June 2014 - Big Head Todd and the Monsters

We started the workweek with a Neon Trees concert and ended it with a Big Head Todd and the Monsters concert at the Minnesota Zoo.  It was hot and humid but perfect weather for an outdoor summer concert in my favorite outdoor venue with both M and his brother Ray.

June 2014 - Neon Trees

June 23rd was the second time we saw Neon Trees in 2014.  This show was at First Ave. and much more of a production than the one at Triple Rock.  The place was packed and the show was great.

March 2014 - Neon Trees

I bought tickets in February 2014 for M and I to go see Neon Trees for their show in June 2014.  In March 2014, I got an email that was sent to me just one minute before I looked at it that said if I responded to the email, both M and I would be able to see Neon Trees for a private concert at Triple Rock on March 26th for free.  There would only be 100 people invited to the show. I responded immediately and found out a couple of days later that we were on the list.  Awesome.

The show was on a Wednesday night and if you've been to Triple Rock before, it's a tiny place so seeing what I consider a big-time band there is fantastic.  

They came out onto the stage and no one really knew what to expect.  It turns out that they were doing a practice run for their upcoming tour, the one we would see in June.  They didn't play for long, maybe 35 minutes at the most, which surprised everyone but despite that, it was a fun, exclusive concert to be at and made us anticipate the June show even more.

Old Friends, Music and Beer

M and I went to Pickle Park in Fridley on Saturday, November 2nd to see my friend Heather's husband's band perform.  It's also the band of one of my oldest friends, Rich.  Once we were there, Chris met up with us as well.

This was the grand finals of a battle of the bands-type event where 11 bands played and competed for $35,000 in cash and prizes. They had played 5 rounds of shows over the summer to get to this point. Unfortunately, they did not win, but another band they are friends with did.

Heather's husband Jeremy on stage

Me and Heather

I wasn't sure who would be there but I was pleasantly surprised to see some friends of mine.  I've seen all of the guys below in the last two years but it is a rare event when we are all together so it was a must that M took a picture of us.  Heather and I met Matt and Rich on the same day when they were at the mall with each other the summer before 9th grade.  Once we started high school that year, we saw Rich our first day of school as he was one of the new kids in the district since he went to a private school before. As for Tim, we go back to 5th grade.     

Matt, Me, Tim, Rich

After the show, M, Chris and myself went to Dangerous Man Brewing for a couple.  Both Chris and I had never been there but of course M has multiple times.  He even had his Dangerous Man t-shirt on. (P.S. Michael gets mistaken for the Dangerous Man in the beer community a lot!)

MY Dangerous Man

THE Dangerous Man

The bar was packed and it was early.  We didn't have anywhere to sit at first but found seating after about 45 minutes.  I saw one of the news reporters from KARE 11 there drinking with his family/friends.

I had the pumpkin spice ale which was delicious.  So delicious I had two.  At one point in the night, one of the bartenders/workers got on top of the bar, got everyone's attention and said that they wanted to cheers everyone as it was one of those rare times when the mood, the people, the beer and everything is right and so we all raised our glasses and cheered and continued to sip away.  I was buzzed at this point so I thought that his intermission into our lives while in their establishment was perfect.

M and I dropped off Chris and we went to Applebee's where we had some water, some food and terrible service before going home and calling it a night.

It was a big weekend for me.  I hardly ever go out on weekends let alone both Friday AND Saturday.  I felt young again!

A Perfect Concert

Each year, M and I discuss who would be the perfect artists to play at the best outdoor venue around, the Minnesota Zoo Amphitheater.  The lineup for the zoo comes out in late April/early May and we find the best artist we like on the list and we buy tickets to the show.  We go to at least one concert a year out there. We've had impressive lists of who we think would be the best out there for the venue and for our liking but we've never been right according to the real lineup.

The list came out this past spring and again, we didn't have any artists in the lineup that we had really desired to see.  We decided we would go and see Eric Hutchinson in June.

A couple weeks after the zoo concert schedule came out, we struck gold with what we thought would be the all-time best artist at the zoo and it was confirmed that John Butler Trio added a date to the schedule.

We got our tickets months ago and scored center section, 3rd row.  We patiently waited for August.

Sunday, August 4th came and it was time to see JBT.  Once arriving at the concert, our tickets were technically 3rd row but 1st and 2nd row only went on the sides and not in the middle so it was as though we were in the front row.  Add the perfect, cool summer night's weather and it was the making of a beautiful night.

We had seen JBT once before at the Fitzgerald Theater and that ranks up there very high, if not the best place to see an indoor concert, particularly JBT. 

The concert was fantastic and everything about the night was just perfect.  

 

Tom Petty

M and I went to see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers at the Target Center on Saturday, June 29th.  We saw him when he came about three years ago and while I do not listen to Tom Petty very frequently, it was one of my favorite concerts.

The Smithereens opened up and while we were both kind of excited to see them, we didn't enjoy them.  In my opinion, they were boring and just gave off this vibe that they had super egos.  I didn't like it. 

Tom Petty on the other hand, did not.  He was graceful and appreciative and the crowd was so into him. I thought the show was good but I preferred the last time he was here.  Thank you, M for the ticket!

Alex Clare

M and I went to see Alex Clare for his sold out show at the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis on Sunday, May 5th.  Hours leading up the show, I asked M, is Alex Clare black?  I always guess where I think artists are from and I guessed New York or New Jersey.

Wrong.


Alex Clare is white.  He's from England.  And he's a ginger.


Finding that out just hours before you see him is weird.  We've been listening to him since September 2011 and it never occurred to me that he'd be white and foreign.

Anyways, we had tickets for the reserved mezzanine for this show.  Actually it's the first time we've been up there at the Varsity.  It was pretty nice for us old folk to be able to have a seat to park our booties.

The show was amazing.  I actually have become to hate the word amazing (which is sad) because it is soooooo overused.  Sorry people, everything can't be amazing.  But really, Alex Clare, his voice and performance are pretty amazing.  I knew the show would be good but I didn't really have that high of hopes or expectations.  Mr. Clare, you've proved me wrong.

Ok, for those that don't know who Alex Clare is, maybe this 1 minute commercial and his song will ring a bell?

Here's another good one:

My video from the night: 

Fleetwood Mac

M and I went to see Fleetwood Mac at the Xcel Energy Center on Sunday night, April 28th.  It was our second time seeing them.  We saw them one other time in March 2009.  

Before we did that, we walked to Cossetta's for dinner.  It was a beautiful day but the clouds were starting to roll in and it sprinkled a little bit.  Cossetta's was packed with crazy lines everywhere.  Yes, the food is that good.

We had fantastic seats in the lower rows on the right of the stage.  The concert was great, with a lot of it being pretty much the same as it was in March 2009.  They do have a new EP out so they played a couple of new songs as well.