Last night was the Five Iron Frenzy concert. For those of you who don't know who FIF is, I now disown you as friends! Okay, well, maybe not, but you really are missing out on life. FIF is a Christian ska band. They're the kind that you either hate or love. I love them because, well, I love weird music. Plus they make fun of stuff like America's desire to convert the world to our culture, the stupid rumors their fans start on the internet about their band members dying, the awesomeness of Canada & milk in a bag and also most of their albums have at least one secret song at the end. So when I found out that a group of Grovers was going to Canton, OH, I knew I just HAD to go. Plus, I'd never been to OH, so it would be an exciting adventure. If only I had know...
There were 14 of us going. 4 went in a very nice sports car with one Senior and the rest of us were stuck in an old station wagon ('87 I was told). The girl driving was an okay driver, but had trouble adjusting to the feel of the big car and the fact that it was weighed down with 10 people (I think it was only supposed to hold 7). The people who were supposed to be navigating couldn't even figure out how to get to the highway, but luckily Katie lives in Ohio, and she was a great help. So I'm sure for at least the first 45 minutes we looked like we might be a possible DUI suspect. We stopped for gas (wouldn't want to run out on the highway), and headed out towards Ohio. I was busy chatting about random silly things with Katie & Emily when suddenly "Hey, is it a bad thing if the oil light goes on?" After a few minutes of debate, we decided it probably wasn't a good thing, so we pulled over on the side of the road. After checking the oil and realizing that it was almost completely dry, we unloaded the people in the back and began to search for a can of oil. They had every kind of greasy fluid imaginable but oil! After some debate among those more mechanically-minded, we decided to go to the next exit and hope there was a gas station (the sign ahead said that it was only 2 miles). When everyone got back in the car one of the guys said, "keep driving, but if the engine starts making a clicking noise, pull over right away". Hmmm. But we made it to the gas station fine and added a quart of oil (or something like that) and I ate at Arbey's for the first time since I was like 7. (Although I was told it was completely pointless since their shake machine was down and I couldn't try a Jamocha Shake). So we ended up making it to Canton at exactly 7 (I think we only turned around 5 or 6 times). Of course it figures that the concert was delayed for an hour! FIF concerts bring out the coolest people (although I guess you would say most messed-up because you're probably normal, unlike me). The first band to play wasn't even a real band (I think). They were horrible. They even said so: "so you guys bored out of your minds yet?". The second band was Ace Troubleshooter, and they were a pretty good Christian rock band. Then John Ruben came out. I'd never heard him, and after last night I never want to hear him again! He's a white Christian rapper, but he is absolutely horrible! (Darrell, you're way better than him, if that gives you any indication). I think he has some mental/emotional issues to deal with. His only move was to stick one hand straight up in the air and bounce it up and down. He got very very frustrated when the entire crowd wasn't doing it during his songs. But after him was the much-anticipated FIF. This was my second time seeing them in concert and the first time where I was close enough to actually see them. It was great! Good old-fashioned ska/punk. There are 8 members in the band, and they all look to be older than the typical band members (though they could be younger than they look). They were all dressed up like nerds and dorks and the lead singer was wearing a boy-scout uniform with a Project 86 t-shirt underneath. They played some good old stuff and some new stuff. There was some great skanking and of course the mosh pit. All-in-all it was a great show. We left around 11 and had a pretty uneventful ride home (unless you count the fact that the car smelled like burning. At first we thought it might be the oil, but then decided it was probably only the break pads..heh). We made it back to GCC at 12:56 (4 minutes before curfew for us freshmen). It was more fun than a barrel of monkeys! Hopefully Emily will have some pictures so I can post them.