Even though my dad had just had surgery the day before, he was still up for seeing this concert at The Anthem last Friday (I wouldn't have wanted to go with anyone else!). We had seen Blondie before (read that blog post here), but we hadn't seen Elvis Costello & the Imposters (which is like his original group the Attractions except with some different people). So after our yummy dinner at Mi Vida (the seafood empanadas are delicious!), we went over to the venue early for happy hour (and as a 9:30 Club "Friends with Benefits" member, I got some extra points for coming early. Whatever that means.).
We weren't sure who would headline, since they're both pretty famous New Wave artists. But Blondie went first. My dad and I liked this performance better than the last time we saw her, but we attributed that to the fact that, last time, we were sitting outside in the rain and it was really late.
Here are some of Blondie's most famous hits (although she also sang a version of Old Town Road, which was awesome):
She also performed the song To Russia with Love as some sort of protest against Trump. She even had the seal (shown above) that has a two-headed eagle on it (a Russian symbol).
Then it was Elvis Costello's turn. I wasn't as familiar with his music, but my dad was really pumped! Here are some of his songs:
I love watching the Try Guys on YouTube. I watched them when they were still with Buzzfeed, and love them even more now that they're on their own. So when I learned that they were going on tour, I pretty much immediately bought tickets to see them in D.C. at the Warner Theatre.
But I didn't know what to expect from their show. Yes, they're funny, but they're not stand-up comedians. And they certainly have a variety of content on their digital channels, but how would that translate live? I didn't know what I was in for: I just wanted to be entertained. AND I WAS.
The four guys came out in all their glittery, colorful glory and sang a sort of mash-up about different online videos that went viral. Not only are the Try Guys themselves "legends of the internet," but so are these people (and many others):
If you had seen the videos before, this part of the show was hilarious. If you hadn't, it probably didn't make much sense. But seeing as these videos have gone viral (i.e. millions of people have watched them), it kind of felt like an inside joke that (almost) everyone was in on.
After the intro, the Try Guys introduced themselves, and each was a different "Legend." Keith Habersbergerwas the "Legend of Food," Ned Fulmer the "Legend of Love," Zach Kornfeld the "Legend of Fun," and Eugene Lee Yang was the "Legend of Gay." All of us familiar with the Try Guys knew these titles were perfect for each of them.
Keith went first. He told the story about how almost 10 years ago, when he was living in Chicago, he invited Tim Meadows out for pizza. But he did so in hundreds of Facebook posts to a fan page, and he turned those posts into their own web page, which in turn went viral on Reddit. Keith even made a music video called, "Bitch, Let Me Buy You Pizza." We got to see him perform the song live, but you can see the original here:
After that, Keith shared fried chicken with the whole audience, since fried chicken is what he's known for (he's made many videos about it, including a whole season of Chicken Watch). He and Zach threw Church's chicken tenders into the audience, and then encouraged the people who caught them to break them into tiny pieces and share with everyone else. I thought this was very cute and funny, but I also wasn't disappointed that I didn't get a piece of chicken that multiple strangers may have touched.
With Ned always gushing about his wife Ariel and their son Wes, of course he's the legend of love. His segment started with him asking us to turn to the person next to us and say, "I love you." (My boyfriend and I are not there yet.) AWKWARD.
Then he invited an audience member up to the stage to play "F***, Kill, or Marry" with the three other Try Guys. The other guys were hidden behind a curtain, and they each had microphones to disguise their voices. Zach and Eugene had really deep voices that sounded pretty sexy. But Keith's microphone made him sound like the original Alvin and the Chipmunks characters. His voice was SO high and the mic was SO loud that not only could you not understand a word he said, but our ears were practically bleeding. That was definitely the most obnoxious part of the show. But anyway, the guest asked them different questions (mostly consisting of "What's your favorite BLANK?"), and the guys gave funny answers. In the end she stabbed Keith.
The next bit that Ned did, which I think made me laugh the hardest, was when he invited four daughters and their fathers to the stage. The dads had to "prove their love" to their daughters in a dance-off. One dad clearly didn't want to go on stage in the first place, so when the dance off was announced, I was cringing for him; if you don't want to stand in front of 1,600 people, you certainly don't want to dance in front of them! Ned showed the dads a few moves, like the Dab, the Floss, and the Nae Nae. Then all of the fathers had to dance to the Old Town Road song that is everywhere right now. One dad knew all the moves and was familiar with the song, so I was glad he won the contest. I was dying laughing during this entire part of the show.
Zach began his part of the show like a TED Talk, discussing the hardships he has faced in his life and giving the advice that, as often as we can, we should try to have fun. This was kind of the downer portion of the show, but it made sense that Zach would take this opportunity to share his life story.
His segment was probably my least favorite. He wrote a fan fiction piece to follow up the video they had created about it. He asked the audience for a theme to be the innuendo for the piece, and I'm pretty sure he picked "ping pong" not because someone from the audience suggested it, but because they had already planned to do that (lame). And then he did a karaoke piece, but the audience voted for a Hannah Montana song, which I didn't know. But the rest of the (very young) crowd was super into it, so I did enjoy all of their energy.
Eugene only recently came out as gay, and he did so in the most amazing way with his own music video:
His entire piece was him dancing and lip-syncing to the songs of amazing LGBT icons, all while looking fabulous, of course. This mash up included songs by Cyndi Lauper, Ariana Grande, Madonna, George Michael, Liza Minnelli, Whitney Houston, and so, so many more. He's an amazing dancer, and all the songs were so iconic. This was really beautiful, as were his words about staying true to yourself and your identity, whatever makes you you. And he included audience members to join him and dance and sing on stage, which was so much fun and wonderfully spirited. I loved how supportive and progressive the crowd was, and it gave me hope for the future regarding civil rights for ALL of us.
Like I said, I didn't know what to expect from this show. But it was better than I ever could have imagined! If the Try Guys are coming to a city near you, buy tickets now!
Reba McEntire is one of the most famous female country singers in modern country music. So when my parents bought tickets to see her in concert at the Delaware State Fair, I was so excited!
Even at 64 (!), she puts on a great show. She had lots of energy, and she can definitely still sing! She did a medley of some of her songs (since she has so many), but she made sure to sing her biggest hits to the fullest.
I hadn't been to Merriweather Post Pavilion since seeing The National there last year with this guy. This time around, my friend Mike and I went together to see Ra Ra Riot open for Jimmy Eat World and Third Eye Blind.
We stopped by Lost Ark Distilling on our way up for a tasting. I recommend their original rum, and they also have two flavored ones, coffee and chocolate berry, which are delicious. Then we grabbed dinner to-go from Cravin' so we could bring our dinner to the show. The chicken tacos and plantains were very yummy!
Thanks to the 9:30 Club's "Friends with Benefits" program, our tickets were upgraded to VIP status. This meant we didn't have to sit on the lawn (although I love a good picnic). We grabbed a high-top table and two stools in the elevated VIP section, which is on the side of the stage. VIPs get a special bathroom and window for food and drinks, so we rarely had to wait in line for anything. It was so nice! (This made it very easy for Mike to treat me to several frozen margaritas, so I was especially pleased.)
I honestly bought these tickets (about six months ago) because I had heard of these bands before, but I didn't know them well. In the end, I think I only knew four songs during the entire concert. But it's really more about the whole experience, which was very fun!
I normally get lawn seats, but this
time I bought loge tickets. Seats F7 and F9 looking at stage right are really
good! We had a wonderful view of everything. I especially loved the set and the
costumes for this show. Everything was so detailed! From the sparkles that create the
illusion of rippling water to the chandeliers inside the castle, the set truly
complemented the story. And the costumes were varied in the larger scenes like
the Prince's birthday party, so each dancer truly looked like an individual.
Everything was just so beautiful that the set almost (almost) upstaged
the dancers themselves!
The costume for von Rothbart (i.e. the bad guy) was so intricate and effective! Image found here
The choreography was the
classic Petipa/Ivanov version, but Kevin McKenzie added some modern (and I
thought humorous) bits. For example, as the prince moved closer to the swans,
they slightly backed away from him out of fear, scorn, or both. Another funny
part was when von Rothbart, the evil sorcerer, was disguised as a good looking,
young man, who was flirting with the Queen Mother.
And just like Tchaikovsky's
Nutcracker, there are mini-dances within the ballet representing multiple
cultures, like the Spanish Dance and the Mazurka.
I usually try to travel and visit a friend over the 4th of July holiday. Last year I was on Cape Cod, in 2017 I was in Wisconsin, 2016 in Seattle, and 2015 in Michigan. So when my sorority sister recently moved to Denver, I knew I wanted to visit. I had only been to Colorado once before, and that was to Four Corners, so that barely counts. I was excited to see more of the state.
Day 1
Yes, I have a patriotic unicorn shirt. Duh.
I landed in Denver on the 4th of July, and we spent most of the day at my friend's home preparing for her holiday BBQ with her husband's family. Of course we had SO much food, and guests were in the house from 4:30 until very late in the evening. Along with eating, we also played beer pong (my skills are very rusty) and watched fireworks. The fireworks were happening very close to the house, so that was convenient to just step outside to see them. It was cool seeing them sparkle over the mountains. But what was even better was that a thunder storm was rolling in at the same time, so nature was competing with her own lightning fireworks. It was so cool! But once it started to rain we came back inside and eventually headed to bed. Definitely a fun way to celebrate Independence Day!
Day 2
The next day we went on a hike in Eldorado Canyon. We had to get back to the house early in the afternoon for a furniture delivery, so we didn't hike for too long. But we hiked for about two hours, just over four miles. I could tell that the altitude affected me a little bit, but it wasn't too bad. We saw so many wildflowers, and we saw some cool wildlife like a Western Tanager and the Sandia Hairstreak butterfly. Here are some photos:
These little plants were everywhere. The leaves looked like little coins.
I was surprised by the variety of wildflowers in the area. Later I learned that Eldorado Canyon is known for its biodiversity.
After lunch, Alexandra and I sunbathed for an hour, which was glorious. Then we cleaned ourselves up and headed to Pearl Street in Boulder. There were a lot of cute shops (I spent $50 on greeting cards at Bliss alone), and it was fun seeing the historical statues sprinkled throughout the area. Here are some pics:
It was warm and sunny while we were shopping, but as we were driving to Yak & Yeti for dinner, an enormous hail storm hit us! I felt like were inside of a tornado! We did make it to the restaurant safely, but we lingered a little longer than we normally might have just to make sure the storm was gone before driving again. We ended the night watching Holmes & Watson, although I fell asleep about 30 minutes in. It had been such a long day: I was exhausted!
This isn't my friend's car, but we did see some hail damage!
We needed a more relaxed day, so we started off by seeing a matinee of Yesterday. I thought it was a really cute, funny movie, and if you like the Beatles, then this is a must-see. I wonder what Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr think of it!
Meghan gave an amazing distillery tour!
"Cabana Boy" cocktail
After relaxing and having lunch at home, we dressed up a little bit and did a tasting at Stranahan's, a whiskey distillery in Denver. This was the most thorough distillery tour I've ever been on. Meghan, our tour guide, did an amazing job, making the tour both fun and informative. And the whiskey wasn't bad, either! I especially liked their original single malt, which has a caramel, banana aroma and a coffee finish. Yum! We then enjoyed cocktails while playing Bananagrams before heading to La Loma for dinner. Colorado is known for its green chili sauce, and this place did not disappoint!
Day 4
For my last day, I wanted to go on another hike. So we went to the Flatirons, which is a pretty cool group of rock formations that look like, well, the flat part of an iron. The hike started with a consistent ascent through a meadow, and then we really started climbing through the trees and even were on all-fours through rock scrambles. So this was a legit hike! We had a beautiful day for our outdoor adventure, and the views were breathtaking. We also saw (and heard!) a very angry chipmunk; she was probably protecting her babies nearby. I definitely earned the Voodoo Doughnut I ate for breakfast!
We saw lots of thistles.
These rocks seemed a bit precarious. There was no net around them!
Pretty big dandelion-like puffs!
Since I had to leave that evening, the rest of the afternoon was spent just hanging out at home. We sunbathed some more, and after taking a shower and packing up my things, it was time to go. But what a fun trip: you can't beat a vacation where every day you get to eat BBQ food, play with an adorable puppy, and watch Wimbledon. Woot!
