I\'m Summer, a mouthy, sarcastic bitch. I\'m passionate about natural birth, long term breastfeeding, and living naturally. I curse too much, love tattoos, and will some day be crushed to death by my book collection. I homeschool, dream of gardening, and swing to the left. 
Rise Against, September 4, 2007, Tulsa Oklahoma
we give it all
this is the reason why I sing
so give it all
and its these reason that belong to me
today I offer up myself to this
I’m living for my dying wish~Give It All – Rise Against
Standing in line outside I told Dearest I felt old and uncool. Here we were, in a mass of mohawks and pink haired girls, bad 80’s fashion mixed with hardcore metal styles, and more piercings and tattoos than you could shake a stick out. Dearest can pull it off, he’s been going to punk shows ever since his Navy days in San Diego. I’m sure my nervousness shows.
A girl covered in facial piercing and a black shirt with the words “DIE FUCKER” in white marched up to me and in the softest voice and sweetest smile asked me to sign a petition to stop the cruelty of animals. I signed and took my “I’m Not A Nugget” sticker, turning to point it out to Dearest who was munching on some McDonalds fries he picked up on the road.
The crowd was pretty small, but it’s expected when in the middle of Oklahoma. Inside the small crowd mingled pretty well waiting for the show to start. I slipped off to the bathroom to call and check on the boys while Dearest got me a rum and coke. The bartender must have been offended at my “girly” drink, as I swear the closest coke came to it was being passed by the can. On an empty stomach I was feeling warm and relax within minutes.
The show started with Cancer Bats. We’d never heard of them before, but they were good. Very metal and not the best equipment meant I had trouble understanding what was being said. But the guitarist could shred like you wouldn’t believe.
Between sets I slipped back to the bathrooms to call home. After the third time I was told that the boys were fine and to stop calling. I’m a mom, what do you want from me?
Silverstein and Comeback Kid played. The crowd wasn’t sure at first. By the second song the place exploded into chaos. For the rest of the night it was on. I pushed my way into the crowd. Dearest squeezed my hand and pulled me back a little. I gave him a squeeze back to say “Yeah baby, I’m sure”. And I jumped into the chaos.
When Rise Against came on stage we were all pumped. The crowd was on edge, pure electricty running through the place. They didn’t even try an intro, just jumped into the music while we were ready. I’ve never thrown myself into a concert like that. Screaming along, jumping up and down, pushing back at the swell of the crowd. It’s one of those thigns that you won’t get it unless you were there.
They had to stop twice for fighting, which pissed them off. Uh, hello. Maybe a concert promoting humna rights, the ethical treatment of animals, and anti-war isn’t the bet place to get into some macho pissing contest. Tim stepped up and said “The fight isn’t inside these walls, it’s out there” and we all exploded with agreement.
We got them back out for an encore. Tim came out alone and played some accustic, then the rest of the guys came out to finish the night with Prayer For the Refugee. The lights came up, Tim told us to take care of each other, and it was over. My body hurt from the workout I got, my ears were ringing, my throat was raw, and my breasts were hard as rocks from not pumping. But it was all worth it. Especially when he sang Swing Life Away accustic and Dearest wrapped his arms around me. *sigh*
I didn’t take in my camera, and my cell phone apparently was affected by something in the room. So I’m relying on the 15 or so other people there who were holding up cameras and cell phones during the concert. Here’s the first of what I hope to be many recordings of last night.
Rise Against
concert
Cain’s Ballroom
Tulsa, OK
Should’ve flashed your girls at the end and done a 21 gun salute with a spray of milk!
I’m soooooooo glad you got to go!!!!!
RYC: Sure, that’d be cool. I like everything else about how my layout looks, but I just want the space for my entries to be wider. Like, all the way over to the left, instead of a narrow column down the middle. IDK how you’d do that, but if you have a code that could fix it, that’d be super.