Somewhere Only We Know

Tuesday night, I got to go see Mat Kearney and Keane at Kingsbury Hall. It was a night full of adventure with trains, gypsies, and Hanson!

We started the evening late. It was Matt’s fault, and I made sure to remind him every chance I got. He met me 15 minutes later than he was supposed to, meaning we were 15 minutes late picking up Kevin & Mindi, 15 minutes late to dinner, and 15 minutes late to the actual concert. Darn Matt. Darn him to Heck.

Kevin (I believe) came up with the idea to go eat at the Gateway and then take Trax to campus for the show. We went to dinner at Z’Tejas, and it was MUCH better than I remembered it. With our bloated stomachs, we hobbled our way to the Trax station. I played “that creepy guy on Trax” during the ride. We learned in the middle of our trip that once you head up to campus, you leave the free ride zone. Oops!

When we got to Kingsbury, the show had already started. Luckily, it was some boring opening act. After them, there was a brief break, and then Mat came out. Holy crud, I love that guy’s music. He played a nice, lengthy set with most of my favorite songs from his first album and a handful of stuff from the new one, out next week.

Our seats weren’t the best, but we could hear everything pretty well, and I wasn’t deaf the next day like I was after Rascal Flatts.

During Mat’s set, a couple came in and sat in front of Matt and me. The girl had shoulder-length blonde hair, and the guy had spiky hair, and when they bobbed their heads, he looked eerily like a bobble head. When the lights came up after Mat, SURPRISE! Blondie was a guy! From the back, he looked just like a woman in the dark, and JUST like a Hanson brother in the light.

We were laughing our heads off, so of course we had to share with Mindi and Kevin. When Mindi got a text telling her to turn around (she was about 5 rows directly in front of us), the sweet, British, middle-aged couple next to Matt and me saw her, and they started laughing, too. They laughed when they saw Matt taking a picture of them, too.

Keane finally came out, and they were INCREDIBLE. Even better than the last time they were here. They played a great mix of songs from their three albums. I was a little bitter that they didn’t play my favorite song, “Snowed Under,” but I’ll live. The Hanson couple LOVED Keane. They knew every word and sang along (so did the British guy). The spiky-haired one would get so excited that he would randomly grab the other, like a little kid on Christmas. They also had some “moves” that they did in sync (it was reminiscent of Ross & Monica Gellar’s “routine”). You know those couples that are so cute, it’s sickening? That was them. I was video-taping some of the songs on my phone, and I couldn’t see the stage very well, so instead, I got them rocking out. Funny stuff.

Back to Keane. The lead singer, Tom Chaplin, was a ball of energy. He was bouncing all over the place. Is it any wonder (ha!) that he’s lost so much weight? They ended up playing for almost two hours. AMAZING. Between them and Mat Kearney, we more than got our money’s worth.

After the show, we headed to the Trax station at the stadium, which was deserted. I checked the schedule, and oops! Whaddya know. We missed the last train by almost a half hour. We all harassed Kevin for having the idea for Trax, when my original suggestion was to park at the stadium.

Kevin called two cabs, and finally, one of them got there. It was driven by a gypsy woman, who I officially named “Rosetta.”

We eventually made it to the Gateway, bid Rosetta farewell, retrieved my car, and went home.

It was a better show than Rascal Flatts, so that gives me hope that each concert I go to this year will be progressively better. Up next, Kelly. Then Jim Brickman, The Fray, and The Killers. I love this year for music.

Rosetta, if you’re out there, thanks for rescuing us! Hanson & friend, you guys were hysterical – thanks for the laughs. And since I’m pretty sure Mat Kearney and Keane read my blog, you guys were GREAT. Come back to Utah soon, please.