Holmdel, NJ 2014

[Geki]

This show took place 2 days after the Mansfield show that I went to. The day before the show, since I was home and it was a day off in between shows, I just hung out mostly and we got prepared for the week since I wouldn't be home for about 5 days or so. We cleaned out the rental car, bought a camera at Best Buy, got some snacks for the road, etc. The day of the show, we left at about 10am to head out to Holmdel, which is about 3 and a half hours from where I live. My Grandma was driving. The drive felt like forever for some reason. We stopped at a rest area at some point along the way and ate at a Popeye's Chicken, which I've never had before, it was good. After that, we got back on the road and headed for the venue. Once we got to the venue, it was unlike any other venue I had ever seen up to that point. We hung out in the car for a bit. We had seats like we did in Mansfield, so I didn't need to go wait in line early or anything. Once we decided to go up to the actual venue, I remember it being the longest walk of my life. LOL. It was extremely hot and muggy that day and walking up that hill, etc. really sucked. Once we got to the venue, we checked out the Stavros thing, the 3D figures of the band, etc. Then we went in and immediately went over to the MFR Booth and said whats up, etc. After that, I checked out the merch and bought some more stuff. We then headed to our seats.

 

AFI was the opening band once again obviously, and they played just as good as they did in Mansfield. One guy, sitting near us, was a huge AFI fan and he was visibly having a good time, which was cool. Once they were done, we headed to find the Meet & Greet line. It was at a cool spot, right next to where the food was, etc. I bought some food and hung out at a picnic table nearby until it was time. I met Dmitry at that point, he's a really cool guy. Joe and Brad actually came out right out in the open and signed stuff abruptly, which I thought was weird, but cool at the same time. I couldn't believe random people walking around the venue didn't even notice, at least where I was they didn't seem to. Once they signed stuff, we were led to a backstage area that was really fucking cool looking. It was really closed off and it was a nice spot. The rest of the band then came out and signed stuff, etc. I asked Mike if he still kept in touch with Styles Of Beyond, and he said sometimes, but he hadn't talked to them in a while at that point. I used to be a huge Styles Of Beyond fan back in the day, which is why I asked. I think I talked to Chester, etc. as well but I can't remember what I said. The band seemed to be in a really great mood, though, and they spent a lot of time with the fans, longer than past Meet & Greet's that I had gone to, even the Mansfield one a few days prior. After they were done signing and talking with the fans, we took the group photos, which I was completely erased from, meaning that I can't see myself in the photos, since I was so far back and I guess I was just blocked by other people. I can still see myself in some other photos from the Meet & Greet though, so it's all good I guess, but it still sucks. After the Meet & Greet, we were led back out to the venue and I hung around for a little bit, just walking around, checking out the venue. It was a cool venue to me, although really old fashioned, I liked it, and the night air had a breeze which was nice after the sweltering day. Thirty Seconds To Mars had already finished their set before the Meet & Greet was even over with, unlike in Mansfield. Once everyone started heading into the amphitheater for Linkin Park, we headed to our seats. Linkin Park opened with Guilty All The Same again, which didn't pack the same hard hitting feeling that it did in Mansfield, maybe it was the sound of the venue or something. Still good, though, I loved it as an opener. The set was pretty much the same. I remember during Joe's Solo, some kid, obviously on some sort of drugs, was spazzing out, like he was going crazy, and everyone around me was laughing, etc. Really funny. He was really tripping out hard, and during Robot Boy, he looked like he was going to pass out. But he never did, luckily. I remember thinking Final Masquerade sounded really good at this show, for some reason. The band closed with What I've Done and Bleed It Out again, which was cool, and then there was a special surprise. Mike said Steve Aoki hit him up to do the Ice Bucket Challenge, which was obviously huge in the summer of 2014. Mike had Chester dump the water on him, which was cool. Sal also got to do the challenge with Mike, I thought that was really cool. Mike nominated Chester and Austin from Of Mice & Men.

 

After the show, we headed to our car, which was a super long walk once again, but it didn't feel as bad as when we first got there earlier in the day. I remember seeing these guys selling bootleg t-shirts and stuff and the cops telling them that they had to leave. Haha. Once we got to our car, we waited in some traffic, and I got a text from an old friend that I hadn't talked to in years at that point, so that was kind of cool, not sure why I remember that, but yeah. Once we got out, we went to a nearby rest area type place and got some food, etc. We then planned to drive to our hotel in Wantagh, since we were staying over and the show was the next day. We ended up getting lost on the way there, which sucked, because the GPS took us to the middle of nowhere in some residential neighborhood in the middle of the night. LOL. We ended up finding the right way and got back on the highway, which of course had night construction going on, so that further delayed us. I was dead tired at this point, basically falling asleep. Once we got to the hotel, I crashed completely, almost forgetting that I was going to a show again the next day.

Edited June 28, 2018 by Geki