Music overload
I decided last night on the way home that "music overload" was what I was feeling. Have you ever wanted to listen to two different bands at the same time and wished that you could channel one ear for one and one ear for the other? Yeah, that's me right now after the Sister Hazel concert.
Wow. Yeah, again, another wow concert. This was my first time ever seeing Sister Hazel, and I am so impressed. Since they've been playing for so long, I don't know why I was so surprised at how polished and professional they are. But they're still casual and fun, talking to the audience and making jokes and laughing and genuinely looking like they were having a great time. I just wish Nean and I hadn't been so tired - if we hadn't stood for so many hours the night before, I would've been down on the floor, standing up and having fun. As it was, we were very happy to have good seats where we could see pretty well except when the idiots in front of us stood up. :)
The line wasn't bad when I got there, and there was a wall to sit on. Ahhhh. :) I wore my Toad shirt, so met two other women who were Toad fans and had been to the show in May, and a younger girl who liked them. Later we met two other girls who liked Toad, as well as the merch guy, so it was a good shirt choice.
The opening act was Sara Kelly, who was good and had a pretty voice, but it was just her and her guitar, and no one seemed to be paying much attention though they'd clap when she was done. I told Nean that it would be nice to have a buzz-button like on America's Got Talent to buzz her off when we'd had enough. Mean, but I was tired and was impatient for Sister Hazel.
I wasn't impatient with the second act, though. Golden, a band out of Atlanta, was terrific. Really talented, good songs, energetic, and they looked like they were having fun. The lead singer kinda reminded me of Matt Nathanson because he smiled while singing and moved around a lot. But their sound reminded me a little bit of Mutemath. I'm going to look them up on iTunes and see how their studio stuff sounds, but Nean and I both liked them. www.goldentheband.com
And finally...Sister Hazel....just fantastic. They did something I've never seen before that was interesting...their road crew put up cardboard pictures of each one where they would be when they came out. Not sure why they do it, but it was unique so I took a picture of it:
They did some songs from their new album (which is good, by the way), and Ken joked that since the new album had been #1 on iTunes most of the week, that meant that they were better than anyone else in the world. It was SO cute. I liked how relaxed they were with talking to the audience and each other...they definitely looked like they were having fun. But they also looked like they knew what they were doing, which shouldn't be unusual with an older band, but I've always thought of them as a casual, laid-back band, but they were almost slick, they were so polished...not slick enough to turn me off, just prepared and practiced and always together.
I managed to keep track of the setlist since I knew I had a few Sister Hazel fans here and I was sitting down:
Shame
Change Your Mind
Take a Bow (new album)
Come Around
Your Winter
Happy
Release (new album)
This Kind of Love (This is my favorite song of theirs and didn't expect to hear it so was overjoyed when they did it.)
Ghost in the Crowd (new album)
It's a Beautiful Thing
Better Way (new album)
All for You
Walls and Cannonballs (new album)
Swan Dive
Encore:
Champagne High (Probably my second-fave song..the harmonies on this are gorgeous)
Mandolin Moon (again with the exquisite harmonies)
And that's what I wanted Nean to hear...the harmonies. I knew I was right to go to this when I saw them set up four mics. The only one who doesn't sing is the drummer, though Drew is the main harmony guy and actually sings "This Kind of Love" and, I realized on the way home last night, "One Life" from the new album. His voice is beautiful and it's a perfect matchup for Ken's.
I understand that they also meet fans after the show, but we were both tired so didn't try. I told Nean we need to go see them again when we aren't exhausted from a concert the night before, and I would very much like to do that. I'm so glad I got to see them.
Photos...I wish I'd taken my Canon with the zoom because they didn't check purses. These aren't great, but they're all I've got.
The only "closeup" (ha!) I got...this is Ken of the Awesomely Unique Voice:
And the other too-dark, too-far pics (I've got more, but it's basically the same thing and there's none that are any better):
Wow. Yeah, again, another wow concert. This was my first time ever seeing Sister Hazel, and I am so impressed. Since they've been playing for so long, I don't know why I was so surprised at how polished and professional they are. But they're still casual and fun, talking to the audience and making jokes and laughing and genuinely looking like they were having a great time. I just wish Nean and I hadn't been so tired - if we hadn't stood for so many hours the night before, I would've been down on the floor, standing up and having fun. As it was, we were very happy to have good seats where we could see pretty well except when the idiots in front of us stood up. :)
The line wasn't bad when I got there, and there was a wall to sit on. Ahhhh. :) I wore my Toad shirt, so met two other women who were Toad fans and had been to the show in May, and a younger girl who liked them. Later we met two other girls who liked Toad, as well as the merch guy, so it was a good shirt choice.
The opening act was Sara Kelly, who was good and had a pretty voice, but it was just her and her guitar, and no one seemed to be paying much attention though they'd clap when she was done. I told Nean that it would be nice to have a buzz-button like on America's Got Talent to buzz her off when we'd had enough. Mean, but I was tired and was impatient for Sister Hazel.
I wasn't impatient with the second act, though. Golden, a band out of Atlanta, was terrific. Really talented, good songs, energetic, and they looked like they were having fun. The lead singer kinda reminded me of Matt Nathanson because he smiled while singing and moved around a lot. But their sound reminded me a little bit of Mutemath. I'm going to look them up on iTunes and see how their studio stuff sounds, but Nean and I both liked them. www.goldentheband.com
And finally...Sister Hazel....just fantastic. They did something I've never seen before that was interesting...their road crew put up cardboard pictures of each one where they would be when they came out. Not sure why they do it, but it was unique so I took a picture of it:
They did some songs from their new album (which is good, by the way), and Ken joked that since the new album had been #1 on iTunes most of the week, that meant that they were better than anyone else in the world. It was SO cute. I liked how relaxed they were with talking to the audience and each other...they definitely looked like they were having fun. But they also looked like they knew what they were doing, which shouldn't be unusual with an older band, but I've always thought of them as a casual, laid-back band, but they were almost slick, they were so polished...not slick enough to turn me off, just prepared and practiced and always together.
I managed to keep track of the setlist since I knew I had a few Sister Hazel fans here and I was sitting down:
Shame
Change Your Mind
Take a Bow (new album)
Come Around
Your Winter
Happy
Release (new album)
This Kind of Love (This is my favorite song of theirs and didn't expect to hear it so was overjoyed when they did it.)
Ghost in the Crowd (new album)
It's a Beautiful Thing
Better Way (new album)
All for You
Walls and Cannonballs (new album)
Swan Dive
Encore:
Champagne High (Probably my second-fave song..the harmonies on this are gorgeous)
Mandolin Moon (again with the exquisite harmonies)
And that's what I wanted Nean to hear...the harmonies. I knew I was right to go to this when I saw them set up four mics. The only one who doesn't sing is the drummer, though Drew is the main harmony guy and actually sings "This Kind of Love" and, I realized on the way home last night, "One Life" from the new album. His voice is beautiful and it's a perfect matchup for Ken's.
I understand that they also meet fans after the show, but we were both tired so didn't try. I told Nean we need to go see them again when we aren't exhausted from a concert the night before, and I would very much like to do that. I'm so glad I got to see them.
Photos...I wish I'd taken my Canon with the zoom because they didn't check purses. These aren't great, but they're all I've got.
The only "closeup" (ha!) I got...this is Ken of the Awesomely Unique Voice:
And the other too-dark, too-far pics (I've got more, but it's basically the same thing and there's none that are any better):