Wow, what a crazy week it's been. And it's only Thursday.
Between three of four concerts successfully completed, I'm already pooped, but it's been such a fun time. Sunday I saw Magic Man (finally!) and Smallpools, their opener was Panama Wedding, who I had heard of thanks to Darren Criss (cue terrible laugh track). Magic Man were incredible, as I expected, and I had the opportunity to meet Alex Caplow afterwards, who was just as sweet as you could ever imagine. MM had even covered Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle", and I adore when bands cover songs & still sound like their usual sound. I only knew three Smallpools songs during their set, but I had fun and was still able to bob my head to the eight songs I didn't know.
Between three of four concerts successfully completed, I'm already pooped, but it's been such a fun time. Sunday I saw Magic Man (finally!) and Smallpools, their opener was Panama Wedding, who I had heard of thanks to Darren Criss (cue terrible laugh track). Magic Man were incredible, as I expected, and I had the opportunity to meet Alex Caplow afterwards, who was just as sweet as you could ever imagine. MM had even covered Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle", and I adore when bands cover songs & still sound like their usual sound. I only knew three Smallpools songs during their set, but I had fun and was still able to bob my head to the eight songs I didn't know.
Monday afternoon, David & Jose of Future Sunsets, who happen to be really solid friends of mine, came into The Blaze studio for an interview to promote their current tour and their debut single. Seeing two talented people talk about what they're most passionate about is really refreshing and reminds me that I'm in the right field. Their show was super intimate and chill (it was a house show after all), then we hung out at a Buffalo Wild Wings after, daring each other to eat a terrifyingly hot hot sauce and talking about music. Does that count as an after party or?
Wednesday I had my DJ shift, one of my last of this semester, but what I played and talked about could be one of my favorite playlists of this semester. Listen to a sample of my playlist this week here.
- "Killer Whales" - Smallpools
- "Beware the Dog" - The Griswolds
- "At Home" - Dear Jerome
- "Take a Walk" - Passion Pit
- "Hollywood BLVD" - Neon Tiger
- "Look At Me Now (cover)" - Karmin
- "Interlude" - Northern Hustle
- "Wild Heart" - Bleachers
- "About A Girl" - Nirvana
- "Holding On To You" - twenty one pilots
- "Talk to Talk" - This Century
- "The Middle" - Jimmy Eat World
- "Waves" - Magic Man
Wednesday evening rolled around, and I had tickets to see The Ready Set and Metro Station at Joe's Grotto. I arrived 45 minutes after doors opened, thinking that the show wouldn't start until 7, but The Downtown Fiction had already hit the stage and I only caught three of their songs. But, I was there for "I Just Wanna Run", a personal jam of mine. After they got off stage, Cameron hung out by merch so I went and talked to him for a bit, and he was super sweet, so we chatted for a bit before I went to find a spot in the crowd for the next opener. Next was Against The Current, and I knew a few songs but had only found out about them from David & Jose (King The Kid was support on ATC's tour this summer, that was also KTK's last U.S. tour as KTK), but Chrissy's energy was so high and she was bouncing all around the stage. After ATC ended, Chrissy tweeted that she was going to meet people later, but I was about four or five people back, so I didn't want to lose my spot. They started setting up for Metro Station, and yeah, I used to jam out to "Shake It" back in the day, but I wouldn't call myself a Metro Station fan (I was mainly there to see The Ready Set). Metro Station came out, and I had never been genuinely terrified of a band before. 75% of the crowd was made up of Metro Station fans, but it was really just pop rock music, so no mosh pits or anything crazy (although, I wouldn't have been shocked if one started somehow). Jordan from The Ready Set came out during one of Metro's last songs and that's when I started getting into it and Chrissy came out to perform "Shake It" before their set ended.
After Metro Station, the 75% of the crowd that only came for them left, and I ended up being second row for The Ready Set. I used to jam out to "Love Like Woe" and listened to every band signed to Decaydance Records back in middle school, so I was really stoked to finally see Jordan perform live. He had inflatable kittens onstage (which were actually adorable) and his stage set up was kind of poking fun at the fact that everyone thinks he's Asian (he's not), so that was really funny. He opened the set with "Higher" and stood on platforms and constantly jumped up and down off of his drummer's platform. His drummer even busted his kick drum head, so Jordan had to improvise and attempted stand up (it failed) so he introduced his band and crew instead (that did not fail). He danced and sang his heart out and honestly, I didn't think I was going to enjoy it as much as I did.
After his last song ended, the crowd dispersed and everyone headed over to the merch tables. The bands were all hanging out, and I noticed Chrissy standing by herself towards the back, so I went and tapped her on the shoulder to talk to her. Her face lit up when I said I was friends with David & Jose and she asked how they were and what they were up to; it was one of the cutest things ever. We took a picture together and she hugged me, thanked me for coming, and I got in line to meet Jordan. When I got up to him, he hugged me and signed my CD, asking what I thought of the show. I had asked him to film a hello video for my friend, which he was more than happy to, and then we took a photo together. He thanked me for coming and I said my last goodbyes before leaving to get my usual post-concert In-N-Out fries.
Now Saturday is The 1975, and I got a wristband to meet them at a record store before their show at Comerica Theatre, one of my favorite venues in Phoenix. That show is going to be insane, but I get to see a lot of my friends I haven't seen in a while, so that's what I'm looking forward to the most.
Don't forget to tune in for my second to last show of the semester next week, right before Thanksgiving break, Wednesday from 1-2 PM only on The Blaze 1330 AM!
After his last song ended, the crowd dispersed and everyone headed over to the merch tables. The bands were all hanging out, and I noticed Chrissy standing by herself towards the back, so I went and tapped her on the shoulder to talk to her. Her face lit up when I said I was friends with David & Jose and she asked how they were and what they were up to; it was one of the cutest things ever. We took a picture together and she hugged me, thanked me for coming, and I got in line to meet Jordan. When I got up to him, he hugged me and signed my CD, asking what I thought of the show. I had asked him to film a hello video for my friend, which he was more than happy to, and then we took a photo together. He thanked me for coming and I said my last goodbyes before leaving to get my usual post-concert In-N-Out fries.
Now Saturday is The 1975, and I got a wristband to meet them at a record store before their show at Comerica Theatre, one of my favorite venues in Phoenix. That show is going to be insane, but I get to see a lot of my friends I haven't seen in a while, so that's what I'm looking forward to the most.
Don't forget to tune in for my second to last show of the semester next week, right before Thanksgiving break, Wednesday from 1-2 PM only on The Blaze 1330 AM!
No comments:
Post a Comment