[insert your life here]

Amanda started the countdown seven days before the show. My own countdown was one day ahead: six days till I would see my best friend.

On Monday I must have told all my friends twice every time I talked with them that my best friend who I hadn't seen for six months would be here tomorrow. To understate it: I was ecstatic. Once I had Erin I was ready to get psyched for the show. Even then I wasn't looking so forward to the show as I was looking forward to surprising Sarah and Carly. Nevertheless, when RELS let out Erin and I ran back to the dorm giggling like school girls on the way to recess. We packed up, picked up Amanda, and hit the road.

Fast forward to Woodinville: my bank didn't know how to change foreign currency into American and then we spent an hour frantically searching every box, stack of paper, and trash can in the house for our misplaced tickets. However, our search turned up null. Her house ate them. We left for Seattle ticketless: Erin a tangled mess of elastic bands and myself thrilled for the adventure. (How boring would life be if everything worked out the way it was supposed to?)

We arrive downtown and gawk at the line wound nearly around the entire block. The show sold out and graceland was prepared to pack these people in like a girl packing her closet for a weekend excursion. Erin and I, still ticketless, walked with Amanda in search of the will-call line: it's graceland -- there was none. So we started our trek down the line to find our people. First, we found Mike: my ride back to Canada. Second, we found Sarah. Her face fell on the ground when we made eye contact. I just laughed.

"What are you doing here!? You can't keep doing this!!"

It's just too much fun.

However, we were still ticketless at a sold out show with no hope of convincing the bouncer at the door to let us in with our bank transaction showing we did indeed pay Ticket Master $97.04 for something. We found Josh, our fellow ticketless begger, and decided to hangout by the backdoor. The security mad in the 80s style green running pants (he was wearing them at the September show too...) came out for a smoke. We told him our sob story: he looked at the hillside between drags, offered his condolences by saying our situation sucked, then went back inside. Five more times he came our for another cigarette -- all during the first band's 20-30 minute set. The fifth time he came with a bargain: "I'll let you in for 40.00 bucks."

Erin, the bartering queen of India, wanted to make a deal, "Let's try for $25.00."

"Let's not -- I want to get in."

We gave him two twenty dollar bills and followed him in the back door. And then the concert started.

Here's the concert review:

I don't remember the one song I heard of the first band, Acceptance: but the crowd seemed to enjoy them. All I could think about was how bummed I was that Dennison Marrs bailed on the last show because their drummer left for "unsaid reasons".

Noise Ratchet was up next. They played a healthy mix of new and old songs all to the pumping fists of the sell-out crowd. Songs of note: Till we Have Faces and Disapeer. There's a special place in my heart for a good scream and Noise Ratchet's Joel Hosler found it. They left the stage and I bought a t-shirt. I wanted more.

Switchfoot grew yet again adding veteran guitar-god Drew (aka Leviticus) from All Together Seperate: So Cal's very own funk-rock band. The boys of Switchfoot were greeted fondly by the adoring screams of teenage girls.

Starting the set off with the standard Dare You to Move, the ambiance was created for the rest of the night. The orange amp went to work producing the sounds of Switchfoot's musical history from Chem 6A to the Company Car to Learning to Breathe to This is Your Life. Jon claimed the night was too rocking for the acoustic guitar (aside from the fact that it was broken) so he played the "quiet" songs on the electric. Once again stealing Only Hope back from Mandy Moore followed by the new crowd favorite: Twenty-four. The set ended with the crowd's chant: "One More Song!" The encore consisted of the Beautiful Let Down and the classic, New Way to Be Human. The night of west coast rock just wouldn't have been complete without it.

Good music, great company: a glorious night at graceland