The Eternal Sunshine of My Spotless Mind: Not 13

So guess what I did on Friday night? I'll give you a hint, I saw them in February, the lead singer has unfathomable hair and they're German.

Whit and I went to see Tokio Hotel at The Sound Academy. I swear, celebrity is a funny thing. These 13-17-year old girls come to these concerts thinking they will meet the band. They think that during the concert the lead singer will notice them, and only them, in the throng of screaming teenage girls. They will go backstage to meet the band. And possibly back to their [Tokio] hotel. That is if their accompanying parent will let them.

How do I know? Because I used to be 13 and ~~stupid~~ naïve. There were girls there who brought gifts for the band, like teddy bears (c'monnnnnnnnnnn) and wearing skirts shorter than I would wear in public. Don't get me started on the screaming. Oh boy.

But Whit and I are too cool for the yuppy stuff. We knew we could be more mature and devise a plan to get backstage, and not like a screaming lunatic. And we did. We met the band after the concert and we went back to their hotel room. The next morning I was really tired.

Haha, just kidding. With Whit's lack of knowledge about the band's comings and goings and my lack of experience with trying to get backstage to anything, we failed. Or perhaps gave up too easily. After the concert, there were girls waiting around after the concert, waiting outside the venue and even some girls were waiting by the 'secret' driveway the band would be coming out of. There were girls trying to get to them from the back, the front and the sides. The only place that wasn't covered was the top but my stealth isn't that great.

Speaking of stealth, I have to pay homage to the kick-boxing and and wall-climbing training I've been doing the past months. The concert was absolutely rammed. Whit and I were too cool for the line up outside, so we waited till everyone got in and then we pushed and kicked our way to the front. Unfortunately, I ended up wedged between screaming girls and their moms (I realized later that obviously the crazier girls are at the front, duh). UGH. This one mom next to me began to scream and jump uncontrollably when the band came out. So weird. Some girls even had to be literally plucked from the crowd when the band started because they were too hysterical or fainted.

During the concert I managed to wedge myself between a mom and one of those metal stands they use for crowd control. The stand goes up to about my arm pits. When I got fed up with not being able to see the band because of all the arms and cameras, I stealthily hoisted myself up on the gate with just my arms and immediately I had the best seat ever. I could see everything, and not to mention I got great shots (when I could, before I was kicked off by security).

How was the concert? It was great. I wasn't really expecting them to play anything 'new' since the last time I saw them was in February and they played mostly their English songs and a couple German ones, to my disappointment. I don't mean to sound like a teenager, so I will just say it was a delight to see them live -- when I could.

I decided after the concert that if they ever came back and the venue of the concert was bigger, I would not go because their fans annoy me and I'm sure I annoyed them.. My requisites for seeing them again are:

1. The next venue they played was as small as a hotel room or something.

2. There were seats.

3. Everyone applauded, instead of screamed.

4. Age restriction to 19 and over only.

5. Mandatory deodorant on everyone.

Can you tell I'm 24, and not 13? That's my idea of an ideal concert. Ha.

Oh. Funny story: after the band finished, they threw their towels in to the crowd (remember what happened at the last concert with the towel?) and I was perched on my perfect fence-seat. I saw a towel go flying toward me and I immediately jumped off to avoid the insinuating mob of arms. The mother in front of me caught it and immediately arms from every direction came at her and grabbed the towel, even from behind me! I was trapped! This mother and about a dozen other girls were literally in a tug-of-war over this towel and I was stuck in the middle. When the crowd moved, I moved. "Jesse! Don't let go!" "I got it! I soooo got it!" "It's mine, it's mine, it's mine!" "IT'S JUST A FUCKING TOWEL, LET GO!" That last one was me. This tug-of-war over a used towel went on for about 15 minutes before security had to come. Pretty soon me and the security guard were both yelling, "It's just a towel!". Some let go and I made my escape and tried to find Whitney because I lost her during the Towel Surge. No one ended up with the towel as I found out, as I later asked the security guard. I hate Tokio Hotel fans.