Not A Famous Ginger

So, I went to the MANIA show in Greensboro about two weeks ago. Believe it or not, I think it was even better than the Wrigley Show (don’t kill me). The guys had more energy (which comes from having days off before performing, so I get that) and there was a LOT more shenanigans on-stage that this shipper saw. 

Let’s start with the seats. I was thirteen rows from the stage. THIRTEEN FUCKING ROWS. I could see their pupils dilate. I could almost smell their sweat. We were on a row next to the extension stage (my nerd friend, Calli, went with me and called it by its proper theater name, but I was too busy questioning my sexuality to pay much attention). This was her first concert since the Young Wild Things Tour (which was super pre-hiatus). As her husband, Wynn, put it, “She’s practically vibrating”. 

I proudly displayed my shirt that she made for me: ‘Fall Out Boy makes me question my homosexuality’ 

I wore my deer antlers that I bought on clearance at Halloween last year. And, let me tell you, I had a shit-ton of people take pictures of/with me because of them (introvert in me died for a few hours, so I was smiling and talking and now have my person floating somewhere around the interwebz with fake antlers on my sweaty head). 

We bought merch during most of MGK’s set. Our show was the one where he wore the shirt with Eminem. Neither Calli nor I saw it because we were too busy playing with our phones and wishing he would shut the fuck up. 

Okay, okay. Show starts. Same set list as Wrigley (except no “Chicago is So Two Years Ago”, but I’m glad that was Wrigley-only). I cry, AGAIN, at “Disloyal Order” because I’m a bandom trash human. 

Joetrick was the act for the night. Joe did his slow, creepy charge towards Patrick during I think “Sugar”. Patrick had this ridiculous grin as he backed away from Super Serious Good Boy Joe and his intense stare. In fact, Joe kept getting super close to Patrick throughout the night. My favorite Joetrick moment was THIS-

I swear I can’t remember what song this was, but I was giddy with joy the entire time this was happening. 

Patrick was like a kid on a sugar high. This makes my 5th concert of theirs, but this is, by far, the most energy I have seen from the little dude. He was legit jammin’ and hanging with Andy and losing his shit (I nearly died during ‘Stay Frosty’ when he was stomping and head banging at the same time). He was running and jumping and making my ovaries exploding throughout the entire 1.5 hour set. I managed to get a pic of him mid-air on the runway-

The B stages fucked up that night. I noticed that Patrick and Pete’s stage wasn’t as high as Andy and Joe’s, which was a red flag as it was. Halfway through “Dance, Dance”, Patrick goes to the back of the stage and screams “DOWN!” while pointing. Something was amiss. And I was terrified those bastards were going to hurt themselves. After the song was over, all but Pete left the B stage while he explained to the audience that there was technical difficulties going on. “We don’t want this to be unsafe, so we’re gonna go back to the main stage and play the rest of the songs, if that’s cool with you guys.” To my shock, some fuckers decided to boo them. I was ready to fight. So was Calli. And the rest of the people around me. 

Thankfully, the boys took it in stride and played on. 

Speaking of stride, Pete decided to book his self as close to Patrick as many times as he could throughout the night. Of course there was the traditional “cuddle” during “Grand Theft Autumn”, but Pete kept coming to stand next to Patrick, put his arm on Patrick. 

I have these two amazing videos of Patrick going ape shit and jamming with Andy and the intensity of this cuddle, but fucking Tumblr isn’t letting me upload it (don’t judge me).

I also made friends with one of the floor security guards. He kept letting me go closer to the stage to grab confetti and streamer. I asked him if he would get a pick for me, but he wasn’t that high up on the totem pole. At least he wasn’t totally useless.

While leaving, I got approached for more pics with random people and my antlers and left a sweaty, stinky mess and lacking ovaries due to hormonal explosions. 

There is so much to write about. Joetrick, Peterick, unsafe stages, dancing Patrick, Andy and the picks, genuinely happy boys living their truth.