For those who don’t already know (and since my readership is probably down to the three people I called, that means little) I got a special email from my radio station to attend an event with The Ting Tings. It was, of course, last minute and like the first one, I ended up going alone. But like the first time, I still had fun.
The first task was finding the venue or rather finding PARKING for the venue. It was down in Hollywood. After several circlings and silent cursing at the tourists crossing every street in a horde along Hollywood Blvd… I finally parked in this huge structure off Hollywood and Highland called Hollywood and Highland.
Geez, when did they build that! More on that intriguing structure later.
So now I was almost 30 minutes late (just because of the parking!)and I’m jogging to the corner they directed me to. (Difficult to do because those shorts now hang on me and they were trying to fall off as I’d filled the pockets with keys and cell phone!) The address they gave… well it was either the Starbucks or Fredericks of Hollywood because they said it was on the corner of Hollywood and Campos. And sure enough when I passed it in my car that little street had a line of people. I asked the girls at the end what they were waiting for… “An Event” they answer. I’m not deterred by their slight superiority, I just smile and said, “The Ting Tings?” and watched them nod.
The crowd was quite cheeky. One tourist drove by and asked what the line was about and some guy yelled back, “For the bathroom.” The line barely moved but I was thankful for that… being 30 minutes late. There was a guy who came by occasionally with a camera but he just assumed I was with the girls in front of me who declined to be interviewed. So no shots of me.
Once we were passed inside, signed the waiver and had our ID checked we were issued black Addidas track pants and jacket. The guy says to me… “What size do you want?” I have no idea not knowing what they got so I tell him, “Um, small?” The pants fit, but the jacket was skin tight! Nope, I took it back and asked for a medium. Unfortunately I got a men’s medium and it was HUGE on me. But hey, its free!
So I join the crowd. There was soda and in a special “over 21” area there was alcohol but only beer, yech. And music playing with half the crowd dancing. There were no seats. I saw 2 elementary school kids, obviously with their parents and a whole lot of couples. Lots of “girls out on parade” also who wore their track jackets looped about their waist or zipped low to show their top underneath. I knew what was to happen so I had changed out of my clothes, like they suggested, and put all my stuff in their checked bag. I had removed ALL jewelry and wore my tennis shoes… so I was prepared.
Or so I thought! I people watched the crowd with a smile and sipped at a Coke. I didn’t mingle much, just stood against the wall. Everyone seemed so paired into their little groups. Don’t get me wrong, I small talked whenever opportunity presented itself which was frankly only once! But it wasn’t long before they pulled the curtains aside and we all rushed into the other room.
It was there the band’s instruments were set up on a stage. The entire room was painted black with florescent lighting. And shortly after we were arrived they passed out little bottles of orange water based paint. And the crowd went nuts with the squeeze bottles. Some went straight to the walls and squirted words or just gobs of paint to draw with. The rest started squirting each other, but the real chaos makers were the people who squirted straight into the air and across the room.
Everyone was quickly covered in streaks of orange paint. Dancing was foregone even though the music never stopped while we all reverted to childhood and started spraying paint EVERYWHERE. We quickly went through the offered paint and many scrounged the floor looking for bottles with any left. I overheard one guy say, “They’ve still got 4 colors yet to bring out.”
I did have some fun myself. One guy came in and he was picking up bottles and bagging them as trash. He handed me a half full one. Very cute he was… well as far as I could tell in black light and paint! After he handed me the bottle with a smile he bent over to pick up more from the floor. I couldn’t resist. A bare expanse of his lower back was just there… begging for paint. So I squirted him. On his bare skin.
He quickly turned around and looked at me all shocked. I just smiled. He wiggled and said, “It’s on my ass. It’s literally going down my ass crack.” Lovely image! I toyed with the thought of offering to “clean it up off him,” but instead I leaned over and said, “You know you love it.” He smiled and moved off to clean up more.
They brought out green paint and we went wild and then they brought out yellow paint. Many people must have thought I was not “glowing” enough in the florescent lights because I would be standing there and looking around and feel the wetness hit my back and hair. I’ve never been soooo happy I have fabulous peripheral vision and quick instincts because I was able to avoid almost every direct face shot. I did get it across the glasses many times but only twice in the eye.
Thankfully the water based paint only burned a bit and after a trip to the bathroom it was quickly fixed. Many girls were more horrified that there was no mirror in the bathroom but I was just as happy NOT to know what I looked like. And frankly, we all looked alike in the room. Wet, painted, unrecognizable crazed fans!
Shortly after the yellow paint was mostly extinguished The Ting Tings came on stage and played 4 songs. I’ll admit I’d never heard their music and they aren’t going to replace Kings of Leon or The Killers as my favorite band, but it was wonderful to hear them play. I think its just a female singer and one guy, or at least that’s all I could see. The guy was in a tank top (yum) and mostly played the drums (double yum) and the music… well it was WONDERFUL. Barely understood the words, or message or whatever… but I liked the beat and the guitar work.
What was really fun was doing that jump dancing you see at concerts and raves. Can’t do that in a club and boy is it freeing! And there was room to do it in! Close up the crowd was pretty pressed but there was lots of room behind those first 4 or 5 rows of people.
Once the band finished (and I will have to go out and buy their CD just to relive the experience!) the crowd dispensed to the other room but showed little sign of leaving. Oh there were a few people who beat a hasty retreat but most just went on dancing to the music. After a trip to the bathroom to get what paint I could out of my hair & off my glassses I also made my way to the exit.
They gave us bags, told us to keep the track suits and suggested we change back into our clothes. As my car’s interior is cream and the suit was covered in still wet paint I agreed! The paint in my face was still sticky and even after taking a towel to it my hair was pretty covered with wet paint. But I walked out of there with a smile and it was only a little after 10pm.
My Gym Shoes!
On my walk out I saw a fellow attendee walking alone, texting. Once I was abreast of him he finished so I engaged him in idle conversation. Lucky for me he was parked in the same structure and explained his friend suggested getting the parking validated at a Starbucks. Apparently the parking structure I’d parked in was for this huge, several stories, mall-like open structure filled with expensive shops. In trying to find the Starbucks we came across a smoothie shop and opted for that instead. They, like everyone else, greeted us with a “What happened to you?!”
That "Oh, My" Moment
We happily explained while purchasing smoothies. The strawberry banana I had was delicious, expensive and allowed me to only have to pay $2.00 for parking. The other small parking lots were charging $20.00 so a good deal all around. Once we had our smoothies we parted ways because I had to use the rest room. Where I repeatedly answered the constant questions about my look and when I saw myself in the mirror I so realized why! I’d forgotten the paint was all over my face, not just in my hair!
Working the Camera in the Mirror
