[keepthesongalive]

I’ve never been so happy in my entire life.

I’m speechless.

[alefuckingsana]

Alesana Live Full Set 2013 Fort Lauderdale, Florida @ Culture Room HD 07/01/13 Shawn Milke (by robertg305)

FULL SET

[keepthesongalive]

September 20th, 2014

I’ve been waiting for this day since I became a fan of Alesana back in 2007.

I had several opportunities to go see them perform but my parents never let me go. I actually won a free ticket and VIP pass once and I had to give it away because my parents just wouldn’t let me go. There was also another instance where I purchased my ticket to go see them perform and again I wasn’t allowed to go.

This time was different. I recently moved out of my parents house and once I saw Alesana post the dates for their tour I bought my ticket that same day. I was determined to see them this time. And I finally happened.

My partner and I split the trip cost. I purchased the tickets, VIP upgrade, and paid for the gas. They paid for the hotel room and food.

We drove up the day of the concert at 10am. It was a 4 hour drive from home. We got to the hotel at 2:40ish, checked in, changed to our Alesana gear, went to eat at a local restaurant and went to wait for the meet and greet to begin! The hotel was 3 blocks away from the venue. We were going to walk there but something told us we should just drive.

Parking was free! We got a spot literally 15 feet away from the venue. When we got there I wasn’t sure if I was in the right place because no one was there. Eventually a girl showed up with her dad and some other dude and girl showed up as well. Only 4 people came for the meet and greet.

Part of me was happy because I would get more individual attention from Alesana but the other part of me was kinda sad because who wouldn’t want to meet these amazing people!

While I was waiting for the meet and greet to start I was so nervous. I didn’t know how to feel or even what to feel. Then I heard something.. It was Jeremy jamming out on the drums! Eventually it turned into a jam out session with drums and guitar. Before we knew it they were playing Double or Nothing!! Then The Murderer!

I became so jittery when I heard them play through the glass. It was still unreal that I was about to meet my heroes.

Finally someone came out to come get us to start the meet and greet. We went inside the venue and waited around a little bit. Then the guy handed us our VIP goodies. While we were waiting I noticed Shawn on stage and I froze. I couldn’t believe he was actually in front of me. Then came Dennis on stage and Shane!

Eventually they came on over all together. Jeremy was shirtless of course hahaha

Each of them took the time to shake our hands and tell us their name. I asked them to sign my poster and what not. I had no words to say to them besides my name when they asked. I couldn’t find words to say to them or questions to ask. I couldn’t even cry. I had no words.

Eventually Jake came on over and asked me how I was and where I was coming from. He told me he was from there and told me how happy he was to be home for a day because he was planning to see his son and sleep on his own bed

Shane is so cute but awkward and TALL. I didn’t know he was so tall! He came on over and told us about his album coming out The Ivory. He basically self promoted himself in this cute awkward way and I told him I already knew of it and that I would definitely purchase his album when it came out.

Then Jeremy chimed into the conversation. Didn’t stay too long but Shane decided it would be a good idea to take his sharpie and sign Jeremy shoulder. It took him a while to realize Shane was writing on him hahaha. When he noticed he tried to remove it but didn’t really work so he scurried away from Shane hahaha

Then Shawn asked “so what songs are you hoping to hear tonight so we can disappoint you now” hahahaha

Dennis then said “might as well break the news now so we don’t waste your time. Just stay for the opening bands , maybe Megosh and skip us ”.

All sarcastically of course.

Then Shawn came on over to chat with me. Asked me where I came from and if I had ever seen them perform before. I told him no that this was my first concert ever.

That’s when he told me “that’s means we will always be with you, you never forget your first concert”

He was so happy to hear me say they were my first concert. He was so so happy. I was happy to hear him say that. I couldn’t believe he said that to me and just to me.

We were told to gather together to take a group photo. I went first to take my group photo but the guy taking the photo said the lighting wasn’t good and all the guys began to joke around and make funny noises and say silly things. We moved to a different spot to take the photo and Shawn walked over there in this weird funny cute way that I don’t even know how to put it in words. It was hilarious.

That ended the VIP experience. Waited outside for the venue to open. The VIP people including myself made a line at the door. I kinda didn’t focus on my surroundings for a while because I was already in front of the line. When I finally look up I noticed another line had formed on the opposite side of the door… That was annoying…

The VIP people were all kinda annoyed but we toughed it out and just joined the line with everyone else.

Venue doors finally open. My partner and I were marked with a black sharpie on our hands in the entrance. Didn’t really make much of it.

Went inside and checked out the merch stand right away. The guy was so nice to me. I basically bought $80 worth of merch and because I bought so much he threw in two free stickers :)!

Then I went on over to buy Cristals Megosh CD. When I was about to ask the price of the CD I realized Josh of Megosh was standing right next to me! So I went ahead and asked him if he would sign the CD if I bought it right now and he said yes!

He had trouble removing the plastic wrap off the CD. He cracked the CD cover trying to open it. He finally got it and then none of the sharpies he was trying to write with worked haha.

Finally signed my CD and I was going to get it back from him when he told me to wait. He made sure to get all the guys to sign the CD! I didn’t realize that the entire band was right behind me !!

He was so cool and so nice and just wow.

So I have all this merch in my hands and I assumed I could just go put it in my car. The guy at the door said the marks on my hands mean I couldn’t be readmitted if I left the venue …

Didn’t understand why… Then I realized only those under 21 had the marks. Everyone else had a yellow bracelet. Luckily my partner is 23 :D so we went back to the entrance and he shows his ID. they let him leave to put the stuff away and come back in. Thank god! Holding all that merch throughout the concert would not have been fun!

The local band came on..

Eh.. They were okay

Then the things they carried came on. The drummer was really freaking good. That’s all I have to say about them I guess.

The funeral portrait came on and I actually liked them. The leader singed was passionate and really performed his heart out. The guitarist all had awesome hair. I will surely purchase their music when I recover from this trip hehe x)

The Megosh came on. Josh was right in front of me ! Finch was amazing ! He was so energetic and just jumping off the walls. He said in between a song that earlier that day he was actually feeling sick but that he felt amazing now. Josh harmonizing with Finch and the bassist who’s name escapes me (D?)

The crowd went crazy when the played body works. They played it in a different key. I wonder why. But it was awesome! Right before they played Body works they were saying how Shane and Shawn are horrible people and they’re too good to come sing with them. And they began to rank on how alesana wasn’t even that great (joking around of course)

And Shawn and Shane did come Out for body works! And of course they joked around Again about how they were so shocked that they actually came out to sing their “special” parts hahaha

Their set ended and the stage crew began to set up for alesana !!! I was right against the stage.

Then I realized not that many people were there… The crowd was smaller than I expected. I was honestly shocked … WHY IS ALESANA SO UNDERRATED UGH

anyway

Alesana came on and the crowd exploded with screaming! Then Nevermore came on and Dennis came to me right away!

He spit on us of course and gave us his famous thumbs up!

The crowd went crazy. Everyone knew the lyrics to Nevermore and the energy in the room was incredible.

I was smiling from ear to ear and singing and jumping around the entire time. I felt like I was loosing my voice by the end of Labyrinth haha

Throughout the entire performance I had Dennis in my face singing directly at me. I think he remembered me from the VIP.

At some point a mosh pit broke out right behind me. They were out of control. They bumped me against the stage and I bruised my arm. They also bumped this girl next to me against the stage and she hurt herself pretty bad. She began to call for Dennis. I assumed she was trying to get his attention because she was hurt and crying. But eventually the guy next to her began to yell out “it’s her birthday can she get on stage?!”

She was hurt. They bumped her against the stage and it was right on her stomach. I’m assuming she felt like she couldn’t breathe for a while hence why she began to cry. But then she got over it and just wanted to get on stage and wouldn’t stop calling for Dennis.

At first he was like “ that’s my name don’t wear it out” but then between a song he came right at her and said “it great that you’re here on your birthday but you need to stop calling out my name. You’re distracting me and the show is for everyone not Just you. Everyone is here to enjoy the show and everyone want to be up here for us. The show isn’t just for you”

And he walked away to get water

And under her breath she called him an asshole and walked away mad.

But I was so happy he did that. He was honest and he had a point!

Show continued and Dennis gave me the mic to sing into a few times!

I held Shane’s hand. Patrick and Shawn came to jam out right in front of me. Jake was just laid back most of the time. He did high five me though!

During The Murder Dennis got his Box and moved the amps out of the way to make room to scream over the crowd. It was amazing !

Two idiots tried to crowd surf .. Didn’t really work ..

Mosh pit was insane.

But Alesana’s performance was more than I ever expected. I sang my heart out and I didn’t want it to end.

After their last song Annabel they walked off. Jeremy held my hand on his way off the stage!

And of course we wanted one more song and they came out and did Fatima Rusalka !

After the show they came to hang out with us and I finally found words to speak coherent sentences to all of them.

I was able to tell Shawn that I had been listening to his music since 2007 and he said “ hey ! I’ve been listening to my music since then too”

I told him “I would hope so” and we both laughed. Then I told him I was a musician, a flutist to be exact, and he told me that he’s been trying to get jake to play flute for them and that he wants him to play for their next album!

Saw Shane and told him I bought his poster. He thanked me and I took a photo with his awkward self haha.

Took a photo with Jeremy and told him how awesome he is.

Found Dennis and posed for a photo. I asked him for advise on how to scream and he said “ no one told me how to scream. You just kinda give it your all all the time and try and figure it out on your own”.

I was about to leave and I saw Patrick and we had a conversation about his guitar and how he chose the guitar he has because it not insanely huge and it the right size for him. So cute ! Then took a picture

And jake and I had a conversation about how we both play flute and the whole deal I said in a previous post. Jake is the sweetest thing in the world.

And that’s basically it hahahaha.

I’ll post photos and videos on the weekend. Sorry I took so long. I’ve had a busy week and I’ve been typing this post out for a couple of days.

[keepthesongalive]

Body Works ! Recorded when Shawn and Shane got on stage ! 09/20/14

[keepthesongalive]

People ask me this pretty often.

Why do you have a blog dedicated to Alesana only and occasionally personal post?

Well,

I began this blog as a “project” for school. I didn’t think I would get so hooked to this , but I did

Eventually I realized all I really posted was Alesana and my thoughts. I would have random funny post every once in a while, but my blog was basically a way to express how much Alesana means to me and venting.

I know I will end up being that one fan that never gets to see their favorite band live. Its inevitable in my case. As some of you may know , my parents aren’t the “coolest “parents. They’re too overprotective to ever let me go to warped tour or an Alesana concert.

This blog is my way to show my appreciation for Alesana and how much their music means to me. Its also cool to interact with other crazy Alesana lovers , like myself.

I don’t really need to blog about anything else besides my love for Alesana and literally use this blog as a journal. My parents don’t know what tumblr is or how to access it. For that , I am forever grateful for being able to share my love and my personal experiences with a bunch of people who have the same feelings. It nice to know I’m not the only one that loves Alesana or the only one that has hardships.

I was made fun of in high school for liking Alesana in the first place. When I joined tumblr and realized how incredible the Alesana fandom was made the teasing bearable. Eventually , I didn’t care what they thought of Alesana. Alesana will always be my favorite band no matter what anyone says about them.

Thank you tumblr and to the followers that have actually reached out to me. Your thoughts and opinions are well appreciated. I know my personal post can be annoying because , well , this blog is mostly Alesana. But it truly means a lot that you guys take the time to voice your opinion , whether it out of love for Alesana or a helping hand for me.

[keepthesongalive]

I miss seeing Alesana flood my dash. Those were the days.

[alefuckingsana]

Alesana Live Full Set 2013 Fort Lauderdale, Florida @ Culture Room HD 07/01/13 Shawn Milke (by robertg305)

FULL SET

[hellyeahrihannafenty]

Tom Holland does Rihanna’s “Umbrella” on Lip Sync Battle

[dr0wnedperfectionist]

I’m literally zendaya reacting like he didn’t have to go that hard and yet..

[eroscestlavie]

every time i watch this when the reveal hits and he starts dancing i’m like “oh ok that ain’t a big deal he’s just another celeb doing a gimmick” but somehow by the end of this video without fail i am filled with respect for him and zendaya for being like…a powerful gen z couple who both give off chaotic bisexual vibes 

i think it’s the irreverence with which he splashes the water 

[feistyfrank]

that was a classic that was a classic

[thelovelylights]

It’s a good time to remember that Tom Holland is a trained dancer and that initself is a gift

[professorsparklepants]

He’s trained in ballet, too, which is what makes this even funnier. I saw a video (also with Zendaya in it) of him doing like, fifteen fouettes in someone’s basement. GET A MAN WHO CAN DO BOTH.

[egg690]

I FOUND IT!!

[wnq-typography]

The Limits  |  @wnq-typography

[mozartaesthetic]

The “Amadeus“ Myth.

Mozart is often called “Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.”

However, Mozart’s baptismal certificate reads:

Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart.

So, where does the name “Amadeus” come from?

The name “Amadeus” is a Latinization of one of Mozart’s middle names, “Theophilus” (Greek = “beloved of god,” or “god-loving“).

Mozart himself virtually never used the appellative “Amadeus”, either in his copious correspondence or in the autograph manuscripts of his compositions.

I only found one instance of it, and that was where Mozart was making fun of himself in Latin (“Wolfgangus Amadeus Mozartus”, he wrote).

The only other instance is on the marriage certificate, where Mozart’s and Constanze’s names are also in Latin.

In his letters and compositions, Mozart signed his name in one of three ways:

W.A. Mozart

Wolfgango Amadeo Mozart, or

Wolfgang Amadé Mozart

Music critics in the late 1780s began referring to Mozart as “Amadeus“, and posterity has kept that incorrect term as a catch-all phrase to identify the composer, his music, and his legacy.”

[From a Facebook group.]

[incorrect-marchingband]

Shouldn’t you be…

Practicing?

[elloras]

How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

[altonbrown]

Sometimes I get concerned for him.

[ironic-flute]

is this a flute?? wtf

[letsfclef-deactivated20181013]

avant garde

[itsaviolathing]

Con fuoco

[the-flutey-tutey-dragon]

Instrumental Teacher: Just go on YouTube and watch some performances. It’ll give you a good example and motivate you to practice.

Me: *watches YouTube videos of child prodigies and spends next three hours wallowing in self-doubt*

[lesmusic]

Most Overplayed Flute Solos Ranked

15. You 

14. Really

13. Can

12. Not

11. Rank 

10. Them 

9. Because 

8. They’ve 

7. All

6. Got

5. Great 

4. Qualities

3. And 

2. Stuff 

1. Syrinx by Claude Debussy 

[polythought]

So here’s something I don’t like about people saying “I’m my own primary partner.” It’s just as hierarchical as naming another person as your primary partner. So, if you’re cool with hierarchical polyamory in your own love life, awesome. If you’re not (I’m not), please understand that people may interpret “I’m my own primary partner” in the same way. To me, as a non-hierarchical person, the reason I don’t call anyone “primary” is that I am not going to decide in advance whose needs get top priority; it’s done on a case-by-case basis. I don’t call anyone primary because I want everyone to feel like they have equal power to negotiate in their relationship with me, regardless of what decisions I ultimately make. (Again: non-hierarchical doesn’t mean everyone gets everything equally no matter what; it just means I don’t make a blanket statement in advance that I later use as a defense.)

When I hear a solo poly person say “I’m my own primary partner,” what I hear is, “I am not going to compromise on my me-time.” 

If that’s how you feel? Cool; that’s good for me to know, and we probably won’t be a good match. I date introverts and solo-inclined people regularly. It turns out that, in my experience, the healthiest relationships for me come from a willingness to compromise. (And yes, I know that not all solo people are unwilling to compromise.) As an extrovert, I may be compromising on how often I see you; in turn, I ask that my introverted/solo partners be willing to similarly stretch themselves, within reason, to be a little extra available.

A little feeling of empowerment in my own relationships can go a long way. Being told “You’re not my primary,” whether that means someone else is their primary or they’re their own primary, feels to me like disempowerment.

[sloganvspoetry-deactivated20200]

It’s about accountability, right?

Everyone in poly is always preaching “own your shit,” which, to me, means taking responsibility for your decisions and actions.

The thing about hierarchy is that providing an arbitrary — and therefore irrelevant — rationale for your decision(s) is doing exactly the opposite of taking responsibility.

Accountability is about using good judgement. And using good judgement requires thinking and careful consideration of relevant facts.

Saying “I’m choosing to prioritize myself / him / her / they over X because they are my primary” is as valid as saying “I’m doing X because the sky is blue.”

This is ABSolutely disempowering. Giving more weight to irrelevant, arbitrary facts, than to actually relevant information completely nullifies and invalidates the rest of the relevant information at hand.

“Because I’m primary to myself” is another way of saying “your needs are less relevant, worthy and valuable than mine.”

Likewise with a primary partner, “because they are my primary” is like saying “this person’s most arbitrary, irrelevant feature — yes I said arbitrary! — is more important than anything you need, feel or are.”

Now!

Substitute the REASON you might “describe” (not prescribe) someone as primary into the above sentence and then you’re saying what you really mean:

“I’m doing X because we have a child together and tonight my responsibilities as a co-parent trump your desire to see the new minions movie in 3D.”

That’s judgement. That’s accountability.

So is “I’m staying home tonight because I’ve had a really awful day and I barely have enough energy leftover to eat and get to bed.”

Fucking excellent! That’s an argument. It’s relevant and valid.

But using random, irrelevant facts to justify your actions is like saying “Amanda’s eyes are brown, so I have to cancel our anniversary plans tomorrow night.”

Case-by-case and in the moment are absolutely key, @polythought — I agree 💯%

[skimble-shanks-the-railway-cat]

I literally didn’t know what boundaries were until I was like 24 like it wasn’t that I couldn’t set them I just didn’t understand the word when it was used like for interpersonal things. So there would be advice like “learn to set boundaries” and then offer no explanation for what that meant or looked like so it might as well have said “learn to set wiplods”. I needed like an explanation fit for a two year old and anyway that’s the story of my life sometimes I just super don’t get things on a very basic level

[polyamorousmisanthrope]

In case anyone else has this problem, here’s a decent explanation:

From: http://www.polyamorousmisanthrope.com/2007/02/25/boundaries/

I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that each and every one of the relationship problems I have ever had can be traced to one single thing. Now me? I’m usually suspicious of the “silver bullet” or the “instant solution” or the “single answer” to anything. I like things to be black and white – simple. Thing is, they’re usually not, so I rarely permit myself to get excited or happy when some genuinely is, always looking for the catch.

But this time, it’s true. Every single relationship problem I have ever encountered in my life has been because of a lack of appropriate boundaries.

Okay, note the qualifier “appropriate”. We have that little shade of gray that makes it acceptable after all. <grin>.

So what is a boundary? At its simplest, it is a line that says, “This is me. This is my locus of control and where I have total say.” A big and obvious boundary that many people have is, “I will not permit myself to be hit. If I am hit, I will leave the relationship. If you pursue me, I will take legal action to protect myself.” A small and subtle one might be, “It is important to me to be on time to an event. If you are not ready in time to go to an event, we can work out an alternative –among which could include separate cars or me getting a ride with someone else who also finds it important to be on time.”

Notice in both cases you’re not telling the other person what to do. You’re saying what you will do. You’re also not telling the person how to act. You’re not judging the person for her choices, you’re not telling him he has to have the same desires or needs as you. Not that it does the least good to say these things, ’cause people are individuals and have their own needs and desires.

Boundaries improve relationships because they take the pressure off. You accknowledge that you’re completely responsible for meeting your own needs, and you get rid of any emotional investment in the other person doing so.

For your boundaries to work for you, you have to have a few tools, though.

You must know what you want – This can be a subtle thing, and often you need to focus on “meta wants”. When you’re fuming that someone is late out the door, what you want isn’t necessarily for the person to stop primping at the mirror, but that you want to be on time! Make sure you are very grounded in the “meta want”. It makes step two easier.

You must detach your wants from the other person’s behavior. This can be a rough one, because it often looks like your wants are dependent on what other people do. Thing is, as long as you attach your wants to another person’s behavior, you’re just asking to be frustrated. You have no control over how someone else acts! It is supremely important to separate your needs from others’ behavior.

You must choose to ask for what you want — I once heard someone comment, “If you do not ask for what you want, you deny the other person the opportunity to say ‘yes’.”

You must know what you want to do if the person says “no”. While the other person has the opportunity to say “yes”, they also have the right to say “no”. What do you do then? Well that seriously depends. Boundaries are not hard, fast and rigid at all times, nor should they be. Let’s say you want the dishes washed, have asked for it, and the other person says “no”. (For this example, we’re going to presume that this is an adult relationship, and you’re not enforcing parental boundaries here…) You could say, “It is one of my personal boundaries that I will only be in relationships with people who will do the dishes when I ask it of them.” After all, boundaries are individual, and that’s your right to choose. You could say, “What I want is a clean kitchen. Therefore, I shall do the dishes.” Keep very much in mind what it is that you want. Was the “meta want” a clean kitchen, or a relationship with someone who does housework on command? That will help you choose how to act.

For all of this to work, you must understand your own locus of control. You own your own life, and you own your own time. No-one else does. However, you do not own another’s life or time, and if you make claims on it, you’re impinging on someone else’s boundaries. That’s not a healthy way to have a relationship.

Like so many of these articles, they’re more relationship specific than poly specific. Notice, you could apply this to any non-romantic relationship quite as well as you could to romantic ones.

In fact, I believe you might like the results if you did try it!

[polyamandhellaglam]

Being polyamorous is wonderful but it isn’t perfect. It has difficulties it generates by nature of what it is and it has difficulties that society generates for us because of our identity. These can feel alienating and difficult and it can feel like nobody understands. 

You may be unicorn hunted. When people find out that you aren’t monogamous they may try to get you for threesomes. People will treat you like you are a sexual object that they and their partner can share and it can feel really degrading.

You can have relationship problems other people don’t understand. Trying to explain to a monogamous person how cheating works when you’re polyamorous or trying to explain why an argument with a metamour can be a big deal can be exhausting and often peoples advice for you is garbage.

You may be ostracized by your other communities. It can really hurt when a community you thought was supportive of you turns out to only be supportive of one part of your identity. When people you expect to be supportive and open minded, turn against you it can feel very lonely.

You may be discriminated against in medical situations. Condescending discussions about sexual safety, therapists attempting to convince you that polyamory is a symptom of an illness, and rude comments about the paternity of your children are all not unheard of for polyamorous people.

You may be discriminated against in in legal situations. Custody battles, adoption denials, next of kin issues, child support, guardianship, and visitation problems, and marriage equality are all issues that face polyamorous people.

You may experience microaggressions, abuse, and bullying from acquaintances, family, and “friends.” Nobody understands how love works until you love more than one person, at which point everyone is an expert and wants to let you know what they think. You can be in situations with people who are passive aggressive about your relationship to people who are violent and would like to harm you for being different.

Now I’m not bringing these up to be a bummer. But we need to be realistic as a community about the ways that being polyamorous isn’t a joy ride and make people aware of how we are treated socially. These aren’t things that are just intrinsic to being polyamorous, they are results of the society in which we live and therefore they can change.