i speak to you through this radio

This was supposed to be the less exciting musical weekend in July, but as it turned out, the shows I saw on Saturday night and last night were two of the best I've seen.

First up, Saturday Night - Travis @ "The Fillmore" (I like saying that better than Irving Plaza)

The show started when the house lights went down and the 20th Century Fox music started playing. The the Rocky theme came on and a spot light hit the rear right corner of the venue. The band came walking out from the back of the room to enter the stage and it was probably the best entrance I'd ever seen a band do. And I've been to a lot of concerts. A lot. Mary did a half high five/hand shake with Fran Healy and I think it filled that void in her heart that had formed the day we found out John Nolan got married. (I don't think that really affected Mary nearly as much as it affected me, but I digress).

I remembered from when I saw them with Mary six years ago that Travis basically defines "feel good music". It was impossible to not keep smiling through the whole show. I've never been to a concert where there was literally an encore - despite opening with "Selfish Jean", the band came out after a minute or two offstage, played an awesome acoustic version of "Flowers in the Window" with the five of them gathered around Fran and his guitar

(I took this picture from this guy's blog. I found it during a google search for the set list - wanted to give credit where credit's due!)

and then they brought out Demetri Martin and did "Selfish Jean" again! where he re-enacted this video:

So great. They ended with "Why Does It Always Rain On Me" and Fran made the whole crowd pogo and I swear as Mary and I walked back to Penn Station afterwards, my legs hurt, I really felt like I'd gotten a work out. I was all depressed that I was going to Dispatch the next night and that I wouldn't get to go with Mary to the second Travis show until . . .

holy crap, Dispatch last night was honestly one of the best concerts I've ever been to. Ever. Easily top five. Probably top three. I'm too lazy to stop and think about it and to scan through that list up there right now to figure out what the best ones were. (Note to self: future blog topic.)

Seriously, I can't even fathom the fact that Chad Urmston played hockey for NYU a few years before I was there and that his band sold out MSG three nights in a row. Liz KNOWS him. We invite him to the frickin alumni game every year! Ha!

Craig and I were a little concerned about the crowd when we first got there (young and wasted) but it was a great time. It's been a while since I last listened to Dispatch regularly but I forgot how many truly amazingly brilliant songs they have. And they just kept pulling them out. An hour went by. Two hours went by. Two and a half hours went by. When 11:10 came around and they hadn't even left the stage pre-encore yet, I almost cried realizing that I'd have to get the 11:17 or be stuck waiting around until 1:04 (and have to be at work at 8 this morning). I took off, making Craig stay so he could call me when they played "Out Loud" and "The General" (I will never forgive myself for leaving before hearing two of my three favorite Dispatch songs performed live, probably for the last time ever, but I would not have made it to work this morning if I hadn't, and taking off for the Jesse Lacey/Kevin Devine show, the MPRE, and Kate's wedding all sadly had to take precedence) and they went on to play for another forty minutes. 27 songs in all, three and a half hours:

1. Here We Go
2. Open Up
3. Bang Bang
4. Riddle
5. Ride a Tear
6. Lightning
7. Mission
8. Prince of Spades
9. Carnival
10. Cover This
11. Passerby
12. Fallin'
13. Bridges
14. Steeples
15. Walk With You
16. Flying Horses
17. Time Served
18. Even
    
19. Mayday
20. Past the Falls
21. Customs
22. Elias
23. Two Coins
24. Cut It Match It
25. Bats in the Belfry
26. Out Loud
27. The General

Music is simply the greatest thing ever. Ever.

In completely unrelated news, I got a library card today. I feel good about life.