Burnham – Road Dogs game Pre-Show

Katie August 14, 2010 0 Comments

A LOT happened yesterday. I was awake from 7am-3am, just to give you an idea!  Which means there are a lot of posts to come, but I am trying to get everything organized and in order so it might take a few days.

The first thing we did yesterday was went to the Jonas Brothers Road Dogs game.  Before the game, at 9:30am there was a pre-show concert (the game wasn’t supposed to start until noon) with Burnham.  Burnham is made up of 3 brothers, Alex, Andre and Forrest and are obviously often compared to the Jonas Brothers and Hanson.  I see more similarities to the Jonas Brothers than Hanson, to be honest, but any band of 3 brothers is automatically going to be tagged “the new Hanson.”  Alex and Andre played guitar while Forrest sang lead and they had a backup drummer.  (Similar to Nick and Kevin playing guitar while Joe is usually the front-man)

The crowd seemed to be made up of mainly small children, which I thought was interesting because the guys are 18, newly 17 and 14. (Andre’s 17th birthday was actually yesterday!) Although, I guess most of the teens decided that Jonas was more important and were in line to get seats for the softball game.

Burnham did a 5 song set  – I believe the songs were Rich Girl, Don’t be Shy, Untouchable, Glow in the Dark and Catch Me If You Can (the last song being their single that has been available on iTunes for about a month)

The songs were catchy and I enjoyed listening to the set.  Afterwards there was a make-shift meet and greet to the side of the stage that was pretty much just a mob of girls around the guys!  Lauren had a gift from fans of Burnham for Andre, so we made our way up to them and she handed it to him. I don’t know what words were exchanged, but she must have told him the gift was heavy because he grabbed it and then pretended to go flying into the wall of the building because it weighed him down so much!  We opted to not get photos with them and went inside for the game – doors had opened as it was now after 10am!

This performance by Burnham was a milestone – it was my 100th concert in my home state of Connecticut!

More on the Road Dogs game coming soon…

John Mayer&Train 8/7/10 Setlists Hartford, CT

Katie August 8, 2010 0 Comments

Posting last night’s setlists in case anyone is interested.  Photos and review coming *hopefully* tomorrow if I can get all my Hanson website stuff out of the way tonight 🙂

Train Setlist:
Parachute
Get To Me
Meet Virginia
She’s On Fire
Cover Medley
If It’s Love
When I Look To The Sky
Calling All Angels
Save Me, San Francisco
Marry Me (On Lawn)
Hey Soul Sister
Drops of Jupiter

John’s Setlist (from jm’s website):
Chest Fever > Bigger Than My Body
No Such Thing
Clarity
Slow Dancing in a Burning Room
Perfectly Lonely
Ain’t No Sunshine
Gravity
Who Says
Waiting on the World to Change
Heartbreak Warfare
Do You Know Me
The Boys of Summer (w/Pat Monahan)
Half of My Heart

Edge of Desire

John Mayer Lounge 101

Katie August 8, 2010 0 Comments

We were instructed to get to the venue at 4:15 and that our event would be starting at 4:30. I am not sure what time everything ended up going down, but we went and checked ourselves in and waited around a bit waiting to be let inside. We were informed that usually you aren’t allowed to take photos of his performance but today they were allowing it, but no video.

We were brought in and the group took up the 3rd and 4th rows of the venue. Somehow Christine and I managed to be dead center.  The band was there doing their soundcheck, but no John yet.

I spotted John on the stage and the crowd had NO reaction. David Ryan Harris was trying to get us to cheer, but there were no cheers. It was very weird and I didn’t want to be the only fool clapping and yelling lol

He sang 3 songs – Who Says, War Of My Life and Half of My Heart.  During one song (I think it was War Of My Life) he broke into ‘Life is a Highway’ which made Christine and I laugh because that was the last concert we had gone to together at this venue! I guess John was not as into it though because he started saying how he was usually better at picking songs and that whats done was done and he couldn’t go back and change it…

Then he said how he was kind of sad he was done because he didn’t want to leave the stage but he had to do a radio thing.  We were like umm we’re the radio thing? And then he told us that he was not high and that he’d see us at the “photo shoot”

We were taken into another “room” with a freaking 18 wheeler in it haha and were informed that we would be getting pics in groups of 8.  I strongly dislike group photos especially when it is probably the only time I will end up meeting someone, but I hoped we would be first so Christine and I could be on either side of him.  Which was exactly what happened!

I wore one of my first John Mayer shirts that I got in 2002 with his name in the back to the future font/style.  I walked up to him and he goes “That is my favorite shirt!” so I said “I loooove this shirt” and he was like “I designed it and then nobody bought it” I was like “I bought it!” and then it was time for the photo.  They took 2 (but only 1 ended up being posted so Im not sure what that was all about) and then Christine started talking to John and they were shoo-ing us out.  John was going on about how it would be Christine’s best year and really just kept going and going haha

There was also talk of John being excited for the show – after a nap and somehow it ended up that we said we’d nap in the car and he told us to never leave ourselves unattended in a car.

Then we were told since it ended so early we would have to go in the parking lot because we couldn’t be let inside yet.  We decided to go to McDonalds and by this point the lovely Hartford Police were directing traffic and one decided he didn’t like that we were turning even though it said handicapped was in the left lane and we almost got in an accident as a result of him ‘lecturing’ us or whatever it was he was doing.  We managed to eat for about half the price it would have cost to eat inside and listened to try and win Jonas Brothers tickets and M&Gs;!

Peter Noone of Hermans Hermits

Katie August 7, 2010 0 Comments

Went to see Peter Noone of Hermans Hermits at the Mohegan Sun Wolfs Den last night. He did 2 sets one at 8 and one at 10. The 8 set was just getting seated as we arrived but a line had already started for the 10pm. Part of our group went to eat while the other waited in line and then when doors were finally let in (as I had just won $14 on a machine and it was still counting lol) we were asked if we wanted a front row table! Of course my mom said yes.

They played an hour set, mostly hermans hermits songs but threw in some monkees, dave clark5 and even the beatles.

One of the guitarists was pretty cool – I had spotted him earlier and had a feeling he was in the band. At one point he left the stage ran around the whole venue and made it back on stage just in time to sing his line. During another song he was kicking his legs up to his head during the song, to the beat, all while still playing!

My neighbor got the setlist, but he didn't really stick to it so I'm not posting it because it won't be accurate.

The show lot of fun though! Peter even teased that us screaming out H-E-N-R-Y would make the people at the Bare Naked Ladies show (that was going on in the arena) jealous that they hadn't gone to see Hermans Hermits instead.

Overall it was a great show and I didn't realize how many hits the band had – a lot!
Sent via BlackBerry by AT

Kings of Leon Comcast Theatre 8/3/10

Katie August 4, 2010 0 Comments

There was a last minute switch, and I brought my cousin Britt with me to this concert.  In the car we discussed Grasshoppers (when you paid $10 to go from the lawn to the pavilion) and we decided we would try to do this, so we opted to not bring in our lawn chairs.

When we got to the handicapped section, there were no chairs set up (and still no security near the section) I found someone to ask and he said that we’d have to rent chairs, he didn’t think that they would be setting chairs up for that show.  That seemed a little ridiculous, since the handicapped section should have equal treatment every show (or at the very least, bring chairs over for those who needed them as they entered the section)  We decided we would wait until the first act got on stage – if no grasshopper guys went by, we would instead use our $10 to rent chairs.

Security ended up bringing us chairs, as well as chairs to the other family that was in the section. (thank you) and then was starting to set up more chairs when we saw the grasshopper guy.  Britt ran for him and he said seats were in section 800 but near the middle, so we opted to buy them.  Unfortunately, if you are the FIRST person to buy grasshoppers (which we were) you get the seats closest to the far wall, not the middle.  But we were inside (there were threats of rain, though it didn’t end up ever raining) and we had a much better view than on the lawn for only $10 so we couldn’t complain too much.

At 8pm, The Stills took the stage. They were from Canada and I really enjoyed their set.  It was short though, only 25 or 30 minutes.

Next up was Built to Spill.  We were all disappointed because the guy next to us thought The Black Keys was opening and was telling us how great they were (I had heard good things about them too so I was interested in checking them out) and then instead Built to Spill came out.  (Not sure if the black keys run with kings of leon is already over or if they are only doing select dates)  Early on in the set the lead singer informed us they would be playing a 40 minute set.  Once again I was annoyed that the stronger opener was on first and then stuck with a mediocre band second. (I don’t care who is more famous or more popular I want a nice flow of the show!)  I had never heard so many cheers when they said “This is our last song”, except it was followed with a “oops we have 2 more” and then a nice “awwwww” (damn!) from the crowd. hahaha.  I’m not sure what it was about this band but I was just not into them and the lead singer sounded like a singer from another band. I am thinking maybe REM but I really haven’t been able to put my finger on it.

Finally it was time for Kings of Leon.  There was a lot of premature screaming for them, long before the house lights went off.  Finally the lights went off, we saw the guys being escorted to the stage by a guy with a flashlight and then some pyro went off sending pink/red smoke out in to the crowd.  The only downside to their opening number (and a couple other songs) was this one BRIGHT BRIGHT light that somehow ended up shining right in our eyes.  Fortunately it was only for about 3 songs where they used this light, I don’t know what I would have done if it was a constant!  I went into this show only knowing 2 of their songs – Sex on Fire and Use Somebody.  The singles that get radio play.  

I was incredibly impressed with them – they put on a great show and every single song was completely high energy and they gave it their all.  They played Sex on Fire 45 minutes into their set and Use Somebody was not played until the 2nd song of their 3 song encore. After they played it the place really cleared out – but we stayed to hear their last song.  After they were done with it, the stage had a bunch of pyro going off – which I wish I could have enjoyed more, but unfortunately that darn light was flashing too so it wasn’t in my best interest to actually look at the stage!

Overall it was a great show an I would definitely recommend it if they are coming to your town! (You just might want to show up late if Built to Spill is opening – apparently a lot of people knew this because the place was pretty empty until KOL took the stage – then the place was packed!)

Setlist under the cut – photos to come if anything came out any good!

Crawl
Notion
My Party
Radioactive
Molly’s Chambers
Fans
Milk
Closer
Mary
Four Kicks
The Bucket
Immortals
Sex on Fire
On Call
Southbound
Trani


Knocked Up
Use Somebody
Black Thumbnail


(Setlist is from setlist.fm and may not be entirely accurate – as I only knew 2 songs it is the best I can come up with!)

Maroon 5 Mohegan Sun Arena 8/1/10 Review

Katie August 3, 2010 0 Comments

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!

Ry

Guster joined by M5 members

Rascal Flatts Nothing Like This Tour 7/31/10 Hartford, CT

Katie August 2, 2010 0 Comments

I went to the Rascal Flatts show with my friend Christine.  She lives relatively close to the Comcast Theatre, but it took us forever to get there because apparently the entire state of Connecticut was trying to get to this show.  (Or maybe just all the awful drivers of Connecticut)  While we were waiting we tried to win John Mayer Acoustic Cafe tickets from TIC, but I couldn’t get through at all and Christine was caller #4 when they wanted #9! Bummer… but at least it helped pass the time.

We got in and decided to hear straight to the lawn.  The handicapped section was all set up with chairs and there didn’t appear to be any security.  We went in and grabbed our spot for the evening, which actually had us blocked off on 3 sides by rails by where it was situated.

There appeared to be a lot of people in there that were able-bodied and just thought they could take a seat.  With no security, no one told them to leave.  For the most part, during the openers the people in there were well behaved, so it wasn’t a huge deal.  I was able to actually see Chris Young and Kellie Pickler on stage without standing which was rare.

Chris Young performed first, playing 6 songs.  As mentioned before I am really not up on country so I knew nothing about him.  His performance was good, but I found it amusing that he felt the need to tell us his name after nearly every song – when the screen behind him said “CHRIS YOUNG” in huge red letters.  Maybe he thought a lot of people couldn’t read? I’m not sure.

Kellie Pickler was up next, who I was beyond excited to see.  I hadn’t seen her since the Idol tour and I think she is hilarious. (We tried to get M&Gs; with her through her website but unfortunately we were not chosen) A LOT of people knew her songs which surprised me.  I however was not one of them LOL  Her song “Rocks Instead of Rice” cracked me up.  She started off by asking the crowd if anyone had been to a wedding or known a couple who got married.  Pretty much everyone did.  Then she said, “did you ever think.. bless their hearts but this just ain’t gonna last?” and went into the song after dedicating it to her ex and the bimbo he is with now.  The lyrics were hilarious and you should definitely check that song out!

Comcast Theatre was also offering “Grasshopper” tickets which were $10 tickets to go from the lawn to the pavilion since the lawn had sold out but the pavilion did not.  We opted to not do this, but we probably should have.

When Rascal Flatts took the stage, all hell broke loose. Kids were jumping into our section and it was pretty ridiculous.  There was a woman on the level in front of me in a wheelchair and a kid was trying to jump over the rail and was like on her lap trying to push her out of the way to try and get over the rail.  You can blame him being drunk but I am pretty sure he’d be pretty stupid even sober. Luckily one of his friends came and pulled him away and I don’t think the woman in the wheelchair ended up harmed but that REALLY bothered me and would not have happened if there was security monitoring the section (as there has been at the other shows I went to)

Despite the drunk and stupid kids all around, I did enjoy Rascal Flatts set.  Their stage set up was really cool with a lot of moving screens and special effects. I didn’t get many photos of the actual stage because it was hard to see over everyone grinding in front of me (apparently some of the songs bring people back to the 8th grade)  They did around 23 songs and they were all very high energy.

They had mentioned that they get a lot of hate because people come to hear them play just a couple of songs and they don’t always have time to play everything that people come to hear – but they did a LOT of talking! They could easily fit in another couple of songs if they took the time to shut up a bit 😉  But it was nice that they talked and thanked the fans for coming out and everything like that.  They were just really wordy about it!

Before they came out for the encore they had an animation up on the screen that was pretty cool.  It was a nice way to kill time but keep the fans entertained and not left in the dark chanting.  Another nice touch was that they had lights on the waaay back of the lawn, probably to help them get a good view of just how PACKED it was back there!  And as always, they did my favorite, including the openers in the encore! Chris and Kellie came out to sing Summer Nights as the last song of the night.

Photos under the cut!

Chris Young

Kellie

The lights in the back

The lawn was PACKED

A little glimpse of the stage setup

Everyone, Chris and Kellie included, were behind those screens.

Maroon 5 – Setlists

Katie August 2, 2010 0 Comments

Here are the setlists from last night’s Maroon 5 show.

Guster: (This is from the setlist that was on the stage so song titles might be shortened, but I am assuming if you are looking for this you will know what they are?)
Captain
Manifest
Demons
R.O.C
This could all be yours
Hang On
Architects
Barrel
Airport
Satelitte
Amsterdam
Downstairs
(Big thanks to the ladies who were sitting next to us who went to get a set list and then let me copy it!)

There were a few songs I wasn’t sure of in Maroon 5’s set.  I did some googling and I think I’ve got it, but song titles might not be accurate on the new songs
Misery
If I Never See Your Face Again
Harder To Breathe
Give A Little More
The Sun / Lets Get It On (teaser)
Won’t Go Home Without You
If I Ain’t Got You (Alicia Keys cover)
Secret / Whats Love Got To Do With It
She Will Be Loved
Wake Up Call
Shiver
Don’t Know Nothing About That
Stutter
This Love

Make Me Wonder
Sunday Morning