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We went to see the live concert of " The Offspring " on August 9 !
Location was Phoenix, AZ which takes about 2 hours drive from
our place.
We both love The Offspring's music very much so we were very excited when we found they are touring to Arizona.
The concert was held at "Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre" in Phoenix ,
and besides the Offspring, there were two other bands also performing at the concert -
Simple Plan and Sum 41.
All three bands have been touring together this season.
We both only knew The Offspring so before going to the concert, we were also looking up and listening to the other two bands' music, and Ray found alot of Sum41 songs that he likes.
The tour name is
" Let The Bad Times Roll Tour event "
which is the title of one of The Offspring's songs.
So we suppose The Offspring is the main band for this tour.
We made a reservation for a hotel near the stadium that night.
and the check-in time was 3 pm.
So we left home around noon.
and before get to the hotel, we made sure the location of the stadium and the parking place.
The concert was scheduled to start from 7 pm and the parking gate opens at 5 pm.
We arrived at the hotel " Fairfield Inn & Suites Phoenix West/Tolleson "
around 3pm.
Hotel was clean mostly and A/C was cool which we can control ourselves in our room.
Location is Phoenix which is one of the hottest places in the USA, so A/C is very important for us.
In the past, we had bad experience for A/C cooler not working at one of the Best Western hotels at Phoenix and it was not really comfortable then.
Small refrigerator , hair dryer, good shampoo & conditioner & body soap were there.
Bed was comfortable.
It's only one night stay, so we just needed the place which is close to the Stadium and has a good cooler and a refrigerator , with good reviews.
We left hotel around 4:30 pm and went to the restaurant near that area.
Lin's Buffet restaurant.
It was very busy, and there were many people waiting for the seat.
But luckily we waited only 2 minutes, so soon we were navigated to the seat.
It looked there were many foods , but there were not many kind of Sushi , and taste was okay.
I liked Chocolate Soft ice cream , and Grilled rice noodle.
Orange chicken was very hard, almost like a rock, so hopefully they will cook it more soft in the future.
We left there around 5:45 pm and drove to the Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre.
We parked at Gate 8 which is free parking.
It was interesting to see all the people who were coming for the concert, and all dressed up in punk fashion, they were getting out of their cars and walking to the Stadium.
Although these three bands are all in their 50's, we noticed that the vast majority of the people going to the concert were in their 20's , and even alot of teenagers.
We think it's because these band's music are alot of fun, with high energy, and also include alot of party type songs.
On the way to the Stadium Gate, Ray was walking a little of ahead of me , looking for the entrance,
and I lost balance while walking suddenly and fell down on the ground ...
Ray was ahead and so didn't immediately notice what happened.
I could not get up right away, so people who were walking behind me were helping me up saying
" Are you okay ? "
" Are you Okay ? "
Several people were asking me ,
and one of them helped me to get up,
and Ray noticed the commotion and ran back and helped me to stand up and get back my balance.
I felt like people there were very kind and I am very grateful for it.
I got a scratch on my knee from the fall and it was pain and skin came off.
So soon I went to the restroom and cleaned the part and put bandages on it.
It was good I brought some bandages in this trip.
I realized that when I get older, it's not easy to get up once I fell down.
Maybe because I stopped doing my daily stretch exercise so my body was not flexible enough to get up.
Same thing happened to me a few times since 5 years ago.
I need to start stretch exercise again to avoid to get this.
In the Gate,
Security was strict like an airport security.
I guess since Terror incidents happened, public event places became very strick for security.
They approve only limited size bag, and it has to be clear plastic bag which we can see the inside of the bag if the size is over 4.5" X 6".
and bags that are clear plastic, vinyl or PVC and do not exceed 12" x 6" x 12" or 30.5 x 15.25 x 30.5 cm.
Small bags, non-clear bags that do not exceed 4.5" x 6.5" in size, with or without a handle or strap can be taken into the stadium with one of the clear plastic bags.
So we quickly went to buy these plastic clear bags because I wanted to bring drinks and video camera and etc..
It was interesting to see many of of the fans all dressed up with really wild punk style with colorful hair and fashionable.
Some of them had Mohawk style hair, others had like spiked hair which was standing up.
It's a shame I could not take the photos of them.
I did not notice I was wearing my hat wrong way. lol
Maybe we were the oldest in that event ?? LOL
Although we did see just a few people in their 40's and some possibly in their 50's.
But most were all young, and also alot of teenagers.
There were many foods & drinks stand stores which sell fast foods and alcohol
The concert started around 7:30 pm, it was late because there were still many empty seats.
First band was Sum 41.
When they appeared on the stage, soon many seats were filled.
Honestly, their Bass sound made me almost sick, and Ray too,
because the Bass guitar's sound was just way too loud...
Usually at rock concerts , the Electric Guitars are the loudest but we could barely hear the Electric Guitars because the Bass was so loud.
All my body including my heart was shaking and was beating fast.
Like the Bass sound went through my body...
Ray likes alot of Sum 41's songs , but because the Bass was so loud, we could not enjoy their performance,
however after about 20 minutes past , my body got used to it.
And we both liked that they played Queen's song We will rock you.
After their turn finished, there was a break time.
We both felt very thirsty , so we went to the drink stand store.
There were many stores which sells alcohol, but not much for soft drinks.
All the stores were busy and had long lines so we needed to wait in line for a while.
Simple Plan's stage started while waiting in the line, but our main purpose was to watch The Offspring.
so we kept waiting in the line.
Ray wanted to drink root beer soda, but they didn't have one, so he bought Fanta Orange, and I bought Lime sparkling water.
Originally I was not so interested in Simple Plan's music when I listened to some of their songs before coming to the show,
but while I was there, I changed my my mind.
I like some of the rhythms of the songs they played.
Simple Plan's Live
Then we went back to the concert area, and were able to catch the last 4 songs of Simple Plan.
During one of the songs, the singer actually went Crowd Surfing in the audience.
The audience took him around in a circular way and then moved him back towards the security guards who lifted him back on the stage.
It all went pretty smoothly, so that was fine.
At the end of their set, the singer said he will be watching The Offspring along with the audience.
Finally, The Offspring's turn was coming soon,
and prior to them coming onstage, they had a variety of different punk and rock songs playing through the speakers,
including songs from bands like Blur, " Song 2"
and also songs you would never expect at a punk concert, like "Country Roads " by John Denver ! LOL
Interestingly, the whole audience
( which alot of them sounded tipsy from alcohol ) sang loudly to "Country Roads".
This was unexpected, hilarious and fun to hear at a Punk concert.
They also had a cam video directed at the audience, with different hilarious segments,
such as the Kiss Cam and Booty Cam,
so that whichever couple the cam video would zoom in on, they had to kiss, or when the Booty Cam pointed to someone, they had to do a Booty Dance.
It was so funny, and silly ! LOL
I like to be silly in the concert because it's like our own world.
The cam video featured video taken Live with the audience as well as showing some videos from past audiences.
Then as the lights dimmed, suddenly, Offspring's drummer started the opening drum sounds of their song
" Come Out and Play" !
The Offspring Live Concert - Come Out and Play
( The sound of this video is bad )
and then
the other Offspring members appeared with their Electric Guitars coming in at full blast and they blazed through with this opening song.
We were so excited when they appeared !
Their sound was well balanced, with the Electric Guitars sound clearly out in front, and their Bass was not too loud.
It's one of our favorite songs of theirs, so we were so happy to see the live performance.
They also played their newest song " Let the Bad times Roll " !
We often listen to their new album a lot since it was released 2 years ago, and " Let the bad times Roll "is my favorite song in it.
Let the Bad times Roll
Original Prankster
The Offspring - Hit That
I was also filming their performance while watching it, but when my favorite songs were up, my body was naturally dancing so the video was shaking.
so it was not easy to take good video.
We need an action video camera.
We were crazily excited when the songs " Pretty fly " and then " The Kids Aren't Alright" were playing.
Audience also went wild during these songs.
Everyone was singing loudly together.
I was hoping they will play Pretty Fly, so I was very happy for it.
The Offspring Live Concert - The Kids aren't Alright
( the sound and the film are not good quality )
The audience requested encore and they did two songs for us after that,
the songs " You're gonna go far kid"
and
"Self-Esteem" .
" Self-Esteem" was the first song Ray ever heard from The Offspring and he was blown away by the song and by their unique guitar sound.
His favorite Offspring's songs are "Come out and Play" ,
" The Kids Aren't Alright"
" Let the Bad Times Roll"
" Half Truism"
" Self-Esteem" ,
" Pretty Fly"
" Gone Away"
" Trust in You"
" Behind your Walls"
" Original Prankster" and many others.
My favorites are
"Pretty Fly"
" Let the Bad Times Roll "
" Original Prankster"
" The Kids Aren't Alright "
" Come out and Play "
" Behind Your Walls " and many others.
I thought I was filming their Pretty Fly and Self-Esteem" 's performances, but somehow, it was not recorded..
The concert finished around 11:30 pm,
it was late, so some audience started leaving,
and the band members were waving to say thank you and good bye.
In concerts that I had been to in the past, usually most of the audience did not leave until the band members left the stage,
so I felt something strange feeling because it was opposite in this show.
I felt The Offsprings band members are sweet.
It was three bands in the same night , the show started around 7:30 pm and finished around 11:30pm,
so it was about 4 hours !
We both are really satisfied this concert event.
So happy to see the live performance of The Offspring !
Many people were leaving at the same time after finished the show,
so we got traffic jam at the parking place when we got out from it.
When we arrived at the Hotel, it was already midnight.
We both took a shower, and drink beers.
We brought Peroni beer from our home keeping them in the cooler box.
it was cold but I realized I forgot to bring bottle opener.
so Ray asked the hotel front desk if they can open the bottle.
and they said sure, and opened the bottles for us.
It was good the Hotel workers were nice.
My feet were pain because I was standing up in the concert for a long time.
Ray was exhausted so he fell asleep soon after drank the beer, around 1am.
and I went to sleep around 1:30 am.
The room cooler was working well, and the bed was comfortable so I could sleep very well.
In the next day, breakfast time was 6:30 to 9 am, so we went to the restaurant around 8 am.
They had scramble egg, sausage, hashed brown, bagels, muffins, bread for toast, cereals, apples, coffee, decafe, tea.
We both liked the Bagels.
I wanted to go to the swimming pool in the hotel, but I got injury in my knee before the concert so I gave up to swim.
We checked out the hotel at 11 am.
The price was about $115 for one night, including breakfast and tax.
I think it was good deal with this price.
When we went to the car, we got problem...
A/C stopped working...
The previous day was working fine, so maybe because of the heat or running long time, cooling fan might get problem ?
When it happened in the past, whenever I was hitting the bottom part in the right side several times, it was always fixed.
But this time, nothing worked.
Inside of the car was like sauna, because it's Phoenix, AZ, one of the hottest places in the USA !
so we took a break after running about 30 minutes.
We went to Burger King, and ordered Root beer and soft ice cream.
The cooler was working well in that store so I felt so good.
After that we went to shopping mall and walking around the store for a while.
Then went back to the car.
After that we just drove directly to our place without taking break anymore.
It was really hot, but I felt a little cool air was coming from the bottom area while we were driving on the Highway.
but it was weak air so it was still boiling hot inside of the car.
When we got home, I felt exhausted, and did not feel good.
But put all the things away from travel bags and then I ate a cheese toast and cherries.
After that I got stomach upset and felt like I have a fever, and the joints of my body hurt.
We thought I got heat exhaustion.
but in the next day, Ray also got the same symptom.
so it might not only heat exhaustion, but also flu.
Anyway, we are already recovered from it after taking a rest and took medicine and natural remedies.
Ending was not so good trip but we had a wonderful time in the concert !
We hope we wil be able to to go to The Offspring's concert again !