Every day there is a choice

I know that lately I've been discussing a bit more than the playlists, but tonight was my 22nd show and last show of the semester. There's a mass of emotions going through my heart and mind right now and I would like to share them with all of my lovely friends and listeners.

In high school I was never very active in any clubs, I never felt like I fit in anywhere and had very few friends at my school. My freshman year in college I had a few friends, but didn't really feel like I was in the right place. But from the moment I came to Purchase in the Spring of 2011, everything began to come together. I transferred as an Arts Management major, after taking a year off trying to figure out what I wanted with life I finally found it here. Just walking around this campus with all the musicians and artists, I never feel like I have to hid who I am. I can paint my face to look like a cat, play music out loud, wear a bright pink neon shirt, completely mismatch my clothes, or walk around wearing a feather boa and nobody will look at me twice. There are two, three, four, sometimes even five concerts going on each week as well as an array of other events on campus any given week.

Last spring when I was commuting, I enjoyed my classes and loved being on campus, but there is only so much you can do when you don't live here and only so many ways to feel comfortable getting involved. In the fall I moved onto campus into an apartment in The Olde. Don't let anybody ever say that living on campus is a waste of money when you live 10 minutes away, because it's not. I was finally able to get out of class and go back to my apartment to relax for a few hours and then walk right out my door and make new friends. At the end of the summer I decided that this was the year I would finally become involved and known at school. I formulated an idea for a radio show, applied for the show, got it and well here I am! I actually had the first playlist for Discover the Undiscovered before I was even approved. I began to make friends by just walking around campus and chatting it up. I found refuge at the Food Co-op and at the end of the semester I ran and was elected as Events Coordinator. Doing that (unpaid) job has been a lot of work, but extremely rewarding. Since then people I don't even know began coming up to me already knowing my name and saying hello as well as asking about booking shows and having their music played on my show. I've even gone up to artists after shows, introduced myself and to my surprise, they already knew who I am. I finally feel like I am heading in the right direction with my life. 

Every day is a new adventure, and I never know what is going to happen next, who I will meet, what music I will hear, where I'll end up. Of course there are always stressful moments that get me frustrated and angry, but I work through it because at the end of the tunnel there is always light. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you to every single one of you who has ever taken the time to listen to the show, read any of my posts, take my music suggestions, and to all of the wonderful artists who I have met and seen play live this semester. I love you all. 

Every day there is a choice

And through the joy, through the pain I will rejoice

I love you's not enough

Last night I was lucky enough to be able to see one of my new favorite bands, Jukebox the Ghost play their entire new album live for the first first time with 140 people. This was also my first time seeing them (and surely not the last!). I will be be posting a review of that show soon, but for now I have the need to discuss somebody else. This is a band that does not need to be discovered. They are a band that everybody in the world knows. If you were to tell me that you have never heard of this band, I would play you all 9 of their albums and all 32 of their singles until you recognized a song, because everybody. And I mean everybody under the age of 50 has heard at least one song by Green Day. In fact, their live shows don't have an average age. I have seen this band 14 times, and every single show (except for the Secret Show at The Studio which was 19+) I have seen people from the ages of 3-65. No exaggeration. I've also met people from an array of different states and countries, as well as traveled to 5 different states including California to see them myself.

I have seen probably every interview on the internet of this band. I have heard every song they have ever publicly released or played live, and seen approximately 61 out of 110 their original songs played live. I have laughed, cried, screamed, ran around in circles, made the best friends in the world, worst enemies, because of this band. I have spent hours just counting down the days until I see them next, celebrated anniversaries of album releases, and concert anniversaries. In fact, the three year anniversary of my very first show is in just a few days. Yes, that is right, I saw Green Day for the very first time on May 18th, 2009, just three days after 21st Century Breakdown, the follow up to American Idiot was released. Did I mention it was at the Bowery Ballroom? I have done it all: seen them with 800 other people, 200 others, at 6 in the morning on Good Morning America, at their hometown show in the Bay Area in California, two nights in a row sold out at Madison Square Garden, on my best friend's 18th birthday with her onstage singing with them, in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. Okay so I guess I technically haven't done it ALL, but I've done a lot and I never ever plan on stopping.

In the past year I have discovered so many other new, upcoming bands that I can now proudly say hold a spot as one of my favorite bands. Because of this, I listen to Green Day less than I did a year or two ago and some days when I'm listening to Jukebox the Ghost, Coyote Campus, Frank Turner, or even The Killers on repeat I wonder if I have lost my love for Green Day. But then I will find myself watching TV at 3am thinking that there is nothing good on, and suddenly "Green Day Behind the Music: Remastered" appears on the screen. Now I know Green Day's entire history and I could write a book about it, in fact I wrote a ten page biography on them for class in 11th grade (yes, I got an A+ on it). I have also seen this program at least ten times, but watching it again is just a reminder of every reason that I fell in love with this band. It isn't even just their music that I love- it's the fact that they have been together for 23 years and still love each other to death. They love each other enough to keep making albums and touring the world and inviting hundreds of their fans to sing, dance and play on stage with them. While I haven't met them personally, I know many people who have and there has not been a single negative word said about any of them. 

For anybody who says that Green Day sold out, you have been extremely misinformed. This band has and continues to do everything for the people who love and support them. They may have however many dollars to their name, but it is not about the fame. It's about doing what they love which is what makes me love them so much. I can't say that they saved my life, because I would still be alive without them, but I can proudly say that my life would not be even close to the way it is today without them. The people I have met through this band, the places I have been, the experiences and knowledge I have gained, and the emotions I've felt are indescribable. I could write on this blog about them forever, but nothing describes the feeling of listening to, feeling, and seeing this band. Green Day will always hold a special place in my heart until the very moment I die and even beyond that.

My first Green Day show dream.

Bowery Ballroom

May 18th, 2009

Dancin' on stage with a MASSIVE crowd on stage next to Mike Dirnt.

Mountain View, California

September 4th, 2010

Dancing with a smaller crowd on stage.

Mansfield, Mass

August 16th, 2010

Dancing on stage with Mike Dirnt wearing my devil horns. 

No sleep for 2 days, traveled 14 hours each way all in two days just to 

see the Foxboro Hot Tubs play their first (and so far only 1 of 2) shows on the east coast.

New York, New York

April 23rd, 2010

My best friends, Ashley and Melissa. We met on a Green Day livejournal community 

in 2006 and have been the best of friends since then. I don't even want to think about what 

my life would be without these girls, and I would have never met them if it wasn't for Green Day.

Brewster, NY..... on the way to Hartford, CT.

July 24th, 2009