Back at the Quest

IT SNOWED! IT SNOWED! We had our first snow today here in St. Cloud. I woke up to do some last minute studying for my astronomy test, which I seemed to not do enough of… After I had gotten up and taken a shower, I looked out the window and it was starting to flurry. Within 15 minutes, it was a nice, heavy, beautiful snow. I think we got about an inch of it on the ground. I had a hard time focusing on my test or on my other class because I was constantly drawn to the snow falling outside the windows. I always love watching it snow. I may hate the cold weather, but I love snow.

Yesterday Karl, Jeff, Brad, Aaron, and I went down to the Quest club in the cities to see Hoobastank, Blindside, and Greenwheel. I’m glad we had tickets ahead of time because there was a gigantic line outside the Quest for people who wanted to get tickets. Most of them did not get in because the show was basically sold out before they even opened the gates for people to buy tickets at the door. We just got there in time to see the concert because of a heavy traffic jam on I-94. A truck hauling sod collided with a car, utterly destroying the car and spreading sod all over both sides of the highway. We sat at a stand-still for almost a half an hour. By the time we got into the Quest, Greenwheel was just getting on the stage.

Greenwheel played for about a half an hour, and I highly enjoyed their set. Jeff, Aaron, and I pushed our way up to the front of the crowd. Most of the people in the crowd were all of the 18 and under age group. I figured out that there was probably so many there because it was the first day of MEA break. I’m not a big fan of concerts full of little kids, as attested by the behavior of them during the Greenwheel set. Every time they would start a new song all you could hear from all around you was “Greenwheel f**king rocks” or “this song is the f**king bomb” or 15 year old girls screaming. It was real annoying, as well as all of the body surfing. I don’t mind body surfing for hardcore, punk, and metal bands, but for rock bands, there is no need for it. Besides that, Greenwheel was a great band to watch. They played a great show, even though there was some initial feedback from the speakers.

After Greenwheel finished, Blindside was on deck. Before they started, I went up to the upper deck. This is one of the first times I’ve actually benefited from being over 21 (buying alcohol isn’t too big of a thrill for me, as I don’t). The upper deck is so nice. I got myself a nice spot right along the railing and waited for Blindside to come on. They came out with a bang and kicked into some of the best 45 minutes of Swedish metal I’ve ever seen. They played most of the songs off of their new disc and one old one, just for us old-school fans. I especially enjoyed their performance of “Time Will Change Your Heart”—my favorite song off of their new disc. I was thoroughly impressed by their set. I would definitely like to see them again sometime.

Finally Hoobastank came on-stage after a good long time setting up their gear. They put on a good show, but nothing too spectacular. Don’t get me wrong, I like watching them play, it is just that they were nothing too special. They played almost all of the songs off of their platinum-selling self-titled disc, one off of their EP that they were selling at Target, and two oldies from “They Sure Don’t Make Basketball Shorts Like They Used Too.”

It felt so good to be back at the Quest watching some good live music once again. I missed watching live music. No matter how many bootleg concerts I watch or listen too, it just can’t compare to actually being there in the crowd. This has also gotten me very anxious to see Sevendust in a couple weeks.