the hushies in philly!
Thanks to my poor planning and New Jersey traffic, we (me and Marigolde and morethanimagine and El) missed the meet and greet. Which maybe was okay. When we turn up, fifteen minutes before doors, they have lined up maybe two hundred excited teenagers in an alley three doors away. The alley is scary, so we go to dinner.
When we come back, the venue (which seats maybe 1500) is packed. Which I so didn't expect, but good on them. We missed This Is Me Smiling, but are just in time for This Providence, which are apparently very popular with the young people. They look like a cross between Goodbooks and TAI (which is a reference that possibly only El will get). I think I maybe never need to see TAI now because their lead singer is exactly what I think Beckett would be like.
During their fourth (or so) song, some dude rides across the stage on a scooter. It's kinda weird. Two minutes, Bob Morris rides across the stage. The hip girl in front us jumps out of her chair and loses her shit. It's pretty funny.
Apparently, TP always signs autographs after their set, so the girls at the balcony railing run off for face time and we steal their spots.
The girls of Oxford House are in love with Murder By Death. The lead singer has a voice in the basement and is drinking jim beam out of the bottle, the drummer smokes while setting up, and the girl who plays the cello plays with more intensity and energy than I have ever seen. (She's even more amazing on the keys.) The lead singer introduces them thusly, "if you don't know us, we sing about cowboys, fightin' the devil, drinking whiskey, ghosts. Basically everything kickass." I also want to point out that their drummer looks like Courtney Taylor-Taylor. I'm kind of exhausted by their set. I just keep zoning out, getting lost. I have got to get their album.
I don't think the Hush Sound has a guitar rack. Because all of their guitars are piled in a corner. Oh, wait, maybe those were This Providence's. All the techs look younger than me. We may be the oldest non-parents here. The bars sure are empty. The number of cameraphones that start flashing when the THS sign comes down is insane. It is just a sign.
I still love Bob's stage outfits. Chris is, I think, getting taller. Chris and Darren look really good. Greta is, as always, totally adorable. She's wearing a salmon halter dress with a bow across the front and character shoes. However, I think Bob is perhaps trying to rock too hard.
Also, we are in front of drunk frat boys. How come I always end up in front of the drunk frat boys, even at shows where one would not expect drunk frat boys. Like this, or Basement Jaxx, or the Sounds. And at the end of Lighthouse, some really deep male voice screams for Greta. It must be kind of weird being her.
Also, I cannot get over how hot Chris and Darren look. It's insane. Srsly.
The end of Don't Wake Me Up is sung be Dan of This is Me Smiling. At the end, he attempts a stage dive and the teenage girls in the audience flee. It's a spectacular wipe out.
Momentum is the official song of the Bob girls. I didn't realize there were Bob girls before thi, but the sound of Bob singing the opening with 150 girls under 17 is terrifying. Also, that bunch is rowdy.
Ooh, they have a random local teenager to play the trumpet on Lions Roar. And darren is hitting the drums so fucking hard, as befits an fbr boy. Greta gives the girl a big hug at the end and it's very sweet. And some of the girls in the audience made Greta a present!
Adam, dressed like a cowboy, dances through the second half of Wine Red. He then makes us sing the theme from The Fresh Prince to earn our encore. I'm guessing it's Dress Like a Cowboy Day on tour, because when the whole crew comes out to dance, there's a lady in a leather hip holster. I usually don't see this kind of antics unless it's the last show of a tour.