Who am I kidding....I can't pretend to act all cool and nonchalant about this! Last night...I was TOTALLY HANGING OUT WITH THE BOYS FROM SNOW PATROL AND ATHLETE!!! Ohmigod!!!!!!!! How frigging awesome!
Snow Patrol
Loyal readers, I am so happy to report that music is alive and well (and, apparently, living in the U.K.)! Thanks to our dear friend (and world famous photographer), MJ, we scored a couple of tickets to the Culture Room, where the aforementioned bands delighted hundreds of adoring fans with their sublime, surreal, sweet and sassy sounds. And Sassy was standing in the front row, holding onto the edge of the stage, in complete and utter ecstasy! Thank you, Michael Joseph!
There's no point trying to describe the kickass music these lads produce...you simply must listen to it for yourself. It will change your life, I swear. Seriously - go download their albums right now, put on "Wires" by Athlete or "Run" by Snow Patrol, and come back to this page to continue reading my blather.
Back already?
Ok - so here's what happened. We got to the venue early and decided to pop over to the Irish pub for a couple of drinks before claiming our tickets. Two scotches and a couple of Bass ales later, we got in line, just ahead of a fun group of kids from Chicago, who are crisscrossing the country to follow the bands. (Kids still do that! Who knew?) Having only recently discovered Snow Patrol myself, I was delighted to hear these diehard fans promising me an excellent show.
"If you like Snow Patrol on CD, you're gonna LOVE them live!" they all exclaimed. "And the opening band ROCKS!" they added.
"Really?" I respond. "Who is opening for them?"
"ATHLETE!!!!!!!!!" they practically scream at my head, as if I just fell off the turnip truck. Then they proceeded to list all the other bands I should be listening to, including Embrace and Idlewild. By this point, I am thoroughly excited and giggling with the girls in glee as the band members stroll past us (apparently heading to Target for a last minute shopping spree before the show).
Finally, we get into the club. By the way - a GREAT setting for concerts. No bad seats in the house, as they say. (Actually - there really aren't any seats at all). I immediately buy a Snow Patrol t-shirt, whip my own blouse off, and - in a total, unabashed groupie move - put on the SP top. Oh, and once we got inside - more good news - they have a bar within 10 paces of the stage. Now, y'all just know Sassy was in heaven!
Ben and I work our way to the front and park at the edge of the stage. And then, Athlete comes out and rocks my world. After they sweep me off my feet, Snow Patrol saunters out and simply KICKS MAJOR ASS! [Again - there's no point trying to describe the quality and caliber of the music from these two bands. By now, you should be listening to "El Salvador" by Athlete or "Chocolate" by SP]. Ben and I dance, sing, hug, laugh, sing, dance, drink, laugh....it was a great show. The bands totally engage the audience and make you feel like they dropped everything just to come and sing for you...and you get the feeling they're happy, inspired, and honored to be doing so.
Ok - so the show ends, as shows tend to do. And we head back over to the bar (because my Chicago posse told me they heard the word on the street...and the word was that the bands were heading over there after the gig). Sure enough, the bands enter and the crowd goes wild. Ok - no one went wild - but there was much love. One thing leads to another and next thing you know [and some of you do know what happens when I am out in public], I have a tab at the bar, acccessible to anyone who knows the password (last night it was Nicholas Gemini - don't ask) and me, the Chicago posse, and the bands, are partying it up. The good news is, Ben tells me my tab was only $90. Apparently, one of the guys from Athlete was buying my drinks...ROCK ON!
The hours go by, I have these deep, heartfelt conversations with Stephen (drummer - Athlete) and Gary (lead singer - SP), I drink some more scotches, I high-five the girls from Chicago, and I kill all the brain cells that were actually recording the conversations I was having. Oh well. The good news is that Ben said I looked like I was having a blast and one of the guys from the band came over and told him he had a great gal. So there.
Anyway - it was a wonderful show - even if Ben and I were like the oldest people there. I love my new t-shirt. Gonna go put it on right now.
Snow Patrol and Athlete RULE!!!!!!!!
Signed,
Slightly Hungover Sassy
P.S. Stayed tuned for Nizzle's Graduation story....
6 comments:
Who makes a password at a bar? Oh yeah, I am the password, how did that start anyways? Glad to hear you had a good time, we sure did. Here are some pics from the show the next night and from The Briny Irish Pub. Athlete will be touring the US soon so keep an eye out.
Yay! Those photos rock out! Thanks so much for stopping by the blog! We had a great time. If you are coming back this way, be sure to drop me a note! I will totally look out for the Athlete tour. Ben has made the official pronouncement that he prefers Athlete over SP....Whoa...
kick ass story!! I wish I had stories like that. you rock Sassy
:))))
Back at ya! :o)
Woo hoo, Carrie! Yay! Ben and I think Chicago in the fall, watching Athlete, and hanging out with our Chicago Posse would be AWESOME! If you know the dates, let us have 'em so we can see if it fits into our travel schedule (a trip a month for the next 5 months!).
We loved hanging out with you guys! Oh and EMBRACE absolutely RULES! Idlewild is totally rocking too! My fave Embrace song is Ashes (and I also like Glorious Day).
Thank god we met you guys so we can load up our MP3s with some new, kickass music!
ROCK ON, Chicago Posse!
Didn't see any FL dates for Embrace. I see they are coming to Chicago in June though. Lucky you.
OK - Let's all make sure that Athlete picks the latter part of September to go to Chicago. We will be over on the left coast through September 17, so we can't get to Chicago before then. Unfortunately, we will miss their shows out west but we are DYING to see them again!!!!
Lotsa luv to all!
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