{"id":622,"date":"2009-09-20T12:32:13","date_gmt":"2009-09-20T19:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/?p=622"},"modified":"2025-11-07T10:19:25","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T17:19:25","slug":"the-ting-tings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/?p=622","title":{"rendered":"The Ting Tings"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.\u00a0 It was, of course, last minute and like the first one, I ended up going alone.\u00a0 But like the first time, I still had fun.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The first task was finding the venue or rather finding PARKING for the venue.\u00a0 It was down in Hollywood.\u00a0\u00a0 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.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Geez, when did they build that!\u00a0 More on\u00a0that intriguing structure\u00a0later.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

So now I was almost 30 minutes late (just because of the parking!)<\/em>and I’m jogging to the corner they directed me to.\u00a0 (Difficult to do\u00a0because those shorts now hang on me and they were trying to\u00a0fall off as I’d filled the pockets with keys and cell phone!)\u00a0 The address they gave… well it was either the Starbucks or Fredericks of Hollywood because they\u00a0said it was on the corner of Hollywood and Campos.\u00a0 And sure enough when I passed it in my car that little street had a line of people.\u00a0 I asked the girls at the end what they were waiting for… “An Event” they answer.\u00a0 I’m not deterred by their slight superiority, I just smile and said, “The Ting Tings?” and watched them nod.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The crowd was quite cheeky.\u00a0 One tourist drove by and asked what the line was about and some guy yelled back, “For the bathroom.”\u00a0 The line barely moved but I was thankful for that… being 30 minutes late.\u00a0 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.\u00a0\u00a0 So no shots of me.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Once we were passed inside, signed the waiver and had our ID checked we were issued black Addidas track pants and jacket.\u00a0 The guy says to me… “What size do you want?”\u00a0 I have no idea not knowing what they got so I tell him, “Um, small?”\u00a0 The pants fit, but the jacket was skin tight!\u00a0 Nope, I took it back and asked for a medium.\u00a0 Unfortunately I got a men’s medium and it was HUGE on me.\u00a0 But hey, its free!<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

So I join the crowd.\u00a0 There was soda and in a special “over 21” area there was alcohol but only beer, yech.\u00a0 And music playing with half the crowd dancing.\u00a0 There were no seats.\u00a0 I saw 2 elementary school kids, obviously with their parents and a whole lot of couples.\u00a0 Lots of “girls out on parade” also who wore their track jackets looped about their waist or zipped low to show their top underneath.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 I had removed ALL jewelry and wore my tennis shoes… so I was prepared.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Or so I thought!\u00a0 I people watched the crowd with a smile and sipped at a Coke.\u00a0 I didn’t mingle much, just stood against the wall.\u00a0 Everyone seemed so paired into their little groups.\u00a0 Don’t get me wrong, I small talked whenever opportunity presented itself which was frankly only once!\u00a0 But it wasn’t long before they pulled the curtains aside and we all rushed into the other room.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

It was there the band’s instruments were set up on a stage.\u00a0 The entire room was painted black with florescent lighting.\u00a0 And shortly after we were\u00a0arrived they passed out little bottles of orange water based paint.\u00a0\u00a0And the crowd went nuts with the\u00a0squeeze bottles.\u00a0 Some went straight to the walls and squirted words or just gobs of paint to draw with.\u00a0 The rest started squirting each other, but the real chaos makers were the people who squirted straight into the air and across the room.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Everyone was quickly covered in streaks of orange paint.\u00a0\u00a0 Dancing was foregone even though the music never stopped while we all reverted to childhood and started spraying paint EVERYWHERE.\u00a0 We quickly went through the offered paint and many scrounged the floor looking for bottles with any left.\u00a0 I overheard one guy say, “They’ve still got 4 colors yet to bring out.”\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I did have some fun myself.\u00a0 One guy came in and he was picking up bottles and bagging them as trash.\u00a0 He handed me a half full one.\u00a0 Very cute he was… well as far as I could tell in black light and paint!\u00a0 After he handed me the bottle with a smile he bent over to pick up more from the floor.\u00a0 I couldn’t resist.\u00a0 A bare expanse of his lower back was just there… begging for paint.\u00a0 So I squirted him.\u00a0 On his bare skin.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

He quickly turned around and looked at me all shocked.\u00a0 I just smiled.\u00a0 He wiggled and said, “It’s on my ass.\u00a0 It’s literally going down my ass crack.”\u00a0 Lovely image!\u00a0 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.”\u00a0\u00a0 He smiled and moved off to clean up more.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

They brought out green paint and we went wild and then they brought out yellow paint.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 I did get it across the glasses many times but only twice in the eye.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Thankfully the water based paint only burned a bit and after a trip to the bathroom it was quickly fixed.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 And frankly, we all looked alike in the room.\u00a0 Wet, painted, unrecognizable crazed fans!<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Shortly after the yellow paint was mostly extinguished The Ting Tings came on stage and played 4 songs.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 I think its just a female singer and one guy, or at least that’s all I could see.\u00a0 The guy was in a tank top (yum) and mostly played the drums (double yum) and the music… well it was WONDERFUL.\u00a0 Barely understood the words, or message or whatever… but I liked the beat and the guitar work.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

What was really fun was doing that jump dancing you see at concerts and raves.\u00a0 Can’t do that in a club and boy is it freeing!\u00a0 And there was room to do it in!\u00a0 Close up the crowd was pretty pressed but there was lots of room behind those first 4 or 5 rows of people.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 Oh there were a few people who beat a hasty retreat but most just went on dancing to the music.\u00a0 After a trip to the bathroom to get what paint I could out of my hair & off my glassses\u00a0I also made my way to the exit.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

They gave us bags, told us to keep the track suits and suggested we change back into our clothes.\u00a0 As my car’s interior is cream and the suit was covered in still wet paint I agreed!\u00a0 The paint in my face was still sticky and even after taking a towel to it my hair was pretty covered with wet paint.\u00a0 But I walked out of there with a smile and it was only a little after 10pm.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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\"My

My Gym Shoes!<\/p><\/div>\n

On my walk out I saw a fellow attendee walking alone, texting.\u00a0 Once I was abreast of him\u00a0he finished so I\u00a0engaged him in idle conversation.\u00a0 Lucky for me he was parked in the same structure and explained his friend suggested getting the parking validated at a Starbucks.\u00a0 Apparently the parking structure I’d parked in was for this huge, several stories, mall-like open structure filled with expensive shops.\u00a0 In trying to find the Starbucks we came across a smoothie shop and opted for that instead.\u00a0 They, like everyone else, greeted us with a “What happened to you?!”<\/p>\n

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\"That

That "Oh, My" Moment<\/p><\/div>\n

We happily explained while purchasing smoothies.\u00a0 The strawberry banana I had was delicious, expensive and allowed me to only have to pay $2.00 for parking.\u00a0 The other small parking lots were charging $20.00 so a good deal all around.\u00a0\u00a0 Once we had our smoothies we parted ways because I had to use the rest room.\u00a0 Where I repeatedly answered the constant questions about my look and when I saw myself in the mirror I so realized why!\u00a0 I’d forgotten the paint was all over my face, not just in my hair!<\/p>\n

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\"tingting21\"

Working the Camera in the Mirror<\/p><\/div>\n

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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.\u00a0 It … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-twirling-my-skirt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=622"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4419,"href":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622\/revisions\/4419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}