We weren't supposed to leave 'til 11:30am, but ended up actually getting there at 11:30 instead. Hmmm. That would've been all good if they'd started letting people in at 12 like they were supposed to!! It wasn't until after 1 that we were in (and we'd been near the front of the crowd), missing the unwritten law set and not getting a chance to figure out which stage was what. Doh.

So we picked a stage that they were setting stuff up on, thinking it might be the dropkick murphys, who were supposed to play at 2:15. While we were waiting, we got to see & hear voodoo glow skulls on the next stage over. I'm really not a big fan of theirs (it's his voice - he sounds like he has a mouthful of marbles or something), but they were okay.

Back to the waiting. Unfortunately, it was ALL (which isn't bad, just meant we were missing the DM set). So we ran to the other stage and caught a few songs (and pics!) of DM, who were still sounding awesome despite a singer change (this guy had an accent, was good looking, and could sing. He was an excellent choice for a replacement). After them, we wandered around, past ALL again, catching the sounds of some awesome descendents songs (sorry, i'm just partial to milo!)

We saw skaters on the ramp, so went over that way. Wasn't anyone we recognized, so browsed the band tents & merchandise. Back to the skate ramp. Who is suiting up?? Andy MacDonald! (two time X-Games gold medalist, and all around awesome skater). And shortly after him - Bob Burnquist (the most incredible guy, skater, everything)!! So we hung out at the ramp, snapping away pictures. Andy stopped to pass out stickers after that, and went over to sign autographs. So, we got to meet him - he was very sweet! I asked for a pic, with him, and he had me squeeze between the fences. As I put my arm around his waist, he warned me he was "a little sweaty." After the first pic, as I peeled my arm away, I was like, "just a little!" (yuck!) But it was Andy Mac, and he didn't stink (heehee, he probably did, I was just too happy to realize it), so I put my arm back. He was an all around sweetie, who said they'd be skating again at 5. Guess where we'd be? :)

In the meantime, we got to see and hear some bands. Aquabats sounded cool, and looked like they had an entertaining set. NOFX sounded like NOFX, and the set seemed a little flat. Played a mix of songs off different albums though ("The Longest Line," "The Brews," "Murder the Government"). We saw and heard Snapcase, they were cool. The crowd was all over for them!

Back at the skate ramp we got to hear a lot of bands, including Swingin' Utters, Cherry Poppin' Daddies, and Hepcat (I think?). We watched the second skate show. I must say, Neal Hendrix was probably the best of the day. High tricks and hard slams, he kept getting up. Bob got hurt a lot too ... first he took a break when he injured his left elbow, the fall ripped his watch off. At least he was recouperating on our side of the ramp! Sigh! But then he fell on his right wrist, which had been fractured at the end of June (in the X-Games). He took a time out from the ramp again, and he really looked in pain. Again, on our side of the ramp, he then cheered on the other skaters. Unfortunately, Bob didn't come out to meet the audience. And believe me, I watched.
Andy Mac has his fans and his opponents. The group of guys next to me were the latter. I think he won them over though, when he went through trick after trick unscathed, including varials and coping tricks. He and BMX biker Rick Thorne did a vert doubles thing, first with Rick spinning over Andy, and then Andy spun over Rick, who was sliding along the coping.

I'd been waiting for this for a long time. Last year it rained all day and the guys couldn't skate. And in that time I've been getting more into skating. Plus, Bob Burnquist was here. No secret, he's my celebrity crush. Heehee.

The Ramp was being taken apart, we were looking for Bob to come out, and who walks by?? Lars!! (of Rancid fame) Wow, right there, spikey black hawk, it was Lars! But he just walked on by, and some guy helped him over the fence. Next to come by though?? TIM!!! Yes, *the* Tim Armstrong. A couple people had seen them by now, and had gathered by the fence. Some guy kept calling him, he finally walked over (with his bodyguard), and handed the guy a sticker. No words were exchanged, just that simple gesture. Sigh, the man was like 4 feet from me, and I was frozen. It was very cool.
The Rancid set was short. Or at least it seemed it. Nothing off the first album, 1-2 songs off of 'Let's Go,' a few off 'And Out Come The Wolves,' and 2 tunes off the new CD. It was a good set.
They asked if anyone had seen them last time they were here, when they 'played upstairs at that place.' The show in question was at Mr Goodbar in the fall of 1994(5?), before 'AOCTW' came out. It was $7 and the Queers were playing too. I distinctly remember being asked to go, and declining. I am one stupid, stupid girl.

As we were leaving (just after Rancid's set, as most of the audience was), we ran into a cute guy peddling CDs. "3 CDs for 4 bucks!" he touted.
"What's wrong with them?" we asked.
"What's wrong with them? Nothing!" he laughed.
"Then why are they only $4?"
Said cute guy goes on to explain how they're comps, and this guy really helps his band out a lot, so he was trying to help him out too.
"Who's your band?" I asked.
"The Mad Caddies ..."
"Oh! I've heard you guys are good, but we missed your set!" Sigh. "Okay, here's $4 ..."
"I don't actually take the money, you can pay that guy over there ..."
So after buying the 3 CDs (which had cool bands on them and turned out to be really great CDs, read the reviews page for more), I opened the one with the Mad Caddies on it and went back to him.
"You talked me into it, so I thought it was only fair you sign it for me?"
"Yeah, that sounds fair!" he laughed.
"So who are you anyway? And what do you play?" No tact. I didn't have a clue who he was and I wasn't going to try to fake him out.
"I'm Carter, I play guitar. There you go. I didn't sign this like I usually sign everything else. I usually put a satan symbol after it, but I didn't on yours."
Um, okay. "Thanks!"
Reading my simple "To Jennie From Carter" as we walked, we were asked to buy another CD from someone else. It was a tv-themes one, and it was $5. The salesguy had a good pitch, "It even has Todd Bridges singing the 'Diff'rent Strokes' theme!," but we declined ...

Thanks to cool staffer Sarah for coming all the way to Buffalo to check this show with me! :) And we ran into other cool staffer Aron, who gets extra applause for recognizing me (which my own mother didn't when I got home)!

So while the bands would be cool, it was the skaters I was there to see. Which I did. We could still hear the bands, so it worked out all good. Tickets were provided by the cheezy malternative station, but it would've been worth $20 to see those guys anyway. Rumor is it won't be back in Buffalo next year (something about the lame city not wanting to give them a permit 'cause of all the injuries? I didn't see any injuries), maybe just not at the Park. Who knows? Hopefully I'll be in sunny SF by then, catching the show there.