For those of you who will be in the Atlanta area on Thursday, here’s something you don’t want to miss!

A King Celebration Concert – A concert given by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra featuring some of Atlanta’s most talented residents:
Nili Riemer – Soprano
Christin-Marie Hill – Mezzo-Soprano
Rodrick Dixon – Tenor
Terry Cook – Baritone
Spelman College Glee Club
Morehouse College Glee Club

I like a good celebrating someone’s life through music!! Tickets are General Admission and are $25.00. You can buy tickets on their website. Hope to see you there!!

I will say, that Rooney had a meet and greet after the show and I had a chance to talk with lead singer, Robert Schwartzman.

Me: I really enjoyed your set. I’d only ever heard one song by you guys before tonight.
RS: Oh no you di’n't…
Me: Oh yes I did.

Yes. I am smitten with Rooney… and Robert Schwartzman.

On my way into work today I was caught in traffic in Atlanta, as one so often is, and I was bored so I called my mom. We were talking about nothing really and she was trying to tell me that the sound she’d just made was actually her wiggling her nose to use her Bewitched powers to send my dad down to Atlanta to hang out. The sound was something akin to a chicken mated with a turkey with a little bit of a dying engine thrown in for good measure. She said there was no way that a chicken would make that kind of noise. I said that maybe chickens cluck in different registers like people… as I have no chickens I have no idea what sounds they make except for what I’ve seen in movies. But I digress, mom says that the only way a chicken would sound differently would be if it had a tracheotomy “Cluck cluck cluck,” she says in the South Park trach voice.

What does this have to do with concert prep? Well nothing. Actually, that’s not true.

Be prepared for anything!

Concerts can be pretty random and like any live event are prone to delays and cancelations. I basically pack for a concert like the world is going to have to wait for DAYS to get this party started. Here are a few basic things I bring with me for any given concert.

A book – If you’re alone I truly recommend trying to talk with your fellow fans in the audience as there are some awesome people out there… but sometimes you’re surrounded with a bunch of squealing teenagers or a gaggle of giddy idiots and other entertainment is needed. I generally recommend something in the paperback variety and something small enough to fit in a satchel/messenger bag. (If you’re looking for something excellent to read, might I recommend Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.) A book is a great, very portable, way to get through an extra half hour of time watching the roadies set up a stage. If you’re there with friends, skip the book… it’s rude. (And yes, I’m judging you people who read or play on your cell phone while you’re out with friends. Seriously, you’re friends with these people for a reason, yes?)

Camera – You never know what’s going to happen at a concert. I’m not our best example because I have a camera with me at all times so this isn’t a tough one for me. What if you get back stage somehow? What if the band comes out to hang and you end up drinking tequila at the bar? What if you all decide to go hang out and go to the Waffle House and grab an All-Star Special at 2 a.m. because the drummer is hungry after two solid hours of playing? Hey! It could happen… and you’ll want to document things like this because when you tell people that you’ve just finished hanging out with Bono, Madonna, or the bassist for the Darkness… it’d be good to have proof.

Cargo Pants/Fatigue Pants/BDUs – Yes, as a chick it’s probably not super human cool to be walking around in a pair of black fatigue pants that I got from an army surplus store but those buggers make it so I don’t have to carry a purse to a concert which is annoying. All of those pockets leave room for my wallet, iPod, cell phone, camera, and book without making it difficult for someone to stand in front of me at the concert or to get in the door. This is especially important when you’re talking about getting in to a large venue like the Georgia Dome or what have you. General admission means running down all of those stairs to get that front row seat and having a bag on you slows you down. Pockets, my friend, pockets.

For outdoor concerts:

Zip top baggies – Rain happens people! (Especially in Atlanta this year, yeesh… for a while there I was online working out the actual measurements of a cubit to start working on my ark. 1 cubit = 45.72 centimeters, by the way.) At the Paul McCartney concert at Piedmont Park this summer it rained like raining was going out of style and the only thing that kept my cell phone, ipod, camera, and wallet from being absolutely douched with rain were four little baggies I brought in with me. They pack like nothing and they are invaluable if the skies decide to open up on you.

I hope that tides you over. Off to my concert tonight. If you’re up for some awesome music, stop by the Loft tonight.

The Bravery

This is the part where Miss Beauregarde realized how little of the Bravery’s music she actually knows. I know the entire album The Sun and The Moon and that’s pretty much it.  “Believe” was as good as I’d remembered and it was very much the same quality as was on the album track. Their set felt like Phil Spector’s “Wall of Sound” as there were sounds coming out from everywhere. The keyboards were synth one minute and then played straight the next.

Try a Little Tenderness

(Oh and the lead singer was wearing a Duckie hat… just so you know.) As was true of the music on The Sun and The Moon, the Bravery writes some wicked interesting lyrics. Here are two that I wrote down during the concert.

“You put the broke in brokenhearted. You put the art in retarded.” – Public Service Announcement

“Raise your glass in salutation, we drink to our annihilation.” – I Have Seen the Future

“Two in the box! Ready to go! We be fast and they be slow!”

The song “Jack O’ Lantern Man,” from the new album Stir The Blood, makes my head run around in the second season of the television show Supernatural. “Someday when push comes to shove, we’ll see who’s nothing then.” Being in the Supernatural fandom is nothing new for me with this band as that’s how I discovered them in the first place. Yay for discovering music in odd places!

The stand out moments of this set have to be “Time Won’t Let Me Go” and the encore performance of “The Ocean”. “Time,” while containing some vocal jumping that was a bit off-putting, was a wonderful showcase for the lead guitar and such an enjoyable song to hear performed live. The star, for me anyway, was “The Ocean”… a song I didn’t even really like on the album. The version they played at the show was a much harder version of the song and I’m glad to say that I found the remix for because it was so much better!

“Above and Below,” my favorite song by the Bravery, wasn’t played but all in all, I really enjoyed their set. The band had a advance buy meet and greet after the show for their new cd and I really enjoyed speaking with their bassist and drummer as they were funny guys who didn’t make fun of me when I babbled on like an idiot for loving The Sun and The Moon.

The Crash Kings at The Loft

My first note from this set. “Crash Kings’ lead singer can f*cking sing!”

This entire set was amazing! Oddly, I think I enjoyed their set the most of the entire night even though I’d never heard of them up to that night. They drove all the way from L.A. to join the tour in Florida when one of the other bands had to drop out because someone stole their equipment and lordy I’m glad they made the trip. (It wicked sucks for that original band…)

The vocals had a Jack White plus Coheed and Cambria feel without any of the whiny overtones. For a band with only three members they had an insanely great sound. Bass, drums, and keyboards and there was no end to the different sounds they created. The keyboard actually had a whammy bar on it and they used it to great advantage, sounding almost exactly like an electric guitar. They were also on the rock side but with a pop sensibility that I just loved.

The great thing about this band is that there was not one person who slacked in any way. The drums were insane to follow along with, rocking one moment and understated the next. The bass, which doubled as a guitar, provided a lovely and rocking harmony to the main instrumentation which was generally the keyboards. The vocals flowed with the other elements of the songs, not overpowering but blending into the song. Their song “It’s Only Wednesday” was featured on the soundtrack for the movie Zombieland. It will never stop reminding me of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

“Dawn’s in trouble? Must be Tuesday.”

There was not one song in their set that I didn’t enjoy the crap out of! I spoke with all three guys after the show was over and they were psyched to be touring and were just nice guys all around. Their self-titled LP, Crash Kings, is so worth the $10 I paid for it. To quote Ferris Bueler, “If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.” I’ve had the cd since the concert and it’s been on a pretty constant loop. You can find their music here.

Here are a few tracks on blip.fm for you to have a listen:

It’s Only Wednesday

14 Arms

Mountain Men – Official Video

Special note: the bassist, who played a wicked slap bass by the way, was wearing a Deathmobile t-shirt a la Animal House. Serious joy.

In October I had the chance to attend a concert at the Loft.  The opening act, The Dustys, was a Rock-Rock kind of band with a Clash feel to them. Their keyboardist has more energy than I’ve ever seen in one person at one time and he plays everything from the keyboard to various percussion instruments… including beer bottles if I’m not mistaken. I had the opportunity to speak with him after the show and he’s obsessed with The Stooges and The Cramps and was proudly sporting his bright pink hat from the Florida leg of their tour. I also enjoy a good “manamal” drummer. Dex, the drummer, had the hair, the skills and the personality to match. I got to talk with him as well and, let me tell ya, you couldn’t meet a nicer guy.

The guys are all from in and around the Arlington, VA/Washington D.C. area and this is their first tour. The Bravery asked them to tour with them after hearing their cds. In concert, the band is loud and proud of it. The cd is slightly more laid back at least sound wise, but still worth listening to. Their lead singer really does have a Joe Strummer quality to him… almost to the point of being too much. The bassist was fun to watch from my side of the stage and he had some skills on him. All four guys just looked like they were having such a great time. Absolutely worth seeing, and worth hanging out with… check these guys out.