During the Fall of 2019 Lindsay asked me if I was interested in going to this concert, called the Hella Mega Tour, which consisted of Weezer, Fall Out Boy and Green Day. It was suppose to be in July of 2020. I asked Ben if he was interested and he said sure, so I got back to her saying that it sounded fun and let's plan to go.
I haven't been to a concert in a long time because life got in the way and I really didn't have anyone to go with that liked the type of music I liked. My last concert was Elton John in 2008. I drove up and over to Pullman from Oregon to meet up with Mom and Amy while Erika was at WSU. It was really hard to get tickets so they had two nights available.
Ben, Lindsay and I looked into getting tickets and where we wanted to sit. Neither of us wanted an obstructed view, nor did we want to be really far away from the stage. So we decided on the third base side in the 100 level for about $200 each plus taxes and fees. She said she had an account through whatever site she was going to buy them from so I let her be in charge of that. I added that we would pay her back once she bought them and we had an official total. We each cut her a check for the amount we owed her and paid her before the end of the year.
The Hella Mega Tour consisted of The Interrupters (the opener), Weezer, Fall Out Boy and Green Day at T-Mobile Park (originally Safeco Field) on July 17th in the evening. Since it was a Friday, we were all going to take Friday off and stay the night at a hotel somewhere after the concert. Lindsay and I talked about how that weekend would possibly go and we were getting pretty excited about it. She wanted me to drive up there and they would give me gas money. I didn't mind because I knew my way around the Seattle area pretty well-ish.
Then Covid arrived to the states around March 2020 and we had no idea if we would be able to go to our concert in July or it if would be rescheduled for another time or we all would be refunded the money. As of then, it was just postponed. I am so glad all we did was pay for the tickets.
Lindsay sent me emails throughout the year keeping all of us in the loop of what was happening with the concert and it was rescheduled to July 14th, which was the middle of the week, so if it stood, we would all have to take half of Wednesday off and all of Thursday off to make it work with our work schedule. I didn't like this change at all.
As people got vaccinated and things started to open up more, it was rescheduled again to September 6th, which was Labor Day this year. I saw how all of my stuff was going and it was going to be a really busy Labor Day weekend with the TriCities Geocoin Challenge, the concert and getting ready for Peru on that Tuesday. It was overwhelming but I think all of it would work out fine.
I asked Lindsay how we wanted to do Monday and she replied that she and Justin would meet at our house around 10 a.m. and we would drive up to Angle Lake to get on the light rail train so we didn't have to deal with traffic or parking. She also had this elaborate food "tour" she wanted to do at Pike's Place Market but with my new diet it would be hard to do it. I told her we could go to some of the places but I let her know I probably couldn't eat some of the stuff.
They got to the house late so we left after 10:30, got gas really quick and got onto I-5. Traffic wasn't that bad which was nice. I told them we were going to take the train up to Seattle instead of driving because I didn't want to worry about finding a parking place or how much money it would actually be. They've never taken the train to Seattle before so they would learn something new today. Ben was used to taking public transportation to and from Seattle when he lived in Puyallup and worked in Seattle. We got to the Angle Lake parking structure, parked the Escape and walked to the ticket kiosk. Justin was kind enough to pay for everyone's $6 round trip train ticket.
Lindsay had to pee really bad and there wasn't a public restroom at the park and ride. She is six months pregnant and it was probably uncomfortable. She and Justin went across the street to a convenience store to pee but had to buy something to use the toilet. The clerk was very adamant about it. The ended up buying a bottle of water and got back to the platform just before our train to Seattle arrived.
We were on the train for about a half hour and we chatted about random things as we rode. There were about 11 stops between Angle Lake and the stop where we got off for Pike's Place Market. We got off at our stop and meandered our way through the building until we got outside and figured out where we needed to go to get to Pike's Place. We ended up going down the stairs, walked through Post Alley to the gum wall. Went inside the market and Lindsay decided she needed to use the restroom again so we found a public restroom. We had to wait in a line so Justin and Ben wandered away. We couldn't find them so we started walking through the marking on our own. They eventually caught up to us in the spice shop.
We went to Chukars, a chocolate covered fruit stand, known for their cherries, went to the comic book store, a souvenir store - didn't find what I was looking for and eventually walked towards where the first Starbucks was. I told Lindsay that we needed to find a place to eat soon because we were running out of time. I told her she could eat anywhere she wanted but I gotta find a place that serves low carb food or a place with many choices and the only place I knew of was Pike's Brew Pub. She said she and Justin would meet us there so Ben and I walked to it.
We didn't have to wait long for a table so we were escorted to our table and we ordered drinks. Ben got a beer and I got a fruity drink that had less carbs than beer. Lindsay and Justin arrived about 15 minutes later just as we were drinking our drinks. We all looked at the menu and decided on what to eat. I got a Caesar salad with chicken and Ben got a burger. I had some of his French fries as well. I wanted to eat somewhere before we went to the concert because I knew the food inside the stadium would be much more expensive.
We finished up our food and walked back to the train station to head south to the stadiums. It was a short walk down Royal Brougham Way, up and over the road to the first gate. We had our tickets scanned and went inside to go find our seats. There were so many people around not wearing masks and no way to tell if they were vaccinated or not. I decided I was going to wear my mask the entire time so I would be able to go to Peru the next day. I didn't trust the public at all. Ben and I thought about getting concert shorts but the lines were insanely long and decided it was ridiculous. We decided not to because we would be in the line for hours waiting and would miss the concert.
I was super stoked to see Fall Out Boy finally. I've been a fan of theirs for years. I was anxious to see which songs they chose as their set list for the evening. I was hoping they'd play Uma Thurman because Ben doesn't like that song. We found our seats and made ourselves comfortable for the evening. It was pretty open but as the night went on it filled in more and forced us to stand while the bands were playing so we could see. The weather was decent but I knew by nightfall it would get a little bit chilly since we were right by the Puget Sound.
The first band, The Interrupters, reminded me a lot of the bands, Letters to Cleo and Save Ferris, in 10 Things I Hate About You...which makes sense because they are all ska bands with that up beat guitar and drum rhythm. They were very entertaining and kept the audience engaged. They thanked us for having them out and we had about a 20 minute intermission for Weezer to get ready to play for us.
Weezer - I only knew two of their songs because I wasn't really into their music. I learned who they were when I was in college because Fitzy had some of their music. We ended up swapping a lot of music when we shared an apartment together.
Their set list included the songs:
Hero
Hash Pipe
All the Good Ones
Beverly Hills
The End of the Game
My Name is Jonas
Pork and Beans
Feels Like Summer
All My Favorite Songs
Undone - The Seater Song
Surf Wax America
El Scorcho
Island of the Sun
Africa (Toto Cover)
California Snow
Say It Ain't So
Buddy Holly
I didn't think this band was that old...maybe in their late 30's if that. I had to look them up to see how long they have been a band and they have been since 1992 and have had several albums since then. Their lead singer is over 50 years old! I was so wrong. We had another 20 minute or so intermission while Fall Out Boy got their stage ready.
I was so excited for Fall Out Boy. This was the reason I wanted to go to the concert when Lindsay brought it up. Who knew we were going to have to wait an entire year or so to actually go see them. I am glad they rescheduled it on a day we all could go.
Fall Out Boy - I knew all of the songs and sang along with all of them. They did play Uma Thurman and Light Em Up, which I was very happy they were included in the set.
The Phoenix
Sugar, We're Going Down
Irresistible
Uma Thurman
Grand Theft Autumn/Where is Your Boy
Save Rock and Roll
The Last of the Real Ones
Dance, Dance
A Little Less Sixteen Candles, a Little More Touch Me
This Ain't a Scene, It's An Arms Race
Light Em Up
I Don't Care
Thnks fr the Mmrs
Centuries
Saturday
It was so much fun singing outload in the stands to songs I knew and could recite word for word. It has been a long time since I've been to a concert in which I knew all the words to.
Green Day - This isn't a band I listened to a lot growing up but knew a lot of the songs because people listened to them a lot in high school and college. I also thought this band wasn't that old and I was way wrong. Green Day has been a band since 1987 and their lead singer Billy Joe Armstrong is almost 50 years old. Green Day put on a really good show and even had a girl come up to play with the band, she couldn't keep up so they got an older dude out to play and Green Day gave the guitar to the girl. It was a pretty cool gesture.
Their set was the following:
American Idiot
Holiday
Know Your Enemy
Pollyanna
Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Longview
Welcome To Paradise
Hitchin' A Ride
Rock and Roll All Night (Kiss Cover)
Brain Stew
St. Jimmy
When I Come Around
21 Guns
Minority
Knowledge (Operation Ivy Cover)
Basketcase
She
Wake Me Up When September Ends
Still Breathing
Jesus of Suburbia
Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)
We left a few songs short but we were okay with that, we definitely got our money's worth, started walking back towards the train and we could hear the music outside of the stadium which was I hope you had the time of your life...which was appropriate. We knew they would save that song for the end of the concert. It is the most used song at high school graduations. I am glad my high school class decided to not do the obvious cliché of a song to leave the stage with.
We got back on the train, chatted a bit and finally got back to the Escape, the traffic wasn't that bad going home. Justin and Lindsay thanked us for driving and they headed home. It was pretty late but we made it home around midnight. I didn't care when we got home since I had the next two weeks off and I was so excited this time finally came. I really needed a vacation from work and my every day routine.
Next Adventure: Peru: Seattle to Miami, Florida (Day 1)
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