Tag: atlanta
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Dropkick Murphys at the Tabernacle in Atlanta
Go see Dropkick Murphys. Right now. Stop reading this article, and go buy a ticket.
For those of you who need a little more convincing, I’m happy to oblige. Read on.
I just went to see DM at the The Tabernacle in Atlanta. This is one of the greatest shows I have ever been to. Let’s get a little crazy and start with the encore. Everyone was completely satisfied and ready to rock out to a few final songs, hang out at the merch table for a bit, and then pack it in. The night was complete, and I was happy just having witnessed such a fantastic, energetic performance. However, a traditional encore was not what DM had in mind. Instead, they decided to invite the women (and then some of the men) from the mosh pit up on stage for “Kiss Me, I’m Sh*tfaced.” Now, I’ve seen bands pull people from the crowd, but it’s usually one or two people, and it’s been very rare. I have never seen anything like this, and it was shocking in the best way possible. Everyone was so excited to be a part of it. It brought the crowd together in a shared experience even more than being pressed up against each other all night moshing had. Perfect end to a perfect show.
Now that that is out of the way, I can tell you about the rest of the show. Brilliant. From start to finish, this show was energy, noise, and excitement (and the show went on for over an hour). There was no down time, and each song had everyone moshing, headbanging, and- pretty regularly- dancing Irish jigs (or at least faking it). Their setlist was perfectly put together with a mix of some older favorites and some newer…new favorites.
Being in the photo pit for the first three songs was incredible. There is an lower extension off of the main stage, and Al Barr stepped down several times to reach out to the crowd as I was standing there. It got to the point where I had to step back to get a shot that would fit his whole face. Never been that close to someone while they were performing.
That’s the thing about DM- they are all about interaction with and amongst the crowd. They are not just standing up on stage and playing at us. The whole night was about bringing everyone together in a great big celebration. I’m still a little baffled as to how they managed to pack so many unforgettable experiences into one show, but I suppose if anyone could do it, it would be DM.
I could go on for another two pages about how amazing this show was, but I think you get the idea.
Before I wrap it up, I really need to take a minute to rave about the openers. The Mahones started the show, and I was blown away. I hadn’t taken much time to check them out before the show (shame on me), so I was completely blindsided by their super-awesomeness. Definitely a band to check out if you haven’t already.
Frank Turner I had listened to (and loved) before, and his performance with The Sleeping Souls was especially impressive. Both of these bands were stand-alone great and a perfect start to the show.
So, there you have it. If you don’t like fun and Irish pride, don’t go to this show. Otherwise, this is a concert to break the bank for.
Anthony Raneri of Bayside- backstage at the Where’s the Band? tour
So much awesome in one room. Normally, when I go to a show, there are one or two main bands that I’m there for, and I enjoy the openers as a sort of appetizer, getting me ready to chow down on the main course of some serious, lose-my-cool rockin’.
This show was too much…in a good way. I have hardcore love for Bayside. And Saves the Day. And The Get Up Kids. Stick my obsessions all in a room together with acoustic guitars and make them sing, and you’re basically saying, “Yes, Emily, we read your diary. This one’s for you.”
Anthony Raneri (Bayside), Chris Conley (Saves the Day), and Matt Pryor (The Get Up Kids) were back to back. Each one’s set was perfect. Anthony serenaded us with some classic Bayside (Blame It On Bad Luck, Don’t Call Me Peanut, etc.), as well as one song (Sandra Partial) from his solo EP, New Cathedrals. Chris gave himself over to the audience and allowed his set to be dictated by requests. Matt’s show was a mix of requests (one from his son) and set songs that would have been requested anyway.
Now that that’s out of the way, I want to mention the first two artists, Evan Weiss from Into It. Over It. and Ace Enders from The Early November. They really should not be excluded from this rave. Both of them played an amazing set, and I immediately went home and added them to my music library (don’t berate me for taking this long to discover love for them).
After the show (which would have been enough to make it a perfect night, let me tell you), I headed over to the merch table to arrange my interview with Anthony. Ended up meeting Chris, Ace, and Matt, all of whom were beyond gracious and delightful while I stood there at a loss for words but trying to use them anyway. Teenage me was losing it. But so was 21-year-old me. These bands are still extremely relevant to me today.
Anthony then took me “backstage” to do the interview. I’m sure the last thing you feel like doing after playing a show is get filmed for an interview, but he was super nice and ready to dive in.
The interview is below. Check it out, and don’t forget to get Anthony’s album, New Cathedrals. It’s only five bucks, and it’s golden.
Introducing The Front Bottoms!
Gotta love The Front Bottoms. I first started listening to them when they came to Athens in September. Even though I missed them when they were here (I had already bought Bright Eyes tickets for the same night), I looked them up and was immediately hooked.
Luckily, they came to Atlanta this month, so I was able to get a second shot at seeing them. And this time, I got to interview them. They were great. The interview was sort of a drive-by gauntlet of questions being fired at them as quickly as possible, since I was not the only interviewer on the list. However, after they finished up with everything, we still had about an hour before the show was to start. During this time, we got to hang out, have a beer, and chat with them. Conclusion: these guys are awesome.
Oh yeah…and the show was great, too! They gave a really energetic, fantastic performance, and I was extremely impressed. Long story short: this band has got it, and you should definitely check them out.
Backstage with Astronautalis
Just got back from interviewing Astronautalis at The Masquerade in Atlanta. This. Was. Awesome.
Before I get to the show, let me talk about the interview. This guy is completely fascinating to talk to (which might explain why the interview ended up going for almost an hour- had to edit the video down and cut it into three parts).
Now for the show- first, let me just say…the audience absolutely adores this guy (with good reason, let me tell you). If you can’t make it to a show, which I adamantly urge you to do, check out some YouTube videos of his live performances. You’ll get it.
Major highlight of the night was the famous freestyle that he does at the end of his shows. He chooses a few people from the audience to give him topics, and then he raps about them on the spot. It’s pretty dang awesome. And guess what? He rapped about Vinyl Mag. No big deal. We’re officially awesome.
Check out the interview below, and then get online, find his latest show, and get on over there.
An evening with Blink-182
I just went to see blink-182 at Aaron’s Amphitheatre in Atlanta. This was an incredible show. I left right after my morning class and got there three hours before the gates were to open (‘cause I’m super cool like that and determined to get up to the front).
As soon as they opened the gates, I booked it to the stage—didn’t even stop to get a free spray-on blink tattoo (which I sincerely wanted to do). Dedication paid off. I got up to the very front on the rail and strategically positioned myself right in front of where I guessed that Mark would be, according to their previous stage set-ups. Made friends with the security guy, which paid off later when some kid (a.k.a. giant manboy) tried to rough me out of my spot and was promptly told to back off.
I’m not going to spend much time on Matt and Kim and My Chemical Romance (openers), because that’s not why I was there. I will say that Kim is frakking awesome and My Chemical Romance, despite the fact that I haven’t really listened to them much since high school, gave a great show and made me feel young..er…again.
Now for blink. They came out, and I lost it. No chance whatsoever of keeping my cool. They opened with “Feeling This,” and it was such a powerful start. Plus, I could not have been more in front of Mark. Success.
The rest of the setlist was a good mix of old and new. The new included “Up All Night” (which I screamed along to despite my personal distaste for it), “After Midnight,” “Heart’s All Gone,” and “Ghost on the Dancefloor.”
When they started to play “Heart’s All Gone,” Mark stopped and announced that they were filming their music video and would be playing through the song twice to get the footage. Win. Yes, I would like to be in a blink-182 video (fulfilling 15-year-old-me’s ultimate dream). No, I would not mind seeing one of my favorite songs from the new album played twice. Needless to say, I kind of freaked out a tad.
Other highlights of my show experience…Now, Mark had a Polaroid camera on stage, and he grabbed it at some point during the show to snap some photos. He went up to Travis while he was in the midst of some hardcore drumming and took a pic of him. He then went up to Tom and did the same. Guess who got the Polaroid of Travis? That’s right…me, and I shall treasure it forever.
Finally, at the very end of the show, after the encore of “Carousel” and “Dammit,” Mark decided to give me one last parting gift. In a diary-entry inspiring handoff (brief but glorious hand squeeze), Mark gave me his last pick. And that was it.