Cope-lizz-and

Ryan and I went to see Copeland Saturday March 27th.

we started off our trip by going to visit Jerry in Grass Valley so I could pick up the mix CDs he made for me. that was a fun little excursion. Ryan decided he wanted to drive through Nevada City, so we did that and it was cute. we got to Jerry's house and hung out there for about an hour and half. then we left and went down to the Galleria, parked in the garage, and ate some food to kill time.

then we went over to Melissa's and John was already there and Brian showed up soon afterward. Melie has a new puppy named Benton and he's a little monster, but a very cute one. he kept biting at all of us and he actually got me pretty good on my right palm, the little bugger. we watched Fried Green Tomatoes (Brian cried at the end and we made fun of him for it); Ryan and Mel and John went to the store for some butter and came back to make cookies; Mel and I played Mancala (she killed me) while Brian and John played Super Smash Bros; Ryan, Mel, and I played Operation (I lost miserably); and then I convinced Jerry that he should come down. so Ryan, Brian, and I went to pick Jerry up and we played the letter game on the way up and 20 Questions on the way down. Ryan's first one was the Capitol Building in Sac; Jerry's was The Challenger; Brian's was Elizabeth Taylor (I hella guessed it); mine was the color green; and Brian went again and his was a muffin ("Do you repair it?").
when we got back to Mel's we watched King of the Hill and then Look Around You

and then we all went to bed.

we got up the next day, hung out a bit, got ready, and then Ryan and I left for San Francisco.

after we got gas in Fairfield at Arco, we were on the freeway when Ryan started freaking out. I was confused beyond belief and asked him what the hell was going on. he said that there had been something on his eye, something moving. so we looked around the car and then we spotted it. a bee buzzing around on the dashboard. so then Ryan started REALLY freaking out and I calmy said to roll down the window and we shooed the bumbly bee out into the real world. and while we were doing this Ryan was basically swerving into the other lane, but luckily there wasn't anybody there, so no harm done.

we hit some traffic around Berkeley, due to a collision, but the toll plaza wasn't bad, and we made it over the Bay Bridge fairly easily.

we got off somewhere (don't remember which exit specifically) and drove by Slim's just so we had an idea of where the venue was. then we got out my handy dandy map of the city and drove up to Geary on 11th and went to Ocean Beach from there. it was the most perfect day ever. it wasn't even windy, which is practically unheard of. we spent some time there; I took pictures and Ryan attempted to tan a bit haha.

then we left and went to Walgreen's so I could grab a roll of film, and then we went to Trader Joe's and bought some sushi (we're making it our pre-show tradition) and some pita puffs, and sat in my car and ate it all. after that we headed over to the Costco parking lot which is like a block down from Slim's. we saw lots of hipsters walking around the garage and Ryan said "Wow, we're definitely in the right place."

so we bought our little parking pass after trying to help a couple of guys out with the machine, (it just didn't like them at all). then we headed over and got in the super ridiculously long line where we saw members of the bands walking to and from their vans. at one point the lead singer of Deas Vail mistook Copeland's van for his and tried to get in it, but realized it was the wrong one and walked away. then one of the guys from Copeland opened his door and yelled "FAIL!" hilarious.
we got to the doors and got frisked and the lady looked in my bag, saw my XTi and said that I couldn't bring it in. so Ryan and I went back to my car and dropped off my camera and then I grabbed my little flip video camera. we went back to a shorter line, got inside, and I bought Beneath Medicine Tree (the only Copeland album I didn't have). then Ryan and I got situated and looked around the venue, which was SICK. while we were waiting there was a screen in front of the stage and projected onto it was The Pink Panther, with French subtitles.

I told Ryan that even though I'm fairly tall for a girl, I felt really short because there were a lot of taller guys in front of us. two guys standing directly in front of us turned around and said that they could shrink down for me and laughed. a couple minutes later they asked if we could save their spots and we said sure. so they left and about 5 minutes later they came back with sodas or something (I thought they were beers, but found out later that they're underage) and were surprised that we actually saved their spots.

soonafter, Deas Vail started playing. a few people clapped after the first song. a few more people clapped after the second. after the third there were a few "Whoo!"s and I think it was at this point that the bass player got his camera out and took a picture of the crowd. after the fourth song, I was a fan. after the fifth everybody was clapping and there were a few more screams. after the sixth I decided I wanted to get their cd. and after their seventh song (also their last) everybody was screaming and clapping. they were great. that's the first time I've liked an opening act so much that I bought their cd right on the spot. and Ryan and I decided that the lead singer (Wes Blaylock) looks like a girlier version of Isaiah (a dishwasher we work with).

so I bought their cd and went back to our spot where only one of the guys was still standing. Ryan and he were talking and I joined in. he asked our names and we told him and then he said his name was Jake and the other one was Jared (he went to the bathroom apparently). then we asked if he was from the city and he said that he and Jared went to the Academy of Art and then he asked where we were from. we told him we were from Chico and he got this completely shocked look on his face and said that that's where they were from too. crazy. turns out that they know Jenni (one of the girls Ryan and I both work with) and probably a lot of other people we know too haha. Jake dated one of the Mundy girls, small world to say the least.

we talked about Chico/Paradise for awhile and then Person L started. they were eh. not my fave.
during their performance I swallowed my gum, texted ChaCha asking how long it takes for gum to digest, and found out it actually doesn't take 7 years; the body can't digest it at all.
after Person L, it was I Can Make A Mess Like Nobody's Business, and a girl standing behind us said "They're like eighth grade dance music." perfect description. but I ended up kind of liking them because the lead singer was hilarious and engaging. at some point there was mention of sandwiches and somebody yelled "KRYPTONITE" and the singer said "Kryptonite sandwich? That doesn't sound healthy" or something like that. he was quite quick with his quip and I liked him for it. about 15 minutes after that he introduced his fellow band members and asked us all "Doesn't Jose look like Team Jacob?" (Jose is the drummer) and we all started laughing and agreeing with him. then he went on about how Jose was actually [Taylor Lautner]'s older brother but didn't know his name and it was hilarious. then they were done and we waited for Copeland.

Jake told us so hit him if he started singing too loudly when they came on. around 10:35 Copeland came out and opened with "I'll Take Care of You". they are so damn good live, it's stupid.
then it was "Careful Now", "Sucker For a Kind Word", "The Grey Man", and "Chin Up".
after that they played "Control Freak" and the ENTIRE place was singing along. "Coffee" was next and there were a couple of people in front of us who got out their lighters and I tapped Jake on the shoulder and said "Hey! You can get out your lighter now!" (he'd been playing with one earlier.) occassionally Aaron Marsh's mic wouldn't be as loud and you could just hear everybody singing and it was amazing.
then it was "On the Safest Ledge", "The Day I Lost My Voice (The Suitcase Song)", and "Eat, Sleep, Repeat". there was a little lull in activity because Aaron was getting off the keyboard and putting on his guitar, so people started yelling out songs they wanted to hear and Aaron said "Thank you guys for yelling out subtitles at us" and we all laughed. then he told us they were gonna do a pop song, so they played "Pin Your Wings" and "No One Really Wins".
after those they played "When Paula Sparks" and "California" and left the stage.
we all knew they were going to come back to play an encore so we weren't that enthusiastic with our chants of "COPE-LAND! COPE-LAND!" but after awhile we all started cheering and screaming and Aaron came back out with one of the guitarists, sat down at the keyboard, and started playing "Brightest". for most of the song you could only hear the crowd singing. such a great great song. then the rest of the band came out, Aaron thanked us all for coming out and the last thing he said was "We've been Copeland", and I started tearing up. then they started playing "You Have My Attention", one of my very favorite songs of theirs.


after that we all left Slim's, bid Jake and Jared fond farewells, and headed back to the Costco garage. Ryan and I drove through the Castro and went up to Twin Peaks and froze our butts off while I took pictures of the city with clear skies.

then we left and went to my Auntie Lebo's house in Pittsburg for the night.
we got up around noon, had brunch, went to see my dad, and then we headed up the River Road to go back to Mel's house in Roseville because I had left my phone charger there.
by the time we were a block away from her house I had to go to the bathroom so bad it was insane, and Ryan kept making me laugh so I said "Don't say anything funny! Talk about dead babies or something!" and that made him crack up even more so I started laughing harder. it was torturous. we got to Mel's, I jumped out of the car with a quick "hello" to Ethel (her mum), and ran into the house to use the bathroom. crisis averted. so Ryan and I spent a bit there just talking to Ethel and Ted (Mel wasn't home) and we had a fun time. then Ry and I left, found a 7-11 because Ryan wanted a Slurpee, and headed home.

it was a really great weekend all in all :)

funny quotes from the trip:

"Mature, mature, mature! Three time's the savior!"

-Ryan at Winco the night before we left
"Is it something general, or something specific? Like a mom?"
-me during 20 Questions
"What's this? A potpouri of chips? Chocolate chips?"
-Jerry finding our bag of meltaways
"Elizabeth Taylor! A Muffin!"
-me, Ryan, Brian, and Jerry

"Let's talk about DEAD BABIES!"

-me trying to get Ryan to stop laughing because it was making me laugh and I was about to pee my pants