I've been pretty tired the past couple days, but that's not because I haven't been able to sleep. I chose to sacrifice sleep for the benefit of seeing two amazing shows in two days. I'll give you a recap:
Monday night - Weezer and Angels & Airwaves @ The Palace
I went with my brother-in-law Wayne, who's a huge Weezer fan. I like Weezer, but not enough to own any of their music. After we paid the undesired $15 parking fee, we went down to the floor (which cost extra, but well worth it) just in time for A&A. I was expecting a slower, spacier version of Blink 182, based on what I had been told. They at least managed to meet those expectations, but if I never hear another A&A song again, I wouldn't be bothered at all. The drummer was really good - I do have to give them that.
Weezer was awesome. They started with "Jonas" and got everyone (including me) pumped up right away. They played over 2 hours, covering all the hits off all their records, including a bunch of stuff from the new record, and even did a cover of Oasis's "What's the Story Morning Glory." I was impressed how good everyone was at their instruments, and each other's. Rivers (sporting the mustache) and Patrick switched instruments on multiple occasions, and everyone in the band got a chance to sing their own songs. This is probably nothing new to the rest of the Weezer faithful.
They also had two encores. For the first one, they handpicked about 20 weezer fans to play with them, which included a slew of acoustic guitarists, a clarinet, tuba, and bassist Scott's dad on saxophone. They played "Island in the Sun" and "Beverly Hills" with the group, ala jam band style. They played two songs in the second encore, with the last one being "Buddy Holly," a perfect ending.
Tuesday night - Sleeping at Last @ Calvin College
Sleeping at Last hardly ever goes on tour, and when they do, they can't bring along the string section that plays on their records. Instead, they bring the next best thing - a MacBook Pro - to cover the string parts. Tonight, however, they recruited people from around the area and formed an 8 piece guest string ensemble to play with them. Four violins, two violas, and two cellos.
They played about an hour and a half, and the strings played about half of the set. I got goosebumps every time they entered the songs. The show tonight was in the chapel, which has very open acoustics and required the band to play quietier. Not a bad thing - it actually made the music feel more personal. By far, it was their best show I've seen them play.
Tuesday night - Sleeping at Last @ Calvin College
Sleeping at Last hardly ever goes on tour, and when they do, they can't bring along the string section that plays on their records. Instead, they bring the next best thing - a MacBook Pro - to cover the string parts. Tonight, however, they recruited people from around the area and formed an 8 piece guest string ensemble to play with them. Four violins, two violas, and two cellos.
They played about an hour and a half, and the strings played about half of the set. I got goosebumps every time they entered the songs. The show tonight was in the chapel, which has very open acoustics and required the band to play quietier. Not a bad thing - it actually made the music feel more personal. By far, it was their best show I've seen them play.
