just got back from the panic channel show at the dragonfly. it was only their second show. the trip to the show was bookmarked with traffic accidents on the freeway. both of them were the worst accidents i have seen yet since moving back to LA. i think both of them had at least 3 cars involved. the cars were totalled. both were on the right shoulder. just a mess.

this is the last time, i swear it's the last time

we left later than we should have and were delayed by the accident traffic so we didn't get to be right up on the stage, but we were able to get what one would consider 'second row'. the band went on much later than we thought they would. which was fine for us. the very first thing that happened on stage: dave came out and wished me a happy birthday. how cool is that?! the band sounded tighter than the last show, which is hard to believe. they just rock the house. i'm not a classic rock fan so when they did their cover of "dazed and confused", 1. i didn't know the title of the song and 2. i didn't know who originally sang it. but it just had that led zep vibe and i found out that's what it was. it was really good. steve isaacs is an amazing vocalist. when dave navarro and stephen perkins play together, it's really hard to notice the bass because they are just rocking so hard. i would look at chris chaney playing bass every now and then. his hands were so busy. everything was amazing.

i took pictures and tried to record the show. right after the show was over, i checked my mini disc player and it wasn't on! argh! it had recorded 24 minutes though. i think the battery died during the show. i can't find the charger! i didn't prepare ahead of time! FUCK! i have such bad luck trying to record dave live. something goes wrong every time. panic channel. nancy raygun. jane's addiction.

during the show, dave threw his guitar pick into the crowd. it went about 2 rows behind me. after the show, a couple people were looking for it with flashlights. i figured they found it so i didn't bother to watch them. after they left, i saw it straight away, bent down and grabbed it. cool! my friend grabbed the setlist that was right in front of dave too. cool! later on while we were hanging out, we saw a setlist taped to the wall on the left side of the stage. she grabbed that one too. cool!

open wider please

shortly after the band left the stage, i went to go use the restroom. my friend nopalita went in right after me. while i was waiting for her, this lady that looked like courtney love walked right past me. i mean, right in front of me. just inches. it looked like her but something was off. i wanted to hear her speak so i could confirm or deny identity. a guy was with her and i wasn't sure if it was her boyfriend or her body guard. i didn't want to approach her like an idiot if it wasn't courtney. but then she went towards the bathroom and other people were like "hi courtney"! so i knew it was her. there was just something different though and i didn't quite believe it yet. it wasn't just that she might have had more surgery on her face--her eyes were different. when nopalita got out of the restroom, courtney went in right after because others let her through. i told nopalita that courtney went in right after her and she didn't even notice! we waited for courtney to get out of the restroom and as soon as she did, nopalita was like, "oh shit, that is courtney!"

we went up to her and i asked if i could take a picture with her. i don't really remember what kind of pose i was doing or what face i was making. it was just really tight and i was anxious to see later how the photo would turn out. i almost wanted to kiss her or something for old time's sake. i used to have the hugest crush on courtney. i didn't want to be a dork and tell her about it though so instead i asked her if she remembered playing with jane's addiction at the greek. she said she did. i told her she dragged me and my friend on stage. "did you have a good time?" "yeah." her expression seemed to say, "well then that's all that matters". she was kinda smiling and fondling my hand and stuff but i wanted to let go for some reason. she didn't look sober. all i can say is, courtney is too tall for me. ^_^

here kitty kitty...

we were able to talk to dave and steve and take pictures with them. ever since we learned that chris is vegan, we have been wanting to talk to him. twiddle thumbs more than i though. dave said chris doesn't come out and do that sort of thing. after taking pictures with the guys, we decided to leave. right outside was chris waiting for the valet to bring his car. he was with that asshole drummer from the foo fighters. twiddle thumbs talked to chris and he said he was vegan for 3 years but he's not anymore. you could tell she was disappointed.

summary: free parking, free show, free shirts, free stickers. great music. picture with courtney. how can you go wrong? it was awesome!

me and dave

me, steve, twiddle thumbs

setlist:
unholy ghost
loophole
bloody mary
she won't last
outsider
go on
half hearted
dazed and confused
ashes