won't you get some air in this room?
Remind me to wear shoes with arch supports next time I go to a concert. Ow. Damn flat feet.
Last night was great fun, in spite of the fact that it was just about a million degrees in the venue. I hung around with fuschia and omnia_mutantur, and we wandered in and out all night, since we were really only invested in seeing the Hushies. The place was packed with screaming teenagers (and younger; I swear there was a ten-year-old behind us in line).
We went up to the restaurant for dinner, and missed The Morning Light completely (which was no great loss, from what I hear). Steel Train was actually quite engaging; the song about touring was adorable, I must look into them further. After they wrapped up, I picked up a Dance Across the Country t-shirt (I love the design, and they actually had real-person sizes!), and then we wound up going outside and missing most of the Cab's set. They're fine, but I'm just not particularly interested. (Though I was mildly terrified to discover that I could list all their names, and a few random personal details; it's the power of fannish osmosis.)
sweetvalleyslut sent me a text from Georgia (you know, the country) yesterday to warn me not to get too close to them (she was one of the victims of the original "plague"), so maybe it was just as well. ;)
The Hushies were fantastic, of course. We--by which I mean a chunk of the ♥internet♥--were all standing crammed to the side of the 21+ platform, in the forward left corner of the venue. This afforded a very good view of Greta in profile, as she was closest to us. Darren was sadly blocked by an enormous speaker for most of the show, though he emerged at the end, so we didn't miss seeing him entirely.
They played just about everything I'd been hoping for, including "Love You Much Better," "Hurricane," and of course "The Boys Are Too Refined" (brb swooning). I can't get over how amazing Greta sounds these days . . . I love all the albums, but her voice has really matured, and the old songs are much improved just by that. She is also deeply fabulous on the tambourine (among other instruments). ;)
Bob and Chris both suddenly have actual facial hair . . . I've always been pretty neutral about Bob's appearance, but I'm slightly partial to Chris, and while the goatee is a bit silly, I think I might like it. Both of them were also wearing these long-sleeve white dress shirts, which were quickly soaked through (seriously, a million degrees); Bob said that we could probably see his nipples (which we could), and that they should have a wet t-shirt contest after the show. It'd be a bit "weird," though, he said; just guys. There was cheering, obviously.
I think some of the teenage girls in the pit were yelling that Greta was their hero, which was adorable. She was generally smiling and friendly and precious; both she and Bob kept responding with "I/we love you too!" Also, after they namechecked all the opening bands, someone yelled about the Hushies being the best, and Greta called back, "No you're the best!"
I could probably babble a whole lot more about how gorgeous Greta is, how sexy her playing is, her (friendly, relaxed, but sort of in charge) stage presence, how she dances with the guitar and plays to Bob and throws herself around when she gets to a really rocking bit on the keyboard. Shimmying around the stage with the tambourine (leaning down to the audience before wandering back towards Darren)! At one point, her mic fell down while she was playing, and she missed a line, but she was totally collected, just righted it and kept going. So precious!
At one point she called a guy up to the stage, where he proceeded to propose to his lady friend. It was cute, if somewhat hastily executed. I don't know where you get the idea that you should propose at a Hush Sound show, but it seems that you get their full support, a lot of cheering teenagers, and a hug from Greta afterwards, so that's not a bad deal. :)
During "Where We Went Wrong," the band split the audience into three groups for the "hey come back to me" bit: one to sing with Greta, one with Bob, and one to do the "ba ba da"s with Chris. We (and the whole over-21 section, I guess) wound up on the last bit. His expression singing that part was hilarious . . . huge deliberate open-mouthed grinning. I spent most of the concert paying attention to Greta (and Bob, during his frontman moments), but Chris was really distracting during that bit. His stupid FACE!
Towards the end of the set, they played two covers that just knocked me off my feet. The first one was "Back In The USSR," which was awesome (Bob really nailed it) and also randomly appropriate (Georgia's always on my mind these days, after all). I may have sent an international text message. Anyway. The second cover was "You Really Got A Hold On Me," which involved a three-way switch: Bob on keyboard, Greta on drums, and Darren came out front to play tambourine and sing with Chris. (Yay Darren, you do exist! So fresh-faced and boyish.) They are really kind of adorable, and there was so much eye contact through the choruses. ♥
They ended the show with "Honey," unsurprisingly. :D I was fading pretty fast by that point, and definitely looked as though I'd been swimming, so the evening ended in a blur of goodbyes and wandering away quick as I could to catch the train. I'm pretty sure I looked deeply ridiculous, wandering through Somerville at 11:30 all sweaty and danced-out, but dressed like a secretary (which I pretty much am, bleh).
Mid-week concerts are fun, but I'm glad I don't get to do them all that often; I am fairly well wrecked today. At least I can hear, anyway . . . thank you, book_of_calm, for the spare earplugs! I have never worn them at a concert before, but before you gave them to me, ow.
One thing that struck me through the whole show was just how incredibly happy the whole band seemed. They were just all smiles; Chris seemed positively gleeful (Darren too, when he was visible), Greta was just soaking up the crowd's energy, Bob was telling stories . . . it was delightful. :) I don't think I can afford to go see them in Hartford, but I am awfully tempted. (It was marvelous to see the internet there, as well. Equipped with paper fans, bless them . . . that pun was unintentional, really. But anyway, I kind of love this fandom.)
This workday needs to end so that I can go work on fanart. Instead, I'm putting out fires because everything random and bizarre happens when my boss is on vacation and unreachable. (Coworker sets up an appointment with some poor befuddled prospective student, calls in sick, and doesn't actually email me; the only member of our team left in the office today. AUGH.)
[ETA:] lordessrenegade has some great pictures from the show, and a clip of the Beatles cover up here. :D
Last night was great fun, in spite of the fact that it was just about a million degrees in the venue. I hung around with fuschia and omnia_mutantur, and we wandered in and out all night, since we were really only invested in seeing the Hushies. The place was packed with screaming teenagers (and younger; I swear there was a ten-year-old behind us in line).
We went up to the restaurant for dinner, and missed The Morning Light completely (which was no great loss, from what I hear). Steel Train was actually quite engaging; the song about touring was adorable, I must look into them further. After they wrapped up, I picked up a Dance Across the Country t-shirt (I love the design, and they actually had real-person sizes!), and then we wound up going outside and missing most of the Cab's set. They're fine, but I'm just not particularly interested. (Though I was mildly terrified to discover that I could list all their names, and a few random personal details; it's the power of fannish osmosis.)
sweetvalleyslut sent me a text from Georgia (you know, the country) yesterday to warn me not to get too close to them (she was one of the victims of the original "plague"), so maybe it was just as well. ;)
The Hushies were fantastic, of course. We--by which I mean a chunk of the ♥internet♥--were all standing crammed to the side of the 21+ platform, in the forward left corner of the venue. This afforded a very good view of Greta in profile, as she was closest to us. Darren was sadly blocked by an enormous speaker for most of the show, though he emerged at the end, so we didn't miss seeing him entirely.
They played just about everything I'd been hoping for, including "Love You Much Better," "Hurricane," and of course "The Boys Are Too Refined" (brb swooning). I can't get over how amazing Greta sounds these days . . . I love all the albums, but her voice has really matured, and the old songs are much improved just by that. She is also deeply fabulous on the tambourine (among other instruments). ;)
Bob and Chris both suddenly have actual facial hair . . . I've always been pretty neutral about Bob's appearance, but I'm slightly partial to Chris, and while the goatee is a bit silly, I think I might like it. Both of them were also wearing these long-sleeve white dress shirts, which were quickly soaked through (seriously, a million degrees); Bob said that we could probably see his nipples (which we could), and that they should have a wet t-shirt contest after the show. It'd be a bit "weird," though, he said; just guys. There was cheering, obviously.
I think some of the teenage girls in the pit were yelling that Greta was their hero, which was adorable. She was generally smiling and friendly and precious; both she and Bob kept responding with "I/we love you too!" Also, after they namechecked all the opening bands, someone yelled about the Hushies being the best, and Greta called back, "No you're the best!"
I could probably babble a whole lot more about how gorgeous Greta is, how sexy her playing is, her (friendly, relaxed, but sort of in charge) stage presence, how she dances with the guitar and plays to Bob and throws herself around when she gets to a really rocking bit on the keyboard. Shimmying around the stage with the tambourine (leaning down to the audience before wandering back towards Darren)! At one point, her mic fell down while she was playing, and she missed a line, but she was totally collected, just righted it and kept going. So precious!
At one point she called a guy up to the stage, where he proceeded to propose to his lady friend. It was cute, if somewhat hastily executed. I don't know where you get the idea that you should propose at a Hush Sound show, but it seems that you get their full support, a lot of cheering teenagers, and a hug from Greta afterwards, so that's not a bad deal. :)
During "Where We Went Wrong," the band split the audience into three groups for the "hey come back to me" bit: one to sing with Greta, one with Bob, and one to do the "ba ba da"s with Chris. We (and the whole over-21 section, I guess) wound up on the last bit. His expression singing that part was hilarious . . . huge deliberate open-mouthed grinning. I spent most of the concert paying attention to Greta (and Bob, during his frontman moments), but Chris was really distracting during that bit. His stupid FACE!
Towards the end of the set, they played two covers that just knocked me off my feet. The first one was "Back In The USSR," which was awesome (Bob really nailed it) and also randomly appropriate (Georgia's always on my mind these days, after all). I may have sent an international text message. Anyway. The second cover was "You Really Got A Hold On Me," which involved a three-way switch: Bob on keyboard, Greta on drums, and Darren came out front to play tambourine and sing with Chris. (Yay Darren, you do exist! So fresh-faced and boyish.) They are really kind of adorable, and there was so much eye contact through the choruses. ♥
They ended the show with "Honey," unsurprisingly. :D I was fading pretty fast by that point, and definitely looked as though I'd been swimming, so the evening ended in a blur of goodbyes and wandering away quick as I could to catch the train. I'm pretty sure I looked deeply ridiculous, wandering through Somerville at 11:30 all sweaty and danced-out, but dressed like a secretary (which I pretty much am, bleh).
Mid-week concerts are fun, but I'm glad I don't get to do them all that often; I am fairly well wrecked today. At least I can hear, anyway . . . thank you, book_of_calm, for the spare earplugs! I have never worn them at a concert before, but before you gave them to me, ow.
One thing that struck me through the whole show was just how incredibly happy the whole band seemed. They were just all smiles; Chris seemed positively gleeful (Darren too, when he was visible), Greta was just soaking up the crowd's energy, Bob was telling stories . . . it was delightful. :) I don't think I can afford to go see them in Hartford, but I am awfully tempted. (It was marvelous to see the internet there, as well. Equipped with paper fans, bless them . . . that pun was unintentional, really. But anyway, I kind of love this fandom.)
This workday needs to end so that I can go work on fanart. Instead, I'm putting out fires because everything random and bizarre happens when my boss is on vacation and unreachable. (Coworker sets up an appointment with some poor befuddled prospective student, calls in sick, and doesn't actually email me; the only member of our team left in the office today. AUGH.)
[ETA:] lordessrenegade has some great pictures from the show, and a clip of the Beatles cover up here. :D