A Halestorm of emotions

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That's the only accurate word to describe the amazingness that was the Halestorm concert.  On August 16, Lauren, Kat, and I drove two-and-a-half hours to the MO State Fair to see one of our favorite bands, Halestorm, in concert.  It was Lauren's first rock concert and Kat's and my first rock concert since Megadeth two years ago.  We were so beyond excited.  In the weeks leading up to the gig, the weather consistently warned of rain and scattered thunderstorms all that day.  It was an outdoor show, and we were nervous, but what could we do?  We couldn't prevent rain or lightning, so we just had to go with it and hope for the best.

We left Kirksville at about twelve-thirty that day, with yours truly as the navigator, and arrived in Sedalia, MO at about three o'clock.  We checked into our hotel (Motel 6 - wouldn't recommend it, but we needed a place to sleep), stopped at a Starbucks nearby, and then walked about twenty minutes to the fairgrounds.  For some reason, I was expecting something along the lines of the Folklife Festival, which is an art fest held ever October in Hannibal.  Boy, was I wrong.  I was repeatedly reminded that this was a state fair.  Yes, sir, it was.  It was huge.  We walked around for a couple of hours, positively melting in the humidity and heat, before joining the lengthening line in front of the grandstand.  All the while, dark clouds continued to roll our way and pass over us peacefully.

The opening act was a group called Sevendust.  God, they were amazing.  I don't know why, but there was just something we all loved about that group.  The lead singer, Lejohn, was fun, and said he was so happy to be there and happy to be able to go home that night, as he lives in Kansas.  At some point, Kat spotted the lead singer of Halestorm, Lzzy Hale, watching from the side, and I promptly freaked out.

The worst part about any show is always waiting for the first act to clear up and waiting for the second act to get set up.  (It was even worse with Evanescence two years ago, as they had two opening acts and I was standing the whole time.)  At least we were sitting.  Our seats were on the bleachers, and the seating map had made it seem like we'd be waaay far away from the stage, but our view was incredible!  No one was in front of us, so it was perfect!  The only downside was that there was a chainlink fence separating us from the track seats, but hey, you can see through those.  While we were waiting, I started noticing lightning off to the right.  So far we'd been immeasurably lucky, but what if the storm approached and they had to cancel the show?  I was nervous, but I kept my fears to myself.

Finally, the light in the stands went out, the lights on the stage came on, and the show began.  Halestorm emerged, and the world seemed to transform.  Honestly, there is something amazing about rock and metal music that I absolutely love.  It's one thing to hear it on your iPod, but to hear it live . . . there's nothing else like it.  To be able to physically feel the drum beats resonating in your body, to feel the music pulsing within you, to lose all inhibitions and just get lost everything - the sights, the sounds, the rhythm.  Halestorm has a song called Rock Show that perfectly describes how I felt at the Evanescence, Megadeth, and now the Halestorm shows.  The song goes:

"At the rock show

You'll be right in the front row.

Heart and soul, we both know

It's where you gotta be.

Yeah, at the rock show,

Getting high on the solo.

So what if it's crazy?

It's where you gotta be!"

Followed by:

"This goes out to anyone

Whose heart beats like a kick drum

When a bitchin' riff comes,

Lose the words to every rhyme, every time

And you know you gotta go

 And get some, get pumped,

Find yourself and lose it

At the rock show!"

That song is perfect.  It's my absolute favorite song of theirs, and I was sooo happy when they performed it at the show.  It's my sort of anthem.  But yeah.  The show was amazing.  It ended waaaay too soon.

Well.  'Tis August 19th.  Today marks the twenty-third birthday of one half of my two best friends, Kathy.  And yesterday was the twenty-third birthday of the other half of my two best friends, Lauren.  Ten days from now, I'll turn twenty-three myself.  Pretty crazy, right?  Three best friends whose birthdays are within eleven days from each other.  (Actually, since one was born in the evening and the other in the morning, Lauren and Kat are only a few hours apart in age.)  Every year, Lauren's parents take the three of us to St. Louis for the day, usually on Lauren's birthday, to celebrate all our birthdays.  This year marked my third trip, though I have a sort of photo collage that represents four (soon-to-be-five) summer trips to the Cheesecake Factory.

So let's go over them, shall we?

June 2, 2010

I first visited Missouri in June of 2010 when Lauren's parents very graciously sent me a plane ticket to fly out to visit for a week without having ever met me in person.  (This was not, of course, the first time I ventured into places unknown with people I'd met on the Internet.)  We went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner at the Galleria mall in St. Louis and snapped this photo of the three of us.  'Twas the start of an awesome week.

June 21, 2011

Just over a year later, Lauren, her parents, and Kat made the voyage out to Pikeville to pick me up and take me to live in Kirksville, where I have since been studying for the past three years.  When we arrived in St. Louis, we went to the Cheesecake Factory and ended up in a round booth again, so we decided to take the same shot as the year before.  Look how much our hair grew!

August 17, 2011

Our birthday celebration that year was held at Café Provençal, a French restaurant in St. Louis, so we didn't continue our "round-booth-picture" tradition.  As Lauren got slight food poisoning, we never went back and the next year we continued with our original tradition of eating at the Cheesecake Factory.

August 18, 2012

The next year, for our twenty-first birthdays, was exceedingly fun.  Not only did we get to see the Broadway production of The Lion King at The Fox, but that was the year I got my first (and only) American Girl doll, Rebecca.  As someone who spent her whole childhood wishing she could have one, getting one with my middle name who is from my favorite time period was very special to me.  We spent the night in St. Louis, and then, on Kat's birthday, she spent the day with her parents while Lauren, her parents, and I were off to the St. Louis Zoo!

August 18, 2013

Last year, for our twenty-second birthdays, we continued the tradition!  We did the same this year, as well, but I don't yet have access to the picture we took, soooo that'll be edited in later this evening.  I must say, I've always been pretty special in that, since my birthday is eleven and ten days after theirs and school is always in session, I've gotten my own separate celebrations in addition to the ones in St. Louis.  My birthday always tends to have its own tradition, as we usually always go to Colton's, the local steakhouse.  This year my birthday is FINALLY on a Friday, and neither Kat nor I have classes on Fridays!  Lauren will spend the night with us at our apartment, we'll go to Colton's, watch movies (and Buffy and Angel), have cake, and have a blast!  I can't wait!

But until then.  Classes start on Thursday.  I bought most of my text books today.  This displeases me.