August 2024

Avril Lavigne Greatest Hits Tour

Katie August 31, 2024 0Comment

Wednesday night I made my way to Hartford for Avril Lavigne’s Greatest Hits tour.  I’m not the biggest Avril fan, but Simple Plan was opening and I absolutely love them and don’t often get the chance to see them.  I also ended up jumping at the chance to get a VIP Pre-Show Pizza Party with Simple Plan.

For the pizza party we got let in a little early and were able to eat pizza and have drinks before the guys came in. They said they’d “talk to everyone” which based on other similar events I’ve gone to I didn’t think would happen but I managed to talk to each of them and get selfies. Seb and Jeff sat at the table with me but I had to track down Pierre and Chuck since they were in one spot and had everyone going to them.  We also got a group photo taken with our device of us with the band and then a big group photo of everyone. We also got a signed laminate, signed poster and a clear tote bag.

Once we were done, the doors to the pavilion still weren’t open. I took a quick look at merch and there was a shirt I wanted but I didn’t want to wait in the line. Once I got in and to my spot, I saw they were doing mobile order and pick ups at the merch booth so I ordered it that way, knowing I’d be leaving before the show was over and could quickly grab it on my way out.

The first band went on at 8 and was called Girlfriends so I was a bit surprised to see 3 men walk out as the band! They sounded like a lot of other pop punk bands but weren’t bad.

Then it was time for Simple Plan! They had a decently long set and I haven’t seen them in so long I was just so happy to see them again! Also – my new earplugs are awesome! (Even if I did drop one mid set and had to get security to help me recover it)  They basically did all their hits and the crowd really seemed into it.

Avril didn’t hit the stage until 10. I knew she did a song with Simple Plan so I was going to stay until then, but as the set went on I decided I was leaving at 11, Simple Plan or not. I’m getting old and it was too late for a middle of the week show lol.  Fortunately for me, Simple Plan came out at 10:53 and finished at 10:59.

I grabbed my merch, headed to my car, and was on the main road by 11:16 and home just after midnight.

I’m still not the biggest Avril fan but fortunately with a greatest hits tour I knew most of the songs simply from listening to the radio for the last 22 years. (The fact that both Simple Plan and Avril have singles that are 22 years old is mind-blowing to me)

Mat Kearney Ridgefield Playhouse

Katie August 17, 2024 0Comment

Mat Kearney is on his Headlights Home tour, but decided to add in a small run of acoustic trio shows so he could come back to the Ridgefield Playhouse. It was his 3rd time playing there and my 3rd time seeing him there.  He said he likes the venue and the town, but doesn’t quite know where he is.  The opener, Zach Sebaugh, shared the same sentiments – he knew we were sort of close to NY because that’s where he flew in to.  For those who haven’t been, Ridgefield is kind of in the middle of the woods. It’s a good hour from my house and 25 or so minutes of that are just winding through non highway side roads.

Zach Sebaugh opened the show, he is from Georgia. There was something about him that sounded familiar (but in a good way) I was thinking maybe a John Mayer influence but he ended up mentioning that Jack Johnson was one of his favorites and then it all made sense. (And then I started laughing about the line John once changed in a song to “You couldn’t tell me from Jack Johnson” – but I wouldn’t be surprised if Mayer is an influence too)  Zach teased by saying it was his first show in Connecticut – but won’t be his last – he is also opening for Mat the next night at another CT show.  He will be on tour this fall but unfortunately the closest he is coming is NY during my crazy October.  Hopefully he will make it back to CT at some point though because I really enjoyed his set.

In the intermission, a couple ended up sitting next to me – one of which ended up being a childhood family friend I hadn’t seen in years so that was pretty cool and totally unexpected.

Then it was time for Mat to take the stage.  He was really chatty and even said he wasn’t sure why he was so feisty. There was a group in the front row that were very animated and I think were a bit of a distraction to them – they kept calling things out to him as well.  He ended up going a bit off setlist and played ‘Real One’ for what he thought was the first time live.  He also wondered why he writes songs with so many words in them because it is hard to sing them all.  Overall it was a really fun show!

At the end of the night, I was waiting for security to grab my walker so I could leave.  Everyone else had gotten kicked out of the room but they said I should stay put.  In this time, the stage was being cleared off and one of the guys handed me the setlist. (I didn’t ask, just happened to be the only one there) and I heard a guy from the back start yelling that he had asked for a setlist and was told NO!  I was like oh great now I have to walk past this guy after he’s yelling about me, but fortunately nothing happened.

There also was a guy who came up to the front at the end of the show, put a piece of paper down on the stage, and then security escorted him out. I don’t know if this was the same guy or not, but I’m very curious as to what the paper said.

Shawn Mendes at Bearsville Theater, Woodstock

Katie August 16, 2024 0Comment

Thursday, August 8, I was lucky enough to be one of the 250 or so fans in attendance to Shawn Mendes’ return to the stage on the ‘For Friends & Family Only’, an intimate tour he is doing to debut his new album coming out in October, Shawn. To get tickets, you had to sign up via Seated and let them know if you wanted floor or balcony seats and 1 or 2.  I put in for 1 for either section and was told that I was chosen for the balcony.

I drove the two hours out to Woodstock and was hoping that it would not be raining on the way home as they were all dark, windy, woodsy roads.  When I arrived there were already some girls waiting in the rain but I opted to wait to get in line until closer to doors.  We were told that we would have to have stickers placed over the cameras on our phones and could not take any photos or videos for the first 7 songs, once we got a double thumbs up from security we could remove the stickers and use our cameras.

At 8pm, when his new music video was set to premiere, they streamed it for us through a projector on the curtain at the back of the stage.

Shawn thanked everyone for sticking around and got a bit emotional after singing his first song.  He also warned us that he might cry a lot throughout the show.  He seemed to be in a good place, and was very vulnerable in his stage banter and in his lyrics as well.  He said they were going to play the album top to bottom, which to me means in track order, but based on the track listings I had found online, it didn’t appear that he did it in order, but he did play all the tracks. I’m really excited for it to come out in October to get a chance to listen to it again – Shawn was impressed we all came out to a show where we wouldn’t know any of the songs, and was even more impressed when during a couple of chorus’ we caught on and sang along. (He said it was because we know him so well and know his writing style)

His parents were in the front row of the balcony and also in attendance was Logan Paul?  It also was Shawn’s birthday so an impromptu singing of Happy Birthday happened and he wore a birthday hat from the crowd for a couple of minutes before saying he couldn’t wear it any longer but was going to keep it.

After the show it was drizzling a bit, but that didn’t stop fans from waiting at the stage door! I opted to just get in my car and make the trek home as I had another road trip happening Friday morning!

Also of note – they stamped our hands on the way in and despite attempting to wash it off until I started bleeding, some of the ink is STILL on my hand 5 day later…

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