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This past weekend I went to Jiffy Lube Live for the first time! I had never been to this venue before because I had heard such horror stories of the traffic and parking situation there. But my boyfriend was able to get $20 tickets from Goldstar to see OneRepublic in concert there. I figured I might as well have a fun time with him and then decide for myself if the venue is worth the hassle or not.
We arrived around 5:30pm so we could tailgate before the show. I think that was smart because we weren't rushing, and it meant getting into the parking lot was a breeze. So that part was easy! Gates opened at 6:00pm, so shortly after we made our way inside. There is quite the staircase to get onto the lawn (which is a little tricky when you're carrying lawn chairs), but the place is huge! I looked up the stats: Jiffy Lube Live can hold more than 25,000, while Merriweather Post Pavilion is closer to 19,000, and little Wolf Trap hovers only around 7,000. So this was quite the lawn!
We had brought our own snacks, so we didn't visit many of the vendors. But it looks like they have a good variety, from basic concert food (i.e. pizza, chicken tenders) to different things like tacos and plant-based burgers. There were also a TON of drink vendors. I liked that several were along the perimeter of the lawn so you didn't have to trek very far to get a drink. As with most venues these days, many of the drinks come in 16-20oz cans, which is a lot (plus your drink gets warm by the time you're getting to the second half of the can). But my boyfriend did buy us fun frozen drinks in plastic guitars!
And I only visited the restroom once early in the night, so I can't speak to how long the line gets for the ladies room. But it looked like there were a lot of stalls, and each had a clever label attached to it so that when you closed the door, it pushed a button and turned red so you knew that stall was in use. I like useful tricks like that! I also appreciated that they had paper towels instead of hand dryers. So much faster and more efficient! Plus I needed to wipe the sweat off of me from being outside in the humidity!
Now to the actual music...
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There were actually TWO openers for the show, so we definitely got our money's worth! The first opener was John K (not to be confused with John Kay). In doing my research for this post, I found out he was on American Idol not once, but twice! He has a very pop-like sound, and a voice kind of like Justin Bieber. I really liked his music! I didn't end up stopping at the merch table, but part of me was tempted to get his CD! Here are a few of his songs:
Parachute
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The next opener was NEEDTOBREATHE. I had never heard of this band before, although I did end up recognizing one of their songs. I liked their southern rock (i.e. country-like and sometimes bluesy) sound. A woman near us was a big fan and told us that the band got their start in Christian rock, so that gave us some context about their music. I almost bought some of their merch, too! Here's a taste of what they do:
Brother (I had heard this song but had no idea who sang it!)
Banks (This song was better live!)
Hard Love
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Before the main act came on, both my boyfriend and I got warning notifications on our phones about a possible storm and even flash flooding. Part of me thought we should just leave right then to avoid the bad weather. But then we would have felt silly if it didn't rain, and we would have missed the big band. So we stuck around, but it did end up raining. Luckily we were prepared with umbrellas as well as chairs that kept us off the ground. We still got a little wet, but not nearly as bad as some people! We did get a short break in the rain, and I thought about leaving then, but we had only heard a handful of OneRepublic songs at that point. So we stayed and sat through another bout of rain. But they were worth it!
Before this show, the only song I could associate with OneRepublic was Apologize:
But they have a lot of other hits that I didn't realize were theirs! I had heard some of these songs plenty of times of the radio, but I didn't know who sang them. Now I do!
And he wrote the song I Lived for his son, as a message to live every day to the fullest:
And then there were songs I hadn't heard before (I know, I live under a rock) but I did like, like this one:
OneRepublic even did a song called I Ain't Worried for the new Top Gun movie:
I also really enjoyed the mini-set (if you will) that Ryan Tedder, the band's lead singer, did in the middle of the show. It sounds like he is a really talented songwriter and has written songs for many other celebrities.* The list is very long, but here are a few he sang that night:
Beyoncé's Halo
Adele's Rumor Has It
Leona Lewis' Bleeding Love
Maroon 5's Love Somebody (He also helped write these other songs for the group: Lucky Strike, Maps, and New Love)
It really was a great show! We left before the first encore so we could beat the crowds (and get out of the rain). And because of that, it really wasn't difficult to leave the venue, either. I don't know what all the fuss was about! I have missed SO many country music concerts because I was avoiding this location, and for no good reason! I'll definitely need to come back!
*Old Dominion does the same thing at their concerts; some of their band members are amazing songwriters, too! Read my blog post about their concert in 2019 at the Anthem.
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