The Package Tour – Night 1 Photos
Katie A few photos from Night 1 of The Package Tour…
P!nk Truth About Love Tour
Wednesday night P!nk brought her Truth About Love tour to the arena at Mohegan Sun. Tickets were almost impossible to get for this show – I wanted to get my mom tickets for her birthday and I ended up getting 2 tickets in the same row but 4 seats separating us. We probably could have asked everyone to scoot over one way or the other, but didn’t bother asking so we weren’t together except for between the opener and the main event when I sat in an open seat until it was claimed.
I hadn’t seen P!nk live since 2002, when I had 2nd row so the fact that she was now selling out an arena was pretty neat. (And I’m not sure she’s been back to CT since 2002, but I may be wrong) Before that I had seen her open up twice for NSYNC on the No Strings Attached tour and it was kind of funny because that tour kind of revolved over the whole free puppets theme, and the opening act for this tour was The Hives who had a backdrop of a puppeteer. It was kind of like the No Strings Attached tour backwards – started with puppets and ended with P!nk when the other tour started with P!nk and ended with puppets. (I just needed to mention some NSYNC in this review. I miss them.)
Back to The Hives – honestly I was not impressed with them in the slightest. I am hoping it was all just an act – but they seemed really full of themselves. The lead singer also had a mic on a huge wire that he would drag all around the stage and down the catwalk. He would swing it around too, which is why I guess he opted to do that instead of using a wireless mic. But then they had this guy dressed in all black (even wearing a ski mask) acting like a “ninja” to try and hold the wire without having us see him. (We saw him.) And the guitarist was also wired and was walking around and had to have a guy holding his wires up so it wouldn’t knock all the crowd in the GA Pit in the head. Very strange. (Although I guess it gave those 2 ninja dudes a job.) The lead singer also wanted everyone in the GA area to “sit” (or squat) and then “pop up” at a certain point in the song. He took what seemed like 20 minutes to yell at people to sit. One woman gave him the finger so he said “F*** you too lady” back to her. And said P!nk wouldn’t be coming out until everyone was sitting. (Dude, if people don’t want to do it, move on with the few who do.) The best (or worst) part of this whole thing was that when he finally had everyone “explode” the LIGHTS WERE OFF. It might have looked cool – if we could have actually seen it. He also took a girls phone and was recording video but when he realized it wasn’t, he did it all over again. Their set just seemed to drag on and on.
Then this guy… that I can’t really describe, walked through the crowd and was teasing people in the seats. He was up on the screens so we figured it was all part of the show. Then he ended up on stage and was introing the night. He said “for the next 2 hours” – oh man, it was going to be a late night since it was nearing 9pm (or maybe it was 9 by then I don’t know). Then a video of him singing the truth about love – as triplets – came up on the screen. Very weird.
Finally the curtain dropped and it was time for the show to begin! This was seriously one of the best shows I have EVER been to. Pink came out from the stage and was hanging from cords, and sang Raise Your Glass. The show was so amazing with all the dancing and stunts and acrobatics it was like cirque de soleil (Maybe. Ive never actually seen one of their shows except for one little bit when we went to see America’s Got Talent) And the best part of all was that she was singing LIVE the whole time. In the beginning, she couldn’t hear and was asking for help with her in-ears and joked about how next time if she lip syncs the show she won’t have that problem. And you could totally hear her breathing while singing during one of the songs (which my History of Rock professor in college said is the way to tell if they are really singing!). When she went out to the end of the catwalk with just her guitarist for Who Knew (I think this was the song) she said that she couldn’t hear the guitar so she didn’t know what key to sing in, so she asked for us to sing with her without the music so then she knew she would be in the right key and just busted out the rest of the song acapella with the crowd backing her. She also made a comment that she had never had so many sound problems, ever and apologized. She talked a bit about how she changed Perect to have FBombs because people said it was too much of a mom song which she liked because being a mom is the best thing she’s done, but it’s also a diss. She said it got to the point where she couldn’t be saying swears when she knew there’d be little kids there. (I noticed she kind of censored herself during some of the other songs too by holding the mic away a bit on the bad words!)
I have to say that I think that the best performance was of Sober – “I’m safe, up high” was taken a bit literally when she went in to an egg shaped cage which was raised above the stage and then she got out and walked around it, at points she was joined by her 3 male dancers and 2 female and they did all sorts of stunts and tricks on this egg – all while Pink was STILL SINGING. It was amazing and see if you can find it on youtube. (I didn’t take any videos because most of the time I was just sitting there in complete awe of everything that was going on)
When she was doing the medley of her older songs (which I still managed to know every word to) she stopped because her pants were coming apart and yelled I DID IT AGAIN and then tried to fix them while everything else was still going on around her with the dancing.
The finale was also absolutely amazing! Pink came out with a ring around her waist and her dancers hooked her up to 4 wires and then she flew and bounced alllll the way to the back and the sides. It was amazing. Again – all while still singing. There were also a couple of poles in the back that she stood on and even did a handstand on.
Seriously, so blown away and it will be a while (if ever) that I think anyone can ever top that performance. I know she just added a second leg – so if she is coming anywhere remotely near you – you absolutely must go!
Raise Your Glass
Walk of Shame
Just Like a Pill
U + UR Hand
Leave Me Alone
Try
Wicked Games
Just Give Me A Reason
Trouble
Are We All We Are
How Come You’re Not Here
Sober
Who Knew
Perfect
Most Girls / There You Go / You Make Me Sick
Slut Like You
Blow Me One Last Kiss
—
So What
Glitter in the Air
Tyrone Wells at Stage One
Thursday night Tyrone Wells returned to my favorite venue – StageOne Fairfield Theater. I had opted to purchase a VIP ticket package through Tyrone’s website, so we were let in about 30 minutes before doors and treated to a private 2 song performance from Tyrone of songs that he wouldn’t be doing during his set that night. There were 10 of us there and it was a really neat experience. We also got a gift bag which included an 8×10 (that Tyrone signed for all of us!) and a pick card. We also got a photo w/ him without having to wait in the M&G line after the show. Definitely worth it and really cool. (And Tyrone said he liked my bag!)
Then it was time for the show! Brett Young opened up the night with a short set. I really loved his voice! Actually, all of the voices at this show were phenomenal. Next up was Brendan James who felt like he was home being originally from New Hampshire. (Where Brett was from California and not digging on our not so Spring weather!) Brendan mentioned how he had traveled through Newtown on his way to the show and ended up singing a song that he didn’t think he originally was going to which seemed to have been inspired a bit by the December events there. I really enjoyed both of the openers, like I had said – great, great voices the whole night through!
Tyrone hit the stage at about 9pm and did a set of 14 songs and an encore. He was great, though I was a little bit disappointed that he did not yodel this time! He also did a great diva mashup consisting of Adele, Beyonce and a little bit of Taylor Swift. (And maybe some others I’m forgetting!) I don’t know, there’s something about Tyrone singing “I knew you were trouble” that actually makes the song bearable! When the band left for a few songs, Tyrone took a seat and talked a bit about the ankle surgery that he had earlier in the year. He mentioned how he needed cartilage in his ankle and that he had to get it from a cadaver. He talked a bit about an article he read where a man had received a woman’s heart and he went out and heard a song and started crying and had no idea why. Then it happened again and he was able to figure out that the song was Sade. His family went to the donor’s family and asked if the donor had any sort of connection to Sade and they said that she had gone to all of her concerts. He said he was impressed how music can stay with your heart like that and mentioned how if we unfortunately died but our hearts were given to someone else, that he hoped they’d cry when they heard his songs! He also spoke a bit about how they’ve been on the tour for a month and he’d already been involved with 7 or 8 proposals and how some how he had become the proposal guy and told a bit about a proposal he was involved in earlier in the tour before playing his song Seabreeze – which is apparently a lot of couples favorite song!
It was a great night and Tyrone’s new cd “This Love” came out recently so you should check it out if you get the chance!
Sink or Swim
Need
Head over Heels / Just a Friend
Running Around In My Dreams
For Who I Am
Happy As The Sun
All You Gotta Do Is Dream
Freedom
Baby Don’t You Change
Diva Mashup
A Beautiful Place To Be
Seabreeze
More
When All Is Said and Done
Remain
Maroon 5 Overexposed Tour
Friday night Maroon 5 brought their Overexposed tour to the Mohegan Sun Arena. I had been owed tickets through the fan club due to a mix up with a contest I won last year so I had no idea where our seats would be until we picked them up and was excited to see they were 2nd row! The stage set up was an M and there was a general admission pit up by it. Those in the pit were split with different colored wristbands which allowed them to stand either on the left side or the right side of the point of the M. There was also a walkway about 4 seats away from us and then another stage further in the back. For a while I was convinced Adam was going to walk right by us, I was almost right… but I’ll explain more later (and if you’re going to a show and don’t want to be spoiled, you may not want to read that part.)
The first opening act was Owl City and they (he?) played from 8-8:30 I really wasn’t that impressed with his set and there were also a TON of strobe lights used during the set so I had my head down and eyes closed for a good majority of it because the flashing was bothering me.
Next up was Neon Trees who I was excited to see. Unfortunately it was difficult to get any photos because I didn’t want to stand up and the couple in front of me seemed to be like a brick wall with arms that they waved in the air like they just didn’t care and cameras up in the air recording pretty much everything, ever. (I’m not against taking videos but when you record nearly the WHOLE SHOW… you should maybe take time and enjoy the moment you are actually in.) Neon Trees played from 9-9:30 and I enjoyed their set much more.
At 10pm it was time for the main event – Maroon 5! There was a big screen set up and it played videos on it, but most of it I couldn’t make out. You heard someone dialing a phone and a sorry the number cannot be completed as dialed recording, so of course the first song they did was Payphone. The set was a 90 minute set and was high energy for nearly the entire show. They did quite a mix of songs from all the albums – almost an equal amount from each of the albums (by my count/memory). I also thought that Adam did a great job dividing his time on the sides of the Ms – obviously he was in the middle the most (which is what we were closest too) but I never had a feeling that he was neglecting to our right in order to be on the far left which I sometimes get at shows.
When Adam introduced the rest of the band, he grabbed the camera and was taking shots of the audience and then zoomed in waaaay in the back and said thanks to modern technology they were not very far away. His camera work pretty much made me sea-sick (and he even admitted he was not very good at it!) but he took the camera around to get close ups of the rest of the band when he introduced each of them, which was pretty funny.
For 2 of the songs (Wake Up Call and Moves Like Jagger) the band was joined by Rozzi Crane (www.rozzicrane.com). She was really good on the duets and also did great at getting the crowd to participate with some ‘yeah yeah yeah’ sing a longs.
Here is the encore details and if you don’t want to be spoiled stop reading right now! After 13 songs, the lights went out and I noticed there was a lot more security coming to the walk way that I thought Adam would be going down. I knew something was going to be happening soon. It turns out, there was a huge bridge up at the ceiling that came down from the sky and for the encore Adam walked across it (and sometimes sang on it) and made the 60th row the 1st row. He did 3 songs of the encore back there / on the bridge – Stereo Hearts, She Will Be Loved (when we got split in to groups to sing – it sounded awesome and I always love doing stuff like that) and Daylight. Then he came back to the main stage for Moves Like Jagger. The rest of the band was on the main stage but Jimmy V did join him for a little bit out on the end stage.
I have been going to Maroon 5 shows for 10 years now (it is CRAZY to think about that) the first time that I saw them was opening up for John Mayer in late 2002. No one really knew who John was and even less people knew who Maroon 5 was. I immediately fell in love and have seen them several more times through the years since then. (I think I’ve missed a couple of their tours). It is amazing to see how they have evolved through the years to now be this HUGE super star band. The show was absolutely amazing and the best part was at the end – Adam said they would be back in the summer! I can’t wait!
Payphone
Makes Me Wonder
Lucky Strike
Sunday Morning
If I Never See Your Face Again
Wipe Your Eyes
Won’t Go Home Without You
Love Somebody
Harder To Breathe
Wake Up Call
One More Night
Misery
This Love
Stereo Hearts
She Will Be Loved
Daylight
Moves Like Jagger
Action Item 2-13-13
Wednesday night Action Item brought their Resolution Tour to the Heirloom Arts Theater in Danbury, CT. Despite the fact that we might be getting snow that night, we all made it to the show. Then had to find a place to park. I ended up in a 24 hour metered lot with meters that took only quarters and each quarter was 15 minutes. Somehow I managed to scrounge up 3:15 worth of quarters. (Which is so odd for me because I usually hoard quarters in my bedroom for pressed penny trips!) Then spent the night watching my watch afraid my car would turn into a pumpkin (or get towed)
There were 5 opening acts and I didn’t really have a problem with any of them except Outasight. And we missed Brookline Drive, who was playing their last show so I have nothing to say about them. The first band we saw was Hello Highway, then Paradise Fears, Before You Exit and finally Outasight. He just seemed to be so out of place and there looked to be only 1 person who was actually enjoying him in the crowd.
Then it was time for Action Item. Although I ended up sitting for most of their set and couldn’t see all of them (and at times couldn’t see any of them) I really think this was the best performance I’ve seen of them yet. They just seemed to be ON.
We had VIP tickets for the show which meant that after wards we’d get to meet all the bands. But at the end of the show they told us to go stand by the stage and then it just kind of became a free for all to mingle with the guys. We were able to get pics and chat with all the members of Action Item, but it was not organized in the slightest. (I thought we were also supposed to get a signed poster but that didn’t happen!) We had a lot of ridiculous conversations with the guys (ok, the most ridiculous was with Brian lol) and it was great to see them again because it had been a looong time since I saw them last.
In my head this post was a lot longer, but now that my head is throbbing, you’re not getting much more out of me. Sorry!
I don’t know how accurate this set list is but…
Good or Bad
Brave
When Everything Falls Back Down
Thinking of You / Somewhere Out There
Last Day of Summer
Defenseless
Home
Blackbird
Marching Band
Resolution
Learn to Fly
Kris Allen at Stage One
Friday night Kris Allen FINALLY returned to Connecticut for a headlining show! (He had been here a few times for radio promo and on tour with Keith Urban and Lifehouse – but never headlining since he got sick on the Idol tour in Bridgeport and couldn’t perform)
I ended up upgrading my tickets to VIP which meant we got to meet Kris before the show and he also did a song for us called “Should I” we were asked not to take video but Kris said that it is out there on YouTube.
At the M&G he asked if I spell my name with an I-E and when I said yes he said that I spell it right. I told him that some people don’t think I do because I have a Y in Kathryn so it should be katy but that’s not how I do it. He seemed surprised I had a Y in Kathryn and he said he had never seen that before and seemed to think it was a bit strange haha (For those of you that don’t know – his wife is named Katy and I believe it is short for Katherine!) Then he asked my mom if her name had a Y in it (it does!) and I was going to tease that we really like Y’s in my family but didn’t. ha. (My mom was so happy he asked though because she didn’t think to spell it for him but don’t like when people spell it wrong!)
The M&G was from 6:30-7 and by 7 doors were open so we went to our seats and waiting until 8pm for when Kris would take the stage (there was no opener!)
He is so adorable and such a great performer. I love seeing him! I also like how he interacts with the crowd. There was a kid in the front row dancing around and he asked for Kris’ hat. Kris said no because then we’d see his hair and then was saying how he loved how kids just don’t care and that if he left the stage the kid would get up there and finish the show for him. Cale teased that he was Justin Bieber and then Kris said something like.. Justin Bieber is for girls! But then whispered that he liked Justin Bieber but don’t tell anyone. (Oops!)
He also had mentioned that Connecticut was a pretty state and that he didn’t think he had been here since the Idol tour. At that point I turned to my mom and said “but he didn’t sing!” and a couple other people yelled that out to him and then he went :-O (Think the face he made when he won idol) and that he had forgotten and then said he was sorry from the bottom of his heart and he apologized and he had never canceled a show before that or since but when he tried to talk nothing was coming out. Then he mentioned a couple other times that this was to make up for Bridgeport.
He sang a new song that he said will be on iTunes soon… of course – the song doesn’t yet have a name so that wasn’t very good for my setlist. I’ll have to keep a gap in my setlist book for when it does end up getting a name. He also had said that new christmas music is coming soon too! I can not wait!
Big Time Rush Big Time Summer Tour
Sunday night Big Time Rush brought their Big Time Tour to the Comcast Theater in Hartford, CT.
The show kicked off at 7 with Leon Thomas from Victorious. He had a lot of energy (maybe even too much!) and was running all around the stage. He did 2 of three songs and left the stage, but then his DJ said that the crowd looked like they wanted more so he came out for an “encore”.
Then it was time for Cody Simpson. The girls behind me.. really, really, really loved him and want to marry him. They screamed this at the top of their lungs through his entire set it seemed. (If they have any voices left I will be shocked because they were blood curdling screams. I had ear plugs in but wished I had 2 earplugs in it was so bad. I also overheard the mother next to me tell her daughter to lean forward because the girls behind her were going to hurt her ears. I am pretty sure a lot more than that was going to hurt her ears. I wish I had some foam earplugs to give to the kids around me.)
Cody did a 9 song set which included a couple of costume changes and also included him singing Call Me Maybe. (Which brings it to 6 Call Me Maybes in my last 8 shows.) He had 2 dancers with him as well and really seemed to command the crowd and the stage.
Then it was time to get set up for Big Time Rush. They put the countdown clock up starting with 20 minutes. When it got to around 5 the clock turned off entirely and then the lights went out and everyone stood only to see the countdown clock to turn on again and be at 5 minutes still!
The stage was very similar to their show in the spring at Foxwoods, with the trampoline in the middle. Not that I’m complaining though because the back flips they did on the trampoline were awesome!
The setlist was different though and they did a few of the Beatles songs from their EP / movie. They also threw in some acapella of Justin Bieber’s “Boyfriend” during their song “Boyfriend” which of course made everyone go nuts.
During Halfway There they walked off the stage and to the back of the 100, 200, 300 sections and sang back there. Of course all the kids jumped on their chairs so I couldn’t see much, but I think Carlos was behind us for a little bit. I like when bands do stuff like this to try and get closer to the seats further back.
Overall the show was a ton of fun despite the screams behind me and the signs in front of me. Comcast Theater is really bad for holding up signs – they easily block the stage for every row behind you so I am not sure why they even let them in. The best part was when the guys said “let me see those signs” the girls holding them were VERY slow to hold them up – yet they had no problem blocking our view with them the whole rest of the show. Ahh teenies. How I’ve missed thee. (NOT!)
Setlist for Cody and BTR under the cut!
Jason Mraz Tour Is A Four Letter Word
I did 3 new things Saturday night. 1. I went to the Meadows (Comcast Theater) alone for a show. 2. I saw Jason Mraz live for the first time 3. I did a “paperless ticket” show for the first time.
And pretty much everything worked out alright! I’ll start with talking about paperless ticketing because I really couldn’t find ANYTHING when I was trying to prepare myself. Pretty much every other show that I was going to that said it would be paperless either ended up sending out tickets or got canceled. (All were John Mayer) so I wasn’t sure what to expect.
Ticketmaster tells you to bring your credit card and photo ID. I had both ready, but they didn’t ask for my ID. How this helps deter scalpers, I don’t know. You could either hand them the CC back or they could use a pre-paid visa. But I’m also convinced the scalpers are in kahoots with the ticket sites and they do things like paperless ticketing to make the consumer THINK they are looking out for their best interest. (Where I did get asked for ID? Trying to park! Apparently the theater is trying to crack down on people who steal their grandmothers handicapped passes. So I had to have my pass signed and show my ID as well. The guy apologized profusely since I was legit. So strange! But I kind of like it.)
Anyway… after I gave my CC it got swiped into a machine and then a little piece of paper printed out that had my seat location on it. Which was a relief because I didn’t remember the specifics of my seat and I wanted *something* for my scrapbook!
I made my way to my seats… I had researched beforehand to find out that B1 was row 2 because it goes A1, B1, C1 then A, B, C. Many others didn’t do their research and there was a lot of confusion. The fact that there were wires with mats covering them on the floor that were also covering the 1s on one side of the seats didn’t help the situation either. But I accepted my part time job as seat usher because they were nowhere to be found… and sent a few people a few rows back. (It was sad to see one guy freak out because he was first row only to then find out he was actually 4th!)
Christina Perri was the first opener. I had seen her 2 times before at TIC’s christmas shows. To be honest, I couldn’t remember if I liked her or not and had to look back at my past reviews to see what I had said! It looks like I never said anything either way. I do like her voice, but I think that she has too many slower songs which I do not have the attention span for (for any artist). I liked how she gave everyone a pep talk about “dreaming huge” and never giving up on it. My mantra is dream big so I definitely can relate to that. (Although I never seem to follow through. I need to work on that)
Then it was time for Jason! Jason and I go way back. I’ve been a fan of his for years – though I guess you could say “on and off”. I got in to him when I was finishing up high school / starting college with Waiting For My Rocket. I don’t know if I have any in between albums before Love is a four letter word… but I kept up with his singles, etc. Considering the set list – I’m missing out on a LOT.
Fortunately the beginning of his set had quite a few songs in a row that I knew. Unfortunately the majority of the rest of the set I was not familiar with. Typically before shows like this I try to listen to older stuff to get myself prepared – but if you read the blog you know how busy I’ve been with being in the land of boybands.
That doesn’t mean that I enjoyed the show any less. I’ve been waiting FOR-EV-ER to see Jason and was so glad to finally see a show. (But next time I vow to be more prepared!) He puts on a great show he has a TON of energy.
My only complaint was that I had tried to sit because I hurt my foot Friday night and didn’t want to aggravate it standing if I didn’t have to. The front row moved up to the barricade. I stood for a bit but realized I could still see if I sat. That was – until a couple of girls came from I don’t know where and moved in to the front row (which was now 3-4 people deep.) I freaking HATE this. You bought your seats. I bought mine. STAY THERE. I tend to enjoy shows MORE if I am sitting because then there is not the worrying that I could fall over at any moment if someone next to me knocks me dancing. (My balance sucks) And the girl behind me hit me on the head like 3 times! She sounded like a super fan (sang every lyric so loudly I could hear even though I had earplugs on) so I guess she was just a little bit excited. But one time really hurt.
The encore ended up being 3 songs. It started about 10:45 I want to say? But Jason came out first an apologized saying that he had a lot more songs that he wanted to play for us, but couldn’t because there was a strict curfew. There were some Boos and he said that he did still have some songs for us, but not as many as he had wanted.
Setlists under the cut!
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The Wanted at Mohegan Sun
Friday night I dealt with some awful CT traffic and made my way up to the casino to see THE WANTED! After mixtape festival last week, I was more than excited to see them again.
Opening the show was Carly Rae Jepsen – who did the same set that she did at Mixtape Festival – which was good because there were some holes in the setlist that I had that I was able to fill in! I also decided I really like her song “Guitar String Wedding Ring” but am really over “Call Me Maybe” especially since this was the 5th show in a ROW where it was performed. (Twice by Honor Society’s openers, once by Kelly Clarkson and now 2 times by Carly Rae herself). She mentioned she would be opening for Justin Bieber this fall and that her new album Kiss comes out September 18th so they had been holding back on playing new songs to save them.
Then it was time for The Wanted! I decided to go absolutely picture crazy during this show. (Moreso than usual.) It was funny how somehow Siva was never in good lighting, but at times Tom would be glowing because he was always in great lighting. (Some day I’ll get a photo album up and running where you can see everything beside the few I pick and choose for the blog posts!) Max seemed to be really in to the crowd and mentioned 2 or 3 times that he wanted to come back. (I hope that means something is in the works!) They did a very different set from Mixtape Festival. (2 more songs too!) The guys just seem like they are having SUCH a fun time on stage that I have gotten over my “but boybands need to dance!” hang up.
For Heart Vacancy they brought up 5 girls on stage – I was shocked to see a girl that I had told I liked her shirt up there! It could have been me! (Although I don’t think I’d have gone. I’d have been scared out of my mind to be on stage!) This is also when I decided it is now on my bucket list to get a hug from Jay!
After the show we wandered around the casino in hopes of bumping in to the guys, but a little while later saw a tweet that they were back on their way to NYC 🙁 As much as I love shows at the casino – it is becoming more and more frustrating that it is near impossible to meet them.
Setlists under the cut!
Mixtape Festival – Day 2
Day 2 of Mixtape Festival definitely had the better line up (in my opinion of course – but hey its my blog so everything is my opinion don’t forget!) and I was very, very excited. We decided to sit at the North Stage for almost the whole day and moved to the South Stage only once – for 98 Degrees’ reunion. As soon as we sat down we loaded up on sunscreen – Hawaiian Tropic Silk Hydration – which I will be reviewing over the weekend so look out for that 😉
First up was The Dan Band – a cover band. We finally figured out during their set that they were actually the wedding band in The Hangover. Apparently they pride themselves on covering mostly female pop songs w/ added swearing. This became obvious quick when he had the crowd shouting the F word back to him. Kind of awkward especially since they were the first act and there were a lot of kids around. But whatever. (I hate when bands use swear words simply to make themselves seem more “cool”)
Then on the South Stage was The Ready Set. Unfortunately with The Wanted coming up on the North stage next, I didn’t pay much attention to The Ready Set, in fact I paid so little attention I completely missed a song on the setlist! It ended and I realized my oops.
Then it was time for The Wanted. I was so, so, so excited. Jay mentioned that everyone should put on sunscreen and he knows from experience because he was very pale. They seemed to just be having a TON of fun on the stage and although I do love boybands that dance, I didn’t really miss it with their performance. (They were all jumping around anyway – I guess that is close enough to dancing) I did feel their set was too short though and wish they just played forever. They were so good and I can’t wait to see it all again on Friday!
Carly Rae was next up on the South Stage and while we weren’t over there, it didn’t seem like anyone was all that in to her. She talked a lot, but we couldn’t really understand her from where we were. She also apparently didn’t warrant the video screens to show her for the first half of her set. Then when the camera did turn on, the sound board tent was blocking her and then they did a different shot of just part of her band, not her. Very strange and Im not sure what happened to the camera they had been using during The Ready Set! She also said she was going to change up her last song – which was obviously going to be Call Me Maybe – but it was funny to see the delayed reaction from the crowd near us because the beginning didn’t sound like what we are used to hearing on the radio.
LL Cool J was up next – we weren’t sure what he was going to do with an hour set and we dubbed this our bathroom and snack break time. (rootbeer float!) The crowd seemed to be into him though. He tried to rip off his shirt at one point and it didn’t rip all the way. I don’t know if he did that on purpose or not. He also gave away a laptop to one of the guys in the audience and was tossing out roses as well.
We left before LL was done and ended up opting to get a spot on the rail for 98 degrees instead of going into the ADA area. So we were “front row” of the Field area at least for their set! (VIP A and B had barricaded areas in front of us so we weren’t really that close) I had never seen 98 Degrees before so I was really excited for their reunion. Unfortunately, one of them seemed to be a bit flat on the singing. We think it was Drew. (I had noticed something being off from the videos from the Today Show but was hoping they’d pull it together for the show) It didn’t really take away from seeing them though. They only had a 45 minute set though, wish it was longer! (if I was in charge I totally would have changed up a few set times – plus if 98 Degrees was on the north stage instead of LL we’d have never had to leave our seats!)
Before 98 degrees was over (they had a song or two left) we went back to the North Stage to get our seats again for NKOTBSB. This would be the last performance of the super group – though they did mention possibly getting together again sometime. For the most part, the set was the same as when I had seen them last year. However, there were a few changes because it was their last show and each band had some tricks up their sleeve. At one point AJ had on an LMFAO jersey, ripped off his pants to have on these tight shorts and next think you know… they’re shufflin’! Brian and AJ came out during Joe’s ending of Please Don’t Go Girl to sing with him, Joe came out during BSB’s set with a phone and was singing with them… just to name a few things (I don’t know if I’m remembering everything – it’s been quite a weekend)
At one point NKOTB was talking about The Wanted and the band started playing Glad You Came, and I thought NKOTB was going to sing it – which would have been cool… but next thing you know, Max is walking up the stairs on to the stage and I completely lost it. (So much so it is now 2 days later as I write this and my throat still is hurting from the scream I let out lol) Also at one point, NKOTB, BSB and 98 Degrees were all on stage together as well. Which was awesome.. but…. made it painfully obvious there was still one boyband missing.. (NSYNC!)
At the end, NKOTB came out wearing BSB shirts and then BSB came out wearing NKOTB shirts. There were lots of hugs – NKOTB announced they’d be working on a new album and a new tour and BSB would of course be having Kevin rejoining the band and doing a new album and tour because they have now been a band for 20 years.
Setlists for most under the cut!