July 2010 – Concert Katie

Trading Lilith Fair for Maroon 5.

Katie July 30, 2010 0 Comments

There was really only one artist I was interested in seeing for Lilith Fair – and that was Selena Gomez.

Meanwhile, it was announced that Maroon 5 would be performing at the Mohegan Sun arena the same night. At first I was considering going to Lilith and then heading over to the casino (it is about an hour away) if enough time would allow to catch Maroon 5 as well.

Selena has come down with some throat problems – she is not even allowed to TALK let alone sing. With this announcement I decided to forgo my plans to check out Lilith. (I am sure there are still some great performers but for whatever reason I am always more drawn to bands with boys in them….)

Today Maroon 5’s twitter was doing ticket giveaways and you had to RT a message to win tickets. I RTed on 2 of my public accounts and actually ended up winning tickets on both accounts! (I only claimed them on one though, since obviously I don’t need two sets – I am only one person!)

I am quite excited I was able to trade a free show for a free show since I was trying to go to more free shows than paid shows this year and with the 3 paid for Hanson shows in a row that kind of threw everything off a bit!

I haven’t seen Maroon 5 in quite a few years (I don’t think I saw them since before their 2nd album has dropped) so I am really looking forward to it – plus I never cashed in my ticket after the Idol concert so I have $14.25 to play in the slots! haha

Music

Josh Gracin EP! FREE!

Katie July 29, 2010 0 Comments

Josh Gracin has recently released his “Fan Appreciation EP”. Josh was one of the contestants on Season 2 of American Idol and is one of my all time favorites. He is coming to the casino at the end of next month so I have my fingers crossed I can make it there to see him! (and perhaps meet him again)

If you would like to download his new EP, check out the widget below! All you need to do is submit your email. You’ll get an email confirming you want the download and will get subscribed to his email list. Then just download the zip file and enjoy!

Mine is downloading right now, but I know I will love it 🙂

Concert Hanson

Hanson Sayreville, NJ 7/27/10

Katie July 29, 2010 0 Comments

Hanson took their tour to Sayreville, NJ once again, this time on their Shout It Out tour. This show was considered a “Shout It Out Tour” show while the two in MA were not. I’m really not sure why, except for the fact that they did not have a local opener contest because the MA venues had a 10:30pm curfew and the show would have gone too long otherwise.

It took me about 3 hours to get to NJ when it should have taken two. As usual, massive amounts of traffic at the George Washington Bridge. (One time it took me *7* hours to get to Sayreville, so, yeah. I was expecting traffic lol) As I arrived it was just about time for doors and I saw my friend Lisa so we all went to find security to be let in early and get a seat.

We were let in a side door and it was SO DARK inside! I was tripping down stairs because I couldn’t see them on my way to the seat. It would have made sense to let those with disabilities able to SEE their way to the seats.. but oh well. We grabbed seats near Taylors piano and began to wait for show time.

The ourstage contest winner (who I was hoping would win) Brightside Drive, took the stage a little after 7 and played about 5 songs. They were young, but their songs were good and I enjoyed them. I was a bit worried at first that after all my hoping they would win they wouldn’t deliver, but they did 🙂

Next up was A Rocket To The Moon. I wasn’t familiar with any of their stuff, but a few of my friends like them and I liked their set. I managed to get the names of almost all the songs they sang, with the exception of the last song so I have that listed under the cut if anyone is interested. I think it was about their last song that the girl next to me started getting on my nerves. We were in a row of chairs and somehow a space opened up between me and the girl who was next to me. Then, this other girl made her way into the space even though there wasn’t really room for her… and well it really angered me and made it hard for me to get into the show.

Hanson came out really late. Like, really late, even for them. I think they started at quarter to 10. Doors opened at 6:30. So.. yeah. It seemed to take forever and a day for the setlists to come out as well. Once again they started with the medley – I thought this was just special for the curfew shows in MA, but it looks like it is something that has stuck for the tour.

I really wasn’t enjoying myself because of the girl next to me. She was all up in my space which I know should be expected for a GA show – but we were in the section where they put those who were disabled. A little breathing room is usually expected in that section. (Not to mention I was very wiggly because the chair was high so my feet kept falling asleep – and couldn’t really wiggle because this girl was practically on my lap) Eventually I decided that it wasn’t right to let this girl ruin my fun and I was just going to have to suck it up. (Plus, Taylor was giving me dirty looks for not clapping and enjoying myself!)

The setlist seemed pretty similar to the weekend shows until we hit the acoustic breakdown of the show. They started with Georgia. Which is not one of my favorites but I think it was karma because I have been talking so much crap about Georgia and the Braves lately! Then they went back to 1997 and played I Will Come To You. Then Zac did a solo of Use Me Up, which he hadn’t done in MA but had done on the fall tour so it really wasn’t all that out of place for him. He had taken his shirt off while drumming (he had a button down on over a tshirt) and then put it back on before the acoustic set. Before starting Use Me Up, he took it off and put it on again – commenting that it had been on inside out!

Zac then called for Taylor to come out on stage – Taylor sat at the piano, which again is not all that rare for him but then he started playing NEVER LET GO which is an incredibly rare and essentially unreleased track (I think it was on a fan club membership kit) that I had been lucky enough to have heard live 2 other times, but this song is hardly ever played.

Once Taylor was done he called Isaac out and Isaac ALSO went to the piano! Isaac then went all the way back to before they were famous and did a song off of their first indie release from like 1995, which had previously only been done in 1998 and I really can not recall him ever doing it aside from on the Albertane Tour. He sang “more than anything” and then we were all just like – WOW. never let go and more than anything back to back? How did we get to be so lucky!?

Then they went back to electric and played a cover – and not only was it a cover it was something I had never heard them do live before (hooray!) in “Hold On, I’m Coming” I spazzed out so much I think I momentarily broke my phone and ended up trying to fix it during the next 2 songs Wheres The Love and Penny & Me. The rest of the regular show didn’t have too many more surprises, but they did do Get Up And Go which they don’t play that often. (I think doing 5 of 5 made them realize the songs they don’t play all that often because a lot of them are getting added into the set)

For the encore – we got Zac’s rendition of Oh Darlin (yay!) as well as Its A Long Way To The Top If You Want To Rock N Roll. This one they did a lot a few years back, but not so much recently, so it was a nice way to end the show!

I ended up leaving the venue around midnight, stopping at a rest stop to get some food and water so I could stay awake and then proceeded to sit ON the GWB for about an hour bouncing around because of construction. I finally made it home at 3:30 AM which was CRAZY. Luckily I was able to sleep relatively late! A couple of times I was wondering why I was going to the show (even about to get off the exit to go to Queens and go to the Mets game instead) but I am glad I did end up going because it was what could end up being the best setlist – EVER. It was definitely more of a show #50 setlist than a #49… and no way is #50 going to live up to it (since as of right now it is going to be a radio show), but that’s ok!

A Rocket To The Moon setlist:
Give a Damn
American Girl (cover)
If Only They Knew
On Your Side
Shes Killing Me
Baby Blue Eyes
Dakota
Mr Right
?

Hanson setlist:

1 Waiting for This / Watch Over Me / Rock N Roll Razorblade / In The City Medley
2 Make It Out Alive
3 Thinking Of You
4 And I Waited
5 Minute Without You
6 Kiss Me When You Come Home
7 Thinking Bout Somethin
Acoustic
8 Georgia
9 I Will Come To You
10 Use Me Up (Zac Solo)
11 Never Let Go (Taylor Solo)
12 More Than Anything (Isaac Solo)
13 Hold On Im Coming (cover)
14 Wheres The Love
15 Penny and Me
16 Been There Before
17 Get Up And Go
18 MMMBop
19 Give A Little
20 If Only
21 Voice In The Chorus
22 Oh Darlin
23 Long Way To The Top

Would You Rather Wednesday

Katie July 28, 2010 0 Comments

July 22
Be stuck on a desert island with socrates
or
Billy Crystal?

Billy Crystal. MIKE WASOWSKI.

July 23
Eat 200 slices of american cheese
or
2,000 raisins?

Cheese.

July 24/25
Fight three possessed lawn mowers
or
the characters from ‘spongebob squarepants’?

Sponge Bob. I think I can take them…

July 26
Eat a bowl of bat guano
or
a mug of hot tea prepared with 12 used wound dressings?

OMG barf.

July 27
Eat all food in liquid form
or
gaseous form?

Liquid. I don’t really know how I would eat gas?

July 28
Have porcelain skin (literally)
or
hair of gold (literally)

Hair of gold. I fall too much to have porcelain skin, I’d break all the time. And whenever I got a hair cut I could mail it in to cash for gold and make some $$$

Concert Hanson Rooney

Hanson South Shore Music Circus 7/24/10

Katie July 27, 2010 0 Comments

Saturday we ventured around Hyannis to find the Ben & Jerrys where Taylor and Zac twitpic’d from. We didn’t have much of a problem finding it, or finding parking on the street. We also noticed there was a drum shop across the street and while we didn’t venture inside we did wonder if perhaps that is where they were headed when they spotted the Ben & Jerrys…

After that we were off to Chatham to meet up with Amber (whos apt we were staying at) for lunch at the resort she works for. Then we did some shopping and headed to Cohasset hoping to make it in time for the walk, but the GPS said we would be arriving at 3:15 and the walk was set to start at 3pm. But Hanson runs on Hanson time so we were hoping that perhaps they would be running late and we could still make it.

Unfortunately, we did not make it in time for the walk (but I was later informed that it was hot and went for more than the 1 mile, so we might have been better off missing it) but we did wait in the parking lot for all of the walkers to arrive and snapped some shots of the guys walking in and then the speech they gave at the end. (You can now text to match a donation if you want for the takethewalk campaign, which is pretty cool)

Since we had time to kill before doors we wandered around Cohasset looking for places to keep us busy. We went to a book store, a grocery store and a Starbucks. Then headed back to the venue and parked kind of near where the buses were and spotted Taylor and Zac going back and forth a few times.

We got in and saw that the merch had NOT been rotated, but got some Hanson crazy bands and stickers and waited to be let into the tent. Just as we finished getting merch they allowed people into the tent and I got to go to my front row seat! (Cross that one off the life-list!)

Rooney once again opened, but they played an acoustic set. I am pretty sure it was because the stage was too small to have both drumsets set up and Rooney’s keyboard. Either way, it was nice to see Rooney in both electric and acoustic environments and I think they did both well. The setlist was different than the previous night and I am not sure if this was because of the switch to acoustic (some songs don’t transition as well as others) or if they too are deciding to switch the setlist up every night. Lead singer Rob mentioned the names of the songs before almost everything they sang, plus I could kind of see the set list so I am hoping that the list is somewhat accurate for this show.

Hanson once again had to go through the seats to get to the stage but tonight they had a TON of security blocking off people so they could get through (I don’t think they did this the night before, but I was not as close so I might be mistaken) I was only 4 people away from the entrance to the stage! Once again they started with Waiting for This and went into the medley. I wasn’t going to keep track of a setlist but then I decided I trusted myself more than anyone else so I did start to keep it. Eventually I saw William’s setlist and was able to copy down a majority of it so that I was not on my phone during the beginning of every song typing it in.

As expected, they switched up the setlist a bit. (I thought they might have more since it seemed to be for the most part the same crowd, but thats ok) They played Been There Before & Underneath which were not played the night before. They also did a cover – which I did not see on William’s setlist (though someone on hanson.net said they saw it on someone’s setlist so I might have just not noticed it?) so it was quite a surprise for me – Zac did Oh Darling which is one of my favorites of the covers they do! And the encore was Man From Milwaukee which was exciting as well. Not sure what happened with that one but when the fans started singing I’m not sure Zac was ready to start yet, Isaac and William made a face at him and then I could barely hear him. The second verse I heard him a lot better but I have no idea if it was a mic issue or if Zac was singing softly or what the heck was going on! But being in the round you get to see more of that ‘behind the scenes’ interaction.

Before they left for the encore, Zac touched hands with the (teenies) next to me, but missed me. I’ll admit I was bummed. Previously I had only gotten a handshake from Taylor before he left the stage. Actually that night he only touched my friend and I and then left! But after the encore Zac came back and I had my hand out and ready so I got my hand touched by ALL 3 members of Hanson! It was exciting. I felt like I was 12 again lol. Taylor barely got me and Isaac got me twice but it’s all good.

Being front row was awesome. I had been front row for Hanson before, but only at general admission shows. I had like 3 feet behind me because I was up at the barricade and so it wasn’t as hot with being crammed up against people – but the stage lights were on me so that made it hot. I also saw that there were fans on stage and occasionally they would send out cool air on the sides, though not enough to really make a difference. I was dripping in sweat lol But if you are going to be front row – a rotating stage show is definitely the place to do it because you are in front of everyone at one point or another! If the stage didn’t rotate I’d have been blocked by Taylor’s piano the whole time. It was also cool to see Zac from behind to watch everything that he does with his feet. It was fascinating.

Tonight will be Hanson show #49 for me in New Jersey – I am looking forward to a full set without a curfew so here’s hoping that happens! (Doors are at 6:30 I think that is to compensate for a possible curfew – I think we were out by 11pm last time I saw them there)

Rooney’s Setlist:
Don’t Come Along Again
Stay Away
When Did Your Heart Go Missing
Runaway
If It Were Up To Me
Can’t Get Enough
Shakin’

Hanson’s Setlist:
Waiting For This / Watch Over Me / Rock N Roll Razorblade / In The City Medley
Make It Out Alive
Been There Before
And I Waited
If Only
Kiss Me When You Come Home
Thinking Bout Somethin

Acoustic
Underneath
Madeline
These Walls

Oh Darling
Carry You There
This Time Around
MMMBop
Give A Little
Minute Without You
Voice In The Chorus

Man From Milwaukee

Concert Hanson Rooney

Hanson Cape Cod Melody Tent 7/23/10

Katie July 26, 2010 0 Comments

Friday night Hanson came back to the Cape Cod Melody Tent after not having played there since 2004. (The show in ’04 was on my birthday!) It took us a while to get there because there was a fatal accident on the way to the cape. (So bad we had to drive on the grass in the middle of the north and south bound lanes to get around it!)

It was raining when we got to the venue, but we decided to take a peek at the merch anyway. They didn’t have the shirt that I wanted so we decided we’d go check it out after the show if it wasn’t raining, or we’d just get stuff the next day at the show in Cohasset. (They are supposed to be rotating merch out at the shows since there is apparently a lot of it)

Mine and Christine’s seats were 4 rows from the stage (behind Zac before the rotating started) and Lauren had bought a seat a few rows behind us.

Rooney was on stage first. I had seen Rooney a couple of times before when they toured with the Jonas Brothers and enjoyed them. It was exciting to see the stage start to rotate as the show started. We weren’t sure if the stage was going to just move a bit after each song (like Honor Society’s stage did during the Jonas Brothers tour) or if it would continuously move throughout the show. It would go around in one direction for a couple of songs and then go back around the other way. Their set got cut short – the drummer had started playing a song and the lead singer Rob told him a couple of times to stop and that the song had been cut. Their set was something like 7 songs (I could see the setlist that the drummer had taped up and kept track of the songs, but once they started cutting things I got confused so I might have an extra one listed in there, I’m not sure!)

Then we had a 30 minute intermission before Hanson took the stage at about 9pm. The cool thing about the venue was that they had to run through the crowd to get on to the stage. Except that it was POURING outside. We saw a trail of umbrellas outside so we figured that was the section where they would be coming to the stage. (And had fun watching the steady stream of rain coming down in all the entrances to the tent and a guy with a broom pushing up on the tent to get the excess water off of it throughout the show)

Everyone was up and screaming as they entered the stage and they started the show with “Waiting For This” which is the song where “Shout It Out” is mentioned, which is their new album’s title. Then they confused the heck out of me by doing a medley. They did the “na na na nas” from Watch Over Me, the chorus of Rock N Roll Razorblade and the chorus of In The City. Then they went back into the “Shout it Out” call and response from Waiting For This.

The downside was, since I went to 5 of 5, there were no new songs that I hadn’t heard live before. (They played no covers!) But, I did get to hear the Shout It Out songs without horns – and to be honest I didn’t really miss them. Obviously they are a nice addition, but the songs can stand on their own live without them.

The setlist was really good – the previous show (first night of the tour) they hadn’t done any songs from Underneath – but Strong Enough To Break and Lost Without Each Other (one of my favorites) was added for Hyannis.

The show had to be cut short due to a curfew, Zac was in front of us and we could see Taylor mouth “NOT VOICE. DO LOST. NOT VOICE. LOST” so we knew that Voice In The Chorus got cut and they were going to sing Lost Without Each Other instead.

Then they left and came out a few minutes later for an encore. They did Wheres The Love and Voice In The Chorus made its triumphant return to the setlist for the evening.

The rain had let up a bit when the concert was over, but it was so hot in that tent that the rain was good since it cooled us down a bit.

A couple of photos (cameras weren’t allowed, so I had to be sneaky) and setlists under the cut.

Rooney’s Setlist:

When Did Your Heart Go Missing
Holding On
Can’t Get Enough
Blindside
I Should Have Been After You
Stars and Stripes
Shakin’

Hanson’s Setlist:
Waiting For This / Watch Over Me / Rock N Roll Razorblade / In The City medley
Make It Out Alive
Minute Without You
And I Waited
If Only
Kiss Me When You Come Home
Thinking Bout Something

Acoustic
Strong Enough To Break
Madeline
Me Myself and I

Carry You There
This Time Around
MMMBop
Give A Little
Lost Without Eachother

Encore
Where’s The Love
Voice In The Chorus

Book Review

Review: Tattoos on the Heart by Gregory Boyle

Katie July 22, 2010 0 Comments

Tattoos on the Heart is written by Father Gregory Boyle, who is the founder of Homeboy Industries. Homebody Industries helps provides jobs and training (and even tattoo removal) for those in gangs who are looking to turn their life around.
The book talks about various gang members and experiences that “G” (Greg) has had since starting up the organization. G, an English major, really has a way with words and most of the time I didn’t feel like I was reading a book, but instead I felt like I was having a conversation with G and he was recalling all these stories right in front of me.
Some of the stories made me laugh, especially the section on ‘homie-propisms’, which is when the homies trying to express themselves get a word or two confused with something else – for instance, a note was left for G telling him that a Professor wanted him to come in and talk. The note stated “You will be constipated” instead of “you will be compensated”!
Some of the stories made me cry – the way that G describes these homies you really feel like you know them, so if anything bad happens to them (and it’s a book about gangs, something bad is bound to happen) it really hits you.
The book is just over 200 pages and has 9 chapters. Each of the chapters is broken down into smaller sections so you can easily read a story or two before bed. (Almost all the sad stories are followed by something a bit lighter if you’d prefer to not go to bed sad)

All net proceeds from the book are being donated to Homebody Industries. If you are interested in purchasing a book, you can do so at http://condorbooktours.com/index.php?pr=Products for $16.50. (Retail price on the book is $25) If you’d like to make a donation to Homebody Industries either in addition to purchasing a book or instead of – you can find out more information about the organization at http://www.homeboy-industries.org/index.php

I was given a free copy of the book to read in order to write a review. I was not told what to write, everything written is my own thoughts.

Would You Rather Wednesday

Katie July 21, 2010 0 Comments

July 15
Rest your head on a tee and get smacked with the full-speed swing of tiger woods
or
have a bowling ball dropped from 20 feet on your groin?

This made me laugh given Tiger Woods semi-recent scandal(s)

July 16
Have all of your phone calls recorded and played back on a popular radio station
or
have all your emails posted on AOL’s homepage?

I rarely make phone calls, but I am always emailing, so I’ll have to go with phone calls.

July 17/18
Have monopoly hotel and houses boogers
or
defecate rubix snakes?

Monopoly is one of my favorite games so I am going to go with hotel and houses boogers.

July 19 (Happy Birthday to me!)
Be stuck on a stalled bus with incontinent Labradors
or
the paparazzi?

Well, I’d have to assume if the paparazzi are with me, someone famous must me too – so I’ll go with that. If not, and theyre taking pics of me.. well they’ll have a bunch of me with my eyes closed because the flashes make me blink!

July 20
Live in a world without david copperfield
or
oatmeal?

I love me some oatmeal – so sorry David Copperfield – bye bye.

July 21
Dive head first off a 15-meter high-dive board into an empty pool
or
drink a tall glass of liquid nitrogen.

Nitrogen. Although both would probably kill me, nitrogen would probably be less awful? I don’t know. It’s been a while since I’ve taken Chem 😉

Photos

Jack Johnson MSG Photos

Katie July 20, 2010 0 Comments

I got the following email – thought you might want to check out photos where you can actually see Jack’s face 😉

Hey Katie,

Thanks for the great concert blog! I thought your readers might like to see the photos from Jack Johnson’s To the Sea concert at MSG last week.

http://www.msg.com/photos/jack-johnson-live-at-madison-square-garden/sitting-waiting-wishing-1.46715

Please let me know if you can get a post up and ask if you have any questions at all!

Thanks,
Kelsey

Random

Happy Birthday To Me!

Katie July 19, 2010 0 Comments

It is my birthday today and I thought I would share a birthday card that I got from Russia from one of the members of a postcard community I am in. I love the card and it very well might be one of my favorite cards I have ever gotten for my birthday. You can’t really tell from the scan but it is covered in glitter!

Also pretty cool was one of the stamps on the envelope, as seen above!