Remembering the Encores

2012 was a good year for me, which was nice after 2011's shitshow. I accomplished so many things I wanted to - 15,000 minutes in the gym, 20 books read, increased philanthropy, hitting some financial milestones. I took myself on some amazing adventures - the Eiffel Tower, the West End, Austin City Limits Festival, ending happy hour with a beach bonfire, dressing up like a zombie and not crying at my own reflection, starting a new job that I love. All that, plus I saw some incredible live music. Trying to pick the top five concerts from this past year was hard - top five performances? top five experiences? In the end, I went with the five that now, however many months later, I can still remember exactly how awesome the show made me feel. In no particular order: fun. - April 25, 201 2 "And I really do believe, that if everyone could feel the way I felt driving home that night - exhilarated, alive, in love with life, able to conquer anything - the world would be a mu

As one of my nephews pointed out, "Aunt Jenny wishes her life was a musical. Of course she loves Christmas songs; it's like a built in soundtrack." (Please note: essentially, nobody calls me Jenny.) Some traditional, some a little further out - this is a collection of some of my favorites.

Phillip Phillips/ Wicked Game So, we know that Chris Isaac's 'Wicked Game' is the sexiest song ever written, right?  And that it could not ever possibly be improved upon?  While not better, per se, this version is AMAZING.  By making a few lyrical adjustments, the story of the song gets completely flipped and I love the DMB/Mumfordesque take on it.  SO GOOD.  

Who: Austin City Limits Festival, Day 2 When: October 14, 2012 Where: Zilker Park/ Austin, TX With: Taryn, Tristan, Steph, Darrell, Peter, Mike Of Note: All the emergency ponchos in the world can't stop us from dancing in the rain Day 3 highlights below! Emotional navel gazing about the week-end here Day 1 here Day 2 here Day 3 The Features, Boxer Rebellion, Freelance Whales, Stars, needtobreathe, Civil Wars, Iggy Pop and the Stooges, Red Hot Chili Peppers Day 3 began with my melting into an actual puddle of vaguely Jen shaped & scented goo because holy hell, it was hot. It's also worth noting that when I woke up Sunday morning, my entire leg was covered in hives where I had fallen down in the mud the day before. I apparently had an allergic reaction to Texas. The first aid tent assured me that it was not, "some weird Texas thing that was going to kill me." Taryn really wanted to get to the park early to see The Features. I am so, so, so gla

Who: Austin City Limits Festival, Day 2 When: October 13, 2012 Where: Zilker Park/ Austin, TX With: Taryn, Tristan, Steph, Darrell, Peter, Mike Of Note: All the emergency ponchos in the world can't stop us from dancing in the rain Day 2 highlights below! Emotional navel gazing about the week-end here Day 1 here Day 2 Civil Twilight, Bombay Bicycle Club, Dry the River, Big K.R.I.T., Metric, Band of Skulls, The Roots, Gotye, Neil Young I had seen Civil Twilight the week before in Buffalo; we caught the last couple of songs right as we got to the park. The folks at the water filling tent though I was hilarious because I was dancing around like an idiot while getting my Nalgene filled. Bombay Bicycle Club was a good early day set; Taryn and I noted that there were way more hipster children there on Saturday than there had been on Friday. Thus we dubbed it Austin City Daycare. Towards the end of the set, Taryn made the comment, "Come on guys; it's almost o

Who: Austin City Limits Festival, Day 1 When: October 12, 2012 Where: Zilker Park/ Austin, TX With: Taryn, Tristan, Steph, Darrell, Peter, Mike Of Note: My mind was blown... So, since we've already discussed all my emotions , let's jump right into the music. There is no way I can give a comprehensive overview of all the amazing bands I saw, so I'm going to summarize the stand out moments - if you have questions about a band I haven't addressed, leave 'em in the comments! Day 1 The Wombats, Quiet Corral, River City Extension, Delta Spirit, Ben Howard, Tegan & Sarah, Alabama Shakes, Florence + the Machine, M83, The Black Keys I was SO excited to see the Wombats. Like, I feel like I have been listening to The Wombats forever. They did not disappoint and were a fabulous way to kick off the festival. They had a pretty big crowd for 11:30am on a Friday and everyone was super into them. They also had approximately 100 equipment malfunctions leading to

So, I went to the Austin City Limits Festival and it was amazing. Like holy crap, best week-end ever, blew my mind amazing. But, before I can tell you about the dreaminess of Ben Howard, the perfection of Florence + the Machine, and how I'm obsessed with The Features, I need to talk about the emotional impact the week-end had on me. Bear with me while I navel gaze. ( Shut up Jen, nobody cared about your feelings. Click here to go straight to the music.) I recently read (and shared on Facebook) an article titled The 5 Types of Friends Everyone Should Have . Friend number one on the list is "the friend who is always down for whatever". The article argues that in a world where everyone makes it a competition to see who can act the busiest, it's refreshing to know people that you can call at 4pm on a Tuesday for a rock climbing expedition, at 11pm on a Friday for impromptu cocktails or, in this case, about a month before a major festival that requires cross

Maroon 5/ Lucky Strike It's no secret that I love cheesy reality television singing competitions.  I've gotten way into The Voice this season (on DVR) because the coaches are likable, knowledgeable and funny and the contestants all can sing!  Things I have learned from The Voice: 1. Blake Shelton is hilarious. 2. Adam Levine is smoking hot. 3. I live in constant fear of seeing Christina Aguilera's boobs.  I'm also fascinated by the fact that though they are in the same outfits for the whole "audition" portion, they look squished differently from scene to scene. 4. Watching them all fight with each other is hilarious. 5. Watching the contestants get SO PUMPED when someone turns around is really kind of magical. Anyway, based on my newly found appreciation for Mr. Levine, I've been Spotify-ing Maroon 5's latest album, Overexposed.  This song is SO GOOD.  I've been dancing in my chair all day.  Pay particular attention to the line about t

'Cherry Cheesecake' was so named because I used to keep tabs on my friend Neil's art of the mix page and he had a mix named Chocolate Cake (? or something like that...) and I thought it was clever and I blatantly copied him. (It feels kind of lame to admit that.) Also, apparently Chris Issak's 'Wicked Game is not Spotify available. This version is the first track of the mix: I think this was late freshman/early sophomore year. I remember being obsessed with Lisa Loeb's 'How' and I have always thought that 'Wicked Game' is one of the sexiest songs I've ever heard. 'Jumper' always makes me think of season 5 of Road Rules; my freshman year roommate was obsessed with The Cure.  I'm not sure why I included the two random pop princess songs, though good on me for going for the tier 2 pop princesses.

Phantom Planet - California Katy Perry - California Girls Mat Kearney - New York to California Rogue Wave - California So, if you haven't heard....I got an incredible career opportunity and I'm MOVING TO CALIFORNIA (eventually; I'm still figuring out the logistics, though I start my new job in a couple of weeks).  I am 85% excited and 15% apprehensive.  More details to come!! Buffalonians: You're not rid of me yet; it'll be at least a couple of months before I actually move.  Prepare for me to be up your butt until I go; I'm going to miss you all so much!

Who: moe. When: October 27, 2004 & October 28, 2004 Where: Riviera Theater/ Tonawanda, NY & State Theater/ Ithaca, NY With: Ben & Mike? One or the other? Both? Jenn in Tonawanda, maybe? Of Note: Occasionally, I like to pretend that maybe, just a little, I'm kind of a bad-ass. I'm not. This is a tale of two moe. shows.  October 2004 was interesting. It was my first semester of MBA school; I had just started my first marketing internship. I was over my undergraduate graduation nervous breakdown and hell-bent on making sure I wasn't in the same unemployable boat when I finished MBA school. Being in classes felt good. When moe. announced fall tour dates, I was all over it. I remember thinking it was kind of a weird venue - Riviera is a theater where you would see like, a community production of Nunsense or something. It had been a while since I'd seen moe., the previous year's fall tour, I believe. I remember that it felt good ju

I thought it would be fun to dig out some of my old 'Mix CDs' for my devoted audience's enjoyment, perhaps with some bonus commentary. (Prepare yourself for lots of college navel gazing, essentially.) Perhaps the best mix I've ever made, and definitely my very favorite, is this gem from 2001 titled 'I Can drink in Canada!' - which I made, obviously, for my 19th birthday. This collection of songs feels like an actual time machine that takes me back to my freshman year of college. It's a perfect storm of college influences (a guy my roommate was seeing loved Ben Folds Five, Sublime is racy enough that it made me feel very grown-up), high school hold-overs (Sugar Ray, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and selections from the 'Can't Hardly Wait' soundtrack, obviously), and all the "punk" covers that were so prevalent at the time ('Jenny', 'Take On Me'). I have used this mix as an all-purpose pick me up - it's see

Who: Britney Spears with DJ Pauly D When: August 20, 2011 Where: Nationwide Arena/ Columbus, OH With: Beth Of Note: Oh Brit-Brit... So, when your best girlfriend from college says, "Come visit; we'll go see Britney Spears," you say yes. It is what you do. Particularly if you went to high school during Britney's rise to superstardom and may or may not have appropriated your tennis kilt as a schoolgirl costume for Halloween. Or if thinking of the kind of gross Canadian dance bar thing you frequented (what up Daily Planet!) brings on nothing but fond memories of 'Slave 4 U' (oh Britney) and 'Boys' (sometimes a girl just needs one!). Ahem. (Someday, I will figure out how to turn one of these into the marvelous story of how none of managed to get roofied or die during those perhaps too frequent trips to Canada. Bonus! My boyfriend the doorway.) For Britney's 2011 tour, some of the dates had Nikki Minaj as the opener. We got DJ Paul

Who: Mumford & Sons with Dawes When: August 7, 2012 Where: Constellation Brands Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center/ Canandaigua, NY With: Colleen & her sister Beth Of Note: Sometimes I just have a lot of feelings, okay? How awesome of a story is Mumford & Sons? Plus, how awesome is this resurgence of folk-inspired music? I mean, a song that prominently features a banjo won a 'Best Rock Song' grammy. That's pretty boss. One of the things I just can't get over with them is they sound simultaneously like they are from the past and like they are from the future. They overwhelm me, just a little. There were two opening bands, the first of which we missed due to some insane traffic getting into CMAC. No big deal. The second opener, Dawes, was very good. They hit that sweet spot between "jam band" and "indie rock" that has come to feel like home to me. I really liked the song 'Fire Away'; my notes indicate that

Dave Matthews Band/ Mercy I heard this for the first time at the Connecticut show and declared it my new very favorite Dave song. The Killers/ Runaways Excuse me, new Killers album?  Let's hurry up and get here mmmmmkay? The Pushstars/ Any Little Town In preparation for their reunion show. Justin Beiber/ As Long As You Love Me Please don't judge me?  It's so much more JT than Beibs - I had no idea it was him the first time I heard it. Mumford & Sons/ I Will Wait There are not enough letters in the English language to form all the words that need to be said about this song.  

I've been looking for patterns in the songs that I get obsessed with.  So far, I've determined that I tend to fixate on songs that remind of me of marching bands...all snare drums and horns and rhythm.  According to a recent GChat conversation with Neil, I also get obsessed with songs that, "are bouncy, hand clapping, ooh-ooh-oohing".   Based on my response to this Bruce Springsteen track the first time I heard it on the radio?  I also tend to get obsessed with songs that sound like sea shanties/ Celtic drinking songs.  (See also: moe.'s 'Raise a Glass'.) This is so, so, so, so good and has ear-wormed me like crazy.  (Also, it makes me want to drink hard cider on a boat, so there's that.)  

Who: the Sheepdogs When: June 29, 2012 Where: Lockport Canal Concert Series/ Lockport, NY With: Canadian rock star Ewan J Currie! Of Note: Sometimes I hang out with rock stars. I mean, again, it's really no big. So, we've discussed here how much I love The Sheepogs. When I found out they were playing as part of the free concert series in Lockport, I was super pumped. (Also, we're not going to discuss the fact that technically , The Sheepdogs were opening for Government Mule. The Sheepdogs should not have to open for anyone!) The website for the Lockport Canal Series is awful; nowhere on the site does it say what time the concerts start, so I headed out there right after work. I was, obviously, pretty early. As I walked around Lockport, I was talking to my mom on the phone. I asked here, "Mother, if I were going to stalk a rock star, how I would I go about that, do you suppose?" She asked me if she was going to have to bail me out that night. I t

Who: American Idols Live! Season 7 When: July 27, 2008 Where: Blue Cross Blue Shield Arena/ Rochester, NY With: Becky Of Note: Sometimes we hang out with "rock stars", no big. So, we've established I'm a bit of a dork about American Idol. Based on my successful experience at the previous summer's show and Becky's raging crush on winner David Cook, we were on our way. We got out to Rochester early and decided to grab something to eat. Having just been there for my company's sales meeting, I suggested we just eat at the restaurant of the hotel (Dinosaur would obviously be way too packed) near the arena. While we were eating, an older gentleman approached the table (which I thought was odd) until he greeted Becky. As it turns out he was one of her bosses, part-owner in the advertising agency she worked for at the time. He explained that he was also in town for the concert because, being Australian, he had connections to Michael Johns, the eigh

Who: Young the Giant with Bahamas and Apache Relay When: July 19, 2012 Where: Thursday at the Harbor/ Buffalo, NY With: Hillary Of Note: Children of Buffalo, you should be ashamed of yourself! So, we've documented here how much I love Young the Giant and how good they are live. I was so excited when I heard they were coming to Thursday at the Harbor, Buffalo's free outdoor concert series. A band I love! For free! Fifteen minutes from my house! I would love to use this space to tell you how good the opening act Bahamas was - it was just a guy with a guitar, a drummer, and two backing vocalists but the set was musically interesting, some blues guitar influences, a bit of soul, a big sound for the limited instrumentation. Also, he was hilarious, poking fun at the kids who had their parents drop them off, ripping on the Sabres vs. Maple Leafs rivalry, being Canadian. Or, frankly, I would love to tell you about how great Young the Giant is, again, so riveting live

Ron Pope - A Drop in the Ocean Oh Netflix on iPad, how you have changed my life in encouraging me to consume even more CW programming.  How good is the Vampire Diaries?!?!  This song was used in one of the scenes and it captivated me.  His whole album is really good. The Wanted - Chasing the Sun Are One Direction fans and The Wanted fans currently in a BSB vs. N*Sync like stand off?  If so, I'm soooo team The Wanted.  I LOVE this song.  Oh-oh-oh-oh! Ed Sheeran - A Team His voice is so pretty. Fitz and the Tantrums - Moneygrabber It's so fun and old school and vaguely Motown-y! Aloe Blacc - I Need a Dollar I've been singing this song in my head for months, every time I have actual cash money in my wallet.  

Who: The Bonnaroo When: June 10-12, 2005 Where: A Big Field/ Manchester, TN With: Jenn Of Note: IT WAS THE BONNAROO So, congratulations to me! This is RTE's 50th post!! When I thought about what musical experience was important enough, big enough, exciting enough to be the 50th post, only one came to mind...the Bonnaroo. There are not a lot of people that I would spend more than 30 hours in a car and sleep in a tent with for four days. There are even fewer people who would elect to do that with me, I would imagine...particularly given my strict "only stop for gas" road trip mentality and intense festival schedule spreadsheet. Enter Jenn, one of my very oldest friends. I like to joke that I'd still be wandering around the first floor of our high school looking for my freshman homeroom if it weren't for her. "Hey Jenny, do you want to head upstairs to homeroom?" Oh, upstairs, right. If anyone was going to rock the Bonnaroo with me, i