So on Sunday afternoon, I meet up with Gurj and we head to the Port Authority to catch a bus out to the Meadowlands. On the bus ride over, I find out from Gurj that Matt's band is huge (Hi, I'm old!) and that they were the band that was headlining the entire festival! (This was right around the time that their Louder Now record had debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Charts). We got to the gate at the Meadowlands, told them we were on Matt's list and we got... ˆ badge ˆ laminate ˆ taking back sunday ˆ

...hooked up with "Talent" badges that gave us all access to EVERYWHERE! (As much as I love the band Lifetime, looking back on this day now, I'm amazed that I didn't end up trading in that badge for a three-way bee-jay from some Jersey-teen-emo superfans. Hahaha.) What are the perks of an all-access badge you ask? ˆ badge ˆ laminate ˆ

Well, first - we got to stand right up against the stage and we had barricades behind us which spared us from having to rub against thousands of sweaty kids in the heat . Here's a shot of crowd we were able to escape while getting front row seats to watch Panic! at the Disco. ˆ crowd ˆ security ˆ

After their set, Gurj and I went over to one of the other stages to see my buddy Brandon's band, Nightmare of You. If you like The Smiths, go download their record right now. ˆ band ˆ nightmare of you ˆ

Gurj, Karen, Sarah with Brandon and Joe after the show. ˆ brandon ˆ jeet ˆ joe ˆ karen ˆ sarah ˆ

See what kind of lead singer action you can get when you've got one of them backstage passes? The other thing you can get is... ˆ brandon ˆ me ˆ bromance ˆ kiss ˆ

...access to the free, all-you-can-drink bar courtesy of Red Bull. The only thing better than the free booze were the two DirtyJerz Missle-Twisters bartenders that we're downing two drinks a piece for each one they served. Garden State, I heart you so much. Can the backstage pass possibly get any better? ˆ jeet ˆ booze ˆ missle twisters ˆ

How about getting to stand ON the stage to watch your favorite band of all time perform for one of the first times in over 10 years? After hiding out under the stadium and getting (pretty, pretty, pret-ty) drunk, we ran over to the back of the main stage. I got up there all out of breath, and was frantically asking people "Did Lifetime play yet? Did Lifetime play yet?" Then I turned around and... ˆ backstage ˆ crowd ˆ

...and started to ask these two "Did Lifetime pla...." and then abruptly stopped when I realized that it was Ari Katz and Dan Yemem (the singer and guitar player from Lifetime respectively) and immediately felt like a HUGE JACKASS. Hahahah. ˆ ari katz ˆ dan yemen ˆ backstage ˆ lifetime ˆ

Here's Matt, (the magic man that made this whole incredible day possible!) seen here showing off the cut forehead and bruised eye that he got when his band's singer was whipping a microphone around his head on stage and Matt caught it with his face! Oooof! ˆ matt ˆ backstage ˆ bruise ˆ cut ˆ

Here's the crowd waiting for the band to come out. ˆ backstage ˆ band ˆ crowd ˆ lifetime ˆ

They took the stage... ˆ backstage ˆ band ˆ lifetime ˆ

...Ari said hi to the crowd (and joked about how most of the kids there had no idea who they were)... ˆ backstage ˆ band ˆ lifetime ˆ

...and then blew right into their set! (I wish this photo wasn't so blurry because it's the sweetest shot of Dan four feet in the air). ˆ backstage ˆ band ˆ jump ˆ lifetime ˆ

The show was great. ˆ backstage ˆ band ˆ lifetime ˆ

The new songs were great. ˆ backstage ˆ band ˆ lifetime ˆ

Dan jumping again. Clearer shot, but gayer jump. Haha. ˆ backstage ˆ band ˆ jump ˆ lifetime ˆ

Back in their original hey-day, Lifetime was (in)famous for playing sets that were only 15-minutes long. This time around, they had a whole new record of material and played for almost a half-hour! ˆ backstage ˆ band ˆ lifetime ˆ sunset ˆ

The sun went below the horizon right at the beginning of their second-to-last song, and the sky turned all sorts of beautiful colors. ˆ backstage ˆ band ˆ lifetime ˆ sunset ˆ

Going... ˆ backstage ˆ band ˆ lifetime ˆ sunset ˆ

...going... ˆ backstage ˆ band ˆ lifetime ˆ sunset ˆ

...gone. (Can you see the sunset from the Southside?) Afterwards, I watch Matt's band for the first time, but it was pitch dark by then and all the pics I took on my tiny camera didn't come out very goood). ˆ backstage ˆ band ˆ lifetime ˆ sunset ˆ

When I got back to my apartment, Meredith was there and I bragged to her about how Matt was a huge rock star (who knew?) and how he hooked me up with a fancy badge, and how I got free drinks and how there were slutty Jersey bartenders and how I got to stand backstage...and on and on like a twelve year-old girl. Meredith was a good sport, but eventually told me to... ˆ meredith ˆ badge ˆ laminate ˆ

...shut up and...yeah. ˆ meredith ˆ butt ˆ eat me ˆ