Music Sunday: Opening Bands

It's pretty obvious that one of the greatest things about going to concerts is seeing your favorite band perform live. The added bonus though is the show's opener, sometimes hand-picked by the headliners themselves or they are on the same label and trying to get some promotion. This post is going to be about opening bands I have seen that have made the show even more enjoyable, and I have enjoyed far after the night was over.

Honorable mention: Carolina Liar, Armor For Sleep, Underoath, Anberlin, Envy On The Coast

These were great opening bands that I was lucky enough to catch for three different Taking Back Sunday shows. However, I knew of the bands before hand and this post is focusing on bands that I saw for the first time, or was just beginning to get into.

The first two bands were names that I heard in magazines and such and knew maybe one song, but after seeing them live, started getting into them heavily.

Manchester Orchestra (opened for Say Anything)


Shake It Out

Manchester Orchestra | MySpace Music Videos


Wolves At Night

Manchester Orchestra | MySpace Video

The Sounds (opened for No Doubt)





The next two are the bands that opened up for Paramore, The Swellers and Paper Route. I dug both bands, and was hooked up with their music by jeanette afterward. However, I'm all about different opinions and one person who definitely didn't like Paper Route was Smart Ass Sara. But here are some songs from those two

The Swellers





Paper Route





And last, this is the band that kind of inspired this post, Pierce The Veil. This is a true example of my story of opening bands. I went to a small show in Stockton, California with my brothers where a band called Dance Gavin Dance was playing. Pierce The Veil were the second band to play and I have never heard these guys names or anything before. But after I few songs, I was hooked. I bought their cd a few weeks later and instantly added it to my top ten list. I think what keeps me coming back (I have since seen them two more times, once when they opened for Emery and again at Warped Tour 08) is thier live performances and dedication to thier fans. They truly put on a show, fading tracks, keeping tracks going, getting the crowd involved. They are writing for a new record and they have said that they are going to include some tracks that will get the crowd involved. They have a line that if I ever get a tattoo, I would consider getting this lyric "So I'll toast every beat of my heart like a miracle." His voice is something you are either going to love or hate, but the band keeps it going. The added bonus is that they are really cool, really approachable guys.

Pierce The Veil



This is the song with line mentioned above


This is the same song from above, but live, with a bonus song added in. They often do these tricks at shows.


And one of the most awesome covers I have ever heard

Not Sure How To React

Apologies for the double posting, but I am facing a dilemma. I am wondering if I am starting to become uptight, or if I am finally starting to have some values and beliefs. For example, I realized some time ago that I don't like the "F" word. Not Fuck, cuz I love that word. I fucking love that word. But, and it pains me type it, the word "faggot" or even "fag." I have no idea how it started, as I am a heterosexual man myself. However, I am also white and the N word offends me as well. I remember a time when all the cool white kids were even calling each other "nigga" and even that bothered me. Maybe it is because I even got caught up in it and it slipped out one time and my roommate pulled me to the side and told me that it bothered him. I have not had a gay person say to me that the f word offends them, but I'm pretty sure it is the equivalent. This has nothing to do with what brought me to this post, just a setup.

I get on facebook tonight, and see this as a status.

When i heard about the JayZ vs Eminem DJ Hero game i immediately thought Big Lipped Monkey vs The Wigger King. All in all it's like winning the special Olympics, no matter who wins you're both retarded.

This was from a guy that I sorta knew in high school and for a while he went to the same college as I did. He may still, but I don't really keep up with him. But for whatever reason, this status slightly offended me a little bit.

So I wonder what you think? Do I need to lighten up? Is it offensive? Is it just not funny? Or is there a different type of reaction?

(Editor's Note: I have no idea why the copied and pasted portion is showing up the way it looks. I apologize if it is hard to read)

Can't See The Forest For The Trees

So I haven't really talked much about my brothers, but one of them, his name is Nick, is also a journalism major at Fresno State. Nick is someone who I feel, if he can put stupid things to the side and focus on important, can go very very far in life. We often trade music reviews and thoughts on movies and such, but every once in a while we will talk sort of serious, or discuss something more important. Today is one of those days. He sent me a copy of an essay he turned and asked for my thoughts. I told him mine (I actually disagreed with a couple of his points, but thought it was great overall) and I am curious to what you guys think, so I am going to post it here. It looks kind of lengthy, but please don't let it scare you off. I read through it pretty quick as, and I'm sort of bragging on him, I feel he does write really well. But here it is:

Can’t See the Forest For the Trees

Do you remember your childhood and all the big dreams you had to conquer this world? Surely, those memories are long gone, made way for some logical thinking of college, a well paying career, and one day a family of your own. This path of logic consists of stability, with the hopes that if you work hard enough for so long you will strike your riches eventually and be able to retire off into the sunset happily. This appears to be what the general population would most likely be satisfied with; nowadays you can give a man a car and a house and he’ll be fully content, never realizing he worked his life away for another two material items. This is when I pose the question, what are we really seeking in life?
The reason I titled this piece ‘Can’t see the Fore/st for the Trees,’ is because according to About.com the definition is generally “overly concerned with detail; not understanding the whole situation (Beare).” This appropriately describes how I feel today’s modern society is towards life, in a sense. We as a society are too overly focused on today’s way of living. We are seemingly stuck in a rut of unimportant necessities that we think complete us. A man can mow the same lawn of grass for decades of his life, and be proud to call it his patch of earth that he can then show off how nicely kept it is. Is this really what humans are meant to do? Work a nine to five job and then proudly trim grass just to stay up with proper standards of a community or society? When we were kids, I doubt any of us wanted to grow up living an eventual dull life of routine existence. I know for a fact that I still want to get out of this apartment and climb up the nearest mountain, just so I may attempt to rid my head of this constant illusion of society. Maybe then consumer products will not be the first things to enter my thoughts when I ask what do I want in life.
The constant dream, to become successful and settle down, runs deep in mostly all of our consciousnesses. A ‘big house to settle down in’ seems to me a big fantasy that we are all taking a part in of dreaming; an illusion we live for to keep us calm, quiet, and working, to keep this bee hive of a society ever progressive and functioning. But what are we seeking? This question is really meaningful because so many of us lose sight of our outlandish aspirations and conform to the grasps of the economy. Why is it that in the land of the free, the economy can crush so many dreams? A friend of mine is a rather exceptional guitarist and is in a touring rock band. Thanks to the overly pressuring voice of society, he is now preparing for the extreme student life at one of California’s better colleges, but pretty much forgoing the fact that he is in a successful band so he may soon fit in with the upper echelon of society and be revered as successful. This makes perfect sense, as he isn’t a teen anymore, and he is ready for the real calling the world has to offer, but honestly why give up the freedom of the road? Why not escape the hardships of civilization and the economy the best he can? I know there are responsibilities to life, but I really don’t see the point in growing up too fast to where you let the world pass you by as you do.
In the words of Four Letter Lie vocalist Brian Nagan, “Half of knowing what you want, is knowing who you are (Nagan).” I was never a kid who was extremely enticed by the seasons; I never dressed up for trick or treating during Halloween, and although I graciously accepted the presents, I knew all along Santa was fake and Christmas was just like any other day. If I may, this realization of what is actually real and what is not really helps me relate to Chris McCandless. He was a man with a college education just like a good number of us, but unlike most of us, he decided to break away from the norm of society to live a thrilling, nation- crossing, vagabond life style. Prior to making this radical and life altering decision to skip town, he had to be asking himself what he truly wanted in life. To be honest, I too from time to time get the urge to just abandon this whole new age network of living and live off on the road just as McCandless did. I see in my life that man is cluttered, ever the busy body with the constant places to go; our days are routinely spent and wasted on things like school and work, and we don’t see the harm in living our lives away behind desks. It’s sad to be caught in a generation where technology is becoming more predominant than nature.
Another eerie thing about the times today is that according to Walmart, a household name, family time should be spent playing Xbox 360. During a promotional commercial for Xbox 360 and Guitar Hero World Tour, the actress mother goes on to say, “Thanks to Walmart’s great prices I was able to buy Xbox 360… and now my family is always together.” I just find this a bit awkward, questioning if this is really where the times have gotten us. Speaking from experience, things like video games only occupy our youth and waste their time, light-years away from the farfetched message Walmart is trying to promote by saying video games bring families together. This new age of families thrive on and lusts for technology, information and connection. We crave products to ease our stressful workload in life. Great minds before us, such as McCandless, Henry David Thoreau, and Everett “Nemo” Ruess most likely held the most opposite of things with warmhearted hands and eyes. They would have believed in things like Freedom, Solitude, Nature, and one-ness. Why is it so many people of today have lost this similar connection to those great thinkers, trading in darkness and silence for constant lights and sounds? I believe it is because the majority of our population has conformed to the fast paced times, just like my musician friend. Where McCandless wanted to live life to fullest and explore the unexplored, we are in a time were fashion runs amok, and fame, money, love, respect, and ease all shuffle around in our heads on constant repeat.
Due to this, many people would not be able to put themselves through what McCandless put himself through; He had the mental toughness to completely believe he could make it, showing amazing amounts of courage and determination, where as this would be a true struggle for most of us as we tend to rely on the comforts of modern-day life and chose to just take it easy. McCandless took extreme charge of his life and dictated where he wanted to go and how he wanted to get there. He didn’t settle his sights on a prestigious career to spend years working forward to, and he made enough of a statement in his life to influence others even after his death. In my eye he was a man who truly knew what he was looking for, which was not some fairytale façade that a good number of us full heartedly believe in. He was able to prove a good life and happiness were obtainable without the need of a substantial money source. He pretty much lived the life of a vagabond, and yet he was thrilled with his journal saying, “ his spirit is soaring (Krakauer).” I think this properly shows what exactly I was getting at when I brought up examples of today’s society, and things like how technology is wrongly influencing us into what we think we are seeking in life.
As I write this, I am on the open road; destination Reno, Nevada for my musician friend’s music gig. Turns out my friend will be accepting the higher calling of ranked society, as if his grades uphold he is guaranteed acceptance to UC Davis and he will be set to explore an education and career in electrical engineering, something that should be of great demand in tomorrows’ computer infused world. So while we are on this 5 hour drive, changing states and temperature with time and miles, a calming realization sets in: This logic and way of safe thinking isn’t bad at all if it keeps us living to the next day, with our works and trifles paying off into bigger riches if hopeful events turn out the way we intended. My friend has spent his time in this music scene and made his mark, with an e.p under his belt and another one on the way, and yet this college path is just another way for a young talented man to prove his worth just like Chris McCandless did many times throughout his existence. But what I admire immensely about McCandless was his will to set about what he said he would do, such as living off the wild in Alaska for an extended amount of time. I look out the van windows, and instead of busy buildings and constantly motion filled people, I see maybe hundreds of thousands large beautiful trees. I cant help to remember and think about McCandless’ love of nature and ever long lure his heart felt for it, and compare it to how at peace and calming this extensive view of nature is from inside this van looking out into the wilderness along this California and Nevada roadtrip. I am thrilled to be here on the road and see the abundance of life, and that fear of having to grow up and face respectability and ranked stature is far off in the back of my thoughts. So to find closure to my argument, I’d like to re-ask what are you seeking in life? I know it would be rather reckless for us all to forgo social constraints just as McCandless, and I would definitely be a hypocrite to try and preach or impose such a thing. So rather than the latest madden for xbox 360 or high definition television, maybe a little self re-evaluation for us all would do us a mighty deal of good in correcting and setting our eyes properly on what it is we want in life.

Once again, just to reiterate, this was my brother's work and not mine, but I am still very curious as to what you guys think.

Music Sunday: Minus The Bear

Confession: I am 100% stealing the "Music Sunday" idea from miss*H. I have always wanted to do something similar and I hope she doesn't mind if I take her idea. Especially because I am giving her full credit ;)

I know it seems like I am always talking about a show I'm going to (I didn't even talk about the Drum and Bass event I went to in October) but I guess you have to live when you are young and able, right? On Tuesday, I will be seeing a band I have liked for a while, Minus the Bear, in Birmingham. I usually go to Atlanta for shows, but Bham is also about two hours away. I have only been there once, for an Armor for Sleep/Underoath/Taking Back Sunday show in 2007. But this place I'm going to called The Workplay seems to be much smaller venue which should be nice.

We started listening to Minus the Bear during my freshman year when my roommate at the time, Hedman (who I am still friends with now -- he has been mentioned here before), brought them into the house. He and Frisco got into them first. For whatever reason, it took me a little longer. But once I did, and the entire house did, we REALLY got into their sound. It's just... different. Especially for what I usually listen to. It's very chill, but they can also jam with the best of them. We have kept up with them over the years and thanks to torrents were able to get their entire discography a few years back.

Last week, my brother went to a show of theirs in California. He was texting me telling me he was there and I was telling him I was jealous and that we were contemplating going ourselves. Afterward, he said the entire show, openers and all, was "perfect" and said that MTB was "fucking amazing." That pretty much convinced me to get on it and upon realizing that tickets were ridiculously cheap, they were purchased.

Now I would like to share some of the music I will be jamming to, in progression form.

From their first release, "This is What I Know About Being Gigantic" (September 2001)



From their debut album, "Highly Refined Pirates" (August 2002)



From an EP released between albums, "Bands Like It When You Yell "YAR" At Them" (May 2004)



From the album that has gone down as a classic, "Menos el Oso" (August 2005)



From the remix album, "Interpretaciones del Oso" (February 2007)



From their third full length, "Planet of Ice" (August 2007)



From an acoustic album, "Acoustics" (October 2008)



And finally, their latest single, off an album due out next year (October 2009)

If You Understood, You Would Understand

So you may have seen this story already if you visited here, but I want to give you the view from my side.

Tuesday I was just sitting there minding my own business when I get a text from jeanette concerning the Anberlin/All American Rejects/Taking Back Sunday show she was attending. I got a picture message from her to tease me about the same show I will (hopefully) be attending at the end of this month. Some time later she sends me a text saying "Guess who I am talking to?" to which I reply "If you say Adam Lazarra, I'm going to punch you in the face."

Explanation: Adam Lazarra is the lead singer of my favorite band, Taking Back Sunday. He, along with the likes of Chris Martin, Johnny Depp, The Rock, is the kind of person that if I were to ever meet I would be speechless. The "punching in the face" was not meant to be literal, just a show of jealousy.

Her reaction was "haha, no Anberlin." I told her to tell them they are amazing, she said "will do" and I thought that was the end of it.

Until a few minutes later when she TELLS me she is going to call me in 30 minutes. Sure enough, some time later I get a phone call.

Me: "hello?"

(commotion in background)

jeanette: "Hey, hold on a second" (to somebody else: "here, talk to my friend")

voice gets on the phone: "Hey, don't punch her in the face, that's mean. And besides, she is more clever than you as most women are" then at some point the voice said goodbye.

While those may not have been the exact words (it all happened so fast), that voice belonged to Adam Lazarra, and my reaction was to stand there in shock.

Turns out, he also said to her that if I were to punch her, they would just double team me afterward. I'm not gonna lie, it sounded pretty enticing.

I would like to publicly thank jeanette for making that happen. That was 7 seconds of my life that I will never forget.

In other news:

*I would like to ask for the blogosphere's forgiveness in my absence. Not in blogs, but of comments. Some of my favorites have been posting (looking at you Lisa, Tennyson) but for various reasons I just haven't been able to sit down long enough. That will come eventually, I promise.

*As I am typing this, I am getting ready to take a day trip to Troy. Jme will be visited and I am pretty much looking forward to it as the second highlight of my week. But I will be back in time to watch yesterday's Ruins, and my Thursday night line-up of The Office and the greatest new show ever: Community.

*I joined a group on facebook called "I am..." and its basically phrases that our going to go in our yearbook. There were some basic ones like "I AM an Auburn Tiger and LOVE it!!!!" and some like "I am one of 87,451 who is in love with Auburn rain or shine, win or lose!!!" There were also some funny ones such as "I am in a glass case of emotion!"

Mine?

"I am Jack's smirking revenge. I am someone whose name you will see in a magazine one day. I am a spreader of music at WEGL. And (if) I am just bad news, then you're a liar."

sidenote: just found out while checking that someone "liked" it and another commented on it, liking the inside references. Nice.

*I haven't posted any pics in a while, but we took some during bowling the other week. If you are wondering what my friend is wearing, it was the Wednesday before Halloween and she was a bag of jelly beans. She one second place in the costume contest (she lost to a slutty pirate). So pics is how I will end this...






Bonus points: For those of you who have been keeping up with my blogs for a while, BOTH of these girls have been mentioned before.

Random lyric of the day:

My inarticulate store bought hangover hobby kit
It talks, and it says, "You,are, you are so cool."
"Scissor shaped across the bed, you are red, violent red."
You hollow out my hungry eyes
You hollow out my hungry eyes

And we lay, we lay together just not
Too close, too close (How close is close enough?)
We lay, we lay together just not
Too close, too close

Chicks with blonde hair and peices of paper

What do these two things have in common? They are what have been the main topics of my past couple of days.

Topic 1: Paramore Concert

Last night, a friend and I went to see Paramore at the Tabernacle in Atlanta. Sidenote: The Tabernacle is a wonderful venue. If you live near the area, you must go there. It is an old church that has been turned into a concert spot and it looks amazing with a very intimate setting. So here is the play-by-play.

It was kinda crappy weather yesterday. But when we got near the place, we saw the long line of kids standing there waiting to get in. Respect to them, but we parked and got something to eat. It was kinda cool though, as we were walking past the kids, Hayley Williams (the lead singer of Paramore for the uninformed) leaned out of a window and was waving to everybody. Respect to her as well. The opening band was The Swellers, who I think I could get into. The lead singer was sick, but still put on a good performance. Hayley came out to help him with one song and got a huge reaction from the crowd. The second band was called Paper Route and, in my opinion, gave an amazing performance. There were like six people on stage and more than that number of instruments (i swear I saw an accordion at one point). They were the kind of band that I didn't mind that they kept going, I was actually interested in their songs. But when they ended and we waited for a set change, the lights went off and Paramore took the stage. For the better part of her career, Hayley has always had some crazy looking hair. But last night it was dyed blonde. I don't know how long that has been going on, but it still looked good on her. I have to say this. Some people are born to do certain things. That chick was put on this earth to be in a rock band. I had an amazing time and strangely didn't feel weird for being a near 23-year-old male standing amongst teenagers and singing along to her songs. At one point, they did a song called "Misguided Ghosts" and pretty much the entire crowd was right there with her, and you could see the smile on her face. It was, overall, a great experience.

Topic 2: Diploma Application

I (finally) registered for my final semester of classes, and in doing so, filled out a diploma application. Now, I know many of you have already done this and now that it has come and gone may not be that big of a deal. But for me, this was huge. I am one of those stories where neither of my parents finished college. I also have two younger brothers and numerous younger cousins who, without filling my head too much, I know look up to me. So for me to be doing this felt like a great accomplishment. I feel like, for all the advice and know all my dad has, I will finally do something he didn't. And that's not an in your face statement, more like a "i'm sure he will be proud of that" kind of statement. And to my younger relatives, I feel it sends a statement of "you can do this too." And for me personally, it just felt good. I have hit some road blocks while I have been here (having to drop classes, failing a couple classes, taking summers off) that has caused me to be on the five year plan. But it's finally coming to a close and I feel I can see light at the end of the tunnel. All this is why the whole time I was filling out the information, I couldn't stop smiling. My advisor said "now you have good news to share with your family over the holidays" and my response was "shoot, i'm gonna call somebody right now" (I called my sister but she was sleeping, so my excitement had to wait). Now I know that a diploma is basically a peice of paper, and it's what you do afterward that matters. And I think that's what excites me the most. I know I'm not going to get it and put it on a wall and smile at it, then go back to my job in high school. (if any of you have done that, no offense... it's just not for me). That's why I had one glitch. It asked for my hometown, and I literally hesitated writing "Daleville" down, becuase I have grown such a distain for my small-town hometown. But then I went on and wrote it down so I can look at it and be like "I came from there" and have it to remind me that I did this so I don't have to go back. I won't go into detail now, but my hometown is the major reason why Thanksgiving has become a holiday I really don't look forward too. But more on that later. For now, I am just basking in the fact that finally my college days are coming to a close. And another smile comes to my face while typing that.

Speaking of school, I will end this post for saying a big my bad on sudden dissapearance from posting and commenting. Things have gotten kinda hectic and I didn't really plan this kind of absence. Not sure how many of you were into the video series, but those should be back up and running soon so we can finish it out with Arizona and California. But I have been busy on other parts of the blogosphere, guest posting on Natalie's blog. Please check that out and tell me what you think.

For now, I'm going to try and get some sleep... at two in the morning. I need to start going to bed earlier.

Random lyric of the day:

But I'm still around. And you would build a ship or pack my parachute in time for the fall.
Yeah, this is love by all means. And I'll continue building with you.
Don't stop, now. Just carry on, carry on, carry on.

We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Series To Bring You...

My 100th post! After a slow start back in late April, I feel I have gotten things going and have started to come into my own so to speak. How to celebrate? By thanking you guys. Let's face it -- people start off not caring about followers. But it happens. You start to connect. Then you want more. And when certain posts only get 1-3 comments you start to wonder "what have I done?" I once saw a blogger (Mr C) who when he reached a milestone gave a shoutout to, if I recall correctly, 100 of his readers. Now, I only have 41 followers, so it won't even be nearly that many. But shoutouts are necessary. Especially to the ones who have contributed and have helped to keep this going. How am I going to give shoutouts on this celebratory 100th post? If you guessed with song links, then you know me too well. It's the only way I can express to love and respect to my favorites. So if I have singled you out, hopefully you are ok with the song I selected. If some of these people are unfamiliar to you, this is your chance to change that.

Just a note. This is in no particular order. In fact, I'm just going to do it alphabetically. And if you are not on here, just stick around a while. When I reach 200, that will be your day to shine :)

*Something Corporate - My Konstantine

This is one is going to be for Al at just putting it out there... pretty much due to the fact that she loves piano and when I think of piano, I think of this song. A few weeks ago she put out a list asking for her people's favorite songs of all time to add up to "what songs we should hear before we die." I am still waiting for the results, but happy for her getting her license back ;)

*30 Seconds to Mars - The Kill

One of the most entertaining bloggers I have come across, this one goes out to the Caped Tirader with a blog by the same name. It's hard to casually read his posts because there are always nice lil links that help with the distraction process. When thinking of a song, I was going to go with AC/DC because of a post from a few months back, but I am really digging his 31 Days of Halloween countdown going on right now. A few posts ago he mentioned the shining, which made me think of this video, which made me start liking this song again.

*Rick Springfield - Jessie's Girl

Going out to Cassie at Southern Domestic Goddess, one of only two bloggers I know outside of the blogosphere. Why Rick Springfield? Because when I first got into this, she was having a contest to give away a cd of his. So it's just kinda stuck with me.

*Taking Back Sunday - Cute Without The 'E'

This a relatively new blogger, well at least for me. Her name is ArabianMagic at Confessions of a Cocktail Napkin. The song is chosen for her because not only is it one of my favorites, but it contains the line "a thousand clever lines unread on clever napkins" so hence the connection.

*David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust

While this one goes out to the girl with the pink teacup, you will notice there is no link to click on. I'm sure I don't need to explain it to anyone of you because half of you are here because of her awesome "bilf" blogs, but she has sadly retired from the world of blogging. Now, it looks like we can catch her doing random guest posts, but for now we have the memories, like fascination with her tattoo artist and this song.

*Taking Back Sunday - There's No 'I' In Team

The one who got me started blogging in the first place, this is a special song for ___j at this is me; consequently. I still remember when jme called me and told me I should get on here to help me out with my journalism. While it may not seem like that has happened, I feel, if anything, it has helped me find my "voice." Jme is that rare best friend that you just know you still be checking in on each other at 70. Also that rare best friend that asks you not only to come to her wedding, but to be in at -- as a "bridesman." This song is from our favorite band, one we saw in June and will see again in November, that is about best friends who have kinda strayed, but we twist the song for ourselves with the line "if we go down, we go down together."

*Our Lady Peace - Whatever

This song goes out to Jaime, who has a cool way of spelling her name, at What Do You Say? She is probably the closest distanced blogger to me, residing in Atlanta, the city I often visit for concerts and such. One night I went there for an Incubus concert and she was attending an Our Lady Peace concert the same night, in the same city. That's why I chose the band. But I chose the song because it used to be the entrance song for a wrestler, and I am no longer hiding my wrestling fanhood.

*Meg and Dia - Monster

Oh man, where do I begin with Jeanette from Cooler Ranch of Nacho Cheese? Since starting this blog, she is the one I would say I have made the most of a connection with. The kind that if I had to quit blogging for whatever reason, I know we would still be in contact due to the book of faces. She is a really cool chick with really really good tastes in music, helping contribute new cds, and new bands, to my music library. In fact, there are many I could have went with here, including her favorite Paramore, but I chose Meg and Dia because she is the first person I have met to really like that band.

*No Doubt - Just A Girl

Kacy at so give me something to believe... is another new blogger to my feed, but she is fun to read. And she apparently likes the office, so that's a win. The song was chosen because a line from it is written on her page. And that's about the only reason you need for No Doubt.

*Coldplay - Green Eyes

Coldplay fan? Check. Cali native? Check. Fantastic blogger? Check. That is an accurate description of Lisa from A Day in the Life. Lisa in of those that I look forward to getting comments from and look forward to reading her posts, though they are sparse right now due to her having to take care of other things. I was fortunate enough to guest post for her when she was on vacation to San Francisco and it was pretty amazing. Hopefully she will enjoy when the road trip series comes back and finally makes its way to Cali.

*Muse - Time Is Running Out

I have thrown out the word "favorite" a lot, but seriously, if I had to make a top 3, Lola from Lola Lakely: Life, Love, & The Pursuit of Insanity would be there. Her blogs are amazing and she always leaves random questions that are fun to answer. Song choice is simple: one of, if not her #1, favorite band is Muse. This is my favorite song by them. My dull weeks are always brightened from this self proclaimed "Naughty Redhead."

*The Killers - All These Things That I Have Done

You never forget your first. And besides my two blogger friends from "real life," Melissa at Meme Love was my first follower. She always has fantastic entries and is a great storyteller. She has been kind of MIA lately, which sorta makes me sad, but last I heard she was attending a Killers concert, and as you guessed it, this is my favorite song by that band. Looking forward to some new posts from her...

*Death Cab for Cutie - Grapevine Fires

I have a confession. I have a thing for accents. Sure, Megan Fox was hot in (THE FIRST) Transformers, but who really grabbed my attention was the actress whose name I don't even know. I just know she was blonde and had my attention everytime she spoke. Even if Miss*H from The World According to Miss*H hadn't of posted some youtube videos of herself and made me pay full attention, I would still love her. One of the reasons? She does Music Sundays, and one of those Sundays featured Death Cab for Cutie. While this may not be my favorite song, the link goes to one of my favorite videos.

*Jimi Hendrix - All Along the Watchtower

In the blogosphere, you have to have a personality. And I don't think anyone has one quite like Mr. Condescending at Advice and Humor from Mr. Condescending. Not only does his blog feature "Losers as Art" but he has on more than one occasion, posted an entire blog while driving. I kinda feel like he is a blogging celebrity so I feel like a cool kid anytime he stops by. The song was chosen because a while back he gave me some artists he listens to and Jimi was one of them. This song may have gotten played out over the years, but that doesn't mean it's not great.

*The Shins - Caring is Creepy

I have never been to New Jersey, but I already associate a few things from there. Jon Stewart, Bon Jovi and the movie Garden State. But now, add Natalie from Growing Up A NJ Wife to that list. The song is actually from the Garden State soundtrack, hence why it was chosen, a post which produced the most comments I think I have ever received. I feel Natalie would be the kind of friend who would tell you to your face if your outfit was hideous or if you breath stunk, and the world needs more ladies like her.

*Cobra Starship - Kiss My Sass

Sas' Magical Mystery Tour sounds like one of the wildest rides you can go on. And it is fun. From seeing videos of birds mating with guys to her WTF Mondays, this blog is mucho entertaining. Song was chosen for one simple reason: her name reminds me of it.

*Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven

Who doesn't love combining Soda and Candy? Well it may be the ultimate sugar rush, but if you need some awesome distractions, head on over to Soda and Candy Stories to take care of that. Her features are always great, such as "Original Drafts" which once featured the song above.

*Judas Priest - Painkiller

What a way to finish this off. Like I said earlier, most of you were sent here from the girl with the pink teacup. That same post featured Tennyson ee Hemingway at andy warhol goes shopping. His is a blog I have come to look forward to reading and he is a blogger who I have come to enjoy dropping by. He has, by far, been one of the most consistent commenters during this whole road trip so major thank you for that. However, aside from being a great source of reading material, dude is also a drummer. And thanks to Rock Band, whenever I think of drumming, this song comes to mind.

Well that closes this blog out. Next week I have a check-in past and the week after should finish off the series. Look forward to you guys joining me for another 100!