Trainwreck's Adventure with Live Music: Part 1

I'm not sure if you've noticed this by now but Katie and I are quite friendly.........and by friendly, I of course mean that all of our thoughts happen outside of our heads as opposed to inside of our heads, like the rest of humanity. You know it's a problem when the guy selling t-shirts (etc) mocks your way of saying 'buttons', but we'll get to that.

So a few weeks ago, Katie and I went to the Alex Goot and Secondhand Serenade concert.....of course we'll be discussing neither of those bands. For more info on Alex and his friends, go check out this post (Side note, Alex is awesomely adorable and really easy to talk to; so go tweet at him. Side side note, Katie says to Chad "You were not at this concert but we apparently need to talk BMW..not the cars...the show...heard you're a big fan, let's discuss.)

We are, however, discussing two new (to us) bands that we saw that night and absolutely adored: The Role Call and Living in Pretend. As always, we'll start at the beginning. This will be a two part post, check in next week for our post on Living in Pretend; but in the meantime go follow them on Twitter/Facebook/Youtube @LivinginPretend.

We arrived at the Bottom Lounge, where the show was talking place, and we were greeted by the most adorable (and cold) looking boys. They introduced themselves as Steve (@SteveTRC on the Twitter) and Max (@MaxTRC), and they were in band called The Role Call (@TheRoleCallMN). For those of you who don't know,  The Role Call is a pop/rock band of five young (19-22ish) guys based out of Minneapolis, who occasionally travel to promote their band, which is what they were doing here.

Anyways, Max and Steve told us that they were going to be playing some acoustic songs from their EP after show and asked if we would stick around to see them play. We of course said yes, they handed us their card (Which had their phone number on it, which you can text and get actual responses from the boys) We stayed for a bit to chat before wondering into the venue. I mostly asked why they weren't wearing gloves, did they need gloves, and that I had gloves they could use. I was slightly concerned (It was cold! They were nice, it happens). They told us we were friendly and that they hoped to see us after the show. Which of course, they did. I again offered them gloves, it was really cold out, but Max (playing guitar) refused as it's hard to play with them and Steve refused out of solidarity. See? Adorable.

You're probably wondering (and by you, I mean Mike...and Katie's mom... Katie says "Two fans? YES!") about their music. We bought their EP & got them to sign it (Katie just just made this weird finger gun-clicking mouth noise "Who knows what that'll be worth some day" thing with her face and I just had to share it with you because it was odd....Katie stands by it, we'll have to photograph it one day and let you be the judge.). It's a really fun EP, and the fact that we heard it live with part of the band standing 18in from us just makes it all the better. I'm 99.9999% positive that the memory of Steve, Max, Katie, myself and a few others singing "Won't Get Down" as loud as we could to try and out-noise the screeching El train above us will stay with me forever.  But seriously, go get their EP. It's really great & at only five dollars, you really have no excuse. Seriously, my coffee at Starbucks costs more than their EP. If you like, All Time Low or The Maine or anything like that you will love them! Trust us!

I'm so glad Katie's sitting next to me because between the two of us, we've got one functioning memory (remember the designated remember-er?...we still need one). She reminded me that another of the reasons why we loved Steve and Max so much, and why we don't mind pimping their shit out ad nauseam is because they reminded us of...well us. See, we were about to leave, and Steve was at their car and suddenly yells "I HAVE THE BEST IDEA EVER!!!" Katie turns to Max and asks if this a good thing or a bad thing, Max replys "It really depends." I'm not sure about you but that interaction describes just about half of the conversations here at #Trainwreck Headquarters (yes, I did just name my basement #Trainwreck Headquarters).

Since meeting the band, we've texted back and forth, as well as participated in a #askTRC on twitter which not only broke their twitter but got us the answers to some burning questions. Questions like, what's your guilty pleasure show (For Steve, it's How I Met Your Mother) as well as what's your favorite 90's movie (Again, Steve responded with Gremlins). I know I feel, and Katie agrees, like we've really gotten to know them and all I'd say to them if they're ever back in Chicago is....you've definitely got at least one place to stay, all you have to do is ask.


Don't forget to follow them on all platforms of social media: (Seriously, all you have to do is click. We did the hard part for you.)
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And yes we did just re-read that and said, "Who let's us talk to people!"

A Very YouTube Concert!

(Sorry for poor quality. My phone is dumb)

We are aware that the title makes it seem like we are writing about Starkid, but that is not the case this time...I did meet Brian Holden...maybe that's why I have Starkid on the brain. This is actually about our adventure to see Alex Goot and Friends.

Let me tell you it was an adventure. Joliet is not Chicago and GPS should have spellcheck. Just sayin. So we'll start there. We got lost. Terribly lost, and it was mostly my fault and by mostly I mean all. I typed in Mojos thinking that's how you spell Mojoes. Well, it's not, and that took us 45 minutes past our destination. So we would have been 20 minutes early, and instead, we were 20 minutes late. Oops. So the car ride was our other friend (yes, it's true there is another but he lives a 1000 miles away so it doesn't really count.) sitting in the back ignoring the two of us yelling that the GPS is right and the GPS is wrong and neither getting anywhere but further from our destination. Finally, Nora spoke and said the address and I said that's not what is currently in the GPS. Thanks Mojoes. So we re-routed with a legal u-turn and got back on track. We finally made it! Woo!

So, that was our adventure, and now on to what you actually came here to read. Our thoughts and awards on the concert!

1.  The window. So we were on the second floor because that is where you can drink. We ended up sitting right across from this window that looked into the green room. Now there are shades there to allow the artists privacy backstage, but some artists did not want the privacy. They preferred messing with their friends who were currently on stage. And by "they" I mean Corey Gray and Alex Goot. And by "friends on stage" I mean Chad Sugg. During his set both Alex and Corey kept going to the window and causing the crowd to clap, cheer, fist pump, or whatever their puppet master wanted. It was too amusing to watch. I feel like it was a competition between Goot and Gray to see who could get the crowd to do what. Whenever the crowd played along with one of them, they would do a little cheer dance in celebration. All of which, we were able to see. Eventually, they closed the blinds because Corey had to go on stage and he was probably having the most fun with it.

2. Joliet is NOT Chicago. Every time they said, "What's up Chicago?" or "How are we feeling, tonight, Chicago?" Nora had to say, "Technically were in a different county than Chicago. This is a completely different town that is not Chicago!" She has issues. She knows it and is working on it. (Lies)

3. If you are a parent dragged to a concert where you are lucky enough to still be able to drink, don't sit anywhere you're in the way. You don't want to be there, and we don't want you there either; but you have children and have to be. So get your six Coronas and vodka tonics and sit at the bar away from everyone who wants to see the show. Don't make me play the-I-lean-forward-because-you-leaned-back to-see-game and then switch every 30 seconds. This is not a fun game because I don't win and then I don't get to see my favorite performer there which is Chad. The evil woman left after his set. At least, she didn't interrupt Corey Gray or Nora would have punched her....(Nora: Bitter? Me: Why of course not...lies).

4. All the artists ran their own merch tables. This led to many wonderful things. Mainly, it led to fun with Corey Gray! He told us all the shenanigans happening backstage like free haircuts, messing with the audience, and what not. He was really chatty and it was really nice. We bought his and Julia Sheer's CD which he immediately asked for our names so he could personalize the CDs. We then got pictures with him. Mine was normal. Nora's was awesome. While getting into the photo, she flipped her hair back, knocking her Starkid sunglasses off of her head. He then grabbed the sunglasses, put them on, and made a gangster like face for the photo. It is priceless. He is too amusing! And since the merch was run by the artists we also got to meet Luke Conard and Julia Sheer. (Photos below illustrate how Nora gets cool photos)

Katie and Julia (Normal Photo)

Nora and Corey (Awesome Photo)

5. We'll start this one with Nora almost told Chad Sugg I was Canadian. It might seem odd to you that I  can be shy and not say everything I am thinking. So when Chad came out to meet fans and take photos, he was immediately surrounded. So I patiently waited. I was twice the age of half of them which is weird enough. So I was like, I can wait, I don't have a curfew. But Nora, known for her patience (Not) was not having it. So she just kept yelling lies behind me, pushing me forward so I could then get my photo.  She yelled things as small as "We have an appointment to make at 10:30 at night" and then they just progressively got weirder to the point of "She is Canadian and came all the way down from Canada to see just you, Chad." Granted right after that, I got my photo. Luckily, he did not ask me if I was Canadian. I don't think I could lie to him. I did get to say, "Don't tell, Alex but I came to see you." Which he responded by saying, "Thank you" and giving me a big hug. So it was all worth it and it all worked out in the end. (No, thanks to Nora's lies....she says Bullshit to that)

Katie and Chad (I am not Canadian) 

AWARDS

Best Solo Performance: Alex Goot, but that's kind of a given since he is the headliner. You can't beat the headliner.

Favorite Voice: Corey Gray!!!! He could sing to us forever and ever and ever. You understand.

Best Solo Stage Presence: Luke Conard. Even though, it was just him and his red laptop (which we tweeted about), he was able to really draw the audience in and make them listen to his wonderful tunes. The Vlogmas helped. That was pretty cool.

Best Originals: Chad Sugg. C'mon no one can argue with me. He is fantastic. Everyone can relate to his songs and they all have his unique signature. You can always tell if it is a Chad song.

Best Backstage Shenanigans: A tie to Corey Gray and Alex Goot. Granted it leans more towards Corey just because when he went on stage, all the shenanigans stopped. So he was fueling the crazy.

Best Fan Interaction: Julia Sheer off stage and Alex on stage.  Juila was super personable at the merch table and gave her fans individual attention. It was really nice to see.  Alex really got the audience to play along with him at every turn. Everyone sang 1000 Miles by Vanessa Carlton and Everytime We Touch by Cascada.

Cutest Looking: Here is where Nora and I cannot agree. We're fighting. I say Chad and she says Corey. So that one is up to you. You can watch all their videos and give us feedback. You will not change our minds though. But we admire someone who accepts the challenge.

Overall we had a splendid time. We drank, we watched amazing music being performed, we laughed, we fan girl-ed out, and obviously mocked each other the whole night. And we also accidentally live tweeted the event. Granted, live tweeted poorly because we were wrong about a lot of things, tagged the wrong people and did not send thaaaat many tweets. So yeah. A usual night out with us when you add famous people we love and alcohol.

Sorry this is late. We were a bit busy and Nora broke her foot. It has been an interesting few days. But the post is here now and that is what matters!

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Trainwrecks and Nora's Infinite Playlist

I do not know who Chris Brown is. I cannot pick him out of a line-up nor name even one song he currently has on the radio. I also cannot recognize Justin Beiber songs and sometimes I'm convinced that Nikki Minaj and Jesse J are the same person.  I haven't listened to the Top 40 radio stations since Chamillionaire was popular. Do you remember Chamillionaire? I do, and if we're ever in a situation where someone needs to know the lyrics to Ridin' Dirty, I got this. Sorry- got distracted.

Now where was I, right. Music. I want to make something clear, I love music. My iPod is the soundtrack to my life (when I'm not listening to the Nerdist Podcast of course), music gets me through my morning ritual where I either try on 8 things before I commit or throw on the first three things I see, it gets me through my 45 minute commute three times a week and on my night to cook it helps me navigate through my kitchen. I've also got a great respect for people who can get up in front of a million (or hell, fifteen) people and sing out their deepest feelings. And I grew up listening to those Top 40 stations, but really in the last four years, unless it's on the country station, I've got nothing. My true music peak was between '98 and '05 and then that stuff entertained me until I went to college, where I picked up more musical soundtracks as well as hits from the '80s and '90s.

Thinking about it now, a normal person would probably be terrified at the look of my iPod as it's all 90's pop, early noughties rap and 80's classics...with a lot of musical theatre thrown in. Luckily for me, there's no normal people here, just us #trainwrecks.

My point here (in case it wasn't glaringly obvious) is that I know next to nothing about popular music today. But in these last four months, I've found something new to help me learn. I've discovered, with the help of my friend/co-writer on this very blog, a hidden (okay, hidden to me) world of young people, 18-25ish, who are recording covers of popular songs and uploading them onto YouTube.

I know what you're thinking "Why do I care? They probably just sound like the overproduced originals." You'd be wrong. 

Many of the covers are done acoustically, and can change the way you look at a song (I'm looking at you, Starships by Madilyn Bailey and E.T. by Tyler Ward). They also mash songs together by the same artist (Adele Medley by Justin Robinett, Michael Henry and Alex Goot, the video that actually started this entire new obsession for us) & the artists are all friends! Good for the fans because that means we get to hear awesome collaborations (One More Night by Alex Goot and Friends). 

These videos are mostly well produced and cover all genres. So if you don't like Top 40 stuff (although, seriously, you should try them because they're awesome) but country's more your thing, Justin Robinett and Michael Henry's version of If I Die Young gives me chills every time.  I'm also newly in love with Corey Gray's cover of (Kissed You) Good Night. Seriously awesome. And we cannot forget Somewhere With You by Tyler Ward. If you happen to love acapella as much as I do (which would be a lot so, I'll just challenge you to do so. ), try I Won't Give Up by Peter Hollens. So many chills were had by this song, and he does this all by himself! Oh how I wish I had the skills.

Okay, so you're on Youtube and you're out of Chad Sugg covers to listen to. What are you to do (besides listen to Begin Again until you know it by heart and then some)? Why not try some of his originals? This one mentions Harry Potter! 

 One of my favorite things about these artists is that the majority are giant nerds who just want to share these things that they love with the world. Sound like anyone we know? Also: go watch Alex Goot, Chad Sugg and Dave Days sing Call Me Maybe you won't be disappointed, promise.

I'm assuming you're all anxious to go listen to all of these covers that I've linked you to, so I'll wrap it up. Since becoming exposed to these videos I've definitely come to realize that not all of today's pop music sucks and the songs that might not be to my favor can still be songs that I enjoy...they just have to be sung by different people.

If all else fails, at least you can maybe start to recognize the originals on the radio. Maybe you'll even sing along and pretend you don't only know the song because you heard Madilyn Bailey cover it (Wild Ones, look it up).  Or, maybe you'll own up to it and turn your friends onto the wonder that is the YouTube artists. Whatever, it's all up to you. But whatever you do, you'll always have us #trainwrecks to come talk to (or read about).

Okay, I've taken forever to wrap it up, I know.  I lied! (Amy Poheler anyone? Really? No one? It happens) But I couldn't write a post about my favorite Youtube artists without mentioning that I'm going to see them in person. Alex Goot and some of his very best friends are currently on tour and later this month my fellow #trainwreck Katie and I are going to see them. Cue fangirl scream.

        And yes, I'm well aware that I could in fact have written this post with out mentioning that but it just didn't feel right. You understand me though, right?

To hear more about my Youtube findings/read the ridiculous things that we tweet/tumble you can follow us here: Twitter: Andimatrainwrec (Katie), npalmerco08 (Nora)

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