Dear 100 Monkeys Fans

I am beyond moved by the reaction to my blog I posted earlier about 100 Monkeys. Your unwavering loyalty and support for the boys has floored me. It did not surprise me, but it floored me.

I am so proud for how much everyone has taken up for the guys; it truly was unfair that they did not get to finish their set and that they were asked to leave. They (The Hard Rock Las Vegas) conducted their practices unfairly and unprofessionally. However, I believe the boys handled the situation well and gracefully. (I would have thrown things... just sayin'.)

The feedback that I've gotten through comments on my site, my Facebook, the Chatter and my Twitter has been extremely overwhelming to say the least. I've been busy all day responding and replying. Someone (I'm unsure on if she wants to be named, so I won't say her name here) mentioned to me that the boys are not disrespectful and the Hard Rock Cafe of Las Vegas made them sound that way. I completely agree.

I have never before met 5 men who are more gracious, giving and downright RESPECTFUL than 100 Monkeys. They constantly look out for their fans, they take excellent care of their equipment and are beyond grateful to get to play the shows they play in the cities that they do.

I really hope that all of this can get put behind us as soon as possible. I am glad that everyone is now aware of what happened and how the boys were mistreated, but I'm sure that it's not something that they want to dwell on, so I'm thinking that if we all just get it out not -- bitch and moan at the Hard Rock for an apology and then move on to focus on the boys' amazement, that we'll all be happier Mnky fans. ;)

This is a memory that makes me upset when I think of it -- I get upset at how they were treated, how the staff treated the fans, how the staff treated their equipment, how the staff treated the boys... HOWEVER, there are a few other memories from yesterday that immediately make me *beam* when I think of them, so I do believe that I'll try and focus on those now.

I'm not saying that I'm "over" this, that it's all better and fixed now - I'm just trying to look ahead to the future. I know that RIGHTNOW this is such an important thing that 100 Monkeys fans ALL OVER THE WORLD want to deal with head on.

Here's a list of places that I am aware it's been posted:

Ten Gossip, as written by the ever-fabulous, Willow Raine.
Team j.action Facebook
Monkey Business 
Team Jacksper
Jackson Rathbone Online
Jackson Rathbone Source (from Brazil!)
100 Monkeys Chatter

If you know of a website or blog that has posted a link/my story, let me know so I can add it up here! Overwhelming, yes?!

My blog post has been RT'd countless times on Twitter - I don't have an exact number of how many hits that I got, but I know that it's been a lot. That is actually a really scary thought, if I can be honest with you. I know that by now, with how many times my Twitter name has been mentioned along side @100MonkeysMusic that they boys have read the blog. I just really hope that they're not upset about it, I hope that they're also thankful that someone put the real life account of what happened. I really tried to make it as accurate as possible.

(Jackson said that he wanted people to know and be aware that the Monkeys did nothing wrong in this. Well, I guess I did my part then, didn't I? I think this is one of those "be careful what you wish for" situations.)

I really just want them to know that I support and love them. Isn't that what we all want? We all want to support and love them and show them our undying gratitude for giving us their fantastic music and face melting shows.

Some people had asked, "well did anything good happen yesterday?" The answer to that is YES! The second show was so fucking incredible that half of my face is still missing from being melted off. They. Rocked. HARD. It was amazing. Yesterday I experienced shows 5 & 6 and last night's show was one of the best that I had seen - regardless of what happened, regardless of them not being able to hear themselves (I've been there boys; nothing frustrates me so much...) they still melted my face. I can't speak for everyone who was there, but I know that Jennifer, Crystal and Alissa and I all LOVED the show and we all said that we had never rocked that hard before in our lives.

So in closing - thank you 100 Monkeys fans for the support you give to the boys each day and then in turn, for coming here to read my blog, post your thoughts and retweet about it. You're insane in the best way possible. You're fucking amazing and you know it. I want you to know that I read and appreciated EVERY single time you commented the blog and every word that you took the time to say. I read every single tweet and if I missed replying back to you I deeply apologize, but know that you were not overlooked. Not in the slightest. You are incredible people.

Please keep rocking,

Jodie Platz

PS - I'm going to party tonight in Vegas for my BFF's 25th birthday celebration, tomorrow I'm spending the day in Vegas but I'm editing photos. I didn't get as many good ones as I did in Tulsa. Along with the sound equipment sucking major ass, the lighting was wretched, go figure. But! I will be seeing the Monkeys again soon... ;) Always an opportunity for new photos. I really liked setting my camera down and just rocking out, singing their words back to them last night...

100 Monkeys At The Hard Rock Las Vegas

This is not going to be my official Vegas blog, this isn't going to contain the *wonderful* moments that happened with 100 Monkeys, this blog is just here to tell you all the SHIT the guys went through last night while playing the Hard Rock Cafe on the strip in Las Vegas.

NEVER SEE A CONCERT THERE.

NEVER EAT THERE.

They do not deserve your patronage.

100 Monkeys were supposed to take the stage at 1145p and apparently were supposed to be off the stage at 130a. The sound crew was apparently having the worst case of technical difficulties known to man because after the first opening act, The Rooks, the next band, Imagine Dragons, was literally on stage fucking with their equipment and trying to hear themselves in the monitors for 35 minutes. They still had not started their set when the Monkeys were supposed to take the stage.

[We had seen the 100 Monkeys soundcheck earlier in the day and it went on without a hitch, everything was fine -- a few adjustments were made, of course, but it was all fine... what could have possibly gone wrong?]

Imagine Dragons was very professional; they started the set even though they couldn't hear themselves in the 2 front monitors just because it was getting so late. They were worth the wait, they were fantastic. (More on them in the official blog.)

After each song the lead singer of Imagine Dragons would ask to be able to hear himself more citing that he "had no vocal on the stage", meaning that he couldn't hear himself at all -- that's an extremely important thing to a live performer in order to create the best show possible.

They wrapped their set and shortly after the boys took the stage, tuned their instruments and did their usual, "we'll be back in five," kinda deal...

They didn't end up going on stage until right about 1230.

They were constantly asking for more vocal, more vocal, more vocal - less bongos, less bass drum, more vocal.

It came time for the improv song and Jerad went down the line, he looked at me and my friends and I had decided before the show what we were going to ask them to sing, "Lipstick On My Collar". They took our suggestion...

About halfway through the performance and after asking during the performance for more vocal Jackson grabbed the mic stand -- now, I can't be completely positive but I think it was a combination between not being able to hear himself, being frustrated about not being able to hear himself and getting into the performance - he broke the mic stand. He slammed the base of it against the stage several times until the bottom of it broke.

After that he held the stand without the base until he became frustrated with that and tossed it aside.

It wasn't long after that - 145a that the guys said they were going to take a quick break and then come back on for their encore.

Before the guys came back on 2 guys came up on stage and started breaking down a few things, grabbing the broken mic stand and said that the guys would not be coming back out. A lot of people had left when they left the stage for the first time and this pushed out a lot of the others -- I knew that the guys were going to break down and pack up their own equipment, so we stayed put where we were in the front row.

Jackson's beer was setting by a mic stand and by the foot pedals for the guitar, when one of the guys was taking a cord apart, he knocked over the beer and soaked their control board for the guitar pedals. He didn't care, I grabbed the beer as quickly as I could, but a lot spilled very quickly.

When someone asked this guy on stage why the guys weren't coming back out he said, "because the band is being a bunch of assholes." I promptly stopped that shit right there and I snapped back, "don't call them assholes, if you're pissed about the mic stand maybe your sound guys should know what the fuck they were doing - it's just a fucking mic stand and you shouldn't be pissed at them for it, I'll pay for it if it's that much of a hassle to you, just don't fuck with the band." He stood there and just kind of stared at me.

A few minutes later they came back on stage and Jackson announced that they were not allowed to do their encore; that "the Hard Rock Cafe will not let 100 Monkeys play anymore" saying that he was so very sorry and thanks for coming out.

Jackson and Jerad came over to us, thanking us over and over, holding our hands and apologizing to us/the fans.

We got a moment to talk to Jackson about what happened with the Hard Rock - he said they were giving them a hard time from the moment they got here. He said to go online and make it known about what really happened. Johnson said they were upset, but just wanted to get out of there.

Jackson was so visibly upset, trying to control it, but this had made all of them so mad - he was standing on the left side of the stage when the rude guy started with him - Jackson looked & pointed to us and said, "[they] saw everything," and then I said back to him, "we are going to support 100 Monkeys; we're taking their side. That guy spilled your beer on your equipment." He asks me, "which guy, this guy?" I nodded. Jackson looks at the guy and starts to "rawr", he then quickly asked for his name - he replied (it was something with an "M") and then he extended his hand to shake Jackson's. Jackson walked away.

I pulled Jerad aside amongst the chaos and told him that the guy had spilled Jackson's beer. He lifted up the board and there was beer all under it. He asked who it was, I pointed and Jerad bolted over to him, asking his name, asking what the fuck...

Ultimately, I heard that the Hard Rock was mad because the guys were supposed to be off at 130 - however, they could have played had Imagine Dragons gone on stage on time. (The Hard Rock's fault; not theirs.)

The boys told us they had planned another 30 minutes of songs, but were asked to leave.

They were mad because Jackson broke the mic stand. (He wouldn't have done so had the sound been working properly, I firmly believe that. I don't think he was just *that* into the improv song about lipstick.)

[EDIT: I don't think that when Jackson picked up the mic stand that he had the intentions on breaking it -- I don't want people to think that, I think that shit happens and the stand broke - it was nothing that the Hard Rock should have gotten upset about.]

The boys were banned from ever playing the Hard Rock Cafe Las Vegas again (not sure about the other Hard Rock's, but I would assume that they wouldn't want to associate themselves with the Hard Rock any longer) - but even if they weren't it left such a nasty taste in their mouth that there's no way they would ever want to go back.

At the end of the night, after all of this shit that had gone down - instead of 100 Monkeys leaving and the Hard Rock Cafe being happy to get rid of them, someone I talked to said she overheard a conversation with one of the employees of the Hard Rock and Marty (the "bananager") in which the Hard Rock was demanding that 100 Monkeys PAY. Pay for damages, pay because the DJ that was supposed to go on stage after the Monkeys couldn't - PAY.

Fuck. That. Fuck. You.

If you were at the show last night, please write or call the Hard Rock and DEMAND that they apologize to 100 Monkeys.

I love all of those boys with so much of me - it felt amazing sticking up for them and helping them out when they needed it.

Jodie

[Another edit: Anyone who wants to post this on their Facebook/MySpace/Twitter/Fan forum -- please feel free. Also, please go and read Willow Raine's write up on www.tengossip.com!]

Las Vegas Airport Blog

*LOUD NOISES!*

I have to start out my blog with a heavy sigh -- this morning Willow's flight from Charlotte got cancelled. So [yet again] she's going to miss out on going to Vegas. :( I am so super sad about this. It's just terrible.

While we have only had the trip to Vegas planned as long as the boys have (you know, a whole two weeks...) I love seeing Willow and I know how much she loves seeing the boys. This will actually be the first Monkeys show that I'll be seeing without her. *starts to sob...* I hate that. I never ever ever want to see another one without her. Ever again.

I hate planes.

I mean, I love planes - they get me places... Maybe I should hate North Carolina. Yep. Going to hate NC. I already hate it - it's too far away.

Good part of the day? I accidentally left my lighter from Tulsa in my purse - it didn't get confiscated. #unexpectedwin

I'm tired. Had a dream about the Monkeys last night -- you know Mitch Hedberg once said:

I hate dreaming because when you want to sleep, you want to sleep. Dreaming is work. Next thing you know, I have to build a go-cart with my ex-landlord.

I feel the exact same way at times -- on one hand, I love dreaming; it's like an extracurricular activity for me. On the other hand, sometimes my dreams can be exhausting.

A lady just sat next to me who sprayed a whole bottle of perfume on her. Fuck her life.

Pic of the Day:

Just a few more hours. :) I'm going to take some new open shutter pictures with my new camera, will post if they're worth it. I seriously don't know how it can get much better than this, however... I love it.

xoxox

Dread, The Movie - Part Two

"I should be on a Greyhound...

I may be a wrench in the gears,

but it's just because I'm fearful..."

This is a continuation of the Dread blog that I posted in December after first seeing the film. You can find the first part of that by clicking on the link -- however, be forewarned that it includes MAJOR spoilers.

This post will contain much less spoilers since I already gave everything away *points* up there.

As you well know by now, tomorrow morning I leave for Las Vegas to see 100 Monkeys at the Hard Rock Cafe... I learned something about myself today, you know? What tends to happen is that something will "hit me" (as in I realize what's coming and I get super fucking stoked for it) and then the feeling will subside and I won't feel much anticipation or real excitement until moments before the big event.

Now as this happens, things tend to "hit me" early on, well before any of my friends and then I'm calm and cool as a cucumber as they're freaking out - I guess in the end this seems to work out well; they can help me, meanwhile I'm calm to help them.

Then once the event has arrived (I should be anxious tomorrow morning while heading to the airport but I don't believe anything will start to "hit me" again until we're either more than halfway in the air or have landed...) -- I have very little time to calm my nerves and freak out a bit. Say, for instance, Tulsa. I was fine, totally calm, I didn't really feel anything happening even so long as we were sitting in Ida Red's waiting for the boys to arrive. Suddenly everything hit me - HARD - and I had to throw up. I suspect the same thing is going to happen tomorrow.

[This is where I would enter a lil fun fact about me, throwing up and uh... you know... err, no you don't, cuz I didn't tell you -- but I can't tell you because this is a very, very public blog.]

So! (All of that had a point, I promise...) I went to see Dread in the theater.

It was only playing at one theater here in KC - the Legends 14 - I had never been there before, but apparently they made it Jodie-proof. Jennifer walked me to the theater, knowing that I would get lost and then she pointed me in the direction of Panera for when I got out of the movie -- I walked up to the doors and... wait... um... something's wrong here... there's no... door handles? How the hell do I get into the cinema if there's no door handles. *looks around confused* I started to call Jennifer when out of the corner of my eye, hidden, I saw the box office.

OH! Okay... apparently I had to buy a ticket first with the box office on the OUTSIDE instead of on the inside... okay... and then will there be door handles...?

So I walk up... "One for Dread, please." The guy kinda smiled, I paid ($6.75!) and then he goes, "enjoy the show..." in a kinda weird tone like, "ha ha ha ha, you're going to see Dread! It's SCARY!" I was like, "Uh. Thanks." And then I walked over to the door... where I suppose I was waiting for the door handles to appear...?

The ticket tearer guy opened the door for me, (what a strange place) and asked for my ticket. I gave it to him, "12 is on your right... don't get too scared." I was like, "um... thanks... I won't." *Mutters to self, "cuz I've already seen it before..."*

I go into the theater, practically skipping down the hall and it's empty. Yay! I have first pick on where to sit. Of course I choose the dead center. (Hah. Dead center. Get it? I made a joke.) A little while later one dude came in solo... then a couple... then the lights went down and I got a little sad that not many people were going to be there. As soon as I Twittered there were only 5 people in the theater, including myself, one last straggler came in. So six. Six people.

The movie didn't feature any previews, which I may have needed and I was looking forward to. (#lovespreviews) BOOM - There's his name. Jackson Rathbone. Top billing. In white, all caps. *beams with pride*

Now, since I had seen the film (twice) before, I wasn't expecting it to really move me as much as it did to see it on the big screen. Wow, I was mistaken, but I welcomed it. Of course some of the thoughts that went through my mind were, "you so get to see him tomorrow, Jodie! EEEP!" and then the always ever popular, "fuck my life, he's too talented."

To see the movie on the big screen was amazing. My only complaint about the art direction in the film is that it was too dark, contrast wise... there were times where I couldn't see features and facial expressions -- I understand the film was meant to be dark (in lighting terms) however, there are ways to make that happen and also be able to see how people are reacting on screen.

I got completely overwhelmed during some scenes... Jackson's talent spreads much further than the ability to deliver lines effortlessly and with feeling. His minor facial expressions absolutely floor me. He can convey so much in just a single look. When Abby asks him if she can show him something, instead of nodding or anything - he merely sits there, his eyes widen just slightly to show his interest in whatever it is, his head leaning in just a touch... I think so many actors overdo it to show their ability to act. While I'm always captivated when he's delivering his lines, it's when Jackson is not speaking that I am floored by him. He's very... aware of his being. That absolutely fascinates me.

Swiftly moving on... no need to give him more praise... *bows head slightly, knowing that everyone here thinks I'm completely bias...* At the end (which I won't give away for those who don't want to know it, but you can find it out by going to my previous Dread blog) I didn't cry. I held my breath, sure, but I didn't cry. The first time I saw it, I cried. Shock, perhaps... however, once it was "over" and I remembered the credits were coming I started to tear up - all the sudden I remembered that The Stevedores "Fearful" played at the end...

And then, the credits. Spencer's voice came through the theater and I beamed - my entire body resonated with happiness - I stayed until the end to see all The Stevedores names on the "thank you" list, taking in Spencer Bell's name.

I was proud. Proud of Jackson. Proud of The Stevedores. Proud of Spencer.

I *bounced* out of the theater and promptly called Willow, leaving her a voicemail about how I had forgotten The Stevedores song was at the end. :)

And now, here I sit... the DVD for Dread is being released March 23rd and will contain a commentary and a featurette - if you couldn't support the movie in theaters, whatever your reason may be, please do support it and go buy the DVD.

In closing, also please take a look at my previous blog from earlier today, my to do list (and other random shit) that will be updated throughout the day. :)

Pic of the Day:

Jackson on the set of Dread.

My Massive To Do List

"I wish you'd known me when I was alive..."

I woke up this morning feeling like P. Diddy. Funniest thing in the world. Laughed my ass off.

My to do list for the day... It's so close. Tomorrow I won't have much time to do anything in the morning before my flight to The Vegas. I'll have time to straighten my hair, do my make up and throw up a few times, maybe get something to eat (so that I have something to throw up, that was my mistake in Tulsa - not eating).

[[This list will be edited throughout the day so feel free to check back later and see what all I've completed or added to the list -- comments of encouragement earn you gold stars.]]

-Go see Dread!

-Get a coffee

-Update iPod

-Put confirmation numbers into iPod

-Call Hard Rock. For the 6th time. Literally the 6th time.

-Finish packing.

-Find my concert outfits.

-Do my nails. (I have electric orange and navy blue... opinion?)

-Pack BOTH pairs of sunglasses

-Bring meds

-Chargers, batteries, BOTH cameras.

-Sharpies

-Burn DVD for boys & Willow.

-Burn CD for boys.

-Dye my hair Came out a lil redder than I wanted it to. Oh, *this* is why you're not supposed to wait until last minute to do things! #lessonslearned

-Remember what else it was that I was supposed to do...

More to be added... gotta go.

Pic of the Day:

#ROFLACOPTER

Rock With Me

"Life's the start the middle and the end..."

The other day my pic of the day was j.action playing the trumpet with some stellar Ray Bans on.

Turns out the Ray Bans weren't just a fashion statement...

Yesterday was a busy day... Jennifer finally got her plane ticket. She's coming home the 1st... she gets to spend her whole birthday on a plane... but you know what... it works for her. She loves planes.

Jenn's phone started going insane yesterday, kept restarting and wouldn't let her do anything... so we took it up to the Tmobile store and they were going to order her a new phone, except charge her for shipping... the Tmobile guy goes, "do you have the same phone, let me see it..." so I handed him the phone and he was showing her how to save her contacts to her sim card... he tried to do so with my phone and it restarted itself...

For the next two hours I couldn't do anything and I needed to call my mama to see if I could have her old Tmobile phone now that she got an iPhone. (How does my mama have an iPhone!?!)

So we make it home and I'm saving my contacts to my sim as it restarts again... upon boot up, I have no contacts. No contacts saved to my phone. No contacts saved to my sim. And now I'm slowly regaining all the numbers that I lost, but they won't stay saved to my phone... or my sim.

After I finish this blog I'm getting Jennifer up so we can go to the Tmobile store and I can yell at someone. ;)

I heart yelling.

We got an insane amount of things at Target last night. We're, for the first time ever, not checking anything (since our 1st Monkeys show is literally minutes after our plane lands...) so we had to buy the entire travel aisle...

Last night after all this drama, we did however, have a yummy dinner! We had carnival food! :) Pretzels, corn dogs and nachos. I had beers. Only thing missing was a sno cone!

2 days until Vegas!

xoxox

Imaginary Friend

"there's a crazy cast of characters,

none of which are real at all..."

The lyrics couldn't be more perfect for how today has gone... iTunes was really feeling me on this one today.

I wrote about half of my blog and then I realized that you weren't worth the blast.

So I deleted it.

Oh, haaay, sort of like you deleted me! Fancy that.

Swiftly moving on... Today marks three days until The Vegas... Tonight is going to be busy. There's so much to do and... well... only three days left to do it. Wax eyebrows, dye hair, buy things for Vegas, figure out WTF I'm wearing to the shows... etc... laaaa... I'm tired just thinking about it.

I do believe we're going to [attempt] the champagne brunch on Sunday. Should be good times. We went to the MGM Grand champagne brunch in 2007 and it was quite enjoyable. Of course now I do believe we're picking a much cheaper one than that. ;)

I've been in a Spencer Bell mood lately.

That's all I care to say about that.

I guess today is a short blog

Pic of the Day:

Tonight I'm buying my ticket for Dread -- in select theaters ONLY on the 29th (this Friday!) Check your local theaters and see if it's playing near you -- if it is, PLEASE go out and support it! It's an incredible film, beautifully shot, beautifully executed and fucking terrifying. ;)

xx Jo