Let me start this by saying I'm a HUGE fangirl. I oogle and obsess and 'squee' with the rest of them. You can thank the rest of the fangirls over on my Dragon Age - Alistair fangroup on FB for my use of 'squee' :p I learned from the best.
Anyway, my obsessive devotion isn't limited to nearly perfect (albeit imaginary) men, but also to the singer/songwriter men - namely Adam Young :D
Owl City played Utah on Wednesday, July 13th, and I was there! We bought tickets ages ago, and then a week before, venue moved to In The Venue in Salt Lake, instead of being at the UCCU Center at UVU (would have been so much nicer on lots of levels). However, I forgive Adam this lapse in judgment and we drove up to Salt Lake.
We parked right in front of a piano store next to a Hilton hotel - just down from the homeless shelter. lol And there were lots of homeless people. One was even feeding pigeons and other birds - there were lots of pigeons. We walked up to the back of the line and a few minutes later, we saw an old friend from band with her husband. We let them join our spot in line and we caught up during the wait. Another funny coincidence, one of Matt's tenor drummers was also going to the concert, and her group of friends was right in front of us, so we all got to chat - remember my butterly-ness? ;)
The doors opened at 6pm, and the line finally started to move. By 6:20 we were in the building. We found a good spot on the bottom floor, and I opted to go to the merch table. After standing in a ridiculously long and slow-moving line, I bought myself an Owl City shirt and plush owl. The shirt looks good on me, btw. I wore it today ;) I got out of line just after 7pm when the concert started - and then had to fight my way through people back to Matt and Janna. They had blocked the path I used to get out, so I had to go even further around people :p
OMG - In The Venue is HOT. As in literally, dripping sweat going to die without water hot. Not the most pleasant of experiences (neither is not having a chair to sit in....especially when wearing heels - it's okay though, the heels helped me see over people :)) Ocassionally we did get a breeze though, so that was nice.
Me and Matt before the show
Janna and Joe before the show
The first opener was Unwed Sailor. They were alright. Their songs were all very much alike. And no vocals to help distinguish between songs either. Matt pointed out they'd make good ambient music, though. But I wouldn't pay to see them.
Between acts - and my owl wrapped in my new shirt :)
Apparently my quota is one good picture of Matt per night....
Second opener was Mat Kearney. I didn't know who he was, but I did recognize one or two of his songs. But let us just say, he got another 'like' on FB after that. He was amazing! Loved him! He was so much fun. He even made a little ditty about Utah and how we were all 'sweating in a box' or something like that - because that's how nasty it was inside In The Venue lol. He was super funny and a great performer. lol, Later he told us there was no oxygen in our state and asked how we breathe :) So funny. I like his new song, "Hey Mama." He had us doing the hand claps and going 'woo hoo' - he even called us terrible lol. Good times. If I hadn't already spent $37 on a shirt and owl, I may have stopped by the merch table again to get something from his stuff :) Maybe ;)
Mat Kearney
K, I know it's a crappy picture, but he came down into the crowd for a song. I high-fived him and touched his back. This probably contributed to the FB like ;) I was a squeeling fangirl, and I didn't even know who he was before the concert :)
After Mat we had the longest take-down and setup time before Owl City. My feet were killing me! And it was hot. And I was bored. (It was horrible waiting with nothing to distract you. In retrospect, I should have bought water during that time - you'll see why later). Speaking of water, the security guy upfront at water with a squirt top he was squirting in people's mouths. (Actually, at the beginning of the night, it was just squirting people in general - felt good.) Then he threw a couple out into the crowd so the rest of us could get a squirt of cold water. Mmmm. At like 9:10pm, there were finally people on stage.... and lights. And a bazillion cameras/camera phones in the air waiting for Adam to appear . . .
OMG yes, longest intro ever.
And then commence the yelling and squeeing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's ADAM!
OMG LOVE HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Because that wasn't apparent already....)
He was so good live! Love Love Love Love Love!!!!!!!! SQUEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry, I'm still freaking out just remembering it :)
He did lots of old songs and then some of the new ones. LOVE!
We all had a grand time singing along.
And Adam was so cute. He kept saying how nice we were and how gracious and how humbled he was. Adorable!
Sorry for the pic overload - but that is just how these things go! :D
Right, so why buying water would have been appropriate.... remember how it was like a million degrees in there? Remember how I said I was wearing heels?
lolz - love his face here :)
Well, a couple songs before the end of his set, some chick passed out. Sad news. They carried her out. Cute little Adam was all, "I hope she's okay. This next song is dedicated to her, even though it's about deer and headlights."
I don't know if it was just seeing that chick who had passed out, or if this would have happened without the extra external encouragement, but I started to not feel well at all. I wasn't really dizzy, per se. But my head was all pressured and tingly, and my vision was tingly and fuzzy around the edges.
So yeah, I grabbed Matt and we walked out to the back where there was some more space. I sat down on the floor, and my awesome husband bought me a water bottle. I was dehydrated too. Oh, and being that time of the month :p, the cramping in my back didn't help my overall feeling of well-being.
Fortunately, being a small venue, we could hear just fine. Matt sat with me through the end of the set (Deer in the Headlights and then one other song, so we didn't miss too much :)) Then people started leaving in droves. Janna and Joe went past us. I thought to myself, there's no way that's the end. He'll have an encore.
I stood up, still shaky and not strong at all (darn heels), but I wasn't sure if we would just leave or not. Fortunately, the indecision meant we were around for the encore ;) He played two more songs. I stood for parts of them, but had to sit some of the time still, otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to walk the few blocks back to the car. I did see the final bow, though, so I don't feel like I didn't complete the concert. I do feel bad I couldn't enjoy the whole thing though :p Stupid venue change....
As an interesting side note, I only got the new cd the day before the concert and only listened to it like twice, maybe. Well, and once on the way to the concert :)
OMG, I love Adam and am totally crushing on him now. I've already decided I have to see him in concert again. Loves to Owl City and our new friend Mat Kearney!
