By Stefny
Friday night was the most fun I’ve had in a long time, and I have the gentlemen from the “Bigger Than You Think! Tour – The Sequel” to thank for that.
These three bands have had an incredible impact on my life, and it’s such a blessing to have adult money (and be in the radio business) and be able to interview and shoot artists that I never thought I’d get the chance to interact with.
First of all, I got to interview Sean and Nathaniel from 3OH!3 earlier in the day, and they are the nicest dudes. I actually had planned to ask them about the dirtbag personas their lyrics portray, but they were too nice, and I couldn’t even bring it up! Suffice it to say, they’re nothing like that.
I also went through my oldest external hard drive (from 2007 – it has its own separate power supply; that’s how old this bad boy is) and found the video of my college roommate and me dancing to “Starstrukk” that I mentioned to them in the interview, and have uploaded it for nobody’s viewing pleasure to YouTube as well.
Unfortunately, because I was on the air until 7pm, I didn’t get to see their whole set, but I got to the venue while they were playing “Richman” and it was so fun to see them out there in their inexplicable hi-vis suits totally rocking out.
After that, Bowling For Soup came out and taught us some Punk Rock 101.
I used to work with a guy at Circuit City in 2008 who said he went to high school with these guys and I really need to follow up with them and see if they remember him.
Anyway, they absolutely killed it and look like they’re having the most fun out there. Jaret made candid comments about mental health and the importance of the subject, and I am so thankful when people in his position speak up about the issue. They also said 3OH!3 dared them to play their biggest song in the middle of the set, which turned out to be the theme song from Phineas and Ferb. It’s so fun to see people of all ages singing along with that! I wonder if he’s allowed to sing the Chuck E. Cheese song…
Then came Simple Plan, a moment I seriously never thought would happen. I cannot believe I got to stand in the photo pit and get blasted with confetti and shoot these dudes that I’ve loved since 7th-8th grade. I made eye contact with Pierre and Jeff multiple times, and I hope they could tell that I wasn’t just there on assignment and was actually having the time of my life.
Of course, they also have a legendary cartoon theme song of their own, and they brought out quite a crowd on stage to celebrate it. I’ve never seen so many people in Scooby-Doo cosplay (or wondered how on earth they survived in that heat) in one place.
This is the second time these guys have gone out on the road together, and I high-key hope they do the same thing every year like 311’s Summer of Unity Tour. Just keep it going forever and ever and ever…