April 19, 2015 in 101 Things To Do List, 50 Concerts, Live Music, Music, Seattle Bands

Evolution of an Artist: Allen Stone

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#46 GO TO 50 CONCERTS OF 50 DIFFERENT BANDS/MUSICIANS (9/50)

Concert 9:

04/14/2015 at Nectar Lounge (Seattle, WA)

Allen Stone w/ Special Guest Manattee Commune

Evolution of an Artist Series

 

Allen Stone is a somewhat local musician. He’s from Chewelah, WA which is apparently near Spokane. I can’t remember exactly how I discovered his music, I want to say it was due to someone introducing me to The BGP who then turned me on to Allen Stone. I saw him play the Q Cafe a few times but the times I remember most were early on in 2006. Allen was still a teenager, I want to say 19ish. Still kind of figuring things out and seemed a little unsure, but I heard good things so I decided to give him a chance.

I expected pop-rock singer songwriter in the same vein of Curtis Peoples, Matt Nathanson, Jason Mraz, etc. I did not expect him to have as much of a soul influence.I love soul music so this was a plus but man, this kid had a voice. You could tell he had a future. I didn’t know at that time what it would be, but it was pretty apparent he was going to work hard to make it.

Since that time I’ve seen him play multiple times, the venues getting bigger in the last few years. Many of the shows I saw him play were at the Q Cafe or other small venues, then all of a sudden he was playing The Crocodile, Neumos, and etc. He was on TV, friends in other states were talking about this great musician named Allen Stone that they were going to see play sold out shows. It was a bit crazy for me to be hearing his name from friends outside of Seattle. I can only imagine what it was like for Allen.

So when I heard about the Evolution of an Artist series that the STG was putting on with Allen, I was surprised at the magnitude of this series and yet elated. Wow, this kid has come a long way.

So what is the Evolutions of an Artist series? Allen would be playing a series of 5 shows at venues around Seattle. The venues were a range of sizes and capacities. Each show moving to a larger venue. The series kicked off on April 13th with a show at The Triple Door and culminates with a show at the Paramount on Saturday, April 18th.

Monday, April 13, 2015 – Triple Door with Maiah Manser

Tuesday, April 14, 2015 –  Nectar Lounge with Manatee Commune

Thursday, April 16, 2015 – The Crocodile with SISTERS

Friday, April 17, 2015 – Neumos with Kris Orlowski

Saturday, April 18, 2015 – STG’s Paramount Theatre with Sam Lachow

I would have loved to buy the week-long pass to get into all the shows and hang with Allen, but I didn’t have time nor the money so I bought tickets to the show that I thought would be the most intimate while still being a dance party. The Nectar Lounge show. I was tempted by other shows because of the opening acts but my hair stylist and friend wanted to go to the Nectar too so I purchased 4 tickets for all of us.

Sadly, when Tuesday came around only one of the other 3 people were going to be able to make it. The identification of the 4th person fluctuated a lot during the time period between when I bought the tickets and when the show actually occurred. I almost lost all three people but luckily my friend Jenni made it back into town just in time. Unfortunately, Tahara was sick so her and her husband weren’t going to make it. I assumed since it was a sold out show and was a hard show to get tickets to, that I would be able to sell the tickets easily. This was not the case. I finally found one other  person to meet us at the show and gave up.

Manatee Commune was the opener. I didn’t know what to expect since I’d never heard of them/him. A friend who is in to electronic music mentioned them so I kind of assumed DJ-esque music. So when we walked it, I was not surprised to see him behind a turntable. I was however surprised when he broke out drums, and a violin, and etc to play. It was definitely still not what I expected and not exactly my style, but he had style and talent and I appreciate that. So if its your style of music, then definitely check him out.

On to Allen. You have to make a grand entrance when everyone is there to see you, right? haha Allen and his entire band (including back-up singers) were dressed in white. As members of the band took the stage I looked to my left and sure enough, Allen and Jessica and Dani came down the stairs. I’m not sure if any of the other band members came down the stairs because honestly I was following Allen’s movements waiting for him to sing.

I grabbed a couple of pics during the first song then put my phone away. I just needed a pic or two for the blog. Well, just after I put my phone away Allen asked the audience to do just that. He asked everyone to live in the moment with him, to dance, to sing, to experience it all…and without their phones. It’s a hard request to fulfill. Adam Levine asked the same thing at the M5 show and just for one song and even then people couldn’t do it. Speaking from a person who always has a camera at a show, I understand but at the same time one song shouldn’t break you, nor should one night.

Anyways, without taking pics I was free to dance and sing with my friends and the large group of strangers around me. There was one woman in front of me that almost put a damper on the night. She kept moving/dancing backwards even though she had plenty of room in front of her (and I mean enough that her and her friends put their jackets and purses on the floor in a space large enough for at least two other people and they were not crowded around it). She got mad at me and my friend Jenni and told us to stop bumping in to her…at a sold out show…with plenty of space in front of her. We apparently were the ones bumping in to her, never mind that there was people behind me as well as a physical bar/table that prohibited us from moving back but it was our fault. There was almost a throw down but she finally turned forward to dance, and continued to be an inconsiderate ass, but she didn’t complain about us bumping in to her anymore so there is that.

The rest of the experience was fantastic. Allen and his band were on point. We even had a dance off, one side against the other. Greg (keys/organ) apparently came and danced on his side so Evan and Jon (horns) came down and worked it on ours, Jessica was also getting really hyped into it. It was so much fun. Funny moment though, when Allen was telling everyone to get crazy and dance he said “Jump up and dance like you’re at Dick’s and Macklemore is on the roof” (or something like that). And of course Macklemore was in the house so seeing him laugh at that was pretty funny. Everyone won the dance off. EVERYONE. Which just sums up the night. We all won!

During the encore a drunk couple came and kind of split up my group (on accident) and they were dancing their butts off. They were kind of annoying but not like that woman who was being mean. They were just into it and they apologized after. It was around this time that Jenni and I also realized we were inappropriately dressed because all the dancing had made us really hot. We both made bad decisions. Long sleeves were in play and they shouldn’t have been. She went outside for a bit and told me she’d meet us out there if she didn’t get back.

After the show, said goodbye to friends. Dealt with a drunk dude that was talking to my friend and then left talking about how amazing the show had been and how much of a badass talented singer Allen is. I stayed on that concert high for quite a bit, so much so that I was super dragging the next day. It was painful, but worth it. Joining in on the celebration of Allen Stone and where he came from and where he has gone was an experience not to be missed.

 

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