music

Nicole and I planned for one last concert together before Ainsley Day arrives. We arrive at Verizon Wireless Music Center around 9:00 and it was still another hour or so before John Mayer took the stage, a consequence of two opening acts. This was the third John Mayer concert we’ve attended in the past 5 years and the musical growth of Mayer is evident. From roots as a soulful acoustic artist in 2000, to a somewhat over-produced top-40 star in 2003, to a mature and bluesy artist now, it’s been an interesting and rewarding evolution. I was surprised how much focus there was on theRead More →

Nicole and I arrive and hear the opening act from the outside. The singer sounds like Dave Matthews with a different band, but we realize it’s Mat Kearney when he closes with his song with radio play. He finishes as we find a place on the lawn. Too bad we didn’t catch the whole thing. We meet-up with Nicole’s co-worker Erin and his wife and later run into my MBA classmate Pierre-Alexander Brault. Friends and concerts and a good pairing. Sheryl Crow takes the stage and start playing through her long and well-earned list of hits. She’s like a fine bourbon that keeps getting betterRead More →

Seeing Hootie and the Blowfish has become a Labor Day tradition for Nicole and me. We head downtown, eat ribs, enjoy the show, and spend a great evening together. This year, we had to pay and entrance fee, which was a little disappointing. We then had to go buy tickets so that we could trade them in for ribs and drinks. We picked a tent, picked some ribs, and and had a great dinner before making our way through the lawn. We were about an hour early and it looked like we were going to have a great location — until we walked into theRead More →

Setlist Concert download It’s July and perfect July evening and Nicole and I meet-up Luke and Michelle Shiver for our trek to downtown Indy. Michelle and Nicole grab chairs to take out to the grass while Luke and I park at the Zoo and walk back. We arrive fairly early but center section of The Lawn is already pretty well packed. No worries, we sit close to the front on the right hand side, with easy access to refreshments and restrooms. The show is great. Being in the front row at an small indoor venue is my favorite way to see a concert. But relaxingRead More →

Setlist Seating Location: Section D, 5 rows from the back Our good friends Bryan and Tammy Willett came to visit us for the weekend and go to the show. They are professional UK tailgaters and brought all of their gear. We tailgated at Huggy Bear for a few hours, eating, drinking, playing corn hole, and being merry, before heading to the concert. Our seats were a couple of rows apart, but there were some empties in between so we all sat together and people-watched before the show. My summary of the night’s perforce: an awesome setlist that seemed to be more geared to what theRead More →

Seating Location: Third row in the center. This is my second INXS concert in two months. I never thought I’d be doubling-up on INXS, but the first concert was a total surprise and I’m back for more. I was expecting the concert to be pretty much identical to the previous concert. I was impressed that it wasn’t. These guys are a real band. Not only was the setlist extremely different, but the songs they did play were not the same. They weren’t afraid to stick an extended bridge in here and there. The music was just as great as the first show, but the addedRead More →

Setlist After attending a great O.A.R. concert in Bloomington a couple of months before, I really looking forward to a repeat. My sister-in-law Wendy, who works at Butler, was kind enough to stop by the box office the day tickets went on sale and got Nicole and I some great seats. Unfortunately, there was some confusion about the start time because the Clowes Box Office can’t figure out Daylight Saving Time. The Clowes website has one time, the ticket another, and the O.A.R. website another. We pick what we think is the correct time but arrive about 30 seconds after the O.A.R. starts playing; weRead More →