Because I was smart and spend an exuberant amount of money on music related things, I purchased a "special ticket" and was able to have one of the coolest experiences of my life because of it. The "special ticket" allowed me to get in to watch part of the sound check... where the band invited people who were interested to come on stage!!!
J + Rhydian
After spending a few minutes living out my dream of being a rock star, we got to have a meet and greet with the band. They were absolutely charming and super nice to all their fans (even though I'm sure I freaked Ritzy out by telling her that she was even cuter in person... WHAT?! SHE IS!!!). I managed to get a picture the guy in front of me was nice enough to give to me signed AND I got a picture with the band.
A new supergroup I christened "The Joey Formidable"
God, I'm clever.
All in all, one of the coolest experiences of my life thus far. Showtime came around and I managed to get front row, center... which, surprisingly, was in the middle of a group of pretty rad optometrists. Who knew your eye doctor liked such good music?! The first to take the stage was Exit Music from New York. They were good but nothing I was overly excited about. Their sound was a bit mellower than the other two acts so they seemed a little out of place.
Following them was A Place To Bury Strangers, who have the title of loudest band from New York (how they earned that title is a mystery to me) and holy queen of Shiva were they great. I'd never heard any of their music before but they brought the noise. It wasn't just noise of the sake of being loud, either. Their music was really melodic and actually had substance. I've never seen a band play until the bass player's strings broke but they did... Thoroughly impressed!
Next, the main act: The Joy Formidable bounced to the stage and quickly reminded me of why I was looking forward to seeing them again. These guys have so much energy that you can't help but get into. A special treat this time around was being close enough to pick out all of Ritzy's, their singer, facial expressions... She makes quite a lot of interesting ones!
What most impressed me was that they all looked like they were genuinely having fun up there. The chemistry between Rhydian and Ritzy was infectious and was especially apparent when Ritzy jumped on his back, still playing her guitar.
Oh, and did I mention that Ritzy continued her tradition of massacring the stage during Whirring, their final, climactic song during the encore, by not only tossing her guitar at the on stage gong but knocking over Matt's drumset at the very end. HOW BADASS IS SHE?! Super badass is the answer to that question.
Another highlight was hearing their new song, Silent Treatment, for the first time. It's a lot quieter than their other music but you can really hear the emotion as Ritzy sings. In fact, I thought she was going to cry a few times during it. It made me really excited for the new album to come out which, incidentally, they announced is finished. While they gave no indication of a release date, I'm hoping it will be soon as I already want to see them again, not even 24 hours later.
Next month, I have my whirlwind concert tour with the Ting Tings, First Aid Kit, Kathleen Edwards, Cults, the Head and the Heart, Howler, Dessa, and Lights. WHEW!!! It's going to be a long, but awesome, month! Stay tuned!
