08/09/01 - Slim's - San Francisco, CA
by Alysia and Diana

Disclaimer: We, Diana and Alysia, are quite aware that we have made ourselves look like completely stereotypical blonde airheads. In actuality, we are none of the above. We are really quite intelligent and not at all conceited, although you’d never be able to tell from reading this. Sorry for the confusion.

     “This is not a toilet. It is the entrance to our home.” A sign displaying these words, on a door located around the block from Slim’s in San Francisco, gave way too much information about the surrounding neighborhood. Phantom Planet fans Alysia, Diana, and Janelle were there, eagerly waiting for the doors to be opened.
     The anticipation began with the three girls gathered at Alysia’s house at 4 pm. They left with Alysia’s dad Mike at 5, headed for San Francisco, stopping for fast food along the way. After an hour of driving and singing along to Phantom Planet (of course), they arrived at Slim’s. They snagged a parking space and headed anxiously towards the entrance. The desertedness of the sidewalk gave Slim’s a cold atmosphere. Luckily, a friendly homeless man, who hit Mike up for money, broke the silence. Because the doors were not set to open until 7:00, the girls had some time to kill. While Mike graciously held their place in line, the three girls burnt off their dinner calories by sprinting around the block several times, encountering many unique scents, as well as the aforementioned sign.
     When the girls eventually returned to line, they found Mike trying to make conversation with some random Phantom Planet fans. (If those girls are reading this now, sorry about Mike. He’s a total dork, but super cool anyway.) When Slim’s opened the ticket window, the girls got their tickets and moved to the other line.
     Finally, all fans were let in. Alysia, Diana, and Janelle sought out the best place to watch Phantom planet, which happened to be right up against the stage, below Alex’s microphone. Meanwhile, Mike sat down on the floor by a post and read a book. While waiting patiently for the show to start, the girls laughed hysterically at stupid stuff that only they could ever find funny. Soon after, Phantom Planet took the stage. That was when the girls fell asleep. The end. Just kidding. Phantom Planet broke right into “Lonely Day.” Janelle and Diana were mesmerized by Alex’s foot motions, which Janelle describes as those of a “shy schoolboy.” Sadly, Alysia’s view was impaired by a speaker as well as her incredible vertical challenged-ness. (She’s barely 5’3” while Diana and Janelle are both about 5’7”.) Anyway, Phantom Planet continued their set with “Recently Distressed,” “Shadows,” “California,” “Can’t Take It,” “Wishing Well,” and “Nobody’s Fault,” Alex and Jacques had the following conversation as a lead in to “Nobody’s Fault:”
Alex: “Jacques, ask me how I am.”
Jacques: “Alex, how are you?”
Alex: “Ask me again.”
Jacques: “Alex, how is everything?”
Alex (begins singing): “Everything is okay, everything is fine.”      It was incredibly amusing. While Alex and Jacques did most of the talking during the show, Darren, Sam, and Jason were entirely focused on the music. Phantom Planet’s set concluded with “All Over Again” in which Alex got down and dirty with the floor. (You had to be there.)
     It was the best performance any of the girls had ever seen. Alysia enjoyed it much more than her other Phantom Planet experience in Modesto for many reasons. First, there weren’t screaming teenyboppers harassing Jason for his drumsticks. You could actually hear the music, without dozens of screamers. Also, we got front row spots without being pushed out of the way by those same teenyboppers. Finally, it was not over a hundred degrees and we did not get at all sunburned.
     After the band walked offstage, the girls foolishly went back to sit at the bar and soothe their aching eardrums. Sadly, once they had given up their front-row-center places, Jason generously threw numerous drumsticks to loyal fans. Unfortunately, the girls didn’t get one, even though they were there. Darn those eardrums! The girls, half-deaf, drank their non-alcoholic beverages and screamed to each other to communicate because only Janelle knows sign language.
     While wandering around the club afterwards, the girls ran into Sam, who kindly posed in a picture with them. Alysia blurted out something along the lines of “We love you so much!” and Sam replied, “You kidding? We love you guys!” (Yay, Sam loves us!) Then Janelle and Diana had a DEEP conversation over whether Sam’s hair was “gorgeous” or “tight.” (For the record, “tight” won.)
     The whole time, Mike stood with earplugs in blissfully thinking about copyright law while drinking a beer. The girls stuck around for the other performers, Minibar and Matthew Sweet. It was quite amusing how all three played songs about California. Matthew Sweet even pointed it out. By the way, Mike says that Phantom Planet’s was by far the best. The girls can’t help but agree, but they aren’t as unbiased as Mike.
     When the night came to a close, Alysia, Diana, and Janelle gathered their belongings and left.
     Phantom Planet rocks! (Yeah, not the best ending, but Diana and Alysia have used up all of their writing skills for the day.)