I get a lot of emails asking how I win so much stuff. I will probably put something together in a post eventually – but for now I just have to say – make sure you are following bands on twitter! Maroon 5 had recently been giving tickets away on twitter for shows that just got added to the tour and hadn’t yet gone on sale yet, but as the tour started they’ve been asking fans to RT to win tickets to certain shows a couple of days before the show. This is how I won the tickets. And they were GOOD tickets.
We got to the arena around 4:30, but our tickets were not yet there because the band had until 5:30 to give the list in. At 5:30 they still weren’t there, but a couple minutes later we saw someone with an all access pass bring them and I got a sneak peak at the list and saw my name on it. (The perks of having the last name beginning with a W – you are almost always at the bottom of lists)
Lauren had also won tickets and we were almost right next to each other. We had FLOOR row H (aka 8th row!) I was seats 9 and 10 and hers were 5 and 6. We got to go down the escalator to the floor, which was exciting because we had never been down there before. The seats were great. I was on the aisle, so I was able to sit for essentially the whole show but still have a great view of most of the stage.
The first opening act was Ry Cumming, an Aussie who had recently moved to California and released a CD. He said the CD was half ballads and half rock n roll. His set was about the same. He did 4 or 5 songs and I really enjoyed his set. You can find out more about him at his website, www.rycuming.com
Then it was time to set the stage up for Guster. I had been hearing about these guys for years, but had yet to see them live. There were a few people around the arena standing who were into them, but honestly I wasn’t all that impressed with them. A lot of times I think the opening acts order should switch (based on the overall energy of their performance in getting the crowd pumped) and tonight was one of those nights. Highlights of their set was when Adam and James came out on cowbell for one of the songs and when Jesse came out to play piano for one of their songs. I always find it cool with the headliners come out to perform with the openers. (One of the other times I have seen that was when Maroon 5 called John Mayer out to play a song with them back in 2002)
Maroon 5 came out at about 9pm. We weren’t sure what their set was going to be like – since they do have a new album coming out and a lot of times artists touring to promote an album that isn’t out yet perform a LOT of the new material. I also am not all that familiar with their 2nd release – but do know pretty much everything from Songs about Jane as it used to be on heavy rotation in my car when I was in college.
The set started with the new single, Misery, which I am familiar with because it is being played a lot on the radio. Second up was If I Never See Your Face again and I was getting worried that this set was going to be a lot of stuff I was unfamiliar with. However, they ended up doing the majority of songs from their first cd. They only had 3 new songs (aside from Misery) that they performed (Unfortunately Adam only mentioned the name of one of them before they sang it) but from what they sounded like – the new CD should be really good!
I also liked how they broke it down to an acoustic set. It kind of gave everyone (band included) a little break from moving around. During the acoustic set Adam announced that he was dating Donna Summer and wanted us to spread that around. Then he thought about it (for 4 seconds) and told us that no we shouldn’t spread it, but commented that he saw people on their phones who must’ve been tweeting this information. I will set the record straight – Adam is not dating Donna Summer. (Or so he says)
The rest of the set was very high energy and I forgot just how much I had loved their shows! (It had been about 6 years since I had seen them last! I don’t even think Matt was their official drummer at that point) The show ended about 10:30 which was incredibly early for me, but appreciated!
When we were leaving, we spotted Ry signing and taking photos, but unfortunately security was shoo-ing people away before we were able to talk to him.
After the show we waited for traffic to clear out – but it was extra backed up due to an accident. We went by one of the cars and it looked like someone had hit into the windshield. I hope everyone was ok!
Photos under the cut!
Guster joined by M5 members
