Concert Diaries Chapter 19: Winter Wonderland (a Let's December It post)

My friend Brenda is here from Colorado and we have tickets to not one, but two Gavin DeGraw concerts.  Saturday night in Wallingford, Connecticut and Sunday night, out on Long Island.  Saturday's show also features Plain White T's, Sara Bareilles, Avril Lavigne, and The Backstreet Boys.  As it turned out, it also featured a huge snow storm.

The storm had been predicted.  All week.  The original plan was to drive to Connecticut and back and then to Long Island the next day.  As the storm predictions grew worse and worse I contemplated getting a room near Wallingford.  The morning of the show, I booked it.  The weather folks had me sufficiently scared.

We set off for the Oakdale Theater in Wallingford earlier than planned because we hoped to arrive before the worst of it.  And basically we did.  Except for the last 10 miles or so when it started to really come down totally obscuring the exit ramp, resulting in my missing it.  Thank goodness for GPS.  We checked in at the hotel but didn't stop there very long.  Even though we had seats for the performance, who knew how long it would take to get to the venue.  Under normal conditions we were about 15 minutes away.  In ice and snow?

Jarlsburg on my lap.

Big decisions needed to be made.  Stop for food or not?  We hadn't even had lunch.  We had, however, packed a nice Cabernet Sauvignon, Prosecco, a variety of cheese and crackers.  We decided that would do.  We arrived in the parking lot at 4:30.  Doors were not to open until 6:30.  And thus our first blizzard tailgate happy hour was born.  Gavin fans are good at waiting.  We arrive early; we stay late.  We have our fellow fans for company and no end to the great conversations.  Time passed quickly.  (And we highly recommend the Smoking Loon Cab.)

Tim Lopez of the Plain White T's

So our seats weren't the greatest.  We stayed put for Plain White T's who were really good.  I enjoyed the folky vibe to their music and the tight harmonies.  Hey There Delilah is such a pretty song but their new single, The Giving Tree (sort of based on the book) was really heartfelt.  I could never read that book to my kids without crying and the song gave me the same feeling.

Put up your hands and surrender to me (Make A Move)

Gavin was next.  As the lights went down, we moved to the front of our section.  The storm had kept a lot of people away so we improved our sight lines slightly in the vacant seats.  The sets are on the short side when there are so many acts taking the stage.  Only seven songs but he spent three of them in the audience, one of them very close to where we were.  He sang old standard favorites (In Love With a Girl, Chariot, I Don't Want to Be, Not Over You) and a couple of songs from the new album (Make a Move and Best I Ever Had).  I think I'd have been somewhat disappointed in the brevity of the set list had I not known the best was to come the following night during a solo concert.

During Gavin's set the unthinkable happened:  fangirl dropped her camera.  Yes, I broke the lens on my new camera.  I was leaning over the railing where I'd set it down and knocked it over the edge.  It was a stupid preventable accident and I was more than annoyed with myself.  This is the last picture I took that night.  We were too far away for good iPhone photos.  (That's one above.)

When Gavin goes into the audience at a seated show, he stands on seats or the arms of the seats.  He'll walk across them while singing and when he finds just the right spot, well, some people get really lucky.  We were those people in Yonkers.  Watching him sing while balancing on the arms of the chairs while people are clutching at him made me a nervous wreck Saturday night.

Avril Lavigne was up next.  I confess I am not familiar with her and wasn't sufficiently interested to look her up or give her a listen.  She was loud and I suppose she was good but I'm the furthest thing from an expert in rock music.  I thought all the songs sounded rather alike.

Next to last was Sara Bareilles.  I think after Gavin DeGraw, she might be my favorite singer.  She and Michael Franti.  She, also, played older favorites and numbers from her new album.  I was thrilled that she sang Manhattan.  It's probably my favorite song of any she's recorded.  She sings it so ethereally and it conveys a truthfulness about life after a relationship has ended that I think everyone could relate to.  I was hoping she'd sing her beautiful Christmas song too (Love Is Christmas) but sadly, for me, she did not.  She did sing December though; it's a beautiful song too.

Last up were the Backstreet Boys.  I know I'm going to take some heat for this but I just don't see the big deal.  The radio folks spent every introduction of every other artist emphasizing BSB and I thought that was kind of rude.  These other artists never took a break; they're not "getting back together." They've been working hard for a lot of years.

There was a lot of energy on the stage when they came out.  Their choreography was--okay, truthfully, I thought it was silly looking for guys their age. They're not a "boy band" anymore.  They're dads themselves.  Someone should tell them it's okay to just sing.  I also have this question:  if there's no band on the stage and no instruments in your hands, where are the sounds of guitars and drums coming from?  Is that recorded music they're singing to?  Is that how they've always performed?  So they give a partially live performance?  They did pause and do a few acoustic songs in the middle of their set.  They played and sang sitting on stools set in a semi circle on the stage.  That was nice.  But I will go on record as the only person who's fallen asleep during the Backstreet Boys live.  I'd been up until 3 AM the night before and had driven two hours in sub optimal conditions.  Those are my excuses.

Brenda, being from Colorado, drove us back to the hotel.  Thank goodness.  She is 'way more confidant in crappy road conditions than I am.  It was after midnight and we'd still not had a proper meal all day.  We drove around the "slip sliding" roads for a while in my "skate" which was her nickname for my little red Fiesta until we found a Burger King.  I ordered more food than we needed and let's be clear:  we still never had a proper meal that day.

Tyler Hilton (another favorite)
and fast food.  It will do in a pinch.

Post concert, there's lots of rehashing to do and we did it over burgers, onion rings and assorted other fried brown food.  At 1 AM.  Pretty unhealthy but it tasted good at the time.  The new Tyler Hilton Christmas movie was on television but the signal kept going out because of the storm so I settled for writing and outlining my impressions after Brenda fell asleep.  There is no going straight to bed after having heard Gavin DeGraw.  At least not for me ... I'm just completely wound.  So I saw 3 AM for the second night in a row.

But sleep would come and so would the morning.  The best was yet to come.

~~~~~

Sara Bareilles sang December at the Paramount earlier in the week.  We would be at The Paramount the next night for Gavin DeGraw.

Not Over You at the Oakdale Theater.





Gavin's set list.


                   Sara's set list.

Concert Diaries Chapter 18 ~ Leading Man

I'm rather impatiently waiting for December holiday concerts and acutely aware of how lucky I am because I have two concerts in December on top of the several times I've seen Gavin DeGraw already this year.  I have no business being impatient.  I should just enjoy this time of anticipation.

And there is much to enjoy while waiting for the next round of concerts.  There's been lots of promotion of the new album, Make A Move, so there've been glimpses of our Leading Man here and there and everywhere since the summer tour ended.

There have been some fun interviews like this one that was live on Cambio:  Room Temperature Cheese.  I love his recent observations about how supportive the mainstream music community has become and how there is less competition and more collaboration lately.  It was so evident during the Train tour this summer and at the WPLJ summer blastoff where Gavin and Ed Sheeran got together for the first time.  And I like cheese at room temperature best too.

The interviews from the brief trip to Europe were good.  It seemed like a different place every day and the performances and talks with radio and other media personnel made each day of that week a little special.  I liked this one:  I Failed Algebra.  "If it doesn't rhyme, it's not a song.  So  .... at the end of the day it's this version of sociology and psychology.  It sort of an uneducated version. And that's songwriting."

This interview with CBS where he talks more about the songwriting process sheds light on all the cowriting he decided to do for this album despite the weirdly worded questions from the interviewer--"Was it hard to relinquish the creative process?"  What artist relinquishes the creative process?  He's good though--he answers her with details about what it's like in the give and take of writing with another person.  He also explains, I think to those fans who were disappointed that this record wasn't in the vein of Chariot or Free, why an artist needs to grow and try new approaches.  

There have been lots of US television performances with more to come.  The day the record was released Gavin was on the Today Show.  I love how they played "We Belong Together" during the introduction.  Somebody on Kathie Lee and Hoda's staff is pretty familiar with his discography.  I'm kind of sorry I didn't go into the City and hang out that day.  I also loved the amount of camera time James Cruz had on this stop.

Then there was his ill-fated co-hosting appearance on The View when the hosts wouldn't let him get a word in.  Charming as ever, though, Gavin just rode with it and allowed those five women to cut him off and talk over him.  Frustrating for the rest of us who had thought this would be an hour-long opportunity for everyone else to get to know him.  The cooking segment with his friend Sheri Shepherd was funny though and he sang Best I Ever Had Again and kissed Barbara Walters.

Last week he appeared on the Rachel Ray Show, with an acoustic performance of Best I Ever Had.  His parents were in the audience that day.  Hearing him speak about his close knit family is one of my favorite topics of his.  I admire how he wears his heart on his sleeve where they are concerned.

I've decided that one thing that really irritates me is the rather fake way that TV hosts clap along to guest musicians.  It just looks odd.  Their "enthusiasm," I think, achieves the opposite of what they're intending.  Rather than appearing to be fans, they appear clueless.  They should just be more natural. That over-the-top flamboyant act is embarrassing.

With paralympic alpine skier Alana Nichols.

How about this...  Gavin performing in Times Square 100 days out in front of the Sochi Winter Olympic Games.  There was literally no notice of this appearance or I'd definitely have take the day off and headed into New York.  His gorgeous anthem, Everything Will Change, has been selected as the US Olympic Team's song--a completely fitting choice.

Hey, before it gets too late,

Before the night is over, before the world's awake,

Everything will change.

Hey, I feel it coming on

Starting like a fire, tonight you lit the flame

Everything will change.

Last night there was this appearance on the Conan O'Brien Show.  I think this must have been the television debut of the new single Make A Move.  And by the time I hit the "publish" button on this post, he'll have reprised the performance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.  Earlier tonight Direct TV broadcasted an episode of Guitar Center Sessions featuring Gavin and the band.  Beautiful direction and sound in this and I loved the Behind the Scenes interview.  And he's not terrible on the guitar.  He has to stop saying that.  He's really pretty good.

More to look forward to:  Riding on a float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.  He's participated in the parade in the past.  2004, actually. A friend and I were chatting on twitter this week and concluded he must really hate lip syncing in these situations--he's such a consummate live performer.  Then in early December an appearance on the hysterical NBC game show, Hollywood Game Night, hosted by Jane Lynch.  It's a perfect show for him and I think he'll have a blast doing it.

So ... no concerts on the East Coast right now ... but lots to tide me and my fellow fangirls/guys over until we find our way to live events.  I feel my patience returning.

~~~

A fan made this video montage for Leading Man, the last song on the new album.

A few of weeks ago I had a fun twitter exchange with Jim Shearer, the host of the Saturday morning show VH1 Top 20.  The video for Best I Ever had been entering that chart at the time and our back and forth tweets resulted in this:  A little fun with Jim Shearer . Oh, and for the record, I did not "yell" at him like that ... Bottom line:  I've now had both my quasi radio and television debuts thanks to Gavin DeGraw.  Loosely speaking, of course.  Really loosely speaking.

Earlier this afternoon, I felt
the need to straighten out
the racks at Walmart.

Pretty happy when he shows
up in my living room.

Walk Journals ~ October 3

The seventh season begins.

It feels as though a new path is beginning.  It's the seventh season of walking.  According to my Map My Walk app, I've walked 1,375.74 in total.  Really?  Excuse me for a second; I'm taking a minute to marvel at myself.  And actually, that doesn't count the times the app malfunctioned and didn't add my miles.  Since April 2012 there's been 3 pairs of sneakers, several sizes of t-shirts and other workout wear, 4 sets of earbuds and 2 iPhone apps to help me stay motivated.

Lately, it's been a huge struggle.  First there was maybe some (self-diagnosed) sciatica and now there is some serious knee pain.  And maybe it was all tied up in my knee from the beginning.  I'm sure I should be seeing someone with an actual medical background and getting some professional diagnoses.  But I'm really afraid and reverting to doing what I used to be so good at:  avoidance behavior.  Because, if I don't find out what's really going on or wrong here, maybe it will just go away.

And there's the intellectual struggle:  I know I need to find out what's up.  For my own good and to get back on track.  So that I can get back to 7-10 miles a day as opposed to 3-5 miles once or twice a week which is all I've managed in the last month or so.  But there might be some down time when I find out ... physical therapy (which I don't have much faith in, based on absolutely no first-hand experience), scary injections or something more involved.  I've never so much as broken a bone; being "laid up" would be a totally foreign experience.  So I keep putting off calling the doctor, any doctor.

These walks have meant so much to me.  They helped me regain my health in so many ways  Physically, I'm more fit than I ever dreamed I'd ever be again and although I'm not as flexible or sculpted as when I taught aerobics (many, many moons ago), I feel great.  At least until my knee gave out, I did.  Mentally, I think I have more control of my emotions, almost never have "down" days and see most of life through a pretty positive lens now.  

I've seen bits and pieces of my town up close and have discovered a lot about what a special place it is.  The tiny lakes (there are at least five of them) and the river, the ponds and wooded trails, the spring and the old canal ... they provide an ever changing backdrop that help me think, that cause me to wonder at their natural beauty and help quiet my busy mind so I can organize my thoughts.  

I've listened to hours and hours, probably days and days, of music.  I've developed a new taste for pop music that really feeds me and fills a place that was empty for a lot of years. The walking coupled with the music (and particularly the music of Gavin DeGraw, who coincidentally dropped into my life around the same time as the walking) probably saved my life.  

My last walk was on Thursday.  It was the first time in over a week that I left work in daylight and my knee felt pretty good so I  hit the road and put in 4.5 pretty slow miles, up to the pond, around the back of the park, over the wood bridge where two folks were fishing and back into town to visit with my river.  By the time I reached home again, it was pretty apparent that I'd gone a couple miles too many.  And I paid on Friday with a lovely limp and swelling that lasted through Sunday.  Stairs were a challenge all weekend long.

Late afternoon light on an early fall afternoon.

I miss it.  I miss being out there on a daily basis, sometimes even twice a day.  I miss the energy that came from being in sunlight--whether a lot or barely a glimmer--for a couple of hours a day.   I miss how I could hop out of bed in the morning.  Lately, I've gone back to dragging myself to wakefulness.  I miss being strong enough to resist my boss's bottomless bowl of chocolate.  I'm self-medicating with chocolate several times a day these last couple of weeks.  I miss being able to say "I never have fries" with that.  I got dinner from that cute little Wendy girl tonight.  Walking increased my strength in every area of my life.  And while I have plenty of resolve first thing in the morning, it rarely lasts beyond mid-morning.

The master of excuses has resurfaced and inhabits my frame and my brain once again.  Too many deadlines by day, too many evening commitments by night.  Weekends filled with events of my own choosing (some for fun, some for community service--which is also my fun, truth to be told).  Every day crammed with "things to do" and no time left over for calling doctors, shopping for  healthy food, finding alternate ways to burn calories while figuring out the knee ailment.  

There.  I know what to do.  I just have to get out and do it. 

My river with tinges of autumn beginning.

~~

Walking "apps" I love:

Map My Walk:  Measures distance, time, pace, split time, calories burned, announces your progress at each mile, can be paused, allows you to team up with friends, save routes, gives you weekly and monthly reports.

Charity Miles:  Measures distance, time and pace, can be paused.  Unique in that miles are sponsored by generous corporate and private donors.  Before walking, choose a charity from their list and watch how your miles add up.  $.25 for each mile walked goes to the charity you've chosen.  Walk for a different worthy cause each time or stick with one and support it every time.  You're walking anyway--why not walk for good?

Playlist for a Thursday afternoon:

WPLJ 95.5 radio and ...

New music from Gavin DeGraw from the album due out next week (October 15 ... Make A Move):

Best I Ever Had

Who's Gonna Save Us (video from a performance I was at, taken by my friend; my view of the stage that night)

Concert Diaries Chapter Six: A Full Day

Yesterday.  The day was crammed from start to finish with anticipation, excitement, great music and friends  Every hour was filled experiences that fed my memory.

I believe that really good things happen for really good people, people who go out of their way for others, who are continually kind and generous. This is true for one of my concert friends. She has amazing concert karma and shares this very deserved good fortune with many. 

I've spent the days surrounding our concert with this and other friends who are Gavin DeGraw fans. N, who has opened her home to me and shares her great karma had arranged for ten of us to attend a private show and lunch with one of the night's artists, Michael Franti. The show and lunch were sponsored by the local radio station 94.9 The Point.  The Point had also sponsored the previous night's Sister Hazel concert. 

Up close and personal, it doesn't get much better than that. Michael brought with him his guitar player, Jay Bowman and singer, Gina. They  performed the upbeat songs with messages of love and peace that he's known for. N's and R's daughters went up on stage to join him on one fun number. From his new single, I'm Alive to the hit The Sound of Sunshine and several others, we were treated to the positive vibe and joy created by Michael and his friends. They generously posed for pictures with everyone and chatted for a few minutes. 

It's really pretty special meeting these creative people who fill the world with their gifts of music and message. Michael's unique humanity that shines through both his music and his character inspires one to want to put that type of attitude into the world too. Oh... and dancing. We should all be dancing. 

After lunch N managed, with her legendary contacts, to get us all in as guests at the radio station for a private performance with Gavin DeGraw, Billy Norris (guitar) and Ian O'Neill (drums). Gavin sang his new single, Best I Ever Had and his hit from last year, Not Over You. A woman in the audience was taking video of him singing Not Over You so he took the phone and continued to film himself.  It's a great video, now on YouTube.  She must have been beyond surprised and thrilled.

Up close. Personal. Acoustic. Amazing. He, too, stayed and posed for pictures. Meeting Gavin is a lovely experience. He's incredibly warm and friendly to each individual whether a fan or a station executive. He puts you at ease (well, not me; I'm nervous even though I've had this pleasure a few times now). You're not aware of the other people around you because you're concentrating so hard and his focus is solely on chatting with you. I don't have a clue what I said to him.  

Are you still with me? That was two private performances by my favorite singer and a newer (to me) amazing performer. 

And this is all before the concert. 

In Community

I have a theory about watching television and listening to the radio.  Maybe it's not a theory ... it's really more of a feeling ...

I feel that even if I'm watching or listening alone, I'm in community with a circle of nameless faceless friends with whom I have at least this one thing in common:  we all like this movie, program, song, station, whatever it is, however I define it.

So even though I own the DVD's of many of my favorite movies, I rarely watch them.  It just isn't any fun.  There's no one watching with me.  But if Sleepless in Seattle or Apollo 13 or Remember the Titans or, specifically, a Sex in the City marathon is on tv, well ... there I am watching with everyone else in West Virginia and North Dakota.  I like knowing there are thousands of people doing the same thing I am, enjoying the same story, liking their favorite part, getting something to eat when I do during a commercial wherever they might be in Massachusetts or Minnesota.

It's the same with radio which I have rediscovered with a vengeance this year.  This is my year of radio.  When country music disappeared* from the airwaves in the New York market about 17 years ago, I fell out of love with radio.  I still listened but couldn't get excited about any one station or genre of music because I'd been such a country girl.  I listened to Star 99 because I kind of like contemporary Christian music and it was useful in my job (at the time) as a church youth group director.  I liked the music--not so much the talk.  When my daughter was in the car, we listened to classic rock because that's what she likes ... my generation's rock music.  At Christmas Lite FM plays holiday music 24/7 from just before Thanksgiving until just after December 25 so there was always that.

Then along came Gavin DeGraw and my life changed in so many ways.  I've come to love the Top 40-type stations in New York, particularly WPLJ, because they play his music, although not nearly often enough (just saying).  And when I'm listening at home or in the car (and yes there is dancing at home and in the car), I know thousands of other people across the Tri-State area are listening (and, I hope, dancing) too.  My ever-changing yet always there community.  Now to be honest, I only like about half of PLJ's playlist at any given moment and I wonder why they play some songs and not others, especially when I hear other stations (through the wonder of iPhone apps) in other parts of the country like Carolina or Oklahoma playing more of what I'd like to hear.

I've had this feeling about television and radio for years.  Last year when I joined twitter that feeling exploded ... because the community began to have names and faces (or avi's, I suppose) that I could attach to it.  Meeting people on twitter with whom I have things in common has been one of the biggest blessings of trying out social media.  And yes, I've watched television with my twitter friends across several states and listened to radio with people all over the country.  It's community.  

I came to twitter because it's one of the ways my Girl Scout community is using to communicate with it's membership but I discovered so much more.  I've made new Girl Scout friends, follow lots of my church's leaders and thought-provoking bloggers, keep up with causes that are dear to my heart and can't imagine my life without my new friends made through our common love of Gavin DeGraw.  My community is vast and varied, causes me to stop and think and sometimes to act and, best of all, is always awake.  It lives all over the world so whatever time I come to find someone, someone is always there in Alabama or California.

Now lest you think I'm a recluse living in virtual community with mostly unknown ethereal relationships that have no basis in reality, let me assure you that I'm completely and firmly planted in my local actual communities too--at the school where I work, in my neighborhood and town, at my church and with dear old friends with whom I couldn't possibly live without.

But this other "community" gives me a lot of satisfaction too--this one that exists in my mind even now as I'm only half watching a cheesy Hallmark movie while half listening to Ralphie Aversa on WPLJ as I write.  And I adore the twitter community that feeds my soul, challenges my perceptions, teaches me about whatever I'm curious about at that moment, keeps me abreast of the news and enjoys the same things that are important to me.  

Don't you think it's amazing to be living at this point in time when so many things are being redefined, including how we can be in community with one another?  It's actually and virtually an opportunity to engage with one another in ways our grandparents and probably even our parents could never have imagined.

~

This morning Gavin DeGraw, Billy Norris and Ian O'Neill made the rounds of several media outlets in New York.  I listened live to radio interviews, watched a live internet interview and chatted with people all around the county (and yes, churned out an obscene amount of work in the office while all this was going on).  Gavin's out promoting his new single in advance of his new album due out in the fall.  Here're are the lyrics to the song, Best I Ever Had:

Melt Antarctica, savin’ Africa
I failed algebra and I missed you some times
We’re at war again, save the world again
You can all join in, but you can’t smoke inside

You said “Take me home, I can’t stand this place
‘Cause there’s too many hipsters and I just can’t relate”
You’re my neon gypsy, my desert rain
You’re my “Helter Skelter”, oh how can I explain that

You’re the best I ever had
And I’m trying not to get stuck in my head
But I read that soda kills you and Jesus saves
On the bathroom wall where I saw your name
You’re the best I ever had
I won’t be the same

Night sky full of drones, this neighborhood of clones
I’m looking at the crowd and they’re staring at their phones
They groom the coast line here, it's starting to disappear (Oh God!)
And maybe once a year, I think to clean my car

Caught my reflection, drop the call
I’ve been medicated with cigarettes and alcohol
I got vertigo, no I can’t see straight
I got obligations though I’m usually late but

You’re the best I ever had
And I’m trying not to get stuck in my head
But I think I dropped my wallet in Santa Fe
Lost the only picture I had of you that day and
You’re the best I ever had
I won’t be the same

Hey West Virginia, Hey North Dakota
I think I love you, but don’t even know you
Hey Massachusetts, Hey Minnesota
I think I love you, but don’t even know you
Hey Carolina, Hey Oklahoma
I think I love you, but don’t even know you
Hey Alabama, Hey California
I think I love you, but don’t even know you

You’re the best I ever had (you’re the best I ever had)
And I’m trying not to get stuck in my head (get stuck in my head)
But I passed the longest sign on the interstate
Saying “Find someone before it gets too late”
You’re the best I ever had (you’re the best I ever had)
I won’t be the same

Hey West Virginia, Hey North Dakota (Oh why, oh why)
I think I love you, but don’t even know you (I won’t be the same)
Hey Massachusetts, Hey Minnesota (you’re the best I ever had)
I think I love you, but don’t even know you (I won’t be the same)

Yeah, I won’t be the same.

You can hear it here:  Best I Ever Had

Gavin DeGraw interviewed on Huffington Post Live

~

*I'm excited to report that country music is back in New York today at 94.7 Nash FM.