In just the past few weeks, I have been to several concerts, nearly wrapping up the summer season. I went to all of the concerts with my fiancé, and we had such a fun time!
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| Not too bad of a view from the lawn! |
At the end of August, we saw Train at Wolf Trap. I was excited to see them perform because I had never seen them in concert before, but I was even more excited to see Parmalee open for them. We saw Parmalee at the Grand Ole Opry when we visited Nashville (read that blog post here), and they were so good! And they did not disappoint the second time around.
And I really liked Train, too! They have so many popular hits, and we had a great time dancing along to their songs (even if we left a bit early to beat the rush).
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| Awesome chalk drawing of Sting at Wolf Trap! |
We returned to Wolf Trap just a few days later to see Sting perform. It sounds like he regularly performs at this venue, but I had never seen him before. I was supposed to see Madonna the following night, so it was going to be a full 80's-themed weekend, but then her show was postponed to December. But Sting was still on!
His son opened for him, which was kind of cool. His son, Joe Sumner, didn't have a band; it was just him and his guitar up there. He looks and sounds a lot like his dad, which is funny. Buuuut I didn't like his music very much. He kind of reminded me of a musician who would play on a kid's show like Barney or Sesame Street and sing very literal songs about numbers or vegetables. I mean, he does have a song called Jelly Bean:
While his son's music might not have been my cup of tea, Sting was incredible. He played all the Police hits, and for the next week it seemed like every time I turned on the radio, I'd hear one of his songs! I love how diverse his set is and the mix of sounds, regions, stories, etc. that inspire his music. Have a listen:
We saw Billy Idol at the Anthem down at the Wharf on Friday night. My fiancé had seen him five or six years ago, but it had been nearly 20 years since I'd seen him at the HFStival in Baltimore (which no longer exists, unfortunately). He's a bit doughier than before, but he still insisted on taking his shirt off, so he's still doing his thing! Of course we liked his famous songs, but his newer music was pretty good, too. And this was a fun concert for people watching: there was a Billy Idol look-alike in the crowd (I legit did a double take!), and there were kids ten years younger than me who were singing along to every word like they grew up in the 80's. So fun!
One of the most entertaining parts of the night was the opening act. Alex Cameron was up there with his computer as a music machine and a bandmate who played the saxophone. It was...strange to say the least. He was wearing a leopard print blouse while the saxophonist was in an oversized suit; Cameron was very charismatic while his bandmate barely moved and seemed like he wanted to shrink into a hole and disappear. Cameron also kept playing with the microphone cord; I was expecting him to tie it into knots or fun shapes, or do a magic trick! The music itself wasn't bad, and it almost reminded me of the way Haim sounds (although I couldn't understand a WORD he sang). Such a weird opening act for one of the biggest rock stars in history!
Listen for yourself:
K HoleBack to the good part: Billy Idol's songs!
Running from the Ghost (one of his newer songs, about running from addiction)
Fun fact: Billy Idol's guitarist, Steve Stevens, helped write the original Top Gun anthem:
So much fun! My next concerts are country concerts: the Chicks and Russell Dickerson. Stay tuned!
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