JP
I saw Jackopierce in concert Thursday night. I absolutely love their music (they are among my top three bands which also include REM and Toad The Wet Sprocket).
Jackopierce is a duo made up of members Cary Pierce and Jack O'Neill. The name of their band is taken from the first part of Jack's name and Cary's last name. They formed in college while attending SMU in Dallas in the late eighties. Some of my friends introduced me (or tried to) to their music in the mid nineties but didn't give them a good listen until summer of 1998 which was 6 months after they had broken up. I bought a compilation CD titled "Decade" and listened to it on the way to San Antonio for one of my Air Force flight physicals.
Anyway, they broke up and the members didn't even talk for 5 years then they reunited and did some touring. I was totally unaware that they were performing in recent years. I'm not a big concert goer and only in recent years did I make an effort to find out if and when REM Toad or JP were playing.
I may have written about my first JP concert which was in May of this year. In case I didn't, it was a concert on a private ranch in the hill country just outside of Austin. JP referred to it as a 'destination' show. Basically they sold 200 tickets for $100 a piece. Ticket holders could arrive late afternoon and have a sit down catered dinner; Jack and Cary mixed with the fans and posed for many a picture and signed tons of autographs. For my first JP concert, it was really special. There weren't tons of people there and there wasn't any significant security. No barriers between the audience and the stage. No bouncers. No rent a cops or that sort of thing. Just a great relaxed intimate show with other Jackopierce fans.
The band also had the concert recorded (only audio) and gave the attendees a link to download the show. They had some party favors and stuff like that. Totally worth it.
In fact, here is a video I found which is a trailer of this 'destination show:
I follow the bands' happenings on Facebook and subscribe to their email list. I was excited when I found out they were having two back to back shows this past Thursday night. I bought tickets to both the late and early show. Remember how I showed up at the Toad The Wet Sprocket concert 4 hours early and ended up meeting the band beforehand? I attempted the same thing at this show.
The first show started at 7pm and doors opened at 6pm. This meant that I arrived no later than 4pm :D. After a few minutes of sitting alone on the steps of the venue. Cary walked out briefly and I got up and reintroduced myself (as "Hager"). I usually go by Greg but many of my long time friend nicknamed me Hager years ago. I've yet to meet another person who goes by this nickname, but sometimes I'll introduce myself as Hager partly in hopes that they'll be more apt to remember me.
Anyway, at many of the events, JP will ask fans if anyone wants to volunteer to work at the merchandise table in exchange for a free concert ticket. A good friend of mine Tonia volunteered. She was supposed to be there at 5pm but got caught up in some horrible traffic and was a few minutes late. Long story short, Cary invited me to come in and hang out and asked if I could start setting up the merch' table until Tonia and the volunteer got there. So I did. We talked for a few minutes and got acquainted with one another.
So I got to hang out and visit with the band members before the show so I was stoked to say the least. It was a small venue. I estimated that the room was 60 x 60 feet and had about 200 folding chairs set up. I put my jacket down on a seat near the center aisle on the front row. As people trickled in after the doors opened, I'd periodically check to see if anyone had taken my seat. :)
I borrowed my dad's camera and took several pictures at the show; most of them came out really well. The concert was good but the guys were a little tired and it showed. They've been on the road a lot the past week or so. They had been in San Francisco just a couple of nights earlier.
So after the first show, I got toniakay to take a picture of me, Jack and Cary and it turned out pretty well.
Here it is:
And a couple more during their set:
I chatted some more with Jack O'Neill and we seemed to click some. Eventually the crowd from the first show left and people for the second show started trickling in. I asked Jack if they'd play a song called "I'm Not Ready", which I think is an outstanding song, but he didn't even remember it! But it was from one of their first records and they hadn't played it live as a duo in probably 15 years. Nevertheless, he went backstage to talk to Cary about playing it but during the 2nd show they didn't. But that's okay. In May I shouted out a request during the show and they did play that one.
I hung around after the second show while the rest of the fans eventually left and visited with Tonia until she finished everything up pertaining to the merch' booth. About this time, Jack stopped me and asked if (we) wanted to come to their hotel's bar and hang our for an hour or so. Tonia needed to go home but I figured what the heck. It was close to 1am already but how often you do get to hang out with a member of your favorite band?
I found the hotel but they wanted about $15 bucks to park so I drove to a public parking space a block down, just praying it wouldn't get towed away. When I got to the hotel the front desk clerk informed me that the bar had already closed., But a friend of Jack's was trying to track him down and we quickly realized that we were looking for the same people. He texted Jack a couple of times and we finally found him a block away at a different bar.
So I hung out with Jack and 4 of his friends for about 45 minutes then decided I needed to head home since I had to be at work in just a few hours.
All in all, it was a fun evening and it turned out even better than expected.
Jackopierce is a duo made up of members Cary Pierce and Jack O'Neill. The name of their band is taken from the first part of Jack's name and Cary's last name. They formed in college while attending SMU in Dallas in the late eighties. Some of my friends introduced me (or tried to) to their music in the mid nineties but didn't give them a good listen until summer of 1998 which was 6 months after they had broken up. I bought a compilation CD titled "Decade" and listened to it on the way to San Antonio for one of my Air Force flight physicals.
Anyway, they broke up and the members didn't even talk for 5 years then they reunited and did some touring. I was totally unaware that they were performing in recent years. I'm not a big concert goer and only in recent years did I make an effort to find out if and when REM Toad or JP were playing.
I may have written about my first JP concert which was in May of this year. In case I didn't, it was a concert on a private ranch in the hill country just outside of Austin. JP referred to it as a 'destination' show. Basically they sold 200 tickets for $100 a piece. Ticket holders could arrive late afternoon and have a sit down catered dinner; Jack and Cary mixed with the fans and posed for many a picture and signed tons of autographs. For my first JP concert, it was really special. There weren't tons of people there and there wasn't any significant security. No barriers between the audience and the stage. No bouncers. No rent a cops or that sort of thing. Just a great relaxed intimate show with other Jackopierce fans.
The band also had the concert recorded (only audio) and gave the attendees a link to download the show. They had some party favors and stuff like that. Totally worth it.
In fact, here is a video I found which is a trailer of this 'destination show:
Click to viewI follow the bands' happenings on Facebook and subscribe to their email list. I was excited when I found out they were having two back to back shows this past Thursday night. I bought tickets to both the late and early show. Remember how I showed up at the Toad The Wet Sprocket concert 4 hours early and ended up meeting the band beforehand? I attempted the same thing at this show.
The first show started at 7pm and doors opened at 6pm. This meant that I arrived no later than 4pm :D. After a few minutes of sitting alone on the steps of the venue. Cary walked out briefly and I got up and reintroduced myself (as "Hager"). I usually go by Greg but many of my long time friend nicknamed me Hager years ago. I've yet to meet another person who goes by this nickname, but sometimes I'll introduce myself as Hager partly in hopes that they'll be more apt to remember me.
Anyway, at many of the events, JP will ask fans if anyone wants to volunteer to work at the merchandise table in exchange for a free concert ticket. A good friend of mine Tonia volunteered. She was supposed to be there at 5pm but got caught up in some horrible traffic and was a few minutes late. Long story short, Cary invited me to come in and hang out and asked if I could start setting up the merch' table until Tonia and the volunteer got there. So I did. We talked for a few minutes and got acquainted with one another.
So I got to hang out and visit with the band members before the show so I was stoked to say the least. It was a small venue. I estimated that the room was 60 x 60 feet and had about 200 folding chairs set up. I put my jacket down on a seat near the center aisle on the front row. As people trickled in after the doors opened, I'd periodically check to see if anyone had taken my seat. :)
I borrowed my dad's camera and took several pictures at the show; most of them came out really well. The concert was good but the guys were a little tired and it showed. They've been on the road a lot the past week or so. They had been in San Francisco just a couple of nights earlier.
So after the first show, I got toniakay to take a picture of me, Jack and Cary and it turned out pretty well.
Here it is:
And a couple more during their set:
I chatted some more with Jack O'Neill and we seemed to click some. Eventually the crowd from the first show left and people for the second show started trickling in. I asked Jack if they'd play a song called "I'm Not Ready", which I think is an outstanding song, but he didn't even remember it! But it was from one of their first records and they hadn't played it live as a duo in probably 15 years. Nevertheless, he went backstage to talk to Cary about playing it but during the 2nd show they didn't. But that's okay. In May I shouted out a request during the show and they did play that one.
I hung around after the second show while the rest of the fans eventually left and visited with Tonia until she finished everything up pertaining to the merch' booth. About this time, Jack stopped me and asked if (we) wanted to come to their hotel's bar and hang our for an hour or so. Tonia needed to go home but I figured what the heck. It was close to 1am already but how often you do get to hang out with a member of your favorite band?
I found the hotel but they wanted about $15 bucks to park so I drove to a public parking space a block down, just praying it wouldn't get towed away. When I got to the hotel the front desk clerk informed me that the bar had already closed., But a friend of Jack's was trying to track him down and we quickly realized that we were looking for the same people. He texted Jack a couple of times and we finally found him a block away at a different bar.
So I hung out with Jack and 4 of his friends for about 45 minutes then decided I needed to head home since I had to be at work in just a few hours.
All in all, it was a fun evening and it turned out even better than expected.