I have a deep relationship with music.  It fuels so much of what is inside me.  It speaks for me, to me and through me.  I also love music that has no personal meaning at all.  For that, I like it loud.

Why am I telling you this?

I never paid attention to Black Keys.  I know, I know... how can I be a contributor on a music blog without having ever bothered to listen to them.  It's just not my speed but I do acknowledge their talent.

So why now do I bring them up, you ask?

It all started when I took the latest issue of Rolling Stone to read while I soaked in the tub.

What?  I'm a single mom.  There's a lot of truth to what Calgon is selling.  Speaking of selling, I have no idea why Rolling Stone is in my mailbox every week since I'm not a subscriber.  I did, however, appreciate the recent issue with Kit Harington.  That man ... definitely ... knows ... something....

But, I digress.

There's an article about Black Keys latest record.  What first caught my eye was the notation that it was created from the band members "darkest days."  You can dismiss me as morose but I have oftentimes found that the best music comes from tragedy.... it's that form of raw pain that I most relate to.

Hmmm... maybe I DO have some issues.

Okay, so... back to my point.  The article references lyrics to their song In Our Prime. "The house, it burned but nothing there was mine.  We had it all when we were in our prime."

Damn.

Coming from an acrimonious divorce where I walked away with nothing but profound loss, it slammed me.  Hard.  And I wanted to hear more.  So I downloaded their entire new album (wait... do we call them albums anymore?)

I encourage you to do the same.

Ever since my first Thirty Seconds To Mars show almost three years ago, I'd been eagerly anticipating their return. After playing an astounding 300+ shows on their last tour, which spanned over two years and earned the band a Guiness World Record for "Longest Concert Tour by a Rock Band," they're now back on the road in support of their fourth album LOVE LUST FAITH + DREAMS, a tour which kicked off with Friday's sold-out Atlanta show at The Tabernacle.

The Tabernacle is probably my favorite concert venue out of all the places I've seen shows over the years. It's historic, beautiful, and magical. Yes...I truly believe the place holds a very special kind of strange magic! But Friday's show almost didn't happen for Spank and me. I set out for Atlanta Friday morning not knowing whether Spank could go or whether I'd go on by myself if she couldn't. But after feeling more optimistic as each mile rolled away, I knew things would work out in the end. And did they ever! We literally found out at the last minute that the show (for us, anyway) would go on.

Thanks to some INSANE traffic in downtown Atlanta, we arrived at the venue a few songs into New Politics' (David Boyd, Soren Hansen and Louis Vecchio) extremely high-energy set. I had heard one song by them and knew that I liked it, but I was absolutely hooked after seeing them perform and have been listening to A Bad Girl in Harlem NON STOP since the show. My review was originally supposed to be only of New Politics' set, but with no set list to go by nor any usable video footage from the show uploaded to YouTube yet, all I can really tell you we heard for sure was "Fall Into These Arms" and "Harlem." And of course vocalist David Boyd did his signature breakdance moves:

(Note: this is not my video. This is not from Friday's show, but it IS from a few months ago at the same venue. You should definitely watch it anyway!)



So I usually briefly touch on the opening acts, but I have to say this is the first opener that I actually want to (and will) see again and again.

Spank will have a review of Thirty Seconds To Mars up shortly. In the meantime, here's a guest review from Catherine, whom Spank and I met at the 2011 Thirty Seconds To Mars show:

"The first time I saw 30 Seconds to Mars, it ended up being the best night of my life. When I saw them again for the second time last Friday, that night became another to remember.

I was once again thankful enough to be able to purchase the Meet & Greet package through Adventures in Wonderland (the last time it was from Golden Tickets though it was much cheaper (plus, I even got to sit on the stage last time, but it was far too expensive now...)). The Meet & Greet was before the concert, and once again I also met many fellow Echelon who are just as passionate and encouraging as I strive to be.

The package also enabled me to sprint up the interior Tabernacle stairs and onto the concert floor in front of the gated barrier (a spot that I had been cherishing the moment I bought my ticket) before the rest of the crowd. I even brought my camera, taking fewer pictures than the last time because I wanted to make sure I saw everything I could of Jared, Shannon and Tomo melting the faces of Atlanta's Echelon.

And melt they did. "Night of the Hunter," "Conquistador" and "End of All Days" were among the best of the performance, in my opinion. I was even happily surprised when Jared sang "From Yesterday" acoustically after hearing a request from the crowd. The show ended with "Up in the Air," as Jared beckoned many from the pit to be uplifted by security guards onto the stage. I was so happy to experience such a great show, but then it got better.

I cannot think of any other band who would stay after a show and be willing to sign CDs bought by ANYONE at the concert venue. Because they did this, my cousin was able to meet 30 Seconds to Mars, and I am pretty sure that made her week. I admit, I bought another CD just so I could meet them AGAIN. I just could not resist seeing more of the members of a band who have inspired and comforted me so much throughout the years.

30 Seconds to Mars only confirmed why I love them like I do with their performance last Friday. There was passion, a variety of musical abilities and an energy shared by all in attendance that I wish everyone could experience. The next time they are in Atlanta, one can bet that I will most definitely be there."

Thank you, Catherine, for sharing your review!

This is a bittersweet post for me, as my concert year has come to a close. This won't be my last post of the year, but it WILL very likely be my last review till 2014. Head out to see Thirty Seconds To Mars on this tour if you get the opportunity; you will not be disappointed. Also try to catch New Politics anytime you can; they really ARE that good. Till next time.....enjoy these great photos Catherine shared with us:

....and the story goes on.....

Friday, September 27, 2014
The Tabernacle, Atlanta, GA

Last night Butch Walker played at Variety Playhouse in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia.  I have been excitedly anticipating this night for months!  Now, I first saw Butch Walker in the 1990s at a music festival when he fronted the band Marvelous 3.  If you're not familiar with his early work, please remedy that.  You won't be sorry.  It's hard to choose my favorite song by them but I am posting a live acoustic version of Cigarette Lighter Love Song because it is beautiful, expertly performed and really shows you how incredible this man really is with his vocal range, songwriting and all around f*ck-awesomeness.

Now you MAY be wondering if Butch played this song last night.  I'm wondering that too.  You may be scratching your head and saying, "But weren't you at the show, Spank?" Well, yeah... I was.  For a while.

I'm a single mom (cue the violins) and so in order to hit up this show on a school/work night I needed to employ what is known as a babysitter.  By the way, my babysitter is HOT and my son is going to someday be thanking me emphatically that she got to put him to bed:

Relax people! She's costumed as the Queen of Hearts for Dragon*Con, not a quiet night at Spank's house.  After leaving my kids in capable (and beautiful) hands, I ventured out to meet up with my friend Julie and after passing the storage facility for that which will give Batman a solid advantage in the upcoming Man of Steel movie

we arrived at the venue.  I was so insanely excited about seeing Butch Walker that not even the supercalifragilisticexpialidocious drunk chick sitting beside us could sully my mood.  But something did.

8:00 p.m.

Opening acts.

First up was Josh Fletcher who played a 30 minute acoustic set.  The music was mellow and he proved to be an engaging opening act, incredibly talented and was perfect music to set the mood as the venue filled up.  

8:40 p.m. 

Second artist to play was The Howling Tongues.  I'm hesitant to say much about this band.  In fairness, it could have been that they performed a sub-par cover of U2's Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses or MAYBE it was that they played for a SOLID hour, but I did not enjoy them much at all. 

9:40 p.m.

At this point I'm staring at my phone and calculating in my head how much money I'm paying the Queen of Hearts to watch my kids and feeling the knot tightening in my stomach.  

10:03 p.m. 

BUTCH WALKER!!!!!

Finally.

He walked out onto the stage, sat at his piano and opened with Amazing Grace in tribute to his father who passed away less than two weeks ago.  It was intense and emotional, and to share that deeply personal moment with him and his family was an honor.

I have chills again..... and tears.

He played a lot of stuff off his new record which releases Tuesday titled Peachtree Battle, written in honor of his late father.  Now, y'all go to shows so you know the joke about when an artist starts playing new stuff that's time to go to the bathroom?  The marker of Butch Walker's talent is that when he played his new stuff WE. SANG. ALONG!  The crowd was roused and excited and enthusiastic.  He is THAT good!  He also played some older songs which stand the test of time.

11:07 p.m.

We had to go.  We didn't want to.  We had to.  But just as we were readying to leave I turned to my friend and said "let's just see what he plays next."  I'm so glad we did.  One of my top five FAVORITE songs was played, "She Likes Hair Bands."

Forgive the quality but I was super excited and couldn't really stand still during this song!

After the song ended, we had to leave.  Did not want to.  HAD to!  So I don't know what other favorites he played but I will say that for the time I got to share air space with Butch Walker it was incredible!

To sum up.

Concert ticket: $32.00
Babysitter:       $60.00
A night with Butch Walker (even abbreviated): PRICELESS!

Please support this amazingly beautifully talented man by downloading ALL his music, including his new effort Peachtree Battle!

And remember to come visit me at my regular home on the Interwebs!

First and foremost: if you're here from the Music Monday hops, hello! My selection is at the bottom, but I hope you'll stay for the review of the show as well :)

Thursday evening (August 15, 2013), I headed to Atlanta for The Killers show with Spank. The evening was perfect for me, but poor Spank was sick and achy. And being the trooper she is, she came out to enjoy the show with me anyway! (and you can (and should) read her review here.)

After some shenanigans where we very nearly started out for the wrong venue and a bit of tailgating, we headed inside the arena, grabbed some merch, and headed to our seats way back in the back of the venue. It's really frustrating to have pit "seat" tastes on a lawn seat budget, but those are the breaks sometimes (and we weren't on the lawn, but the same principle applies to anything farther back than the first few rows!) We found our seats just in time to see the last song or two by special guests The Virgins, who were perfect to get the crowd ready for the night's headliner.

Proudly hailing from fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada, Brandon Flowers, Dave Keuning, Mark Stoermer and Ronnie Vannucci, Jr (along with Ted Sablay and Jake Blanton) quickly cranked the heat up on this unseasonably cool, Mid-August night in Georgia with the crowd-pleasing opener "Mr. Brightside." The band continued with "Spaceman" and "The Way It Was" before Brandon decided to "test" our "Hot Fuss knowledge" with "Smile Like You Mean It." The show, laden with lasers, pyro, a beautiful fireworks waterfall, and tons and tons of confetti in the shapes of lightening bolts and the letter "k", stretched for what seemed like a good two hours in which we also got a bit of verse from "Human" before launching into "Bling (Confession of a King)" and a cover of Joy Division's "Shadowplay."

Then? Then they played my favorite song off Battle Born (and quite possibly my favorite song of theirs, period.), "Miss Atomic Bomb," "Human" and "Somebody Told Me" before nearly making me cry with "Be Still." Continuing with "For Reasons Unknown," "From Here on Out," "A Dustland Fairytale," "Read My Mind" and "Runaways," they closed the main part of their set out with "All These Things That I've Done."

For their encore, they brought Xan and Donald from The Virgins out for a beautiful rendition of Neil Young's "Albuquerque," which also nearly made me cry. They then performed "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" before going into an epic, seven-plus minute version of "Battle Born" during which lead singer Flowers introduced his band, jumped into the crowd and talked about new sensations in unmentionable body parts (tsk, tsk. You naughty, naughty Mormon boy!). They finished their performance for the evening with "When You Were Young," the latter two songs (and talk of unmentionable body parts) you can see here on this youtube vid (that some kind soul recorded, uploaded, and left sharing enabled):



What can I possibly say about this band, this show, to do the night justice? Not much. Technically speaking, they are perfect. From my vantage point (the back of the arena, so I did most of my watching on the Jumbo-tron) the band members were each so into what they were doing that there wasn't a lot of fan interaction or other theatrics. That sounds like a bad thing, but it's really not - I actually kind of love it when someone is so focused on what they're doing that they're just lost in it. In fact, *I* was just lost in it all as well. I don't think I stopped swaying the entire evening. Being able to move and around and lose yourself is one of the advantages, I suppose, to being in a less crowded section of the venue.

The band may not have commanded the crowd, but they certainly managed to shine on their own and mesmerize us all the same. Dominating the audience was the ever-charismatic Brandon Flowers, who smiled all night long, is very comfortable in his lead singer role, and also appeared to be genuinely happy to be up there performing. With his vocal abilities, why wouldn't he be? The man's got an amazing voice that sounds exactly the same live as it does produced and recorded. He hits every note, gets every pitch spot-on. Even the higher notes sound the same. He was clearly born to do this.

This was an unbelievably amazing night. At one point, I turned to Spank and said "Can you even believe this?" We were both just in awe of how good The Killers are live. If you like their music, then you NEED to see them live. I know I will again, any time I have the opportunity.

Image Credit: Brandon Flowers courtesy of Elizabeth Flores

Hi everyone! Spank here ready to deliver a recap of a fantastic night with my friend Belle in Atlanta to see The Killers.  Belle is the resident musical reviewing genius of this blog so I suggest you read her post for all the specific details about their performance that I will likely miss.

Before I begin let me say that in my defense... I was REALLY not feeling well the night of the show:

But I'm not one to let a pesky fever keep me from a live show so off we went.  Of course, we ALMOST went to the wrong venue.  I'd like to say that my fever prevented me from focusing but, in truth, I am directionally challenged on the best of days.  Regardless, we made it and chilled out (and by chilled out I mean we were FREEZING--it was October in August) for a little tailgating (brought to you by Yuengling) before heading into the venue.  The right venue.  No thanks to me.

The opening act, The Virgins, had already begun their set so we only heard about two songs.  While their name left a lot to be desired (unless you desire virgins, that is) the music was spot on and enjoyable.  These guys also hail from New York like Spank so that makes them awesome by default.

See that? That's me sitting down while waiting for The Killers to begin.  Once they did, my ass did not one time see that chair.  They started their set with Mr. Brightside which was a PERFECT way to generate a swell of excitement for how the night was going to be.  Electric, fun, crazy-good energy and awesome music!

From there they played a non-stop set of their hits, new songs and a few incredible covers.  What struck me most about the show was Brandon Flowers who exudes an infectious enthusiasm.  While the entire band played an inspired set, it was Brandon, as frontman, who interacted most with the audience and did so righteously.

And his voice!  People, seriously -- I have seen a lot of shows and some really incredible ones too.  His range is impressive. He hit EVERY note and delivered every single song flawlessly.  While Belle leans more toward sound, I am a lyrics girl and so when you provide my musical soul with the right lyrics and music that matches the mood of those lyrics, it can bring me to tears.... and that happened a few times during the show, specifically when they sang A Dustland Fairytale, All These Things I've Done and Be Still.

I didn't take this video but here's how the band ended their solid two hour set: Battle Born into When We Were Young:

At the end of the show I had a huge smile on my face and even a few tears falling over what a perfect night I had under the stars with a fantastic friend and some incredibly talented guys, and was feeling ever so thankful that what happened in Vegas didn't stay in Vegas but came to Atlanta for one magical night.

August 15, 2013
The Killers
Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park
Alpharetta, GA