A year ago, I got a text from some friends in California about a pop punk music festival in Las Vegas. They wanted me to fly out for it. The lineup was stacked with all of these bands I loved back in the 90s and early 2000s when I lived on the west coast.
Tickets were pretty expensive. Plus there would be the flight and hotel room costs. Responsible me declined the invitation. Then a day later, he was overruled by spontaneous me. He's much more fun.
At 3am Saturday, I woke up to catch a 5AM flight from Tampa to Vegas. So I could open the car door, I set my phone (which is inside a wallet case) on top of my car and threw my bags in the backseat. Being half awake, I made my way over the Howard Frankland to the airport and realized my phone (and ID, credit cards) were MIA. They still are. I must have left them on the roof when I left my place. With no ID, I couldn't board my flight. With no phone, I had no tickets. I was too tired to even be angry. I went home and after accepting defeat, I remembered that I have a passport and a credit card I never use so I never store it in my wallet. I booked a one way flight and made it to Sin City in time for Day 2 of the When We Were Young Festival.
Of the hundreds of pics I snapped in Vegas of all my favorite 90s and early 2000s bands at the concert, this one is my favorite... even though there are no bands in the pic. It doesn't show you that I was in the front row. (By the way, I didn't use my radio pull... I got to the front row because I'm 6'4" and that just happens.)
The photo shows the Nevada sunset over the mountains while 80,000 people are having fun. Many in the crowd were the age I was when I loved this music. But there are just as many my age mixed in. For a few hours, we all got to be like this kid again who was crowd surfing. I just turned 50 and don’t belong in a mosh pit. But until they make those DeLoreans work, concerts are as close to time travel as we get people. Yeah they’re expensive but they’re priceless.
My mother one time surprised and angered a few family members when she booked a trip by herself to see The Everly Brothers in Las Vegas. She was wheelchair bound and her health was in decline. She had a blast. When she passed about a decade ago, I doubt she had any regrets taking that trip. She came back to Maine with photos and a smile. I thought about her a lot when I booked this trip. Life is about having stories to tell. Just like she had her stories of struggling alone through airports to see her concert in Vegas, I now have the story to tell of riding a bike around my neighborhood in the dark at 4AM with a flashlight, just so I could do the same.
What happened in my home state of Maine last night really reminds us to live when we’re alive. Fortunately my family and friends in Maine are all ok. On the news this morning, I heard there are over 20 now confirmed dead. And when I was in Las Vegas at the concert in that open field, I noticed there were so many high rise casinos nearby. And we all know what happened just a few years ago in Vegas at a similar concert. But this week more than ever, I really felt those Bon Jovi lyrics, "I just wanna live when I'm alive."
Enough fortune cookie talk. Now some pics from the concert and trip!
It was a wild weekend in Las Vegas with dozens of 90s and early 2000s pop punk acts all crammed on to 4 stages. Plus this is a Geno photo album so you know there will be food pictures too. Let's head to Las Vegas!
3AM is way too early to wake up for a flight. But it turned out to be way worth it.
Made it!
The moment you step off the plane the slots are calling your name.
In-N-Out DRIVE THRU
[Slone Terranella] via BMG
First stop? Casino? Nope. Show? Nope. In-N-Out Burgers baby for a Double Double Animal Style!
What was her name?
Daytime view from our room in Vegas was sweet...
I really wish I had time to see U2 at The Sphere. Really looking forward to going back to go inside.
LOVE this place. Next time you're in Vegas, venture off the overpriced Strip restaurants and eat where the smart locals eat.
Get the stuffed French Toast with apple. I didn't even touch the syrup.
... but it looks way cooler at night!
IMG_E7677 (Medium)
We're here! Let's go. And yep, had to rep the Bolts.
Seriously? Maine lobster rolls at a Vegas concert festival? Cousins is good stuff too. I'd had them before. And honestly prices were not jacked up. Lobster rolls are already expensive enough... they were charging about $25.
There were 2 main stages. Which one would you have worked your way to? I chose the green side. I'm a big Green Day, Offspring, and Sum 41 guy.
Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day reenacting what I looked like dragging myself into the studio Monday morning when I got back from Vegas.
I've seen Sum 41 at least 41 times... always good. But their performance at the Hard Rock in Tampa last year was the best one yet.
There's a beach off Ocean Avenue. I'll have to check it out.
Blink 182 is back together now that Tom has taken a break from alien hunting. And no that's not snark.
5 Seconds of Summer had Joel Madden from Good Charlotte join them on stage.
Blink 182 will be in Orlando next summer if you missed their Tampa show this year.
All the small things.
The Offspring are always fun but they just kind of were going through the motions. Maybe I just was less pumped since we just saw them in Tampa a month or so ago.
My first time seeing 30 Seconds To Mars. Was really looking forward to it, but Jared Leto is an egomaniac and annoying on stage. He actually stopped his band midsong 3 or 4 times to lecture the crowd that they should be louder. A) The crowd was outside shoulder to shoulder in the hot Vegas desert sun all day with little water. B) Maybe give a better performance and you won't have to ask the crowd to be louder. What a tool.
The Offspring didn't have to play with the sun in their eyes like the daytime acts.
Pierce The Veil ... I'd heard of them but didn't know their stuff, but man the ROCKED! So good!
Cone from Sum 41 kindly showing me the way to the portapotties.
Pierce The Veil was AWESOME. Didn't really know their songs but hope to know them when they come to Orlando next year to open for Blink 182.
Green Day! Man I've seen these guys dozens of times, but it'd had been a while.
Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day... with Elmo.
Blink 182 doing "What's My Age Again?" It was a question I was asking myself all day.
There were 4 stages total. The 2 main stages were placed next to each other so when one band finished, another went right on a few minutes later. It was great.
If you get to Vegas, not far from the airport is this shopping area called Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar. Get that "Dirty Dog."
Oh. My. God. It was the best hotdog I've ever had. And I'm not a hot dog guy.
I lived in California for 5 or 6 years so seeing mountains was lost on me then... but now that I live in Florida, I stare in awe when I see a mountain desert sunset.
My buddy from Cali rented a Tesla. I'd never been in one. I will own one by next week. I'm not even kidding.
