Endfest 2007

By some strange twist of fate I found myself hanging out in the Qwest Field parking lot last night, watching Social Distortion and the Smashing Pumpkins at Endfest 2007. A lot has changed since the days when I'd go to the festival every year. In years prior, I'd be really excited about the line-up for this concert, sometimes even having to pick and choose between which bands to watch on the 2 or 3 stages they had at the festival. It's been awhile since those days and this year, there were only 2 or 3 bands I had any interest in seeing at the entire show.

I hadn't bought tickets for the concert this year, mostly because I didn't feel like paying that much money for a whole day's worth of concerts when I only liked a few of the bands. On Wednesday this week I happened to hear an announcement on the radio that they were giving some tickets away. I called in just for fun and won a pair without even knowing what caller I was supposed to be. My tickets came with a "Meet and greet" with the Smashing Pumpkins.

I went down to the stadium with John yesterday and we found out that the meet and greet was starting right then. We walked all the way to the other side of the stadium, where I assumed we might be in some kind of little room with the band. I figured they'd have snacks, or drinks, or something...and you could sit and talk with the band for awhile before being ushered out. After all, this was a prize from the radio station throwing the concert.

When we got there, it turned out we got to stand in a line with 14 people on a concrete floor and wait for the band to arrive. When they showed up, they walked down the line and signed whatever people wanted to have them sign. It was pretty lame and I chose not to get anything signed, opting instead to have a CD booklet signed for the guy next to who brought more than one thing. It was kind of a let down to say the least.

Still, the concert was free...so we headed back in to enjoy some of the show. Since it was a parking lot, lots of people were sitting on the cement. We joined them for awhile.



Next, we decided to get in one of the giant lines for some food. I was craving something warm because it was pretty cold in the parking lot. Hot chocoloate and a pretzel did the trick. As we were picking up the food, we ran into our friend Michael and his girlfriend. We headed back to watch the rest of the show together.

At many Endfests past, I've been up in the front, watching the band from mere feet away. This was my view of the Smashing Pumpkins.



The show was really good though. The band had to stop playing at 10pm, by which time we were about ready to get going anyway. It was cold, but not a cloud in the sky. We decided to walk up to 4th avenue to sample some happy hour food and drinks at McCormick and Schmicks




On the way there, saw this and just had to take a picture. All and all, I'd say it was a good evening. The show was worth the price of admission, that's for sure.