Concert Diaries Chapter Twelve - Yonkers (And It Didn't Even Rain)

 This post is for Ulla, who I will meet one day 

either on this side of the Atlantic or hers!

Thanks for encouraging me!

Yonkers, New York.  Every time I hear the name I think of Barbra Streisand in Hello Dolly expounding on her relationship with Horace Vandergelder ... I just do.  And I always think of what a big deal it was for the other characters in that story to go into the Big City--New York--from out in the country--Yonkers--when in reality, Yonkers is like 20 minutes from uptown.

I drove to Yonkers on Sunday.  It's not that far from me.  I went by way of Manhattan to pick up my concert friend, KC.  Not having driven in the City in decades since my dad, my son or my ex had been doing that drive for me, I was somewhat nervous but there was no need.  It was a good drive, not much traffic, only one roadblock in New York and a quick ride to the Raceway from uptown.  Empire Casino at Yonkers Raceway was the setting for my latest Gavin DeGraw concert adventure.  We had great seats in the fifth row, dead center.  The concert was outside near the track and terrible weather was predicted.  My bag was stuffed with a rain jacket and umbrella.  Because ... as you know, if it's Gavin and it's outside, I'm bound to be wet.  I'm bad luck for Gavin fans outdoors.  I'm sure it has something to do with my concert karma.

However, by the time we found our seats, blue skies were just beginning to be visible between the wispy clouds and there was some sunlight peeking through.  It was going to be a lovely night.

Contributing to the overall loveliness was the large number of twitter friends who'd come from all over to see Gavin.  Just as though we were the chorus of his current single, Best I Ever Had, we drove from Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, all over New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.  More about that later.

Collin Smith

Warming up the sold-out crowd for Gavin was singer/song-writer Colin Smith from Dublin, Ireland.  Later Gavin explained that they'd been friends and mutual admirers of each other for quite a while, having been signed to J Records around the same time.  His songs were genuine and lovely and heartfelt.  He is definitely someone worth seeking out and seeing again.  I love this consequence of being a Gavin fan ... he has led me to Michael Franti, Andy Grammer (from him to Chris Wallace), Colbie Caillat, Hillary Williams, Butch Walker, Train (from Train to Ashley Monroe).  From other Gavin fans I've learned about Tyler Hilton, (from Tyler, Dion Roy), Ernie Halter, Jamie McLean and others.  It's like throwing a pebble in a musical pool with the ripplings of other artists coming back to you on waves.  I'm sure this is not a unique phenomenon, the expanding of one's musical library because of one particular artist, but it's one of my favorite by-products of my fascination with this particular singer.  It probably helps that I lived under a rock for 20 years so catching up makes everything and everyone very new and exciting.  I hope I'll find Colin Smith singing somewhere near me again.  I'd love the chance to hear a longer set.

It's hard to explain the electric anticipation that flows through a crowd of Gavin DeGraw fans before he comes out on stage.  When he's headlining, it's like a huge surge that grows and grows until at last you release all that energy with the elation that comes when he appears, lately through a haze of smoke.  Earlier this summer, when we Gavin fans were scattered around huge venues in pockets between Train and The Script's fans, it was a different sort of feeling.  It was as though the electricity was bouncing from fan to fan willing our enthusiasm on those around us--willing them to see what we see and feel what we feel.  By the end of those opening sets, the uninitiated were made aware of his talent, great humor and ability to bring people together.

Tonight, although the venue is small compared to the other places I'd seen him this year, that familiar electricity is in the air.  And although I'm there with KC and with other friends scattered all around me, when Gavin DeGraw takes that stage, I am all alone.  Just me and the music and the bliss of feeling filled with an overwhelming sense of happiness.  I know they understand this and take no offense to my mentally shutting myself off from all else.

It was a fabulous long concert with old favorites plus the three new songs he's playing in advance of the new record dropping in October.  The old songs are reworked and sound fresh and amazing.  The new songs are some of his best work, especially Who's Gonna Save Us, which has taken my breath away every time I've heard it.  He brought back Crush (must have done that for me) and I Need a Dollar/Chermical Party (that was for my friend in Michigan I think) and sent all the younger girls over the edge with his cover of Justin Timberlake's Mirrors while meandering through the crowd.  He finally wound up his tour of the venue right in front of us, standing on someone's seat to sing right in our midst.  I know he (and his summer tour mates) had done that over the course of the entire tour but it's pretty amazing to have that voice within four feet of you.  The new quiet introduction into Chariot is stunning in its initial simplicity.  He sang Run Every Time and Soldier and Candy.  I still smile at the stories, most of which I can now recite along with him, which are woven between the songs, slightly tweaked and tonight with full-on "acting"--sort of ... well, not full-on, but hilarious nonetheless.  And charming.  Have I mentioned charming?

The band was in outrageous form as always.  Billy Norris, so young and talented moving easily between his differing guitars and singing flawless harmonies, James Cruz with his understated mastery of the bass sang more backup tonight than I've noticed before, Ian O'Neill going into his "zone" with the perfection on drums that we know him for and Eric Kinney who's as serious a keyboard player as any I've known (and basically, all the musicians I know play keyboards of one type or another).  Together with Gavin they make an amazing combination.  A lot of us are missing Jimmy Wallace on keyboards too but I think Eric is as good and understands Gavin's brand as well as Jimmy did and does.

The first encore for this evening was just Gavin singing a solo rendition of Belief, a song from his first record that obviously, even ten years later, touches a chord in him as well as his audience.  I would love to know how he came to write this anthem to love and loyalty.  I wonder if whomever inspired it knows that it was she and if she's heard it live ...  And then his huge hit, Not Over You, a musical representation of a universal feeling.  There were a couple of guys sitting almost in front of us singing at the top of their lungs--I loved seeing that.  Gavin's audiences are full of women of every age and the men they drag with them.  These guys were clearly there because they wanted to be and they had such a good time.

And then it was over.  With many thanks and humble appreciation, he left the stage to return to the buses that had been rented (by him or the venue, hard to tell) for the occasion.  We hung around near the stage hoping he'd come out as he often does but since we were within driving distance of his home town there were friends and family in the audience and I think he spent some time catching up with them.

United

We took big group shots and pictures of smaller groups and finally made our way inside to chat, relive our favorite highlights and reconnect (or in some cases, connect for the first time) with friends from near and far.  It's such a pleasure to have this network of friends to indulge our obsessions with--people who require no explanation, who in many cases can finish your sentence or voice your unspoken thoughts.  We're all connected by our common love of this singular performer and are also bound by our common wish for all good things and success to come his way.  We criticize his PR people and label for not putting in enough effort on his behalf (although most of us have no clue how this business really works from the inside); we analyze lyrics and discuss his enormously gifted band while scrolling through the dozens and  dozens of photos taken that night.  From where we were sitting in the restaurant, we watched the buses pull away finally.  I wondered which airport ... EWR?  LAG?  Who would spend some time in New York?  Who was going right back to Nashville?  Time and twitter would tell ....

We all have the same problem: can't eat before a show so
make up for it afterwards.

I was thrilled to get caught up with people I'd met from my first big meet-up at last November's show at the Paramount on Long Island, people I now connect with on Facebook and Twitter.  Other special women I'd met more recently in Virginia Beach.  One person, a retired teacher from New Jersey, approached me and reminded me we'd connected somewhere, either on Twitter or one of the concert platforms (BandsInTown, maybe?)  I went alone to my first (and many other) Gavin shows but at this one I touched base with 15 people that I've found so much in common with because Gavin brings us together ... and then it's we who form and nurture these friendships.

Oh ... and it didn't even rain!

~

Colin Smith ~ Love
Gavin DeGraw ~ Who's Gonna Save Us*

*Or Save Us (waiting for the album so we know for sure). So amazed that T could take this video while I was standing beside her with my heart in my throat.

~

The next day Billy Norris held a fun twitter fest and answered four of my questions which was a first for me.  He'd earlier tweeted out his airport frustrations which he often does when passing through New Jersey so I asked if he'd been through EWR that morning.  But no ... it was LAG.

~

Playlist - 9/1/13:

In Love With a Girl / Radiation / Make a Move / Crush / Run Every Time / Soldier / Candy / "Thank You" / Sweeter / I Need a Dollar-Chemical Party / Chariot / Follow Through / Save Us / Mirrors-I Don't Want to Be / Best I Ever Had
Encores:  Belief, solo / Not Over You