The title of this blog post is from the song "How the Days Sounds" from Greg Laswell's album Three Flights from Alto Nido. I love this music video. I love Greg Laswell.
I saw him perform live on Friday night in SLC at In the Venue, so I'm pretty much on a Greg Laswell high right now....and will be for at least the next week. You likely won't find me listening to anything else.
Another favorite song:
So here's the loooong story of my evening with the dashing Mr. Laswell:
He headlined a tour last year since he came out with a new album Take a Bow, which I didn't enjoy as much as his previous two, but that's only relative because I still really loved it. He came to SLC (I think with Sara Bareilles (?...I could be wrong) in the Fall, but I was overwhelmed with school, so like all the other amazing bands that visited Utah oh so conveniently when I had too much on my plate, I had to pass. So when I saw a few weeks ago that he was coming again, I got way excited and told my friend Sarabeth about it. I need to insert a little context here.
Sarabeth Klingman (formerly Shepherd) is my verrrrrrrry best friend. We grew up together and were inseparable since the year 1999 (though hated each other when we were young children...that's another story for another day though), and we lived together for a year before she got married. During the time that she was dating her now husband, and he introduced her to this talented musician, Greg Lasewell. Jordan (the husband) happens to also be extremely gifted when it comes to music and singing, and wooed Sarabeth by playing and singing to her the song "I'd be Lying."
They eventually fell in love and got married, and they couldn't be more perfect for each other. They also happened to choose this same song as their first dance as husband and wife. Sooo when I told Sarabeth that he was making another appearance in the area, she was way excited and was down to go.
Well, we both for whatever reason thought that he wasn't coming for at least another month, but earlier this week I went to Smithstix.com to check out what bands were coming up. Lo and behold, Greg Laswell was booked for April 8. I contacted Sarabeth and we quickly bought our tickets. Well, actually we bought them just the day before.
I decided to go up to my apt in SLC to stay the night there...another story for another day: I have 2 apts. One in Provo, one in Holladay. But I'll have fully moved by the end of April. And apparently Mary had not made arrangements for anyone to take her to the airport on Friday for her trip to D.C...silly girl. So it worked out perfectly. And I had to week off since my close friend Angie Rios was in town. It was a good night, very relaxing, although I slept in a sleeping bag on the floor since I'm broke and ghetto and don't yet have a bed.
I had lunch with Mary, came home and took a nap, then drove Mary to the airport. The doors to the show were set to open at 6pm, and I figured that since he's not the most well-known musician in the world, I could assume that getting there 1.5 hrs early would be wayyyyy more than enough time. So I got there between 4:30 and 4:45, with no make-up on, expecting that I would be able to do it in the car until I saw a line form around the building. Well when I showed up, there was already a line wrapped around and down a few stores!!! I was so shocked, and not prepared for this. I didn't even care that I didn't yet have make-up on, I was just sad because I didn't think I'd be able to get my favorite spot in the 21+ section, where there are only a few chairs and the perfect view. I don't like being around the sweaty, jumping bodies, and nor do Sarabeth and Jordan. Oh and by the way, it was like 35-40 degrees outside, really windy, and dumping snow....did I mention that the concert was on APRIL 8??? Yeah...I was not a happy camper.
So as I walked up, I was so confused by the crowd of people. Goths. Everywhere. And they all looked like they ranged between the ages of 15 and 18. Good for my seating arrangements in the 21+ section, I suppose, but I was still so confused. As I observed my surroundings littered with little girls wearing black tutus, tights, and ugly boots with those ugly buckles, standing with their little boyfriends with jet-black hair cut Bieber-style, wearing jeans so tight I think they must have been painted on, and with pink, green, purple, and black eyeshadow all over their faces (both boys and girls).....all I could think was ummm don't you people know what show this is??? I'm pretty sure Coheed and Cambria is not performing tonight so go back home!!
Sarabeth and Jordan arrived arrived around 5:20, equally as confused as myself. As we discussed the possibilities of why this kind of crowd decided to show up, some guy came over and asked if anyone was in line for the Lenka/Greg Laswell performance. We perked up, and he said Ha, I knew there was bound to be a few stragglers out there! He guided us to the front, and show us to a door different from the one I've only ever entered, and discovered a completely different room and with a small crowd of people that actually looked like they didn't think they were dead. And then we learned that crowd was indeed here for a different band...My Chemical Romance. Which just made oh so oh so much sense.
The room was tiny, but very quaint. Perfect, in my opinion. And it was still early, so I headed to the bathroom and dabbed on a bit of make-up :-)
Another surprise of the night, Greg Laswell was the opening performer, not the headliner. Which was disappointing, but fine. We were right up next to the stage, and Sarabeth kept trying to get his bandmate's attention in order to request I'd be Lying. No such luck, and finished his set without playing it. Another disappointment, but his other songs are incredible as well and his performance was very simple, yet beautiful. It was really cool because the room was so small, and we were all right up next to the stage, so he would look around at us and I definitely made eye contact with him and his bandmate more than a few times. And the stage isn't like your typical stage where if your looking at the audience you can't actually see anything. He could definitely see us. It just added a personal touch to his deep, moving lyrics and honey-smooth voice. Like it felt like I was personally being serenaded to...even though word on the street is that he's engaged to Ingrid Michaelson, and is to marry her this year. Anyone know if that's true...? If so...well they both scored big. Uh so jealous. I have the biggest crush on both them...hmph.
Anyway, the headlining show was this adorable little Australian girl who goes by Lenka, backed by an energetic band. I had never heard of her, and didn't recognize any songs until she started playing...
Don't tell me you haven't heard this song. But that wasn't until like the 2nd to last song of her set, or close to that. We thought that Greg was going to come by his merchandise table in between his and Lenka's set (since that's what we thought he said), but by the time that Lenka had started performing, and some other random guy was selling his merchandise, we realized that was not the case. So we asked someone, and he said that he would come out after Lenka's set was over. So Sarabeth and Jordan didn't love her, but I didn't mind her and while she's not the best out there, I did enjoy what I was hearing. So they took off, and I stayed. It was really pleasant, and really short, because apparently since My Chemical Romance was scheduled for the same night, the show had to end early. In fact, while Lenka was playing, an opening band for My Chemical Romance was screaming right next door. Not singing. No. Screaming. It was so obnoxious.
Best part of the night. Lenka announces that she isn't going to be able to do an encore, and that she only has 2 songs left. In my mind, what I heard her say was in just 2 songs Greg Laswell will stop by the merchandise table if you want to
Sarabeth accurately described him as Ryan Gosling with a beard. Oh oh oh what a wonderful evening! (minus the crappy trek home on I-15....ugh I can't wait till they finish that stupid mess of crap)
Other pictures of the night:
 |
| My man, singing just to me ;-) |
 |
| Had he proposed, I would have said yes. |
 |
| This young lad was a member of Lenka's band. This is bad quality, but the best shot I could get. Basically, there isn't anyone more attractive on planet earth. He wasn't all big and muscley and nasty, perfect body, perfect outfit, perfect chiseled face, perfect olive-toned skin, perfect musical skills, perfect smile, and perfect dark hair. I wanted to throw myself on him. |
And this is just more evidence that I touched Mr. Laswell. I accidentally still had the setting on video, so this is what happened. You can't even see anything, and it really wasn't even worth uploading. But I'm just that in love. In the words of Greg Laswell himself,
This life is not to waste
I want you, now
you, now
Would that sleeping bag be the one that you accidentally had to own? Did the mistake end up saving your life? (Well, a bed technically would have been better, but still....)
ReplyDelete