By AMANDA MEADE

Scene/Mix Editor

Four concert tickets: $190

Restaurant/bar tab: $160

T-shirt: $35

Getting yelled at for enjoying our favorite band: not worth it.

I’ve been a fan of Coheed and Cambria for well over six years. This says a lot for someone like me, who grew up liking a different band every other week. When I found out they would be performing at the Palace of Auburn Hills with Slipknot and Trivium, I got excited for about two seconds until I realized how much money it was going to cost. Fortunately, my mom sprang for our tickets at the last minute.

As we arrived on our school bus shuttle from the Post Bar to the Palace, I walked in and immediately got patted down and had my purse checked. This is routine for the Palace of Auburn Hills, and I had expected it.

I’m not the type to start trouble or bring bombs into arenas full of people, so I didn’t mind. That was until the usher asked me to take out my favorite hair brush and told me that I’d have to get rid of it, for it was considered a “projectile.” I then threw it in to the large bucket of confiscated materials from other concertgoers, as a way of demonstrating the brush’s projectile ways.

As I walked away, I started to doubt the brush’s actual flying capabilities, and how bad it could really hurt its target. I then decided that if I felt the need to throw objects through the crowd, I’d just take off my shoes and “project” them instead.

I do consider myself a music snob, and I fully embrace the title. But, I’m more than open to a plethora of different music genres, and while I’m not the biggest Slipknot fan, I was excited to get to see them.

I was under the impression that Coheed and Cambria would be co-headlining the show, since I thought they were just as popular as Slipknot.

But, I was wrong. My number two favorite band only played five songs. The lights of the venue came on before I had a chance to figure out what was going on.

When Coheed and Cambria hit the stage, the three other people in my group and I stood up, since that’s usually what you do at a concert when you want to enjoy yourself. At least at the concerts that I attend — if you want to sit down, go to a movie.

Five minutes into the set, I saw a scantily-clad girl, dressed to let everyone know she was a Slipknot fan, grab my 6-foot-5-inch tall boyfriend by his shoulders. She told him, “Hey, we didn’t pay money to see your back, no one else is standing up, so sit the [expletive] down!”

As far as I’m concerned, that girl should consider herself lucky that my hair brush had been taken away. We continued to enjoy ourselves to the best of our ability, yet it did put a damper on the event.

By the end of the set she was booing the band off the stage. I found this ironic because earlier she threw a fit when she couldn’t see the band, and also because we were definitely not within earshot of the guys on stage.

I found it quite disheartening that people from different musical backgrounds feel the need to judge or even get mad at others for liking a certain band or kind of music. Whatever happened to people getting along at concerts?

The night wasn’t completely lacking, and the highlight was meeting local celebrities Tony and Corrie Labrie. Avid watchers of “Wife Swap” know who the couple is — Corrie was portrayed as a baby for crying a lot after being attacked by a country man, her daughter was the spoiled brat and her husband came out looking fantastic.

It just so happens that as several people were approaching Corrie saying “Oh my god, you were on ‘Wife Swap,'” I started talking to her because I’ve been a huge fan of her husband since my freshman year of high school when he was a rock radio station DJ in my hometown. I even started a petition to get Radio X back on the air after Flint’s Banana 101.5 bought them out.

Corrie then took me over to meet Tony, and we got our picture taken with him. She totally told me she was going to put it on their MySpace. I probably came off looking like a stalker, after confessing my love for him and repeating things he’d said on the air years ago. I couldn’t help but think about how my brush would have been the perfect object for Mr. Labrie to autograph.

Due to my terrible experience at the Palace, suffice it to say I probably won’t be returning anytime soon. I’m half tempted to make the venue pay me an $8 “convenience charge” for the perfectly good hair brush I was forced to throw away.