Last night I went on another adventure to Lancaster for a night of music. Instead of the Convention Center, though, this time I found myself at the Chameleon Club. I was very thankful for the parking garage right across the street from the venue because of the convenience. After paying the $5, I wandered over to the sidewalk to stand in line. Across the street from where we stood was the tour van for Icon for Hire, and the lead singer, Ariel Bloomer, made a quick run out to it while I was chilling on the sidewalk. I ended up having a conversation with the people in front of me. Apparently they are slowly becoming well known for Gilbert the Fish, the giant trout pillow that they bring to concerts. I guess it all started at Creation last year and one of the performers mentioned seeing it, so they have started just taking pictures with bands and this stuffed fish in order to promote Gilbert on Facebook. I heard a bit about their lives before they left to get their will-call tickets.
After about a 45 minute wait, I was finally in the Chameleon and got an excellent spot right in front of the stage. I was super excited to see Icon for Hire because their music really speaks to the broken and downtrodden. Also, it's awesome workout/headbanging music, which I always find to be a great time. The energy that they put into the performance was amazing, and they even did their own variation on "Jump Around." Following Icon for Hire was Love and Death, the band that features Brian "Head" Welch, formerly of Korn. I didn't understand many of the lyrics, but I enjoyed myself all the same.
After Love and Death, I decided to make my way to the Icon for Hire merch table. There happened to be a lot of people there, so I went and stood against the bar and ended up talking to this guy who is a CPA and a girl who has a wide array of skills ranging from mortician's assistant to psychology. We chatted about everything from music to minimum wage and rent costs to whether or not attending classes in college is really all that important. Also, we determined that we need to invent a fiberoptic wig in order to have glow-in-the-dark hair for shows in dark clubs. The Gilbert the Fish people found me again so I chilled with them for a while by the bar. We each got our pictures taken with Icon for Hire amidst our talking. I stayed in the back while Red and POD played, but I could still see and hear fine since the venue was so small. I ended up getting a poster, button, and bracelet from the Icon merch table and had a great chat with the girl who was manning it. She enjoys traveling around at this point in her life, so I told her all about the cross country trip I did two years ago. I chatted a bit with another friend of hers about fast food and what to eat while on the road. After POD finished their set, I got all of the members of Icon for Hire to sign my poster. I chatted a bit with the drummer and guitarist about The Avengers movie and how we have high hopes for the Batman movie when it comes out in July. I'm really glad that I' getting more into the music scene because it's helping me meet some really awesome people along the road of life.
