The 2nd Best Concert I've Ever Been To (behind the Strokes and Wolfmother)

This past summer I made a valiant effort to go to as many concerts as I could. While it never actually ended up working out and I only went to a total of one conert the entire three months of summer vacation, it ended up being one of the best concerts I've been to. My friends are all big 311 fans and always go to their concerts every time they come to the area and would always rave about how great the concerts were and how, basically, they were just one big party. I figured that I might as well see them when they come around for the Download Festival this past summer to see what all the hype was about. I wasn't like a huge 311 by any means. I was more of a Sublime fan, but I did like a lot of songs 311 did. So I went out and bought four tickets. It ended up being me and my friends Chase, Katie, and Julia, who had all never been to a concert before. We all couldn't wait for the concert and we were pumped when the day finally came. My sister dropped us off at the Tweeter Center because it was a lot easier than having to pay for any parking. We got to the concert at around noon to see all the opening bands that were playing during the festival. The place was packed with people, most of which were under the influence of something. The first band we ended up seeing was the Wailers, Bob Marley's old back up band. They put on a good show, but they weren't the same without him singing. The next couple of bands that came up weren't very big bands but they were all local ones. They weren't too bad, but the most entertaining part was watching all the people try to crowd surf and all of them getting a mosh pit started. After the bands were down, we went into the main stage area and we found out we were under the cover of the roof, which ended up being really helpful later. There were three bands scheduled to be out there before 311 was even supposed to be on and we had only heard of two of them: Jurassic 5 and the Dropkick Murphys. None of us were a big fan of Jurassic 5 so we went back out to get something to eat and bought a couple of shirts and stuff before the concert and by the time we got back the Dropkick Murphys were about to come out. I'm not a big fan of there music or anything but they did put on one hell of a show. After they got the crowd up and excited, it was only a matter of time before 311 came out. About 20 minutes before they were scheduled to play, it absolutely started downpoaring outside. The people out on the lawn seats were getting completely soaked and were all trying to make their way under the cover of the roof. There was thunder and lightning everywhere. It was one of the worst storms of the summer for the area. Despite all of this going on, the members of the band had all gone on stage to a huge ovation from everyone there. The storm had only gotten the people more riled up. They started playing with the storm going on outside and it was one of the coolest things to be a part of. They put on an amazing show and lived up to all the hype that my friends had made. The entire day had ended up being fun and it was experience I can't wait to have again the next time they come around.