Snapshots of Bastille // December 2013

Why I LOVE Twitter

As soon as I downloaded 'Bad Blood' I was in love with Bastille. Every song on the album is incredible, I have trouble choosing favorites! I quickly searched for upcoming shows, only finding sold out and far away ones. I was bummed because I prefer to catch a band I love on an album that I know so well, rather than waiting for the next round of touring... when I may not like the music quite as much.

Just a couple weeks later I saw a tweet saying that Bastille was playing in Omaha this December, a mere 3 hours away! I immediately texted Kyle to check if it would be ok with him, and soon after spent the $45 on tickets (including fees!). I am soooooo glad that we went, I think it was the best concert I've been to so far this year! With only one show coming up the rest of the month. Thank you to Twitter again for leading me to a THIRD amazing and incredibly cheap event!!! :) 

Omaha & Dinner

We left right after school and drove straight to the hotel. We checked in, changed into concert attire and drove to the venue. After we sized up the parking situation we tried to eat at an urbanspoon find, but it was closed. So we went to the King Kong restaurant near the zoo. It was fast and decent. Then we drove back down, parked on the street and shivered as we walked through all of the snow! It was so cold!

The Venue

We got to the Sokol Auditorium which looks a lot like an old school or community center and checked in. We grabbed our tickets and went inside. The place was already pretty packed! We found a spot on the balcony level near the railing where we could see pretty well. Before Bastille came on a very nice man offered to switch us spots because he was very tall. It was so amazing. I more or less had my favorite view (minus the guy near us's elbow....). It was perfect! For KC people, the venue reminds me of a grittier, smaller, more retro version of Uptown. It was very fitting for this show. Small, a little grungy and unique.

Wild Cub

The opening band was called Wild Cub, from Nashville, TN. We didn't hear their entire set, but they were pretty decent from what we did hear. The lead singer did some sort of drum solos... that were kind of improvisational. It was very interesting. I think I would need to hear recorded versions to get a better idea of how much I like them... But either way, I liked them more than I usually like opening bands that I hadn't already wanted to see. Which may not sound like high praise, but it is! Looking forward to exploring more of their music. :) -Update: I love Thunderclatter, but so far can't quite get into the rest of their album. -I'll keep trying.

Bastille

To sum this up, I just kept turning to Kyle and saying, 'Holy Cow!' It never occurred to me that they could be bad. But I don't think I was prepared for how AMAZING they ended up being! 

Every song was fantastic. The stuff from the album I love, the covers, the new songs... The atmosphere was great and so many people there were just as excited as we were. (rare!) I really love their style of music, but also that they can pull off gritty 90's rap songs like City High's 'What Would You Do?' in their own style. So versatile. 

I spent the whole show in a state of giddyness. Singing, dancing, clapping, laughing.... just really absorbed in the show. I think it is definitely the best concert I've been to all year, and absolutely at the top of my list altogether. 

The frontman, Dan Smith was very cool, very interactive with the crowd. At one point he jumped off of the stage and wove himself through the standing audience with his corded mic. About 100 ladies down there shrieked! At first everyone was just pulling on him, but eventually he was able to walk more and dance and sing with the audience. It was all being filmed, so it will be cool to see what that ends up becoming. At another point he walked backwards into his mic stand and it fell over. He didn't trip too much, but kind of laughed at himself, picked it up and held it in the air triumphantly and then threw it back across the stage (all while continuing the song). When it had ended, he said something like 'well that was cool...' which got everyone laughing. But honestly, I don't think anyone in the entire place thought otherwise. 

They are playing in KC on Saturday at a sold out show alongside some other amazing bands for The Night the Buzz Stole Christmas. So if you are going, be VERY excited, and make sure that you get to be there when Bastille plays! I am a little bummed that we don't have tickets, because it would be amazing to see them again, and to see the rest of the bands, but I loved that we got to see them headline. I think this is the best type of show to see a band. Hoping to attend many similar shows in the future!

Have you seen Bastille live?

What is your favorite song?

What shows would you recommend to add to my list?

All for now, 

Alexandra 

Snapshots of Buzz Beach Ball // September 2013

I feel like we've been concert crazy recently!

Some friends asked if we'd like to join them for Buzz Beach Ball this year. We'd never been, but it's usually a huge line up with pretty big names and festival feel. This year Phoenix was headlining, but Alt-j, AWOLnation, MSMR, Daughter, Cage the Elephant, Hanni Al Khatib... etc was there. The show started at 2:30, but we decided to go around 6 after work. We missed a few bands that we would maybe have liked to see but we caught the three headliners. AWOLnation

I knew some of their music, but I am always so confused by their style. They go from screaming and lots of guitar to pop-y dance tunes... It made for a not-so-cohesive show for me. But I'm guessing that big fans were pleased. The lead singer kept saying things like "I had a vision for this next song and everyone was crouching down, and then when the music starts everyone explodes!" A little crazy for me.. :) But I enjoyed the songs that I knew. I don't think I would see them again.

Alt-j

Alt-j was the one band that I wanted to see most, I love their music and they are just SO good! I loved their set! The music was great.. I want to go see them live when they are headlining sometime. A full show from them would be AMAZING!

Phoenix

Phoenix went on at 10:30 and they were really entertaining. They're French, so it was fun to hear him talk. :) The music was great, they played new stuff and some old singles. I like the old stuff better but it was all fun. 

Overall the music was pretty great. I enjoyed it and the venue (Berkley Riverfront Park) very much. I don't however, enjoy the festival atmosphere. So much smoke, so much pot... people popping pills, port-a-potties... not my scene.

We've got a few more shows coming up in December, I'm looking forward to those even more than these last two! :)

Have you ever seen any of these bands? What are your favorite albums or songs?

What's a great concert that you've been to recently?

All for now,

Alexandra

Snapshots of Celtic Woman // Omaha // June 2013

A few weeks ago we saw Celtic Woman in Omaha!

We left work after lunch and drove up for the show. The drive is pretty quick, so we checked into our hotel and grabbed coffee and dinner before we needed to pick up our tickets. 

The performance was at the Orpheum Theatre downtown, which was really conveniently located with plenty of parking. 

The show was great, as always. The music was incredible and the choreography was fun to watch. It was nice to see Susan (the newest member) grow into a bigger role for this show. They brought back a lot of Lisa Kelly's old songs for her to sing. The crowd was significantly better than either of the other shows I'd been to. Everyone was clapping, laughing, cheering and crying. I didn't expect to cry at all, but Lisa Lambe's intro to Bridge Over Troubled Water really got to me. She talked about how everyone has been having such hard times and that the friends we have can really make all the difference. She dedicated that to everyone in the audience, which really touched me. I was pretty surprised that this particular song made me cry because of all of their songs, that one isn't a favorite... but it might be now. 

In addition, the theatre was beautiful! Lots of ornate detail with chandeliers everywhere. You can't say that most concert venues are beautiful! This was definitely a pleasant surprise! 

After the show, I tweeted mentioning each of the girls thanking them for the incredible show and to my shock(!) Mairead, the wonderful violinist of the group favorited it! I did a little happy dance! :)

I am excited for new music to come out, whenever that may be... and then to see them perform live again someday! Maybe even for their Christmas tour! :) 

Have you ever seen Celtic Woman live?

All for now,

Alexandra