#danimariex

Hey Game Changers,

Long time no chat! Time has been passing by us quickly this season, or so it seems for us. I feel like every time we are ready to come up for air and get going again, we get hit with another snowstorm. Anyone else tired of shoveling yet? Anyway, as we prepare for this next round of storms (at least for those of us in New York), we just wanted to touch base and let you know we’re still here! And we haven’t forgotten about you or this blog!

I know it has been a while since our last post; we have been MIA it seems this season, but we apologize. Life has been a bit crazy for all of us and time has gotten away. We do hope you will forgive us!

Before we say too much more, we must say this year’s Skate and Surf line up is amazing. We are counting down the days to the festival this year. It is going to be an incredible year, and there are still more bands to be announced. How much greater can this line up get? What do you all think of the line up? From those of you we’ve heard from, you seem to agree the line up this year is great! Who else would you like to see get added to the weekend?

Back to some IAmAGameChanger stuff, as mentioned earlier we have been busy this year. We are still working out who is doing what this year and how we will manage our schedule. Due to work conflicts and life, Sharon will not be joining us again this year. We wish her all the best and will miss having her as part of our team. 

I know in recent years, our following has dwindled, which is fine. We are happy to have the fans who still follow us. Several years ago when this team was put together, there were many other applicants who wanted to join and write along with us. I think the time has come where if we want to continue, we need your help! We need new people to come on board and write about their favorite bands and talk about what they are looking forward to this year. If this is something you would be interested in, please message us! There will be a post with more details about how to apply or how to help coming soon, but for now, feel free to message us and let’s get to know each other!

As always, if you have any ideas for the blog–things you want to see, things you love, things you wish were different–leave us a comment, send us a message, tweet us… just let us know. We love to hear from everyone!

Hey Game Changers! How have you been? Time seems to have flown by since last May. I can't believe it's Skate & Surf season again! Yet, at the same time, it seems like forever since we've updated this blog! I for one am glad to be back. Usually we start up in January but since things got underway a little later this year, we took the extra few weeks off. 

For the most part #IamaGameChanger will be run the same way as it has in the past. We still have the same staff (me, Mike, Meg, and Sharon), and for now all the same standard features (editorial, photo, video, poll, and this week in...). We talked about changing things up a bit, and we still might add a few things along the way, but for now just the basics. However, if you have any ideas for things you want us to try or you'd like to see on our blog, please message us! We love to hear your ideas. After all, you're the ones who make our page what it is, so we want to do what we can to make it the best for you!

Now that I've explained what's the same, there is one special thing we are introducing. If you didn't know, I love Midtown and absolutely can't wait to see them in May. Skate & Surf feels like an eternity from now. Knowing that I am not alone in this, I came up with the idea of #MidtownMonday. Basically every Monday between now and Skate & Surf, we will be making a special Midtown post. This could be a video, photo, song, interview–basically anything we find and want to share. We are all so thrilled to have Midtown back and we wanted to do something special to prepare ourselves and the fans for their epic sets at the festival. Obviously, we're not the only one's excited, so if you have a favorite Midtown video, photo, or even just a Midtown story you want to share, send them to us! We want to see them and would be happy to share it with our followers on a #MidtownMonday! Share in our excitement!

Aside from that, I don't know what else to say. I don't have any fun or exciting stories to share. Grad School has basically been consuming my life since August!  

if you have any questions or anything, message us, or you can contact me on any of my personal accounts. I'm always happy to hear from you all!

-dani<3

Bamboozle 2008 was a good year. It was the first year I spent working the festival officially. It was also the first year I met a lot of fans from the Bamboozle Myspace, which in retrospect was great, but at the time, I had NO idea anyone knew or cared who I was in real life so I was kind of freaked out. I'm sorry to anyone who felt I was super awkward! I was not prepared at all for so many people to come up to me and know things about me. I'm still slightly awkward, but much better now, a fact I hope any fans I met this year can attest to. :)

My time during the weekend was split between the VIP tent (where I met a lot of the Myspace fans) and the Artist Signing tent. The VIP tent was near the entrance, too far from any stages to hear music from so I didn't hear or see any bands on Friday or Saturday, because I was working VIP for the majority of the days.

Sunday however was an entirely different day. The Artist Signing tent was quite close to the main stages, which meant even though I couldn't see most of the bands, we at least had their wonderful music as a soundtrack. Of the bands I heard some of the most memorable were: Circa Survive, Motion City Soundtrack, Panic! at the Disco, All Time Low, The Academy Is..., and The Starting Line.

I don't really remember who signed in the tent that year, aside from The Cab, whom I love and interviewed for my college newspaper shortly prior to Bamboozle, so it was nice to catch up with them. I did get to take a break and see their set toward the end of the day. It was a lot of fun.

Even with all the great things that happened that weekend, the best part was easily being side stage for Cobra Starship. Anyone who knows me, knows I love(d) Cobra Starship (although, I would trade them in a heart beat to get Midtown back). It didn't expect it at all; typically most festival workers don't get wristbands and usually not mainstage unless they have a reason to be back there, but John D offered me a wristband that day. I obviously was not about to turn it down. So although I only used it for one band, it was an amazing experience. 

2008

Wow, I can't believe it's been almost four years since I first went to Bamboozle Left, which also brought me to California for the first time. Ever since I can remember I'd been dying to go, so when I realized attending Bamboozle Left meant a reason to go out west, I had to do it.

At the time I was interning with Bamboozle TV/Linc Star Records. Myself and 3 other interns decided we really wanted to go to BamLeft, so we cleared it with Bamboozle and started planning our trip. We had an great time, not just at Bamboozle, but sight seeing in California as well. I won't bore you with too many details but we were able to go to Laguna, Newport, Hollywood, Santa Monica, Venice and I feel like I'm forgetting some place. Anyway, it was an amazing 4-5 days. 

At the festival, we ran the Bamboozle sponsored artist signings tent with some bands such as The Cab, Armor For Sleep, From First to Last, Four Years Strong, The Bravery, and Metro Station. It was a lot fun working with the bands. For the most part they're all really down to earth and happy to meet their fans. Running artist signings has always been my favorite thing to do at Bamboozle, I love being able to interact with the fans and the bands, and see the fans and bands interacting as well. Its an incredible experience.

We spent most of the weened working, so I didn't get to see many bands. The only ones I remember seeing are The Cab, Every Avenue, Goldfinger (there was no way I was missing their set), Paramore and My Chemical Romance. 

Laguna Beach, Every Avenue, The Cab

Laguna Beach with Kristin

Photo Credit: Meri Haines

2009

I think BamLeft 2009 was the year I got sick on Sunday and ended up coming up with a 103 fever and a sinus infection. Good times! Other than that it was another great weekend. However not as awesome as 2008, there were some complications and scheduling errors at the festival, which made things a bit more hectic, but all in all it worked out. 

Like the previous year, I did get to do a little sight seeing. I went out with Tara (some of you may remember her from Bamboozle's past, she used to be involved in the games and help with the Boozler as well). We went to visit her friend in San Diego and were able to see a lot in that area. We also went to Venice, Santa Monica, Laguna and Hollywood, where I dragged Tara to the Hannah Montana Movie Premiere. I'm not going to lie, I had a great time, I love Miley. After the premiere on the way to the car, we ran into then, current American Idol contestant Matt Giraud, who happened to be my favorite, so that was awesome. He was so sweet. We ended up going a few other places and meeting up with some smaller bands, but I honestly don't remember which ones now (sorry!). We got sushi on the beach though. 

At the festival, I mostly was being tossed between, both VIP and Artist Check in, the Press/Sponsor Interview tent, Artist Signings, Bamboozle TV and the fan VIP tent. It was kind of crazy. The weekend was a blur, I worked almost every minute from the time we got there at like 8am til the time we left at like 11pm. I honestly don't remember most of it. I don't think I ended up seeing any bands, besides a few minutes of the headliners which were FOB and 50 Cent, I believe. 

I did meet some fans from the Bamboozle Left Myspace though, that was awesome. I always love meeting the fans, even when it catches me off guard. I always forget people know who I am and that will forever be strange to me. So if I have met you, or if I meet you at some point in the future, I apologize for any awkwardness. I really do love meeting you all, it just takes me by surprise and I'm just awkward to begin with. 

Video of the Week: Simple Plan "This Song Saved My Life" Recorded by: DaniMarie

Typically VotW will feature a video taken at one of the past Bamboozle festivals, but since we are just starting out and this video goes along with the Editorial of the Week, I felt it was appropriate. 

As music fans, I believe we all have that one song, that means more to us than any other songs. That one song that changed us. That one song that may have even saved us. I think a lot of people can relate to Simple Plan's song "This Song Saved My Life" in a variety of ways. What I love most about it, is that the band's fans actually co-wrote it through their Tweets. The song is "by the fans, for the fans." Listen to the Band discuss the song here.

Canadian pop-punk group Simple Plan has proven that it is possible to make it in the current music scene and stay true to yourself and your genre. In this day and age, this is a commendable effort. Many bands in similar positions, have seen line up changes, altered music styles, break ups, hiatuses, and more, but Simple Plan has stood the test of time and came out on top.

While Simple Plan may have not played the Bamboozle festival yet, (fingers crossed this changes soon) they were featured on Bamboozle Roadshow Tour during the Summer of 2010. They released their fourth studio album Get Your Heart On! earlier this year, and just ended their tour by the same name last week in New York City.

Simple Plan has been one of my favorite bands since I first heard of them about 8 years ago. The first time I ever saw them perform was at the Nokia Theater in Time Square in November 2005 with Paramore (their first national tour, I believe), Plain White T's and Straylight Run. Six Years later, Simple Plan returned to play the same venue, although it has since been renamed Best Buy Theater, and I was fortunate to be able to attend. 

The Get Your Heart On Tour featured opening acts Marianas Trench, The Cab and Forever The Sickest Kids. All three bands put on a great show, but none of them could touch the performance by Simple Plan. 

Over the years, Simple Plan's fanbase has dwindled, and at times being a Simple Plan fan meant possibly being ridiculed for supporting them. Therefore going into the GYHO tour, I didn't know what to expect turnout wise, would more people be there for FTSK or SP? To my surprise and delight, SP won by a landslide. It was refreshing to see that people still appreciate them as much as I do. Based on audience reception to the band when asked questions, it seemed the audience was almost equally split between old fans, and new ones. I am so happy that a younger generation of music lovers is discovering this fantastic group. It was really beautiful to see the new fans experience this band live for the first time. 

The band's set was a perfect mix of new songs and old favorites. Simple Plan's set began with "Shut Up" off their sophomore album and ended it's encore with "Perfect" a fan favorite from their debut album. Other songs performed included "Can't Keep My Hands Off You," "I'm Just a Kid," "I'd Do Anything," "Jump," "Welcome to My Life," "You Suck At Love," "Jet Lag," "Summer Paradise," "Loser of the Year," "Your Love is a Lie," as well as others. The band even performed a cover medley featuring parts of "Fuck You," "Dynamite," and "Raise Your Glass." The mix was a lot of fun, and a great opportunity for the band and fans alike to have a mid-set dance break (not to say the fans weren't already dancing through the SP songs.)

Throughout the set, the band members participated in some banter and told some jokes... many of which they've been telling since I first saw them. You would think they would get old, but somehow the nostalgia of it all made it seem just right. Another sign the band has not changed in the past six years. 

Of all the songs they performed, they are all my favorites. Choosing a favorite Simple Plan song, is probably harder than choosing a favorite child (if I had any to choose from). The band means a lot to me, as does their music. Each song was performed brilliantly with talent, energy and a spirit that enticed fans to join in.

Simple Plan has been a band for over a decade, and to see them come back out, despite losing fans and respect in the past, and be just as good if not better than before, should be an inspiration to up and coming bands. Watching Simple Plan perform reminds me what the music scene should be like. There is a warmth and welcoming nature about the band and their fans, that makes you feel like your apart of something. 

I know I am bias, but I've seen over a 100 bands live, and Simple Plan is easily one of the best. They have great songs, an amazing stage presence, and some of the best fans. If you haven't taken a chance to listen to their latest album, Get Your Heart On!, I highly recommend it. You can check out my review of the album here. GYHO features guest vocalists Alex Gaskarth, Rivers Cuomo, and K'naan.