May 26th, 2001 - K-floor at Artsfest - Jellybricks at Borders - Halestorm at the Gman

May 26th, 2001
K-floor at Artsfest
Jellybricks at Borders
Halestorm at the Gman

After hearing some positive buzz about a band called K-floor, who would be playing at Artsfest, we decided to give the lads a listen. We arrived near the stage around 5, just in time for their performance. They were quite the enjoyable band. We definitely have to give the lead singer, Nick Schnebelen some credit for the stylin' pants he had on, with fun patches at the bottom. Back to the music…they had a classic blues sound that the crowd seemed to be loving.

Once the show ended, we talked with Shannon's mom for a while, and then we spotted Daniel (the English, No Show Ponies guy) there, so Shannon said hello to him and we chatted for a few minutes. We soon departed and headed towards Borders, where the Jellybricks would soon be playing. We arrived a little early, so we browsed around for a bit, before we ran into Logan, Gwen, and their mom.

All of us went to get beverages from the café, and then made our way to the art & architecture section, where the Jellybricks were closed in between bookshelves. Once they started, they apologized for blocking the art zone, and told the shoppers they were welcome to browse there while they were playing (no accepted the offer, though).

They played some of their amazing originals, including "Stupid Thing," "Ugly You," and "Soap Opera." As they ended one of the songs, an employee came over and informed them that they needed to quiet down a bit. The band then proceeded to poke fun at the worker for shusshhhing them. Going into lullaby mode, they quietly streamed into another fantastic original.

During the band bathroom break around 8, their good friend, Cliff (who also helped assist them with their album) performed a few charming songs. The bricks soon started up again. Larry explained that they weren't used to playing such quiet shows, and that they're usually much more obnoxious.

Reaching 9 o'clock, Shannon's parents came back to us and said that they were ready to head to the Gman to see Halestorm. We said our good-byes to Logan and the rest of the Pruitt family, and we waved to Larry as we went on our way. Driving into the Gman parking lot, we were all a little surprised at the outer appearance of Hummelstown's Gman. We all agreed that it resembled a casino that one could probably find in Atlantic City…definitely strange (but cool) to discover in Hummelstown.

Bright lights and TV covered walls struck our attention, as we headed towards the area Halestorm would be performing. We were shortly greeted by Mitch, his wife, Liz, Shel, Beth, and some more of the H-crew. Roaming towards a close, empty table, we browsed our menus for a few minutes. We both decided on grilled cheese, which came with a gingerbread man on the side (how cute)! Deciding it was time for a bathroom break, we made our way to the bathroom. Pushing open the door, we gazed into the funhouse-esque restroom. There were crazy mirrors in every stall, and the whole room was glowing of funky colors (reds, yellows…). We both took a little bathroom tour and wished we had bathrooms that were so entertaining and fun! While washing her hands at the sink, Shannon read to herself a paper that was taped to the soap dispenser. It said something like "Please notify mdt. when empty." Shannon started to laugh, and Melanie gave her the "um…why are you laughing?" look, so Shannon read the soap dispenser message out loud. Realizing that she was just stupid, Shannon told Melanie that she interpreted it as "Please notify midget when empty," she hadn't thought about "management!" (doh!) This seemed to amuse Melanie greatly, so we both continued our stay in the odd bathroom to chuckle for a bit.

A little while after we returned to the table, Liz started the show off by passing out yellow roses to random special people. Shannon's mom was handed one (she felt loved!). All of the usual Halestorm entertainment took place…Arejay's amazing drum solo, Liz's ability to charm anyone and everyone, Nate's impressive guitar playing, Roger showing us all that he is a bass-playing wizard, Shel snapping away at the Kodak moments, Beth treasuring every moment, and astounding performances of both covers and originals. And then there were some not-so-usual moments. Never before had we had the pleasure of witnessing the amusing antics of Halestorm mocking Britney Spears. Liz sang a witty parody to "Oops, I did it again," while her back-up dancers, Roger and Arejay kept the crowd giggling.

During one of the sets, Chud had been helping the H-stormers out by going around, asking people if they were interested in signing up on the mailing list. We ended up posing for pictures with him, Tommy, Shel, Arejay, and a few other random people later on. An extremely friendly gal came up to us, and introduced herself as "Ashley." She said that she had seen us on our website before, so we felt pretty special for being recognized! Thank you Ashley! We talked to her for a bit, and then prepared ourselves for another serving of Halestorm.

Nearing 11:30, SNL was being shown on most of the TVs, so when "Shannon's boy," Jimmy Fallon was on, she was a little distracted. Just a little, though…it's quite impossible to lose your attention during a Halestorm show. The night was speeding by, and one o' clock soon approached. After the show was officially over, we all chatted for a wee bit longer. Waving good-bye, we headed for the doors. Out of the corner of her eye, Shannon spotted a familiar man, (who she had recognized from the MDA benefit) with a pipe lodged between his lips yet again. He must either be a big Halestorm fan, or it's just a small, small world. Oh no…hopefully you won't have "It's a Small World After All…" in your head after reading that!