"We beg rebirth to take us up, parade our souls out by the back gate. Some claw the ground, some cut the air, some warm the seas; but what will you be and when?" ~freelance whales

I know I haven't written in forever. I didn't have my computer for a few days because it was being repaired (luckily the friendly folks at my local Apple store were able to fix it for free). I've been busy, too. But I'll start posting more again. This is a concert post. I have two concerts to write about, so here goes. I'll start with the most recent because it's in my head.

The Naked & Famous/Freelance Whales/Foals
I was literally swept off my feet at this concert. Unfortunately it wasn't exactly Prince Charming doing the sweeping; it was a kind security guard helping me out. Foals fans are crazy. Seriously. I should probably start at the beginning, though. I went to this concert with my lovely friend Leah. We went because of the first two bands (The Naked & Famous and Freelance Whales). We love both of them. We didn't care too much about Foals. We were the first people there (well, Leah was) and we got a spot dead center in the front row on the rail. The Naked & Famous were great. They only played five songs, but I loved every single song. They have a lot of energy and they're just a really fun band. They played "Young Blood" last, which really made us happy. We're Chuck fans, and that's the song that's playing at the end of "Chuck vs. the Push Mix" as Chuck is proposing. It was really cool to hear it live. I also particularly enjoyed hearing them play "Girls Like You." Fun fact: they're from New Zealand.
Freelance Whales were next, and they were also fabulous. Their set was close to an hour. They also played a song featured on Chuck, "Generator First Floor" and one from Covert Affairs, "The Great Estates" (I connect a lot of my music to TV). They had a lot of interesting instruments and they put on a great show.
Foals was next. Leah left to catch a train, but I decided to stay. I know some of Foals' music but I'm definitely no expert, but I figured I might as well stay and listen. First of all, remember that we were front row, dead center. There was a barricade between us and the stage. Foals fans are insane. People started pushing and those of us up front were being pushed into the barricade, but obviously we couldn't go any further forward so we were being crushed. It just got really annoying and uncomfortable. There were four security guards spread out across the barricade (in the passageway between the crowd and the stage) who occasionally tried to lean over and calm the crowd down, but they couldn't do much from their side. Finally I got so frustrated that I decided to leave (after dealing with this for about five songs). I couldn't make my way back out of the crowd, though, because everyone was packed so tightly. So one of the security guards literally scooped me up and lifted me over the barricade. He was tiny, but he was obviously very strong because he had no trouble just picking me up in his arms and lifting me over the railing. This was during the concert and I was lifted into the passageway directly in front of the stage, so of course I'm sure the band saw and I'm also sure I kicked a few people on my way over. Oh well. I just didn't want to deal with the craziness anymore. I couldn't enjoy the music because of it.

I took videos during the show, but I was just using my digital camera and it did an awful job with the sound because we were so close to the stage. Luckily someone else took this great video of The Naked & Famous performing "Young Blood." Watch it. It's wonderful.

And "Girls Like You:"

I really wish someone had taken a video of Freelance Whales performing "Generator First Floor," but I can't find one. So "Generator Second Floor" will have to do.



Cake
My friend Bill won tickets to this concert through a radio station, and he was kind enough to take me (he's taken me to see a LOT of concerts, and I'm very grateful for that). I like Cake. It's difficult to describe their music; they use elements from a whole bunch of different genres. They're very talented, though. They've been around since 1991 and they're still churning out solid albums (their most recent one debuted at #1 on the Billboard chart). We got a good spot in the front row on the side. Their was no opening band, so Cake played a long set. I filmed "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" (the theme song from Chuck).

They give away a tree at every show. At this show they gave it to the girl standing right next to me. To win it, she had to identify what kind of tree it was (it was a plum tree). It's kind of a cool tradition.


Next up: Broadway show reviews. I have to write about The Normal Heart, Arcadia, and Wonderland.


ETA: Okay, check out photo #13 to see how thrilled I was during Foals.