Living Vicariously - The Bamboozle '07 Edition

We came. We saw. We ate $10 burritos.

Day 1:
The party – some good parts, some bad parts, mostly awesome cake parts. The Mother War cake looked amazing and tasted equally fantastic. Brown sugar chocolate anyone? Nothing helps out beer-induced hunger quite like a cake shaped like a woman in a gas mask, eh?

Once we made our way in we caught Madina Lake who put on an amazing show. The crowd was tame at the beginning and by the end it had grown three times its original size and the kiddies were going nuts! Their live show is something to definitely catch if you get the chance.

We caught The Almost which spurred a flurry of jokes pertaining to how they were "almost talented" and "almost The Used." In all reality though, they're not total shit. The singer told some lame jokes about Bam'boob'zle, but their performance was decent.

MC Hammer drew a crowd that rivaled that of Killswitch Engage. It was amazing, seriously. I watched a couple of songs in passing and unfortunately neither of them were 2 Legit 2 Quit or Hammer Time but in true Hammer form he had the big pants and a windbreaker that could rival a Cosby sweater topped off with about 15 choreographed dancers. Isn't hiring too many people what got him in trouble the first time around. Ah, hindsight isn't always 20/20 is it? The quality is shifty but you get a good idea of the crowd he pulled.

I'm going to back track a minute. Can someone please explain the thrill of Jeffree Star? When we walked in he was literally being swarmed by no fewer than 500 people. It's a dude in drag with airbrushed make-up. I don't get it. Enlighten me.

We saw Hellogoodbye, who opened for MCR. The most fun show I saw all day for sure. The singer looked like he should be in an episode of Ugly Betty or take over Rivers Cuomo's position in Weezer. I'm not really into dance music but when they brought out people dressed in food-related costumes you couldn't help but get involved.

My Chemical Romance put on an amazing show despite them being sick with salmonella poisoning. This was my first time seeing them live and to the people out there who aren't feeling MCR and can't figure out why they're huge – you clearly haven't seen them live either. They owned 40,000 people for an hour and a half. As per how their tour has been thus far, the played The Black Parade all the way through and then had an encore of songs from earlier albums which I don't remember but I think it included I'm Not Okay. Fill these in if your memory is better than mine was that day.

Day 2:
Considering the sunburn I was nursing (SPF 40 apparently wasn't enough) I didn't plan on staying long Sunday. We caught another performance from Madina Lake who were playing under the code name of Retardobot and we were treated to yet another amazing performance. You hear more of the tone deaf person filming singing than you do Nathan – you can see how into it the crowd was.

Killswitch Engage tore it up. There was growling, there were guitars, there were lude comments. It was rowdy.

Embedding was disabled so go here for the video.

I didn't stay for Juliette and the Licks or Linkin Park. Way too tired and honestly didn't really want to see Linkin Park. However, I am thoroughly disappointed I missed this:

Music, hot bitches and cupcakes!

Most of you know Sunshine, have read about her in our blogs or have spotted her in our top friends. Not only is she my partner-in-crime for all things music, she's also the owner of Cakes4Rockstars. What is Cakes4Rockstars you ask? It's a concoction of cakes, cupcakes and candies; with an edge. They're not your run-of-the-mill delicacies either. These are serious, high quality, cheat your diet, smack your mama desserts. Trust me, all of the above would be worth it! ;)

She recently has been gaining exposure by making cakes for rockstars (get it?) that you'll all be familiar with. Check out the one she did for The Dresden Dolls. Clever with the cherry filling, huh?

Or the one she did for Madina Lake – for those of you following the disappearance of Adalia – this is a clue!!

Or her latest creation, a cake for the birthday of Stone Sour drummer, Roy Mayorga.

Impressed? I thought you would be. Eyal from DAATH was too. Upon my mention of her confection she customized for them he commented, "Sunshine's cake rocked my world."

For those of you lucky enough to be going to Bamboozle, several groups of lovely ladies including myself will be hosting a party before the show with the main event being a "Mother War" cake designed by Cakes4Rockstars so be sure to stop by and get a piece!

So if you support music, hot bitches and cupcakes (now you know where we got the slogan) then show some love for Cakes4Rockstars.

p.s. If you're feeling like you may need a cake fit for a rockstar at your next event please contact her at sunshine@cakes4rockstars.com

Live vicariously through our very own Sunshine

Chaos is the state I exist in, so it is to be expected that this day would be no different. I'm currently juggling a consulting project which weekly brings me 4hours north, my position as Pastry Chef at a Brooklyn restaurant, street team for Road Runner Records and My Chemical Romance, developing a product line for CAKES4ROCKSTARS' new candy line and training my new partner in cake and candy making. That's all the explanation I will offer up for my tardiness in attending the show on Friday. Let me just say that tears of frustration were definitely shed. I finally got to Nassau Coliseum, schlepping gifts of candy prototypes for the boys, to find they were full-swing into a 'Revenge' set, looking very much like they did in the days of 'Bullets'. Everyone's hair was grown out and dark. Gerard was wearing a black leather jacket similar to days of old. The romance of the past was delightful and made it feel like a smaller venue than it was. In fact, they devoured the expansive space of the coliseum with their intense energy. I joined in as the crowd passionately sang every word to every song at the top our lungs! Incredible! Their generosity with the crowd really makes you feel like every person there is an important part of the show. As if we were at a basement show with 15 people in attendance. It's beautiful. After the show, I met up with Dani (MCRmy NY) and Amanda (MCRmy) to wait for Vienna to graciously provide us with meet and greet passes. Dani told me about the parts of the show that I missed. The show opened with Gerard being brought out on a stretcher as 'the patient' and followed with them playing the entire 'The Black Parade' album in order in band uniform!!! Fuck!

The meet and greet was a fairly awkward affair with them sitting behind a signing table. Mikey was first so I just gave him the whole bag of candy I had for them (which included coffee-flavored, caffeine-enhanced candy rosaries with hand-made marzipan and bubble gum beads that were packaged inside black jewelry boxes and coffee-flavored "bling-style" star necklaces on black and silver stretch cord with a few of my business cards for good measure.) I just introduced myself and told him that I didn't have anything I wanted signed but I did have presents for them. I told him what it was and he seemed pretty stoked and asked me if I had included business cards! So nice. Then, Frankie was next and I got to thank him for setting up the Skeleton Crew boards and tell him that I had met some amazing people on there. He was pretty excited about that. Next I introduced myself to Bob and Ray and just told them that the show was wonderful and the band rocks. When I was moving on to Gerard, Ray said, "do you have anything you want me to sign?" and I responded, "no, I just wanted to tell you guys how great the show was.". I think he was entertained and perplexed. When I got to Gerard he was all, hood up, gloves on, turned in on himself like a little bunny. I introduced myself and did the whole, 'you guys were awesome' thing and then just reiterated to him and Ray that I have a cake and candy company and I had given Mikey a bag of candy for them. Absolute sweethearts! A band that's great at making music, great at performing music and great at being human beings. Their parents did a really good job! On the way out we saw Brian Schecter and he asked us how we liked the show and told us that they will be expanding it as they tour and that by Bamboozle will be even better, grander and include some fire. You know how I like setting things on fire!

My Chemical Romance tour dates

Do yourself a favor and go see this show!

Three cheers, dolls!

Read the Blender review here

A message from Sunshine

Madina Lake:

These boys are playing Knitting Factory March 30! I'm excited to see the live show they put on. I hear it's usually nuts!

'Madina Lake frontman, Nathan Leone, was rushed to a hospital a few nights ago after the Oxford 'Gym Class Heroes' show. Whilst performing a stage dive from the PA system, singer Nathan Leone managed to hit his face causing him to puncture his lip. Despite carrying on with the show (how killer is that!?), he was taken to the hospital immediately afterwards where he received several stitches.

Chalk it up to the insane energy of a Madina Lake show. These guys won't quit for anything, even bloody lips!' -Road Runner Records

We, cakes4rockstars, are in talks on a cake project for them that will possibly include more 'clues' to 'The Dissappearance of Adalia'!

Check out their little home-made videoandCheck out the album's COVER to see if you can find the clue's behind Adalia's disappearance.Their full-length debut, From Them, Through Us, To You to be released on March 27.
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I'd like to add in a few things. First, this band reminds me a lot of lostprophets/Kill Hannah/Fuel - anyone agree? Also, I dig that they are into their fans. Many bands I have dealt with have this idea that as soon as they get signed they're allowed to be assholes, I think these guys "get it." I know they'll be a little "soft' for some of you guys, but they're definitely worth a listen if you like any of the bands above. And lead singer Nathan Leone and bassist/twin brother, Matthew Leone were on the reality show, Fear Factor, which after winning supplied them with enough money to record their EP. It also put them in hospital beds after they acquired a bizarre disease from trapsing through cow parts and maggots. YUM!

Oh, and if you are unsure what Cakes4Rockstars is, it's a rowdy company that Sunshine has created. Visit her page (she's in our top friends on MySpace) to see the awesome cakes she has already make for some bands I am sure you've heard of.

Official Roadrunner Link

Eternal Thoughts of the Sunshine Mind pt. 2

October 25th (and we all know how tiring and monumental Oct 24th was) I started a new Pastry Chef position. It is a fairly basic menu, but still an adjustment. That weekend I also attended a family wedding upstate. I returned Monday, to my new job and CMJ. I tried with (almost) all my might to catch Tokyo Police Club and The Horrors and yet was unable to do so. However, the week was still a well balanced, good time! Tuesday, Halloween, I dressed up and went down to my local beer garden/bbq (owned by my roommate) and terrorized the clientele in 2 ways.
- First, I was the only person in the joint dressed up (in bloody vampire gore) for the first 2 hours of the evening. During this 2 hour period I consumed a burger (I was sorely tempted to order tartar for effect) and as many Jameson's neat as my roommate would pour me consecutively.

Second, I decided that the music selection was unpalatable, ran home to gather a 'better' selection, and 'forced' the bartender (again, my roommate) to play the cd's I had provided. The selection I deigned Halloween appropriate was: 36 Crazy Fists, A Snow Capped Romance; Mastodon, Blood Mountain; Headbangers Ball, Vol. 2; My Chemical Romance, The Black Parade; The Blood Brothers, Young Machetes; and the Skeleton Crew Sampler. (I take any chance I can get to introduce folks to Leathermouth!) Almost everyone enjoyed the selection but when he finally said we should quiet it down some, I drunkenly insisted that he replay all the quieter tracks on The Black Parade semi-against his will. Oh alcohol and aggressive rock can make me a little bit rascally.

Wednesday, 2 of my absolutely fave bands of this year played together at Club Midway. I met my friend Scott at Midway right before The Rinse took the stage. They rocked out a FANTASTIC set! They were all gussied up and James, the guitarist even had a penciled on mustache. So fancy! Wills, the singer, was boundlessly energized and energizing, as usual, setting up the vibe for the rest of the night. 3 more of my friends arrive after The Rinse, but in time for the next band, Read Yellow, who fucking blew the doors off the place. I don't know if I'm hanging out with the wrong crowd but all of my friends jumped ship on this performance because they all thought it was 'too loud'. Regardless of the noise level, the frontman 'rocked out (nearly) with his cock out'! Fuck! I haven't seen a performer like that since Jack Black. This guy went NUTS, careening all over the stage and floor and singing his heart out. Punk rock, with full control, never crashing into anything, no matter how hard he flailed. "The dictionary defininition of the word spastic." Gritty, guitar-y indie rock out of Boston. Check them out. Then, my darlings, Scissors For Lefty closed out the show with their second performance of the evening. They opened with 'Ghetto Ways'and ran with it from there, playing a few songs I hadn't heard yet. Bryan is as charming, delightful and tasty as a frontman could be! A fantastic show! LOVE!

Friday, an attempt was made to attend Tokyo Police Club at Mercury Lounge with a CMJ pass my friend found on the street. Unfortunately, twaty Albert Hammond, Jr. was playing directly after our boys so the starfuckers were out in full effect which precluded our entrance to the venue, pass or no pass. Little did I know Ira was djing a metal set 1 block away at Guero.

Saturday, I baked chocolate cupcakes with peppermint buttercream for my folks, The Rinse and skipped down to The Tank to see them with 2 of my friends who hadn't heard them yet. Directly before they came on Hello Nurse delighted us with a performance that was fun, catchy, dynamic and not wholey unlike Fall Out Boy sans eyeliner. The Rinse's performance blew my friends away and they left excited and promising to see them again! They have recently recorded an e.p. so I'm hoping they will be able to make it available soon.