PSA: AlwaysBuy the Ticket.
A Month of Sound
Anyone who knows me knows I love a good concert. But even I've never been to three in one month.
It wasn't intentional. The dates just happened to line up, and suddenly I had tickets to Michelle Branch, Sombr, and Foster the People.
After almost a year without a concert, I suppose I was making up for lost time.
First up, Michelle Branch.
Michelle Branch
I knew seeing Michelle Branch would be nostalgic. Her music was practically the soundtrack to my teenage years, and some of her songs are attached to memories I can still picture so clearly.
“All You Wanted,” especially.
I sang it at prom with my first boyfriend. I performed it again in college. If you'd asked me which Michelle Branch song would bring back the most memories, I probably would've said that one without hesitation.
But it wasn't.
It was “Tuesday Morning.”
Michelle was fantastic. She looked and sounded just as I remembered her, and I was surprised by how many lyrics I still knew after all these years. But when she started singing “Tuesday Morning,” I found myself thinking about all those car rides to violin lessons with my mom.
Violin used to be a huge part of my life. Every week, my mom would drive me 45 to 60 miles for lessons. I got to pick the music, and Michelle Branch was on regular rotation.
I remember those drives mostly because I didn't want to go. I wanted to be doing something else, anything other than sitting in that passenger seat.
I don't remember ever wondering whether my mom wanted to be there either.
That part didn't occur to me until much later.
Now, I think about all the hours she spent driving, week after week. The time she gave up, the patience it must have taken, and how she did it because it mattered to me.
Back then, I thought those drives were something I had to do. Now, I realize they were something she was doing for me.
Sombr
If Michelle Branch made me miss being a teenager, then Sombr reminded me that I'm definitely not one anymore.
I went with a group of friends. The girlfriends were excited. The husbands, not so much.
Almost immediately, we couldn't get over how young everyone looked. It seemed like anyone our age was there to chaperone their kid. Except us. We were there voluntarily.
And Sombr himself had this very young, earnest energy that was actually kind of endearing.
Throughout the show, giant messages flashed across the screens. Things like “Put down your phones. Live in the moment.”
It was giving LiveJournal circa 2005.
And I say that affectionately, because I absolutely would've eaten that up back then. Probably would've made it my AIM away message.
We sang, we danced, and we had a genuinely fun night. Sombr's songs are ridiculously catchy, even if I wasn't particularly blown away by his performance. The husbands weren't exactly converted fans either.
But the artist we all ended up raving about wasn't even the headliner.
It was Tom Odell.
I'd loved “Another Love” for years. It's one of those songs I could listen to endlessly, but I'd never really explored much of his other music.
Tom opened for Sombr, and when he performed “Another Love,” his voice was so good that all you wanted to do was listen.
No distractions. No need for giant messages reminding anyone to live in the moment. He had everyone's attention just by singing.
And somehow, he sounded even better than his recordings. We all agreed.
I've been listening to more of his music ever since.
I went for Sombr, had a great night singing and dancing with friends, and left with a whole new appreciation for Tom Odell.
Still not ready to discuss the average age of the audience.
Foster the People
Foster the People was the concert I'd been most excited about, and somehow, it still exceeded my expectations.
Goth Babe opened, which was already a treat. I've always loved his laid-back, beachy sound. It's the kind of music that instantly puts me in a good mood, and seeing him live was even more fun. We were dancing and jumping around before Foster the People even came on.
When the band finally took the stage, nearly everyone was on their feet. And they stayed that way.
We had incredible VIP seats, closer than I'd ever been at the Greek Theatre. And I hate to admit it, but where you sit really does change the experience.
From that close, I could watch the musicians interact and jam together rather than simply taking in the whole stage from a distance. It was fascinating to see how much was happening between them while they played.
The stage visuals were fantastic, too, but I kept finding myself watching the band instead.
And the music? I seemed to love every song they played. I'd get excited when one started, only to get even more excited when the next one came on.
Their music is tied to so many happy memories for me. “Sit Next to Me” was even on our wedding playlist. I've always loved that song. There's something about the groove that makes it impossible to sit still, and hearing it live was just as good as I'd hoped.
Some songs make you nostalgic. Others just make you want to dance. And Foster the People has always been really good at making me do both.
I spent the night singing, dancing, and watching a band I've loved for years play right in front of me.
I've been to plenty of concerts, but that night at the Greek became a core memory. I already know I'll remember what it felt like to be there.
I wonder what I’ll remember about this part of my life twenty years from now.
I certainly never imagined I’d grow up missing those long car rides to violin lessons.
And I don’t know which ordinary moments from my life today will matter most to me someday.
But this month reminded me that some of them are worth showing up for before you know what they’ll mean.