from Nashville, Tennessee: the biggest little hick-town in the world. 18 July 2001.
Minus an abundance of visual aids.

This story does not just star Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. It also stars my friends Nicole and Jessica, the other bands I watched and my incessant search for a bag to put all of my junk in.

I found out MFATGG was to be the last band on, and I finally did find a bag, by the way. *grins*

My friends and I watched some Incredibly Strange Wrestling which featured fans throwing tortillas at the wrestlers. The announcer apparently thought we were hot or something because he kept talking to us. I will just say he was quite an interesting character..

We also caught a band who hails from my school ((The University of Tennessee in Knoxville)) called Copper. They are great, and remind me of Weezer/Get Up Kids in my twisted little mind.

I basically listened to Rancid from next to the stage because I wasn't quite ready to battle with the crowds yet. While they were on, Jessica and I were watching Less Than Jake get ready for their set.

Nicole and I watched Less Than Jake, who I enjoyed way more than I thought I would. Apparently, Chris from LTJ was giving Nicole funny looks during the whole set. She said she read the looks as saying "Why the hell do you have that hat on?!" I don't know, because I couldn't see very well--I am cursed with being short. Still, that excuse was what got me in the front row, lol.

AFI was up next. This guy standing next to me said I was going to get crushed, but I didn't. nyah, nyah, lol. I liked them more than I expected to as well.

My friend Jessica reports that Dave ((our beloved Gimme Gimmes drummer)) ran into the fence on a motor scooter in the backstage area.. lol.

Once MFATGG made it to the stage, all the, ahem, "regular" people had left. The set was great and hilarious and I think I converted my friends. When they didn't fuck up, we all had to raise our hands. But apparently Jackson's gonna get a dock in pay because he fucked up and he's supposed to be perfect. :p

the set list was something like this. I probably have it out of order but I tried:
Leavin' on a Jet Plane
Sloop John B
Nobody Does It Better ((nice and sappy too))
Science Fiction Double Feature
Seasons in the Sun
All My Lovin' ((*sighs* I love that song))
Summertime
Wild World
Fire and Rain
Rocket Man..

After they got off the stage, I went to the side where I saw Chris walking out. I called him over to me and gave him his gift--which was a Coors Light golf towel. I explained that it reminded me of him because at the Tabernacle, all I saw behind him--and the rest of the Foos for that matter--were Coors Light cans. He confirmed that it was their drink of choice.

I told him that he was my favorite guitar player and that I had made a website for him, so he asked if i had the address and I wrote it down for him. He laughed at the name and I said "yeah, it's cheesy, but it was the only thing I could think of."

I had him sign my 22 Jacks CD sleeve and there wasn't any picture so he just signed the back.

He is left handed and plays right handed? That's immensely cool because I am too. ha ha. =)

We attempted to take a picture but since I had a crap camera that had no flash = no picture. *shrugs* I suppose there's always later...

After some guy abducted my Sharpie marker, and I tied my shoe which had been untied for about 3 hours, I saw Joey Cape. I went over there and told him that I liked his hair. He was like "Mine?" I said yeah, then he said something about it being "all weird today". Then I got him to sign my Have A Ball CD Sleeve--even though he signed his name by Spike. *shrugs*

Hmm, yeah, that's about it. I had the coolest time. A good early birthday present. Yeah.