the most amazing switchfoot concert ever

Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010 | 11:54 PM

being a member of "friends of the foot," i got to join a group of about 30 people who got to go in for sound check and a "meet and greet," as they call it. we went in around 4:30. during the sound check, they played, "needle and a haystack life," part of "red eyes," and also, "lonely nation." lonely nation was played only for us, and not at the show.

people asked questions and jon answered, while the other guys made sounds, and uh, checked them. when they were done, the band came down from the stage and meeted people and greeted people.

first i was greeted by drew, who shook my hand. then i was greeted by jerome, who i got a picture with. then i hovered around jon for a while until he finally turned to me. i got a picture with him. at this point, i was so nervous, that i hadn't remembered who i'd greeted and who i hadn't. (except for jon of course.) i didn't want to go up to someone twice, so i just stood around for a while. it seemed like people were leaving, and since i was the only one who was just standing alone, i decided to leave too. so i didn't meet tim or chad. (but that's ok because i know i'll be going to another one of these sometime in the future.)

the friends of the foot people didn't have to wait in life after the meet and greet. we just had to arrive before 7, and we got to go in first. still, i wanted to be near the front of the friends of the foot line, so i was planning on getting back at 6:30.

my dad came and picked me up, and we went to a nearby whole foods store. i went to the bathroom there and ate a piece of pizza. i ended up back at the crystal ballroom at 6:20. there were already several people in the friends of the foot line, so i joined it.

they finally let us in a little after 7. i climbed quickly up the stairs and walked quickly to the stage (i heard a staff guy say "no running.") there was one small empty spot along the barrier in front of the stage, right in the middle. i wedged in there. i was so hoping i would make it right in front, and i did! yay! and right in the middle too!!

i had already been standing for 40 minutes, and i had another four hours of standing ahead of me. the worst was the hour before the show started, because i had nothing to keep my mind off of the pain in my feet and legs. at least i could lean on the barrier, though. the people behind me couldn't do that.

when i saw a set list on the stage with six unfamiliar song titles, i realized that there would be an opening band. i hadn't previously heard of one. they were called "paper tongues." just as they started, a girl behind me passed out, and had to be pulled out of the crowd over the barrier.

they were very loud, and very energetic. i hadn't brought ear plugs because switchfoot is never too loud for me. i wasn't expecting a super loud opening band. when they were done, my ears were ringing. i didn't appreciate my hearing being impaired before switchfoot's performance.

after another half hour wait, switchfoot finally came out. everyone except jon took their place on the stage and they started playing needle and a haystack life. tim pointed out into the audience, where a spotlight hit jon where he was hiding. jon began singing and made his way up to the stage during the song.

and so it began.

this concert was special in that they performed their entire new "hello hurricane" album from start to finish, followed by some older stuff, with a total time of two hours of swithcfoot. some say that hello hurricane is their best in years, and i think it just might be their best ever. i don't really have a large enough vocabulary to describe how amazing hello hurricane is.

so this concert, was of course, AMAZING. it was beautiful. it was emotional. it was powerful. it was mind blowing. it was so much fun and i think it was the best experience of my entire life.

during "bullet soul," a guy named wilson, holding a sign, got to go up on stage and beat on a cowbell. this same guy played the guitar for "stars" when they were here in july.

several times throughout the concert, jon went off of the stage and stood on the barrier, while holding someone's hand and leaning out over the crowd. one time, he was hovering right over me. he dripped sweat on me.

it was just so absolutely amazing as they finished hello hurricane. i almost started crying during "sing it out." then after the amazingness that was hello hurricane, they played some other stuff too. i might be forgetting some, but they played stars, "oh gravity, " "gone," "company car," "chem 6a," "24," and (of course), "dare you to move."

company car had been requested during the meet and greet, and they agreed to stick it in there. it was cool because it's not a song usually performed at concerts, and it's really fun to sing. they also stuck "chem 6a" in there because the crowd started chanting it. it wasn't on the set list.

another guy, named lee, also was holding a sign, and he got to go up and play the drums for the last part of stars.

the atmosphere, the band and the audience seemed to be getting more and more exciting as they played more songs. i was pushed right up against the barrier, and everyone was leaning on each other. people were dancing and jumping.

i can't remember what song it was now, but during a song jon abruptly stopped singing, and said, "ok, this is what we're gonna do. i want everyone to put their arm around the person next to them. and then i want everyone to sway side to side." he then continued the song.

i looked over at the guy to the left of me and he looked over at me. we sort laughed and then looked away. we did not put our arms around each other. however, swaying side to side was not an option because everyone else did it, and there was no space between us.

when they finished dare you to move, which was the last song on the list, they left the stage. as usual, everyone started chanting, "one more song, one more song..." a few minutes later, some guy went onto the stage and picked up a guitar to carry it off, like they were taking things down. but then, switchfoot came back out. they were trying to trick us.

when they came back, they didn't just play one song, they played three songs. they started with "this is your life," and then they did "awakening" (yay!), and finished with "meant to live." during meant to live, jon held his mic out over the audience, as usual, so all of the singing heard was coming from the audience. everyone, (at least up front), was singing of course. one of my favorite things is hearing everyone singing along, and singing along with everyone. i'm not afraid to join in because i can't hear myself, evening when singing at the top of my lungs.

it was just so much fun and so great, i can't even describe it.

after the concert, my legs were extremely sore, my head was hurting and my ears were ringing. i came home and took three ibuprofens and two aspirins. i then almost lost my voice while talking on the phone with david.

BEST NIGHT OF MY LIFE.

(pictures coming soon.)

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