Sunday, May 5, 2013

show review: Andrew McMahon at the TLA 4/10/13

It took me years to take an interest in Something Corporate. In fact, Jack's Mannequin's first album had already dropped before I heard my first SoCo song on purpose, and the second J's M album was out before i bothered getting my hands on a SoCo album.

But I loved Jack's Mannequin from the first listen. I played the crap out of "Everything in Transit" that first summer that it was out. it became routine to get into the car, roll down the windows and blast songs like "Holiday from Real" and "la la lie" on my way to and fro. 

Of course, the seasons changed, and it got colder, and i shelved that album, forgetting it existed. 

A few summers ago, SoCo got back together and i landed some tickets for the show. I decided that i should probably know some of the songs going in, so i started listening to "Played in Space" quite often and fell in love. I knew right away that this was solid stuff, and even though some of the songs were quite a few years old, they were new to me. 

During this time, my best friend fell for Andrew's writing, as well. I knew from seeing J's M that Andrew was a lot of fun to watch perform, and i remember pointing that out before the show. I think its why she fell in love with Andrew, but i dont fault her for it. 

Anyway, back in February I went out with said best friend right around my birthday and she told me that another friend of ours had bought us tickets to go see Andrew McMahon in April at the TLA. If I am being totally honest, at first I was a little bit pissed off that they would get me these tickets because in that moment i wasn't a huge andrew fan, (really, i wasnt a huge anything fan...i take birthdays hard) and i kind of felt like it was a bit rude to just assume that i had nothing to do that night. Really, though, i can be an awful bitch and that was just one of those moments. i did get over it quickly.

The night of the show came around and i was pretty excited. I left work early and met up with Nicole so that we could head over to the TLA. neither of us had eaten dinner so we stopped at one of the many establishments on South Street, Hagan Daas. Ice cream for dinner is totally acceptable, right?

We walked into the show, and immediately hit up the merch table. I bought the softest tee shirt ever, and was holding it up while walking, and damn near walked right into one of the teachers from my school. I couldnt even tell you about either of the opening bands because i was so busy talking to the girls i was standing with and saying hi to fellow Shoners that were there. (I am telling you, not since FIF have i come across a band that bonded me so instantly with fellow fans. This shone thing has been incredible.)

Obviously, though, we shut up when Andrew took the stage. (an aside: I never, ever understood paying not only the ticket price but the insane ticketmaster fees just to go and talk though the headliner. If you wanted to have a chat with your buddies, stay home, put the CD on and cork a bottle of wine. save the rest of us your nonsense...same goes for those who go to a show and make out the whole time. I just dont get it.)

The set was awesome. it was a healthy mix of SoCo, Jack's, and a few of Andrews solo songs. The atmosphere in the room was good, the entertainment was definitely not lacking, and i say this a million times, but there is something totally special about singing along loudly with an entire room of people some lyric that everyone relates to. In this instance, it was the sold-out room yelling "fuck yeah!"

The set list:
Mix Tape
I Woke Up In A Car
Resolution
Me And The Moon
Watch The Sky
Learn to Dance
Swim
Amy, I
Punk Rock Princess
Ruthless
Holiday From Real
Straw Dog
Synesthesia
Bruised
Hey Hey Hey
Dark Blue
*********
No Man Is An Island
Konstantine
La La Lie

We were tipped off that Andrew was going to come out and greet people after the show, so we waited around in the rain for like an hour waiting for him. I am a dummy, though, because I never know what to say to anyone in a situation like that, and he kept looking at me like he was waiting for me to say something, and i just kind of stood there like an idiot. haha. oh well, at least I got this:





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