt. It is November after all) and then we told them I had CP and then they were like “OH! Do you need help with stairs? We can take you inside” Uh, really? How about giving us the time of day the FIRST time we ask for help. Or just been like “Why do you ladies need chairs?” rather than making it seem like I was not as important because I didn’t have a full leg brace on and was wearing pants. (Sorry this review is more me ranting than anything else!)
We got inside and about 4pm the first band took the stage – The Call Out. They were local from New Jersey. Next up was Reverse Order. They were kind of cute but probably much too young for me (the theme of the evening lol). Up next was Hollywood Ending, which was kind of confusing because last month they were on later in the show… but what the heck do I know. Next up was my hometown favorites, Kicking Daisies. Then Memphis High and Megan and Liz…. (we had no idea Memphis High would be there. Not that we knew about the first 2 bands either!) And we were hoping at this point there would be an end in site with Burnham hopefully taking the stage next!
Before Burnham came on stage, Duran from Kicking Daisies asked if he could sit with us, so of course we said yes. He got mobbed for a bit but then he and Ben sat with us in the handicapped section for Burnham’s set! We got pics with them too. That was pretty neat. We also decided it is damn near impossible to get a photo of Forrest because the kid never stands still! I managed to get a couple of halfway decent ones… Not sure how but I guess if you take enough pictures eventually one is bound to come out alright.
Then it was finally time for Action Item! The gap between them and Burnham seemed ridiculous, but I don’t know if it was because we were anxious to get on the road home or if it really was that long. The setlist was the same as the show in CT and we were expecting some pranks, but nothing ended up happening – although a couple of fans gave out hearts to everyone in line and instructed us to hold them up during the song Home – which was of course written about being in New Jersey. A couple hearts did appear in the crowd a bit early – but there were TONS in the crowd once they started the song. It was really cool to see. The guys seemed to be choked up as well (though I was kind of hoping for a full on cry haha) and Anthony took a photo of the crowd with the hearts.
We ended up leaving right after the encore and didn’t bother to stay for the after show meet and greet, but then we had a fun time spending nearly 10 minutes trying to get my car out of the parking spot! The car next to me parked crooked and there wasn’t enough room for me to back up and cut the turn to not hit the car on the other side of me… so Christine had to get out and direct me to move and finally we got out – I was kind of scared we’d be stuck there forever… and we had a bit of an audience too. I hope they enjoyed my driving skills.
Farther the Distance
Learn To Fly
Collide / When Everything Falls Back Down
Break Even / Some Days
Dress For the Weather
Without You
Defenseless
Boy With The Microphone / A Way With Words
Satellite
Home
Somewhere Out There