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Starting now to find some peace and set myself free
Music video by Blue October performing Fear taken from their album Sway. Enjoy!
So November was a busy month for gig attendance for me with one gig a week for three weeks!
The National @ the o2
It all kicked off with my favourite band at the moment, The National back for the second time this year and my second time seeing them. I really enjoyed the gig at the Marquee in Cork and for me they will never top that gig in the Olympia on a snowy December night in Dublin. We had seated tickets which I find always lacks a bit of atmosphere but at least the view was good. I loved the lighting and stage set-up and they had a large backing band with both brass and strings that enhanced their large sound and filled the o2. Matt always puts his heart and soul into every performance so much so I was in fear that he might fall off the edge of the stage or burst a vocal cord! There was a great mix of both new and old songs. For the finale, Matt went into the crowd and of course there was the now expected sing-along to ‘Vanderlyle Crybaby’ to end the gig on a high.
Blue October @ The Institute, Birmingham
Blue October are another one of my favourites and their gigs never fail to disappoint. This one was no different – the energy at a Blue October gig is always amazing. The Institute is in the Irish Quarter [how appropriate] on Digbeth High Street – a lovely intimate venue. They are currently touring their seventh studio album Sway. The band were truly on form for this tour and it showed. The set list was brilliant featuring many favourites kicking off with Sway. I also especially loved Fear, Not Broken Anymore and Bleed Out from the new album and also some of my old favourites including Into the Ocean, The Worry List and Italian Radio. We ended the night off in the Kerryman next door with a lock-in listening to the album – a fitting ending to another memorable gig.
The Lumineers @ the o2
The Lumineers are a folk rock band from Denver, Colorado. If you’re thinking the who? then all I have to say to you would be two little words ‘Ho Hey’!
Based on the liking of that one song which was on constant repeat on the radio at the time, I agreed to go to this gig. It just shows how one popular song can sell out the o2. Apparently Dublin was their biggest gig to date. The band are good musicians hopping ably between instruments but they failed to hold my interest. With only one album and ten songs, there was a lot of pauses and a few covers to fill in time. The lead singer, Wesley, who looks a bit like Thor [Chris Hemsworth] was quite bossy telling us to stand up and put away our mobile phones. They also played ‘Ho Hey’ quite early on and there was a good sing-along. They tried to get close to the crowd by playing a short set in the centre of the o2. By the time the band came back on for an encore, we had had enough and left before the end which for me is a rare occurrence. Judging by the screaming adoring fans they won’t miss me at the next one.
Well two out of three great gigs in one month ain’t a bad score!
Today I don’t have fall apart I don’t have to be afraid
Face your fears with American rock band Blue October taken from their seventh album Sway. As singer Justin Furstenfeld puts it: “This album is about why life is so beautiful. It’s about facing fears and recognizing miracles every day.” Enjoy!
Can you feel my heart beating underneath the stars
Blue October’s brand new lyric video to their new single Angels in Everything taken from their next album SWAY. The new album is currently being streamed on Soundcloud. It is due for release on 20th August. Enjoy!
I might have been gone but I never walked out
What a beautiful, emotional performance of Worry List by Justin Furstenfeld at his acoustic show in Manchester last Wednesday night. It’s been picked up on BBC2’s playlist. This song, dedicated to his daughter Blue, is from Blue October’s album “Any Man in America”, a personal account of his bitter divorce and ensuing custody battle and his anger at the court’s treatment of fathers. You can really feel his pain in this song and throughout the whole album – Justin really does wear his heart on his sleeve and relives the painful experiences over and over again on stage.
So haven’t gotten round to this till now but had a hectic, manic, mental few days for Blue October’s Any Man In America tour in the UK on the 3rd and 4th of November. For some still unknown reason the sis decided to book the earliest flight over to London on the Thursday so we were up at 4am! Early mornings are not my favourite so I was fairly grumpy having added to the fact work was very stressful that week leading to sleepness nights and stressful days so I wasn’t in great form to begin with! It also didn’t help that sis is at her chirpiness in the mornings and added to the excitement of seeing her favourite band, she was positively hyper and unbelieveably chatty! We stayed in the Swinton Hotel on Swinton Street near Kings Cross. That’s just say it was clean and functional and relatively close to the venue! We were meeting up with some fellow Blue fans. One brave Scottish lassie came on her own so we met her at the hotel and headed to the O2 Academy in Islington via Kings Cross!
Thankfully the venue is attached to a large shopping centre with cover while we queued which was just as well considering it was bucketing down. We met another Scottish clan there and the originals – Mr Strong and his lovely family. We had tickets for the soundcheck and a meet and greet with the band. I have to say if they were giving prizes for venues, Islington’s O2 Academy would be a sure winner. I’ve never been anywhere where the staff were so nice and helpful and with the bonus of cover while you wait outside. The Staff handed out water and were so polite. We had to go outside and queue again when the meet and greet was over. By then, the breakfast we had in the airport seemed a long time ago and two of the Scots made a food run to Sainsbury’s so we had sandwiches, cookies and coke to refuel.
No Crowdsurfing
Once we got in, we were lucky enough to be front and central. I’m loving the new album and seeing it live made me love it even more. Especially some of the songs that I wasn’t sure about on the album like The Flight and Any Man In America are truly stunning live. The album itself is very personal to Justin and deals with his custody battle for his daughter and his break down of his relationship and is so honest. Seeing him perform live you can feel the emotion with every song which is why their live shows are so powerful. Afterwards we headed to a pub across the road glad to be able to sit down and who should come in for a post-show beer only Jeremy, the drummer, who was as polite and friendly as ever. The landlord told us the whole band had come there the night before to kick off their European tour in style.
We had a lovely breakfast in the hotel – have to say they do an excellent deal for bed and breakfast – it may not be five star but it’s good value for money. Then we made our way to the train station after saying our goodbyes to Mr Strong and family who were heading home. We got there in plenty of time and our Scottish daddy checked out the platform number so we had coffee and chats before deciding five minutes to go to head down to the platform. Only to arrive and be told it was a different train and our actual train was due to leave in 5 minutes and so began the mad train dash which would have been funny if we didn’t have starring roles. Of course the platform was the other end of the station! All I can remember is the dazed ‘deer stuck in headlights’ expression on our faces and running as fast as our legs could carry us. Arrived when the conductor was blowing the whistle and shouting ‘this train leaves on time with or without you’, we launched ourselves onto the first available carriages red-faced, and hyperventilating. Of course it happened to be first class so we had to walk the length of the train looking for our reserved seats. Boy were we glad to have made it. We can laugh about it now!!
So onwards to Birmingham which was only an hour or so away and once our little hearts went back to normal, the journey flew by and before long the famous bullring, a huge shopping mall, was in sight. We were meeting another brave soul who was also coming on her own. We met in a pub in the station before heading to the bullring to grab some food. After the previous day surviving on breakfast and sandwiches just wasn’t enough! We all hopped into a taxi to take us to the ibis hotel in Holloway Circus which was close to the venue, O2 Academy. It literally couldn’t be any closer, it was practically next door. It was like a motel with the rooms all located off the carpark and it was ridiculously cheap.
The venue had three different gigs that night so it was extremely busy. We were supposed to be doing another meet and greet but the band were delayed in traffic so they decided to let us in for the soundcheck and do the meet and greet after so as not to delay as the venue had a curfew of 9.30! The long queuing process was helped along by funny faces [the Scottish started it] and general hilarity. The stage was tiny and there wasn’t room for the roadie whose job was made harder by the fact he had to jump on stage to fix leads and change guitars! Even with the fact they were late and looked a bit hassled and there were some technical issues and the stage was tiny, for some reason that gig was the better of the two. The set list was the same both nights and had a good mix of both old and new. Afterwards, we queued to meet the band and get photos taken. Can’t believe that was my sixth time seeing them in two years! It was still raining so we headed back to the ibis hotel bar for post-show drinks and lots of fun. It was another ungodly start the next morning with a 5am wake up call to the airport! So to all the Blue fans who made this UK trip special and you know who ye are – the Scottish clan [Scottish mammy, Scottish daddy and of course baby Scot Leith McTeeth]; brave Scottish lass, Squirrel and of course Mr Strong and family – remember we’ll always have Blue!
See the world keep moving as I stumble
Blue October – “The Feel Again (Stay)” – From the forthcoming album, Any Man In America due to be released August 16th 2011. A brave video featuring Justin Furstenfeld and directed by Merritt Fields.
Just back and in recovery mode after another excellent trip abroad to see the boys from Blue October. First stop on our road trip was Frankfurt, Germany – the blue crew met at the airport reporting for duty, one man and six women. After landing we picked up the nine-seater white van aka ‘the pimp-mobile’ with P-Diddy with his six chicks! We stayed in the Marriot which was only 15 minutes from the airport and attached luckily to a large shopping centre, NordWestZentrum.
The Frankfurters we met were a friendly bunch and Frankfurt was relatively cheap. We didn’t see much of the city but it looks pretty industrial and I read all about it in Cara, the Aer Lingus magazine – apparently it is known as “Manhattan” because of its skyscraper skyline or “Bankfurt” due to its numerous banks – those funny Frankfurters with their keen sense of humour.
When in Germany....
That first night, we had Gold tickets allowing us access to the soundcheck and a meet & greet with the band. The venue was about ten minutes away by taxi in a funky venue with cool graffiti of the Muppets on the outside.
There was a short queue and many of them knew each other from Facebook and Open Book (the Blue October Forum) which led to a funny exchange between P-Diddy and another true Blue fan which went like this:
“Are you my friend on Facebook?” asked P-Diddy
To which she replied, “No”
We all laughed as it sounded like we were right back in the playground. There was a real international feel to their fanbase, apart from our Irish contingent, we met the Germans, the Slovakians and the Americans. We met two ladies who travelled over from Ohio especially to see the band. Sis confused Ohio with Idaho and so began a weird conversation about potatoes!
While waiting around there were other funny incidents like the band having to beat down the door of the venue to get in and the bouncer not believing that they were in the band! There was Justin, Jeremy and Ryan banging on the door and saying, “Let’s go see these guys. I heard they were pretty good”. It was a good distraction from the cold. The drummer from the support band also had a similar problem but he had a drum stick so he was let through. P-Diddy said he’d try next if only he had a microphone, I was going to try with my air guitar but luckily neither of us had to as the doors opened shortly after for the soundcheck. We were all stamped “Cool” on the way in.
The venue was small but compact with a nice stage and no barriers so the fans could get up close and personal. There was a disco ball in the centre and five small chandeliers around the room with the bar towards the back. They played three songs (Clumsy Card House; James and Holler) which were a taster for later and a glimpse into the set-list. We had to watch from the bar.
Afterwards Justin finished it off by saying “Let’s go meet these guys” and we were told to form an orderly queue to get our free posters signed. The lads were all lovely and polite and didn’t mind signing my crazy-making book as well as my poster. We were then told to get into line again for photos with the band. We got a great group shot with all the band which was lovely and Justin told us us Irish always smell so good we must dip each other in soap before we go out! While it was nice to see the soundcheck and meet the band, I’m not sure if I would do the Gold ticket thing again as it was a little militant and cringe-worthy although the band were really nice about it and what I like about Blue October apart from great music, awesome performances and meaningful songs, they are also great with their fans and very appreciative. Although there was what shall be forever known as the wool incident which left me a little unimpressed with Ryan but he redeemed himself the next night with an apology after being told off by both his mum and my sis. We were kicked out of the venue and found a small bar over the bridge to warm us with a pre-gig drink until the gig started. We ran into the German contingent in the bar. P-Diddy knows them all the true blue fans and they all know him.
The doors opened at 8pm but the support didn’t come on till 9pm. They were Blackmarket, an American band who won their spot via a Myspace competition. It was their last night playing support so Jeremy brought them shots on stage and Ryan played one song with them.
They were okay but played quite a long set and it felt like we were waiting forever for the main act. While waiting we kept hearing a bicycle bell which apparently was to signal that the breadman cometh – yep they sell pretzels at the gig! I was lucky enough to get a spot right up front which is the best way to view a gig when you’re a smallie like me and you have the feeling that Justin is singing right to you. They didn’t come on till after 10pm but the moment they did the atmosphere was electric and the crowd ate up every moment. Justin has styled himself with a one-handed glove in red and black and I love Ryan’s violins come in the rainbow colours of Red, White, Blue and Green.
Blue October are the best live band around at the moment and I’ve seen quite a few – Justin is a real performer on stage and puts so much energy into every performance dripping with emotion as well as sweat! And not to mention the magic that happens between the rest of the band – Jeremy, CB, Matt and Ryan [Didn’t get any decent pics of Jeremy]. It just wouldn’t be the same without all of them. They really connect with the audience and for that hour and a half we all just live in the moment savouring every single word and beat of the songs.
They have a core set list which included (and forgive me if I get this wrong):
Say It; On the Ride Home; Been Down; Picking Up Pieces; Congratulations; Into The Ocean; Schizophrenia; X Amount of Words; Come in Closer; Sound of Pulling Heaven Down; Should Be Loved; Dirt Room; My Never; Amnesia; Quiet Mind
with the Encore songs being: PRN; Jump Rope; Hate Me to finish. Each night they change a few songs. That first night two of the rotations song they played were Clumsy Card House and Balance Beam both of which I love.
The next morning we had a swim in the huge swimming pool with slides attached the hotel to refresh and recharge the batteries – I couldn’t think of a better way to start the day and it felt like we were on holidays. After a quick breakfast we checked out and hit the road for a two and a half hour road trip to Luxembourg – thank god for Sat Nav. We had a lovely note from the American ladies on our windscreen telling us they’d see us in Luxembourg. We had a few pit stops – a toilet stop complete with swiveling seats and telling you to ‘enjoy the experience’. It was well worth the 50 cent! Luxembourg looks to be a very pretty city not that we saw that much of it but we were all wondering what Luxembourg was famous for. That was the hot topic during the car journey. Having arrived in the city centre we found and checked into our hotel which was minutes away from the venue and opposite the Central Railway station.
Luxembourg - famous for the Black Stuff!
We arranged to meet down at reception to grab a bite before the gig. After battling with the rotating shower head which swung around as if possessed by the exorcist, sis and I arrived promptly and were rewarded by a surreal experience of meeting Justin skipping out of the lobby with a cup of coffee. He was staying in the same hotel and even revealed his room number – Justin your secret was safe with us. After a quick bite we walked down to the venue stopping to ask a prostitute for directions as you do and passing a good few sex shops – maybe we had found what Luxembourg was famous for!
Arriving at the gig, already a large queue had formed but luckily they had opened the doors and we got in pretty quickly and once again were lucky enough to get a spot in the front. The venue was the largest I’ve seen them play in and also the nicest with an upstairs balcony but there were downsides to this like the fact there was a gap between stage and audience for the first time and also the bouncers were stopping people from taking photos and videos. There was no support that night which was perfect. It was also the last night of their tour so the lads were truly on form.
They kicked off with Weight of the World and that night the rotation songs were James, Holler and my favourite 18th Floor Balcony. Justin dedicated Jump Rope to two kids in the audience and sang it to them which was sweet.
Afterwards the lads stayed around to greet fans, take photos and sign merchandise. We stayed around chatting with the die-hard fans who by now had become friends. We went to the funkiest bar just down the road from the venue called Chocolate Elvis.
All the die-hards were there, the music was great and the craic was mighty and the band even showed up minus CB. It was great to hang out with them and as it was their last night of touring they could relax and enjoy themselves. Another surreal moment happened when they played The End by Blue October and there we were all singing along with the band to their own song. Jeremy was such a sweetheart – so polite and friendly. Two of the die-hards got their car locked in the carpark so were stranded but rescued by P-Diddy who offered to share his small single room with them. We said our goodbyes after a fun-filled night and headed back to the hotel hoping for a nightcap. Unfortunately by the time we got back the bar was closed, well I guess it was 2am and time for bed.
After a lovely breakfast, we all met in reception to check out and we were on the road back to Frankfurt early. We took the scenic route through the picturesque snow-covered forests stopping off for a snow ball fight and getting beeped at by the police.
As it was still early when we reached Frankfurt, we headed back to the NordWestZentrum for some chill out time before heading to the airport. By that stage, we were the people in bits on tour! En route to the airport, we were stopped by the Polizei (Police) who took us off the motorway before stopping. We are still not sure why they stopped us! Perhaps snowball fights are illegal in Germany. And so an uneventful flight and we were back in the homeland. Here’s to saving for the next trip – I think I may have joined the die-hards!
This is a montage of live concert photos and fan photos put together by BluesLethalgirl to show the band just how much we love and appreciate them! Blue October fans are the BEST!!
Girl from the Hills Blog 