The Year of Concerts Comes To an End

When you use the word “to” in a title, do you capitalize it? I’ve found info on the net saying yes AND no. Oh, well.

Last night, Lauren and I went to see Mat Kearney. If you recall, I like him a whole lot. I’ve liked him for years – before he was on Grey’s Anatomy or whatever made him popular.

I hadn’t planned on going, mainly because it was general admission in a club. But, my love of his music (the non-rapping songs, anyway) and the fact that tickets were only $15 convinced me to suck it up.

The show was supposed to start at 7:30, and we didn’t get there until just after that. I had heard that there would be an opening act, and I wasn’t too thrilled about rushing up there to suffer through yet one more awful opening band this year. We found our spots on the floor (not too bad, considering the show should have been starting right then) and waited.

The opening band, Vedera, didn’t take the stage until after 8. By that time, I was getting annoyed. My back does not like me to stand in one place too long, and my mild claustrophobia doesn’t like me to stand in crowded rooms for too long. Plus, this meant Mat Kearney wouldn’t take the stage until at least 9, and we were in for a late night.

As soon as Vedera started to play, my orneriness subsided. They were GREAT! I really liked their stuff. Lauren did, too. We decided that we were getting their album, which I did tonight. Love it.

Crazy dancing girl liked them, too.

We first were introduced to her during the pre-show music. She has got to be one of the most talented people I’ve ever seen. She was “dancing” to the music, but was TOTALLY offbeat. Probably the most rhythmically challenged movement of all time. Then, the most insane thing happened. She started clapping to the music, and her claps were right on the beat – WHILE her body was grooving to its own rhythm. CRAZY!!!! I asked Lauren to pose for a weirded-out picture so I could get a shot of Crazy without being obvious, but right as I snapped it, she jerked mostly out of the frame.

See her off to the right there? CRAZY.

Anyway, we both loved Vedera, and I was actually a little bummed when they ended their set. Lauren was a good sport, too, when the singer kept making eye contact with me, especially during the slow songs. It probably didn’t help that right before she started looking at me, I had commented on how cute and spunky she was. Oops. Lauren said she wasn’t jealous, though. Best fiancée ever.

During the break after Vedera, we were introduced to people such as Whiny-Nasally-Voiced-Too-Short-Abercrombie-Model-Wannabe, who almost knocked Lauren down by trying to shove his way closer to the stage, and his friends – including Crazy Dancer. We were also introduced to a weird middle-aged couple who kept plugging their ears during the loud concert music. Oh, and the husband took his shoes off and was standing around in his socks on the nasty club floor. I thought Lauren was going to puke.

After a break that was MUCH too long, Mat Kearney took the stage. He was amazing. I was having a hard time standing around. My back was KILLING me. But it was worth it. Although, Mat was probably one of the most irritating artists when it came to my pet peeve of mentioning the name of the city where you’re playing. He not only mentioned Salt Lake over and over, but inserted it into several songs, and even improvised a rap about Salt Lake. UGH. White rap + city name dropping = annoyed Jeremy.

The concert was still amazing, though. The encore ended with a cover of Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark,” for which Mat brought Vedera onstage again to perform with his band. It was a great ending to the show and a great finale to my year of amazing concerts. I doubt I’ll ever have another year where I see this many concerts again, and that’s okay. I’m getting too old for it, anyway. Too much standing makes me feel like an old grandpa. But at least I keep my shoes on.