I got there two hours beforehand and the box office wasn't even open yet...so I went to grab a bite to eat at In n' Out.
An hour later I got back, met some fellow SOAD fans and then I went inside when, lo and behold, Serj was just standing and chatting a few feet away from me! He was going to take a tour of the outside with some fellow friends and Tim Robbins but before he left I got a picture with him. I asked, "Hey Serj do you mind if I take a picture?" He said, "Sure but we gotta make it fast cuz Tim is giving me a tour!" We go the picture and he said, "Thanks for coming...It's gonna be a lot of fun!"
An hour after that he came back and got more pictures with more fans.
I found Greg Watermann and he told me was there doing sound check and it was gonna be "beyond amazing" and he wouldn't tell me what songs they were gonna do...always with the secrets! And I got a picture with Greg as well.
I went to my seat which was front and center literally like two feet from the stage and Tim Robbins stepped in front of my row but didn't go on stage to introduce Serj.
Serj came out with two bald guys, a cute violin player, this amazing girl singer and the drummer from The Doors doing percussion. Also a friend painter of Serj was painting a mural in the background while they were performing and was gonna be sold in a silent auction after the show.
Serj seemed really happy to be there, even saying, "It feels like I'm performing in front of a group of friends than actually a show."
Everything was acoustic, except for the electric sitar and (I think) an electric bass that one the guys was playing like the violin.
Serj came out with his first song, "Lucy" which was the bomb, performed with only him and his acoustic guitar! Then he did, "Gate 21" with him on guitar and dude on violin....followed by that he explained "Baby"...something he was really happy to do cuz he said, "Usually I just talk in between songs but I don't get to talk about the songs so this is a great opportunity....I was in Paris a few years ago and in a dream I heard this 10 minute symphony and afterward I heard this great pop beat. I woke up and sang into my cell phone, 'Baby' and here's the song." which he then performed with just the guitar and violin.
Next was, "Saving Us" which he didn't do a lot of explaining of. This was also performed with guitar and dude on violin.
The next one he said, "This is the first time I'm gonna do this song alone, without the guys from System. This is 'Question!'." And he performed it so well, with just him on guitar and the violinist.
After that the girl performed three songs, with Serj sitting out for the first one, him playing the electric sitar on the second one and him on the piano for the last one....the songs were incredibly great and had a huge middle-eastern feel, even though Serj and her said they love to sing songs with no real language or words. She said she was so happy to be performing with Serj because he's a great friend and very real.
After that Serj said after her performance, "Well to completely change the subject, this is a song about Death!" and performed, "Elect The Dead" with just him and his piano.
He talked about how we all get our words and message from the Universe, consciously and sub-consciously and the only difference between musicians and singers and non-musicians and non-singers is the medium we choose to show it in.
After that, he said (approx.), "Imagine the world how it is right now...with the polar icecaps melting at a very rapid speed...and me and many others try to be part of movements but the truth is we can't continue to live like this or else it'll all be over soon...It will all be over and the Sky will fall...these are words from the Universe telling me this....we gotta find a new way to live!" and then he performed "Sky Is Over" with him on the piano, the violinist and the percussionist, who used bongs, wind chimes, rain makers, belly dancing bells, etc...
Then he did his speech about imagining a deer or an antelope having a human on the hood of his car honking about his newly caught dead, referring to the movie "Deer Hunter" and then he performed "Honking Antelope" with him on piano, violinist and percussion.
Then he did what was called an improvisational jam, which he said was his favorite to do. All the artists picked up their instruments, the girl sang some beautiful melodies and Serj would add in too, either singing or reading from "Cool Gardens" or playing the electric sitar or playing this thing that looked like a toy keyboard but he had to blow on this tube attached to it while playing it.
It was amazingly beautiful and awe inspiring.
After it was over, he was in the lobby, signing autographs and taking pictures. He went upstairs with Tim for a while then they both came to the cash bar in the back and Serj kicked there for about 2-3 hours!! He was drinking a beer. I got the chance to tell him that I put one of his quotes from "Cool Gardens" as my senior quote and he was surprised I memorized it. I then asked him that question I always wanted to:
"When did you learn you could put lyrics together so beautifully and magically and what inspired you to do so?"
He said, "It was around high school where I just started to write. And really it wasn't beautiful, it was more about honesty."
And I told him, "Well honesty is beautiful!"
And he said, "True...cheers to that!" and took a sip of his beer.
I got a picture with Tim and both Serj's and Tim's autograph.
Later I asked Serj if he wanted to toke but he said, "Maybe next time because I'm driving and I'm already drinking this beer but thank you for offering!"
I stayed a few more hours there drinking, giving a few sneak peeks of Serj and watching Tim Robbins dancing (supposedly he's the last one to leave since he owns the place).

It was an amazing night...totally intimate, fun, and absolutely awesome!

fotky a videa asi (alespoň ne moc) nebudou, mám dojem že někdo psal že tam bylo zakázaný cokoli fotit a nahrávat..