Last Friday we went to the North Dakota State Fair for the first time. We didn’t see much of the fair. It looked like a normal fair. Shitty rides, shitty food, and other things. We went to see Fall Out Boy again.

We got there three hours early and there was already a line forming, so we just got in line. We wanted to get right up front like we usually can get. Luckily the line was within reach of a PokéStop, and lurers were being set constantly, so my time in line wasn’t a waste. Yeah, I’m hooked on Pokémon Go, so what.

When doors finally opened, of course we picked the line with the guy having scanner problems. I was pretty pissed how long it took to get his scanner working, but we ended it getting pretty close.

The opening band was probably the worst band I have ever seen. I don’t even want to mention who they were. They had so much bass, that was all your could hear. It was ridiculous and hurt my ears. I couldn’t even hear the guitar or the singer.

Fall Out Boy themselves were only okay. I’ve seen them many times before, and this time they just seemed to have less energy, and had less banter. Maybe it was because a storm was coming and they wanted to get all their songs in, I’m not sure. Also, they have so many new songs that I don’t like as well and their older stuff. I get why they don’t play as much of their older stuff. They only played two songs off of Take This to Your Grave and nobody really knew them. It would be cool to see them again where they only played their old stuff.

We had a great weekend in Minneapolis.  First Avenue is my most favorite place to see a concert.  We got there early because the Wife hates crowds.  She gets claustrophobic.  We have to either be right up front, or way in the back, so of course I like to get right up front.  It was another great concert. 

First Avenue is famous for the stars on the outside walls with some of the greatest bands that have played there on them.  This year they did a makeover on them, and they look better than ever.  I should have taken some pictures of the new paint jobs, but I didn’t think of it.  The line we were waiting in was on the opposite side of Motion City Soundtracks star, so I didn’t see their star.  They did move Prince’s, Soul Asylum’s and a few other Minneapolis band’s stars to easier to photograph places.  Our line was next to Motion City Soundtracks bus.  We saw Joshua Cain from Motion City heading into First Ave, and we saw Jesse Johnson go on and off the bus a few times.  Valencia had someone out side taking pictures for their website.  I may or may not be on their flickr site.

The Concert started with Valencia, who I have heard of, but never heard.  They were great, and I ran into one of them after the show and bought a CD from him.  I love supporting great bands by buy their CDs right from them.

Saves the Day was band number two.  I love them, and have most of their albums, but I am never impressed by them in concert.  This was my third time seeing them, and they always sound better on their albums.

Say Anything was the third band.  They were great, but I wish I knew more of their older stuff.  It was also great to see Kenny Vasoli playing bass for them.  I have seen Kenny’s old band, The Starting Line many times.

Motion City Soundtrack was amazing as always.  The only problem is that they have enough albums out now, that they don’t play many of our favorites off their first album, but that happens with every band.  They still rocked the place, and it was awesome to finally see them in mine, and probably their favorite venue.

So we went to the Bon Jovi concert last night. I haven’t really listened to them since the 80s, but they were one of my favorites back then. As a result I don’t know any of their newer stuff. The start of the concert was awesome. They were mixing old song with some better new songs that weren’t too bad. In the middle it got pretty lame though. They had a pretty long stretch of some crappy Christian sounding songs. For a while there it felt like were were in church. They ended much better, but not without a few of my pet peeves. They did two encores. I can’t stand encores. They are just a waste of time that they could fit in another song or two. More and more bands are not doing encores, but sadly most still do. Another thing that bugs me is when a band saves their biggest hit for last. I know you want to go out with a bang, but saving “Livin’ on a Prayer” for the last song annoyed me for some reason.

Dashboard Confessional were the opening band, and they were good as usual, but it kinda sucked because we were so far away. They didn’t have any cameras on them so it was really hard to see anything, and they didn’t even play “Screaming Infidelities”. WTF!? They need to come back to Fargo and play at The Venue.

All in all is was a pretty good concert. Not the best, but what do you expect in that large of venue. I have never been a fan of large stadium concerts. The smaller the venue the better in my book.