Tegan and Sara!
Last Wednesday night, I went to a Tegan and Sara concert and it was AWESOME.
Now, that awesomeness was not a foregone conclusion. See, when it comes to concerts, I frequently turn into a grumpy old man. The music is too loud. My knees and my back and my ankles hurt from standing so long. I can't understand the lyrics. Everyone is shoving me. I'm tired and I have to get up for work tomorrow. I'm thirsty. My knees hurt. Why couldn't I have just stayed home and listened to the damn CD??
I was also a little nervous because my concert "date" for the evening was Ashley. Since we broke up in November, we've been doing a pretty good job building a friendship, but it's shaky sometimes, and this would be our first time hanging out in person since the break-up.
But let's be honest - it was Tegan and Sara. It was destined to be awesome.
The concert was held in Warner Theatre, a gorgeous traditional theatre with opulent gold and red wall hangings and a massive chandelier and a grand processional staircase with an enormous mirror - and SEATS! No shoving people, no standing and waiting so you don't give up the sliver of a view of the stage you have! SEATS! Sure, ours were so far back in the balcony that we could touch the ceiling, but I could still see the whole stage from them!
Ashley and I spent the first band's set and most of the second's leaning over the railing of the second floor, looking down over the entry way and checking out girls. We joked and teased each other and agreed that neither of us are into the majority of the Tegan and Sara crowd (not enough athletes), and everything was comfortable and fun and completely unawkward.
The concert itself, as I might have mentioned, was awesome. I love Tegan and Sara's music enough recorded, but live their songs had so much more depth and emotion. They had a lot of great banter between songs - Tegan confessed that a few flashers at a recent show had left her scarred; Sara joked about her visit to the White House and how far away it was; Tegan repeatedly teased the audience by considering removing her cardigan but never doing so.
They started off with a bunch of stuff from their new album, Sainthood, which I hadn't bought yet and so didn't know but liked, especially Arrow. Eventually they moved into what was (for me, at least) more familiar territory - they played Walking With a Ghost, Monday Monday Monday, Where Does the Good Go, Speak Slow, I Bet It Stung, So Jealous, Nineteen, The Con, and You Wouldn't Like Me. My favorite song of the evening, however, was the first song of the encore: while everyone was applauding, the techs ran out on stage and set up a xylophone, and when Tegan and Sara reappeared they came without the band to play a stripped down, achingly raw version of "Back In Your Head."
They played a few more encore songs - something called "Feel It In My Bones" that I hadn't heard, Living Room, Call It Off (during which some audience member yelled some suggestive comment and Sara responded by overemphasizing "We'll never know!"), and My Number. I was hitting my old man bedtime, however, so Ashley and I left for the metro before the end of the last song. But not before I bought myself a copy of Sainthood.
Overall: definitely a good night.
Now, that awesomeness was not a foregone conclusion. See, when it comes to concerts, I frequently turn into a grumpy old man. The music is too loud. My knees and my back and my ankles hurt from standing so long. I can't understand the lyrics. Everyone is shoving me. I'm tired and I have to get up for work tomorrow. I'm thirsty. My knees hurt. Why couldn't I have just stayed home and listened to the damn CD??
I was also a little nervous because my concert "date" for the evening was Ashley. Since we broke up in November, we've been doing a pretty good job building a friendship, but it's shaky sometimes, and this would be our first time hanging out in person since the break-up.
But let's be honest - it was Tegan and Sara. It was destined to be awesome.
The concert was held in Warner Theatre, a gorgeous traditional theatre with opulent gold and red wall hangings and a massive chandelier and a grand processional staircase with an enormous mirror - and SEATS! No shoving people, no standing and waiting so you don't give up the sliver of a view of the stage you have! SEATS! Sure, ours were so far back in the balcony that we could touch the ceiling, but I could still see the whole stage from them!
Ashley and I spent the first band's set and most of the second's leaning over the railing of the second floor, looking down over the entry way and checking out girls. We joked and teased each other and agreed that neither of us are into the majority of the Tegan and Sara crowd (not enough athletes), and everything was comfortable and fun and completely unawkward.
The concert itself, as I might have mentioned, was awesome. I love Tegan and Sara's music enough recorded, but live their songs had so much more depth and emotion. They had a lot of great banter between songs - Tegan confessed that a few flashers at a recent show had left her scarred; Sara joked about her visit to the White House and how far away it was; Tegan repeatedly teased the audience by considering removing her cardigan but never doing so.
They started off with a bunch of stuff from their new album, Sainthood, which I hadn't bought yet and so didn't know but liked, especially Arrow. Eventually they moved into what was (for me, at least) more familiar territory - they played Walking With a Ghost, Monday Monday Monday, Where Does the Good Go, Speak Slow, I Bet It Stung, So Jealous, Nineteen, The Con, and You Wouldn't Like Me. My favorite song of the evening, however, was the first song of the encore: while everyone was applauding, the techs ran out on stage and set up a xylophone, and when Tegan and Sara reappeared they came without the band to play a stripped down, achingly raw version of "Back In Your Head."
They played a few more encore songs - something called "Feel It In My Bones" that I hadn't heard, Living Room, Call It Off (during which some audience member yelled some suggestive comment and Sara responded by overemphasizing "We'll never know!"), and My Number. I was hitting my old man bedtime, however, so Ashley and I left for the metro before the end of the last song. But not before I bought myself a copy of Sainthood.
Overall: definitely a good night.