What's Better Than Free?

Ohhh, summer. How I love it. Without the stresses of classes and homework I have been able to spend my time doing the things I do best. Taking naps, playing XBox, ultimate Frisbee, watching PTI and a string of VH1 reality shows, and going to concerts. A lot of concerts. I listened to the classic sounds of the Eagles at the beautiful Rio Tinto Stadium. I endured the darkened confines of the Urban Lounge in the name of The Helio Sequence. I even partied with thousands of teenage girls at the Pussycat Dolls/Britney Spears concerts at ESA. (If you have a problem with this I have three things to say to you: My little sister invited me, I had a great time, and deal with it.) To top all this off, in a week I will be in Chicago for the massive music, beer, and sweat-fest known as Lollapalooza. Aside from being totally awesome and sardine-esque, these concerts had one thing in common: Expensive.

Being a concert junkie and living in a town without concerts can be a pricey habit. Between gas, food, merchandise, and tickets (blast you, service fees!) it is pretty easy to spend between $30 to $100 for a show. That's of you don't care where you sit. (Grand total on the Rihanna concert expenditure of last summer was around $400. Worth it.) Luckily this summer has blessed me with the discovery of the free concert. The Twilight Concert Series (TwiCon, anyone?) at the Gallivan Center has been a revelation. With bands like Bon Iver, Jenny Lewis, Black Keys, and the incomparable M.Ward, the music has been top-notch and the crowds are energetic and entertaining. The outdoor venue provides a great setting as the sun goes down and with the shows wrapping up around ten, it is easy to get back to Logan Land at a decent hour. I've loved it so much I am considering driving to Vermont and performing a commitment ceremony to it. That was a weird thing to say.

Continuing on with my free concert high, my bro Marcus and I drove out to Park City on Tuesday for the MLS All-Star Jam featuring Soulive. Our main purpose was supporting Mar's brother, whose band, Shaky Trade, who opened the festivities. Shaky did great (I will blog about them some other time. I have seen them multiple times and they can really wail.) and after they finished, Mar and I debated on whether we should stay for this unknown (to us) band or get back home. To make a long story short, we stayed and were rewarded ten-fold. Soulive is a jazz/funk trio consisting of a drummer, guitarist, and organist. With very few vocals, the three combined to create a beat that seemed to far exceed the abilities of only three people. The highlight of the night came when a power surge cut power to half the lighting and part of the organ. Instead of waiting around for a fix, the three quickly went into improv mode and continued to tickle our collective jazz bone. To make things even sweeter after the show we joined Shaky Trade backstage for a little meet and greet with the band. I even talked to the organist. It went down like this:

Me: Hey, great show.

Mr. Evans: Thanks, man.

I wish I could have held on to that moment a little bit longer. First of all, if your jazz bone needs tickling, I highly recommend a little Soulive. Second, free concerts are wonderful. Third, have I learned my lesson and stopped spending so much money on concerts? Absolutely not. As I write this, I simultaneously have a few hundred dollars invested in Lolla, Killers, and Elton John/Billy Joel tickets. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I think it all evens out somehow. But free is definitely more fun.

Here is a short clip of Soulive to give you an idea of what I got to see:

Blog Days of Summer

Are you ready? Today is the day. The Revenge of the Sith. The Rise of the Lycans. The Return of the King. How Stella Got Her Groove Back. Cody Titmus has a blog and you are never going to hear the end of it. I have always considered myself an outspoken introvert and what better way to quitely voice my opinions that by typing them for the eyes of only the few willing to take the time to actually read this. (Kelsha, Krista, Bria) Sounds fun! So it kick of the blog-ness I decided to list my Top Ten reasons to why I started a blog:
1) Self- indulgence
2) I think I am funny (prove me wrong you nay-sayer!)
3) Talk about cool stuff that I am doing that you are not
4) Awesome music featurettes
5) Unlimited free speech to profess my un-dying love to the BK Lounge.
6) When I am tired of self-indulgence, more self-indulgence
7) Recipes. (HA! I gotcha on that one. But really, I will just be talking about Burger King.)
8) Sportz
9) Sharing cute stories about my cat, Daisy Lilac McButtons.
10) I love me some me

Should I have done that countdown backwards. Go on, discuss. Well kids, that is all. Get ready for some mass bloggage. As my boy Rafiki once said, "It is time."