AWOLNATION 12-12-12 Ho Ho Hoedown at Boston House of Blues

When the kidlet got home from school, we got ready for the show & decided to take the train into the city. He was so excited to be getting to see Awolnation again with me.  My camera died the night before so I was bummed that I wasn't going to be able to snap away like I normally do. Luckily the mister was kind enough to loan me his. But it is nothing like what I was used to so I decided ahead a time that I wouldn't take many pictures. So we hopped on the afternoon train and headed right in. When we arrived, we stopped for a quick bite to eat. After having some dinner, we walked over to the venue to go wait in line. There were only a few people ahead of us as we had thought the doors were at 6 & the show at 7 when it really was the doors were 7 & the show at 8!! There were probably about 10 people ahead of us. It was frigidly cold but luckily we had both layered up so weren't too bad having to wait outside.

 I wrote on my hands & was going to on his as well but he was freezing & said he was all set with having anything done. I wrote a #9 on one & AN on the other & when the security guy was putting wrist bands on he said if I wanted to be able to drink I'd have to take it off. So I ran inside like they let me & washed it off, of course nothing but cold water ran but I scrubbed & was able to manage to get it off. Then I got my band. I might not have much to drink but I wanted to have that option. It was so cold outside so we were all grateful when the doors finally opened.  We went over & checked our coats & got a drink & headed towards the front. We didn't get right on the rail but right behind them & found the people we had been hanging out with in line before the doors had opened.  There were 2 bands that played before Awol came on. A Silent Film started the set. They're a British band that neither of us knew any of their songs but they were good & happy to be ending their stint of shows in Boston. They were pretty good. Then Younghawke Blood played next. They were catchy & have a hit on the radio that everyone around us seemed to know. There were some drunk girls behind us that I had to shield the boy from, one of them was very drunkenly apologetic that she kept bumping into him & me. We both just shook our heads & put up with it. Luckily her & the group she was with headed off in another direction & we could enjoy watching without having to deal with them any longer. The people in front of us had moved over a little & left a space so the boy & I were able to get up along the rail.  The set ended and the guy from the radio station that was dressed like Santa came out for an appearance from the balcony & all of a sudden there were candy canes being thrown everywhere. Which is never a good thing before a band is ready to come out on stage. The lights went back down & the intro to M.S. started & we all went wild as a crowd. When the guys stepped out on stage, the lights went up & both the kiddo & I waved at Dave & he saluted back at us & smiled that big grin of his. People were still throwing candy around & Aaron looked out & said people should quit it. Then they started into GFS. NYF got the crowd singing along. During Wake Up, Dave threw a pick to the boy, he thought he dropped it when really it landed in the sleeve of his shirt. During MF, we got Kenny's attention & he waved & smiled at both of us. Drew was further away but all my jumping up & down, I finally waved back & forth with him.  It was pretty rad being one of the few people around me knowing Cannibals, the girl next to me asked how I knew that song. I said it was the 5th time I had heard it live. She seemed impressed. I was just like, I have been around a while & get to hear great songs. She nodded.  When AIN came on, Aaron told us all to put our arms around the person next to us, even if we didn't know them for a little unconditional love. It was the first time I listened to that song & didn't feel the need to ball. I cried a little out of happiness, being able to share the show with my son.  When it ended & Aaron said he wanted everyone to move as close to the rail as possible so that noone would get hurt, I had a feeling I knew what song was going to be next. "Lets see how many girls we can get to crowd surf" and then he yelled let the games begin, I knew exactly what was next, "Joke." Myself & the guys that had been in line with us shielded the boy while I just kept my hands up & ducked down a bit.  I knew things were bound to get crazy when people were crowd surfing between the songs. And it really did. The security guys in the front did an awesome job catching people & helping them back up on their feet. When Sail came on, I thought the crowd was going to errupt. It pretty much did.  The security guard had opened a water but then was going to have to put it down so he handed it to the boy who said he wasn't thirsty. I, on the other hand, happily accepted it & chugged it down.  It was just what I needed.  Aaron slowed things down & sat on the edge of the stage for an acapella version of "Lean on Me."  Then he exited the stage & then they all came back out for KOS.  Which everyone around me sang along with. Aaron stayed on his guitar this time around. The guys totally rocked out. At the end Dave pulled his setlist off the stage & I pointed at my kiddlet & he high fived him when he handed it to him. And then he high fived me.  It was late & we had to head back to the train station & the boy was exhausted so we didn't stick around after. Although we did look to see if we could find the bus on the way back but we didn't see it along our travel back.  When we had gotten to the venue I had thrown my phone in the abyss of my bag & couldn't find it.  I thought I had lost it in the rush of trying to get in & get to the front of the crowd.  Little did I know that it was just in a different section that I couldn't see & on the train ride home, I was able to find it, to my relief. All & all, an epic show to end off my 2012 run of Awolnation, joined by my son. Really incredible.