So, back in January I started getting a little stir-crazy.
If you’re from the Midwest, you know what I’m talking about.
Winter here is all fine and well through, like, mid-January. Then the despair sets in and you start to get real sick of your four walls and the aroma of your Crockpot.
I hit that point back in January and found myself thinking about how badly I needed to do something to get out of my apartment.
Enter: Concerts!
I went a little crazy with the ticket purchasing and ended up dropping money on four March shows within, like, a two-hour period.
My bank account hated me at the time, but now everything’s been paid off and I get to reap the rewards!
And you get to reap the shitty iPhone photos and #content. Aren’t you glad you’re following along?!
First up: Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness with flor and Grizfolk!
OK can we talk about how STACKED this concert lineup is, for starters? I absolutely adore both Andrew McMahon and flor, so to see them BOTH on the same lineup, along with Grizfolk?! I was SOLD on this ticket immediately. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend $50.
I dropped by the Riviera this past Saturday for this concert (Blessed to live in Uptown) and man, these artists did NOT disappoint.
If you haven’t listened to flor, they’re an indie pop band on Fueled by Ramen. (We’re off to a good start already, right?) If I had to describe them, they’d be a mix of Hellogoodbye and The Naked and Famous, with a little bit of Passion Pit thrown in. They have a dreamy ethereal sound and are infectious as hell. I was so excited that Zach Grace sounded exactly the same live as he does coming through my headphones, and all four artist were so into their performance and their passion absolutely came across. I cannot wait until they’re headlining sets one day.
And, Andrew McMahon. Guys, I was stunned. I’ve been a major fan of McMahon since the Jack’s Mannequin and Something Corporate days, and have been dying to see him live forever. If you’re thinking “how electric can a performance really be when the main act spends about 70 percent of his time sitting at a grand piano” — well, lemme tell you. PRETTY DAMN ELECTRIC.
I honestly wasn’t as in love with “Upside Down Flowers” as I was with his debut album and “Zombies on Broadway,” so I was really glad that McMahon played a wide variety of songs from his repertoire — including Jack’s Mannequin songs, Something Corporate songs and even a Cher cover.
As a crowd, we went absolutely INSANE when “Dark Blue” came on.
McMahon could barely contain himself at his piano, and played half jumping off of his bench the entire time. His enthusiasm was contagious. He relished pretty much every chance he had to get away from the piano — climbing the set’s built-in stairs (while wearing a cape and aviators, no less) and roaming through the crowd during multiple songs. During the encore, he even surfed around the floor level on a giant inflatable pool raft.
I ended up with a prime spot in the crowd, too. The Riv has tiered floors, so I ended up on the second tier right behind a guard rail, so I had a fully unobstructed view of the entire show. As a 5’5″ pipsqueak, I cannot stress enough how lucky this was.
My only — ONLY — critique is that “Halls” wasn’t on the set list. It’s one of my favorites and I would have loved to see it performed live! Oh well, I guess there’s always next time?
A huuge shoutout to my yoga omie (haha yoga jokes — that’s not a typo) Lindsey who went with me and tolerated the blubbering mess that I was during this show.
Anyway, one concert down, three more to go this month! Although tbh, Andrew McMahon has set the bar pretty damn high.
