Nothing else matters

Who really cares what else has been going on...lets rewind to Saturday
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3:30 AM-- I woke up and got myself moving, went and picked up Jenna at about 4:40 then we headed over to Thumbtack's house to meet everyone else. At about 6 AM we hit the road to the event that will be, hands down, the highlight of my summer.
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9:00 AM-- We arrive at the Post-Gazette pavillion. Trivium was the first band of the day, they weren't supposed to start until 9:20 but they started early, and because of this I decided to head inside even though most of our company decided to just hang out in the parking lot for awhile. Luckily we got inside rather quickly and I stormed through the crowd to get into Trivium's pit about halfway through their set. After they finished I went over to the FYE tent to buy their latest CD and get it signed by them. During this, The Black Dahlia Murder played their set which sounded pretty good from where I was.
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10:10 AM-- The Haunted take the stage as I rejoin memebers of my group on the hillside by the 2nd stage. I decided to just take it easy and nurse the nice big scrape I got on my knee from Trivium's pit. Bury Your Dead followed The Haunted, from what I hear their pit was one of the craziest ones of the day. I just remained on the hillside taking in my surroundings all through their set. After Bury Your Dead was Wicked Wisdom, which was, even if for all the wrong reasons, one of the most anticipated bands of the day. Well...I didn't like them at all to be completely honest. Gizmachi followed them, and this is one band I will definately have to look into, because they had a pretty unique sound.
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11:50 AM-- "We're Soilwork from Gothenberg Sweden and YOU MUST BE AMERICA!!" Enter one of my most anticipated bands of the day, stage right. Soilwork hits the stage with Stabbing the Drama, and I managed to get myself no more than 4 people from the front. I had such a great time during their set, which was incredible, near the end of their last song I decided walking back through all those people was pointless, what better way to end a good set then a nice crowd-surf. After Soilwork was done, It Dies Today came on stage, during this time I returned to the hillside for a couple minutes,then I headed over to get Stabbing the Drama (as well as Javon's bandana) signed by Soilwork. Afterwards is when I started my big rest stage of the day, I just sat on the hill while Arch Enemy and A Dozen Furies played...and I expected to remain on the hillside til about 2 PM which is when I would be headed back to the FYE tent to meet In Flames, something I've been looking forward to for months, but did that happen? Of course not...Holbay convinced me to take a walk with him, Jackie, and Adam down into the masses for Mastodon. We got into the thick of the crowd and I was enjoying the show, Mastodon puts on one hell of a show, when Holbay and Adam decide there's no way I'm gonna keep my feet on the ground for the entire set, so they send me surfing, even if it was for only 2 seconds. Once I got myself grounded I made my way back through the crowd and headed to the FYE tent as As I Lay Dying took the stage...in the long line for In Flames all I could do is wonder how crazy things were down on the floor for AILD because the band alone was going crazy.
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2:15 PM-- "You've never seen us before? Well I'm glad you made it, hope you enjoy the show" That's Peter Iwers...bass player for In Flames, aka 5 of the tallest fuckers I've ever met in my left. I got Soundtrack to Your Escape signed by the band and I got Javon to take a picture of me and Anders Freiden (frontman). After all this I decide to finally go get myself something to eat, it is then I start Sam All Alone Time. After I ate and watched some Killswitch Engage from the hillside I walked around looking for anyone I knew. Couldn't find anyone...
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3:50 PM-- "Whaddya wanna hear? It's your money." Rob Zombie is just starting up his set and there's still no sign of any of my comrades. Luckily by the time Zombie was finishing up I found Fred and Thumbtack who led me to Kiki and Macy, and we made the journey over to main stage meeting Brutus along the way.
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4:30 PM-- IN f'n FLAMES hit the stage with Cloud Connected. Me and the crew got as close as the lawn would allow, making sure we still had room for everyone else who we would find eventually. I was on my feet for their entire set, banging my head, despite my being right in the middle of the worst sunburn in recent memory, and completely drained of energy. Black Label Society followed In Flames, and considering that the show had been running ahead of schedule all day, I don't find it completely rediculous that they probaby told Zakk Wylde to do a 5 minute guitar solo between every song to eat up time. But sadly, as much as I love BLS, I was sitting down, trying to hide in other people's shadows the entire time, because I was about spent.
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5:55 PM-- "I DON'T NEED NO INSTRUCTIONS TO KNOW HOW TO ROCK!!" and with that, Shadows Fall went straight into The Power of I and I, and I got my second wind. I was on my feet for their entire set, banging heads to select songs, though regretfully missing my favorite Shads song (Stepping Outside the Circle) while going to hydrate myself. But the guys put on one hell of a show.
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7:00 PM-- "Well if you've been drinking all day...and smoking all day...then you must be feeling pretty HAPPY?!" Chad Grey yells to the crowd as Mudvayne breaks into Happy? which is close to the end of one of the highlighting sets of the day. These guys took me completely by surprise, they played an equal amount of songs from all 3 CDs, complete with a heart-wrenching tribute to the members of the US military with World So Cold. After they were done, much to my delight, so was the sun, with no clouds in the sky all day, the mountains FINALLY drowned out the sun and the heat...and just in time...
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8:05 PM-- "This is what true rock, true metal is all about, and if you don't agree, well you can get the fuck out of here and go listen to FUCKING Dave Matthews or something!"== Bruce Dickenson. IRON FUCKING MAIDEN finally hit the stage, by far the loudest band of the day. With the sun gone, I was on my feet, banging my head, singing along, being complete blown away by the show these guys put on. Two words can describe the setlist these guys put on...old school. Early 80's metal at its fucking finest. Oh, by the way, Hallowed Be Thy Name...song of the fucking day, I was complete floored, everyone was on their feet, even people of my crew who aren't into Maiden. After their initial show...and then their encore (Running Free, Sanctuary)...light wasn't in the skies anymore...and a stillness and silence overtook the crowd...as we all waited in anticipaton...
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9:30 PM-- *Air raid siren* Welcome to the best band heavy metal will ever know BLACK SABBATH. EVERYONE was on their feet...EVERYONE was singing, and surprisingly Ozzy was pretty active....NIB, After Forever,War Pigs, Dirty Women, Faeries Wear Boots, Sweet Leaf, Electric Funeral, Iron Man, Paranoid...I'm sure I'm missing some songs...but damn,its all one big blur of greatness, I was about to fall on my face from exhaustion, but I didn't care,I was on my feet, singing along, having the time of my life.
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11:00 PM-- Back at the car...fell asleep for about an hour letting the crowd clear out...
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12:30 AM-- On the road again...heading home
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1:30 AM-- Heading home...
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2:30 AM-- Heading....home?....
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3:00 AM-- Lost...
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5:15 AM-- FINALLY HOME...and not a moment too soon...I passed out as soon as I hit the bed...and awoke the next morning with a nasty ass sunburn...but a head full of incredible memories.

Jenna...thanks for coming along, I'm glad I got you to experience something that everyone should
Kiki...thanks for keeping me awake the drive home

Everyone...thanks for the best day of my summer