Bamboozle Replay!

You know when you have one of those days that's so awesome you just keep replaying it in your head? Yesterday at Bamboozle was definitely one of those days. Even with the rain.

For those of you that don't know, Bamboozle is a two day, all day, outdoor concert. It was held in the parking lots of the Meadowlands Sport Complex all the way in East Rutherford, NJ. There were about 10 stages and 50 performers. On Sunday alone. Jeff and I went on Sunday because No Doubt was headlining! I think the show started around 10AM but we didn't want to see anyone until almost 4, so we got there around 3. Thanks to Jeff's fantastic driving and navigation we got there with no problems.

The first person we saw was Bo Burnham, he's a comedian and I think he's about 19. I've seen him before and I like him because he sings a lot. He was kind of hard to hear though, what with the super loud bands playing nearby. Then we went and saw Sum 41. I only knew a few of their songs and we stood in the back of the crowd, but it was still fun and a good warm-up for what was to come.

I think The Used came on about 6:30. I like The Used. Yes, they scream in some of their songs, but they also have some amazingly sweet songs (not that they play them in concert) so it's like the best of both worlds. Jeff loves The Used so we got pretty close to the stage. Now, I had been warned about the crazy crowd but I really didn't understand until it started to happen. Here's the band. I don't remember what song they were playing.

So we are up front and squished and to my right a space opens up. I guess Jeff saw me looking at it because he leaned down and screamed in my ear "Don't go over there, it's a pit!" Thank goodness he told me! Sure enough all these kids were running around and slamming into each other and every couple of minutes it felt like the entire crowd got shoved, hard. At that point I latched firmly onto Jeff's arm and did not let got for the rest of the set. Besides the mosh pits there was also crowd surfing. I am not a fan of having people thrown on my shoulders. But the most amazing thing to me what that so many of these kids fell to the ground and then got right back up into the crowd again! Here's a pic of the crazy crowd.

After The Used we had over an hour to kill before No Doubt came on. So we wandered around, looked at merch (and bought nothing) and then went inside the stadium to get a snack and sit down. Me and Jeff. I made him take the picture and my camera has a delay so he is saying "Is it taking the picture?" Lol.

We went to the stage where No Doubt was playing at least a half hour before they came on because we wanted to be close to the stage. And we were and the wait was worth it, but let me tell you I have never been so squished in my whole life! Literally, there were people pressed up against me on every side. But like I said, it was worth it. And finally . . . NO DOUBT!!

They were of course awesome and it was so great to see them together after 5 years. They all looked like they were having such a good time. They sang so many songs I love, Running, Hey Baby, Underneath it All, Bathwater, New, It's My Life and more that I can't remember right now! I love Gwen's smile in this pic.

Ok, so let me pause here for one last story and then I promise the rest of this blog will be mostly pics and few comments. So when ND first came on stage the crowd surged forward and Jeff and I got separated, there were a few people between us. I think by the second song he had grabbed my hand and pulled me over next to him again. Remember, everyone is pressed up against each other and people are dancing and jumping and everything. Maybe the the third song into the set and I realize that Jeff is in front of me and something is going on. So I grab his arm and it feels like he is being pulled away from me, and hard! I grab onto him with both hands and I am still struggling to pull him back next to me. I remember thinking "What the f*ck is happening?!" I literally had both my arms wrapped around him and was pulling for about two minutes before he was finally back next to me, on my left side. And I look over to my right and see some dude with designer eyeglasses (I hate when guys wear glasses with designer labels on them) was staring at us. Jeff and I went back to watching the concert (although now I was latched to his arm again) and I had no idea what had happened. It wasn't until we were leaving that he told me the story.

The story is that there was some little bratty girl in front of him who kept elbowing and shoving him every time the crowd surged. So when there was quiet minute he yelled at her (and I am going to give you the G-rated version of what he said) "You're in the pit, if you don't want to get pushed get out!" So she screams "What?!" and starts to go at him! He, being a good guy, does not retaliate. But I'm pretty sure that he wanted to at least get in her face because I think when I was pulling him back next to me I was actually holding him back. And the dude with the designer eyeglasses that glared at us, well he was the bratty girl's boyfriend. But apparently Jeff glared right back at him and dude could tell that Jeff was pissed and meant business so the dude just let it go and nothing else happened, much to Jeff's dismay!

As promised here are more pics of the show.

I love this one of Gwen, it looks like she's in a bubble!

Tom on the key-tar for Hey Baby!

And because Gwen is still awesome she climbed the scaffolding during Just a Girl!!

For their encore the sang the new song, Stand and Deliver . . .

And one of my fav's Sunday Morning!!!

And that was the end of the show. We drove home and went out to eat and I crawled in bed around 3AM. It was a fantastic day.