March 6, 2015 in 101 Things To Do List, 50 Concerts, Entertainment, Live Music, Music

Valentine’s Day Adventures

#46 Go to 50 concerts of 50 different bands/musicians (2/50)

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Concert Number 2

02/14/2015 At The Paramount Theater (Seattle, WA)

Hozier (www.hozier.com)  w/Special Guest Asgeir (www.asgeirmusic.com)

Ah Valentine’s Day, a day that has so much pressure attached to it because its a “day for lovers”. I hate that people freak out so much, its a day. If you are in a relationship you choose to celebrate or choose to not and if you are single then you do whateva you want. I’m single so rather than freak out and be all its “Singles Awareness Day” or “F*ck Valentine’s Day” and be all bitter, I made plans with my childhood best friend.

I found out back in October that Hozier was coming to Seattle again, however I was in Austin at the time. My best friend saw my post and asked me if I wanted to go, I said yes and she grabbed the tickets. Fantastic. Plans made. (Last year I spend Valentine’s day on a music cruise with friends so really, Valentine’s day is the ultimate fun friend’s day for me).

As the day approached so did the onslaught of “woe is me, I’m single, blah blah feel bad for me” posts on all the social media. As well as the posts from people in relationships stressing about making plans. My favorite posts were the ones where people were just like “what are you doing Saturday?”, because again…its just a day. They had the right idea. Don’t get me wrong, romance is awesome and I was kind of hoping for a certain guy to make a move but alas, no move was made and I had plans to rock the night away anyways so basically, no f*cks given.

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The day was pretty uneventful. Had brunch with my cousin then did a little shopping and laundry before getting ready for the show. I did make the executive decision to forgo common sense in regards to the still healing broken foot and decided to wear “cute shoes” instead of runners/tennis shoes/whatever you want to call them. Unfortunately, most of my cute shoes wouldn’t fit an insole (I’m not a complete idiot in terms of rehabilitating my food), so I went with my boots. Put some good insoles in them for cushioning and wore thick socks. Plus we would be sitting most of the night so I figured I was okay, and if I wasn’t then I would just have to wear the boot cast the next day. I was fully prepared to deal with the consequences of my actions. Thank goodness I didn’t have a problem.

I got to the show, the line was already down the block but lucky for us, most of them had floor GA tickets and we were GA balcony. So the competition for a close up seat to see the show would be less of a fight. In line we met this really cool girl, that we actually had a lot in common with. We spent most of our line time talking to her. I can’t remember her name for sure, but I think it was Heather (I’m horrible at names). She was at the show alone, but had a floor ticket so once we got in we had to say goodbye.

We made out way up to the balcony and got front row seats in the balcony GA area, great view with awesome sound. It wasn’t right at the edge as those seats were “Paramount Club” member seats, but close enough. No one would block our view. Ky and I spent the interim time catching up, talking about life, music, food, and people in general as well as showing each other funny pics on the internet. There was also some instagram/FB time.

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The lights dimmed and Asgeir and his band (two other guys) took the stage. Honestly, I’d never heard of him but from the start I was mesmerized. I could tell he was going to make me fall for him. The music surrounded you and made you feel like you were floating on an invisible cloud of awesome. He seemed more instrumental with less words, but I realized later he was singing more than I though but his voice just blended right in with the music. I know people say the voice is an instrument, which I agree with that but with him it really did sound like another instrument in the mix not just instruments with the vocal overlay. I found myself “feeling” the music rather than just listening. It was fantastic.

Another thing I noticed was the response to him when he finished his set. Most openers get a “polite response”, you know, some applause a couple screams and Wooos but this was a real response. Lots of applause and cheering. The crowd genuinely liked him. If they weren’t fans going in, they definitely were going out.

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Hozier was up next and the crowd “went wild” so to speak. He was amazing, Its funny because he seems so unassuming but on stage you can’t take your eyes off of him. Its not that on stage he is boisterous or glitzy and flamboyant, he just has this way about him when he performs that commands attention. Maybe because I assumed his personality was bashful I expected his performance to be a little more reserved. But he is confident and projects well and just moves you.

The crowd was feeling every bit of his performance. In a Week was beautiful. He introduced the song talking about where he was from and what is was like there as well as his inspiration and then performed it along with his cellist completely stripped down. Work Song was just as powerful as it is on the album, and I love love love Jackie and Wilson live as well as Someone New. Hozier is soulful in his singing and has the Rhythm and Blues down. There is a lot of depth to this man, this artist, musician, performer.

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When he sang Take Me to Church before leaving the stage, it seemed like the show was over. I mean, that’s his big hit, right? But the crowd was not done. This was the first show in a long time that I have attended where the crowd demanded an encore with every fiber of their cheering beings. The crowd noise was kept at a level that showed they wanted to capture his attention, hoping, trying so hard, even begging for him perform more. He was off the stage for a few minutes and the noise did not die down once in those 4 minutes. People gave him a standing ovation. It was crazy how much we were all trying to get him to understand how much we wanted and needed him to keep going.

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He finally came back out and scratched his head, thanked the crowd (he seemed to be genuinely moved) then began to play. It was silent, everyone was enraptured in him and his music. He played 3-4 more songs. I lost count, I do remember Cherry Wine being breathtaking. A solo effort on his part. I didn’t want the night to end, but alas, all good things come to an end. He thanked us all for making that night a amazing and one to remember. HE wished us all a happy valentine’s day and then he was gone. This time for real. Another standing ovation and the crowd began to file out. I couldn’t have asked for a better night.

We were not done though. Ky’s ferry wasn’t coming until 12:50 am and it was only 11 pm, so we needed to kill some time. My guitar teacher Justin’s band was playing at Fado so we headed there. It seemed perfect, Hozier is irish and Fado is an irish pub. Done deal. We drove down and listened while the True Romans played some covers. I was distracted by Justin’s outfit (tiger striped velvet pants, an “I love boobies” shirt (later replaced by a shirt with muscles on it) and what appeared to either be a member’s only jacket or a really loose cardigan-esque jacket. I loved it! hahaha Not sure if anyone else could pull that off, but he has a pretty awesome personality so it worked.

One Guinness (me) and Irish Coffee (Ky), great conversations, lots of laughs and an epic Tool cover and the night was over for us. Ky’s ferry would be arriving so she left around 1240 am and I was tired so I headed home around 1. With one last goodbye to Justin, I walked out and drove home. It was a fantastic night. I have no qualms with Valentine’s Day, we’re pretty good friends I’d say.  🙂

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