The enemy now lies beneath us
I think we're safe
Hey, won't be held down any longer
No disgrace and no dishonour
Keep us chained

There's nothing we should have to fear
It's alright, we've come to life
We'll never shed another tear
It's alright, we've come to life

Come To Life - Alter Bridge

---

Manny Cowdrey-Cuberos is the best boyfriend I could ever hope for!! ^-^ Every moment with him is so amazing and perfect, it's hard to believe
Why do I say this all of a sudden, after going out with him for what's now getting on for 4 months? (Not that it wasn't true before)
Tuesday night, for my birthday present, he took me to an Alter Bridge and Black Stone Cherry concert in Birmingham >w<

Alter Bridge have been somewhat of an obsession of mine recently - I'd definitely go as far as them being my favourite band. They're so unbelievably amazing as musicians and as a band collectively, and every single song is so emotive and pure; true to the soul as it were ^-^
3 out of the 4 in the band are from the band Creed - being Mark Tremonti (the most awe-inspiring and godly lead guitarist I have ever seen), Brian Marshall (their bassist) and Scott Phillips (drummer). Myles Kennedy is their lead singer and rhythm guitarist, and my GOD what a breathtakingly amazing, brilliant voice he has! Not to mention his looks... *drools* ( [link] - He's the one on the left)

Either way, the gig was absolutely fucking astounding, with amazing sets from both Black Stone Cherry and Alter Bridge ^-^

After the gig (with a brief discussion with Manny about how the bassist of Black Stone Cherry was rather hot...) we headed outside to go back to his mum's car (she was kind enough to drive us all the way out to Birmingham for the night and then wait for us). Thing is, we didn't get back to the car... Not straight away, at least. ;
We came across a group of people all standing around the back of the arena... all waiting for Alter Bridge to come out and say hi, and sign stuff for them. Naturally, we joined.
After waiting for a fair while, one of the techie guys who worked there came out and said to no one in particular "Who wants a pick?" Without thinking, I'd turned around, said "I do!" and stretched my hand out towards him... XD He then gave me a bass pick with Alter Bridge's logo on ^-^ Quite a nice little souvenir... and there was me planning on buying one from the merch stand. I'm glad I didn't XP

We waited for an hour in the freezing cold for Alter Bridge, but the bastards still hadn't showed XD I'll never know if they did actually come out and meet their fans or not, because Manny's mum was (understandably) getting impatient, and wanted us to meet up with her and go home. So, feeling really down about not meeting our idols, we continued past the tour buses in the direction of the car.
Well... Manny stopped when we were parallel with the buses. He looked by the side of the second one, and hidden from the Alter Bridge fans were 2 people - a man and a woman. Just chatting. I blinked at Manny, who kept staring at the two people and said "Is that the bassist of Black Stone Cherry?" I shrugged, but then thought it highly likely that it would be. We stood there for a moment, watching this guy from a distance.
"What's the bassist's name?"
"I dunno..."
We fail XD
After a few more moments, I convinced myself it was him, and started walking slowly towards him, down the side of the tour bus, Manny following me. I didn't really know what I was doing, or what I'd say when I eventually got there. He turned around when we got closer and smiled. We shook hands, he introduced himself as Jon, and we chatted briefly about the gig before he said he had to go. Fair play.

Back to the car, the two of us squealing like absolute fangirls (Yes, Manny too XD)

I was still holding the pick from earlier (not that I could feel my fingers thanks to the freezing temperatures). It was pretty dark, what with it being about 12:30am. I was just turning the pick around in my fingers, and then glanced at the back.
"Manny, turn your fucking phone light on! It's fucking signed!"
Alas, it was just a print XD It fucking got my hopes up, though XD Either way, it's awesome ^-^
A little later in the car ride...
"Manny..."
"Yeah?"
"...This pick's been used... It has a rough edge on it...[enter fangirl squeal here]" ^-^

All in all, it was a pretty bassist-focused night - post-gig-wise XP I'm planning on making that pick into a necklace so that I don't lose it (plus, it'll just look fucking badass ^-^ XP)

The car ride home was a total disaster, yet very entertaining nonetheless XD We were ALMOST back in Banbury (as in, on the very edge of it. About 10 minutes from his house) when his mum took the wrong exit off the roundabout... Back onto the motorway towards Oxford and London >_< XD We didn't get home 'til 2am... thank god I was staying over at Manny's anyway XD


And as much as he hates me saying this (for some reason that I can't actually work out... O_o) THANK YOU, MANNY!!!!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! >w<