Javier Colon at the Wolf’s Den

Katie July 7, 2012 0 Comments

Sunday night Javier Colon, Connecticut native and winner of season 1 of The Voice had a concert at the Wolf’s Den at Mohegan Sun.  We got there a little after 6 after getting stuck in a crazy rain storm and walked right up to get seats (after I was carded, of course, since it is a 21+ venue because it is inside the casino).  I was a bit worried that he wouldn’t get a good turn out, but even though there was not a massive line like I have seen for some other acts, the seats did fill in and there were people around the outer perimeter by the time the show started at 7.

He started on stage by himself singing Bonnie Raitt’s Can’t Make You Love Me.  Then his band joined him.  As always he did a mix of covers and songs off of his album.  He did quite a few songs that I had never heard him do before from his older albums which was a nice treat.  It seemed like a lot of people in the audience had known him for years and were there to support him. (If you know him apparently you refer to him as “Javs”)

I went with my mom this time, it was the first time she saw him so when he started talking about Ok Here’s the Truth I warned her it was sad. She asked “Will I cry?” and I said yes.  After the show she told me that she thought the wife was cheating and that would be bad enough and that she did have a tear in her eye.  It is crazy that no matter how many times I hear that song, it gets me EVERY time. You’d think by now knowing what’s coming it wouldn’t affect me anymore, but it does.

He only played a bit of Taylor Swift’s Mean – he said they toured the Taylor Guitar factory (i think? something to do with Taylor guitars) and he saw her poster on the wall and had the song stuck in his head ever since so he played a little bit of it and then after the final song he played some more of it again.

He also never left the stage for the encore, just told us to pretend he did and cheer and then it wouldn’t waste time and he could squeeze in another song for us.   He also mentioned hoping that it would be the first of many shows in that room and I hope so too because I love the Wolf’s Den (especially since the shows are free!) and obviously would love to see Javier and his band over and over again!

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Javier Colon Ridgefield Playhouse

Katie February 5, 2012 0 Comments

Thursday night Javier Colon kicked off his latest tour at the Ridgefield Playhouse in Ridgefield, CT.  (And tickets were twice as much as when he played there before he won The Voice! But he is well worth the price.)

The show kicked off at bit early, at 7:45 with Kevin Daniel.  He did a few songs and I was trying to keep track of the setlist (as this was the first show this year with an opener and I had said I would try to better keep track of the setlists so I could talk about specific songs) but then I accidentally deleted it in a fit of rage. (You’ll hear more on that in a bit.) Unfortunately I couldn’t get too into his set because a couple behind me showed up and were ridiculously loud. The guy announced “people are watching me now!” and were just being incredibly loud and obnoxious.  Once they sat down they continued to talk for the entire set, despite being told to “shh” numerous times.  Then the girl spilled her drink and the guy said “I think she had one too many” and all the women in my row jumped to grab their purses off the floor and sat with them on their laps for the entire show to avoid them being spilled on.  (Looking at Kevin’s website http://kevindanielmusic.com he did Better Than Gold, Won’t Back Down, You and I, a cover of Beggin’ by Madcon and perhaps one more.)

Then it was time for Ernie Halter. I was incredibly excited to see him – I had met him on The Rock Boat in 09 and had to leave his show a couple songs in to his set the last time I saw him – so to see a full set from him, even a shortened one because he was the opener was exciting.  Unfortunately, the loud couple behind us continued to talk throughout Ernie’s set as well.  The woman next to me asked the couple if they were going to talk to go to the lobby and the guy said “no we’ll talk here, but we won’t be rude”  I’m sorry, but if multiple people have already asked you to keep it down – perhaps you are already beyond the point of being rude?

Back to Ernie. He told us that he prefers to play less songs and talk more to tell about the songs. I obviously love the banter, so this was ok with me. (Banter I don’t love? The stuff coming from the row behind me!)  He talked a bit about his early relationship with his wife and how they met briefly and were texting a bit and then his car broke down and she let him use hers for a month to tour and how they ended up getting married and having twins. (His delivery was much better since he didn’t mention immediately she became his wife. I’m such a bad story teller!) He also told a story about how Justin Bieber sang his song and that his mother was the one to tell him and he thought it couldn’t be true because his mother wouldn’t be the first to know – but she was! And that Justin Bieber has Ernie Halter fever lol.  He ended the set with a Beatles tune, he said he and his wife are big Beatles fans and named their twin girls Lucy and Layla. He asked if anyone knew the connection with the names to see him at merch. Now I’m curious to know!

After Ernie’s set I went ballistic on the people behind me.  Apparently the girlfriend was deaf and so she talks loud. Which is fine – but if she MUST talk during a concert – GO TO THE LOBBY!  What set me off was when he said “But Javier isn’t on yet. Who cares?” (If he didn’t care – why not stay in the lobby until Javier came on?) So I told him I was there for Ernie and it was rude of him to be talking because all I heard was HIM. And he was like “Well sometimes these things happen” and he kept going on about how his girlfriend is deaf. And then accused me of not being respectful towards those who are disabled (uh, hello? I’m disabled myself, moron.) and told me I was being rude. And I seriously WENT OFF. But quickly realized that he didn’t have the brains he was born with and was a lost cause.  A couple of people went to complain to an usher but no one came by to say anything and he just kept going on and on about how he grew up with the artist (I’m sure if Javier knew what was going on, he wouldn’t condone it, especially since he is great friends with Ernie.) and all other sorts of nonsense.   His stupidity and obnoxiousness really got me in a bad mood, but I tried to ignore him in order to not let the night be completely ruined.  If 3 or 4 people tell you to shut your pie hole, perhaps it IS you who is being rude. Just sayin’.

Then it was time for Javier! And by the dude behind me’s theory – QUIET! (Which was all bullshit because they talked through some of Javier’s set too and I so badly wanted to be like “I thought you only talk when Javier isn’t on?” but again – not worth my time…)  Javier was a lot of fun and did a great mix of upbeat songs and downbeat songs (and dang if Ok, Here’s The Truth doesn’t get me near tears every time I hear it!)  He also added in a bit of Cee Lo’s “Forget You” to one of the songs and had us yell out the “Forget You” (Or the uncensored version) so that was a nice way to get out some of my frustrations without actually saying it directed towards anyone to get myself in trouble!

He sang almost all the songs from his album and threw in some great covers as well.  His backup band was also great.  His keyboardist was adorable and had a great voice for backup vocals and his bassist was hilarious.  He was dancing through any song that was danceable and making all sorts of great guitar faces. When he introduced him he said something like “you already know him and you already love him” which was so true.  We were even cheering for his dancing at times and Javier looked over at him and started to laugh a few times as well during the set.

His voice did seem a bit strained, but with a voice like his you can be a little bit off and still sound amazing. He thanked everyone numerous times for helping support him with The Voice and that he wouldn’t be here without us and he and his family appreciate it.

After he left the stage, to a standing ovation, he came back out pretty quickly for an encore.  He did Someone Like You by Adele and said she was one of his favorites and he would LOVE to work or sing with her some day.  Then everyone was yelling out that they wanted to hear Stitch By Stich so he did that one even though it wasn’t what was planned because we all wanted to hear it.  Then he said he’d get off the stage and let us all get home.

As I was leaving I bumped into Stephen Kellogg so I chatted with him for a bit about the morons behind me and he said that he would always side with me on that and he was glad that I said something to them. (To bad it didn’t get through to them.) I said I was even thinking of him because if he hears people talking he often calls them out on it and he said he was trying to mellow out a bit now that he is getting older! haha.  It was nice to see him since I didn’t get a chance to talk to him after his show last month.

Setlist under the cut!

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