Five For Fighting Acoustic & Amazing

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Last night Bethany and I went down to Denver to go see one of my favorite bands in an amazing acoustic set.  I wrote on Saturday on my excitement about seeing this show, and it definitely didn’t disappoint.

It’s such a treat to see singer/song-writers acoustically (or anyone acoustically for that matter), because they typically tell stories around their songs.  It’s amazing to hear what inspired them to write, what they see as the meaning behind their words.  John Ondrasik definitely delivered, elaborating on songs like “Freedom Never Cries”, “Tuesday”, and “Slice”.

The performances were raw and intimate – the atmosphere at the Soiled Dove made sure of that.  We had the perfect seats, at the end of a long table on their “Silver” level.  We were at the perfect height to see over the heads of the General Admission folks, and got a perfect direct view of the band.  I wish I could have posted better pictures than this one I took with my cell phone, but it seems like I was the only one – including the Soiled Dove -  that actually read the fine print on the ticket that said you couldn’t bring cameras in.  I’ve learned my lesson and will ignore the rules.

I think my “Top 5” concert list is due for a refresh, but as great as that show was I’m not sure if it’s going to break into that list.  The reason: the show wasn’t long enough.  While he definitely put on a good show, he was only on the stage for a little more than an hour.  There was an opening act – Angel Taylor – who was fantastic, so the evening was rounded out.  It was a bit of a blessing in disguise as we got back home at a decent time on a Sunday night, but a top 5 show has to be a little longer.

I can’t wait until the next time Five For Fighting passes through Denver.  I’ll definitely be there!

Pumped about Five for Fighting

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Tomorrow night Bethany and I are headed down to the Soiled Dove Underground for an acoustic evening with Five For Fighting, one of my favorite artists.  As we thought about it, we realized that this will be the first concert we’ve been to since July of 2008.  This will be a great show to quench our concert thirst. Looking back at a post I wrote in 2005 (coincidentally this post was triggered by my first date with Bethany) that ranked my top concerts, the Five For Fighting acoustic evening ranked #2 in my top 5 concerts list.  I hate to quote myself, but it best summarizes why I’m excited about this show:

For those of you who haven’t heard Five For Fighting beyond "Superman" and "100 Years" – you’re really missing out.  John Ondrasik is definitely one of my favorite musicians of all time, and I had been in love with Five For Fighting for almost 2 years at that point.  So when I heard that he was having an acoustic show I jumped at the chance to get tickets (which weren’t selling very fast at all).  I roped a few of my friends from church to come down to the show.  My friend Fred and I ended up sitting in the 2nd row and we were like 8 feet away from John Ondrasik!   I had never been to the Blue Bird before, but it is TINY! – 150 people, max.  And he we were in an awesome intimate concert setting hearing all of these awesome songs and raw passion that John put into playing each of them.  He gave us a little bit of piano, a little bit of guitar and a lot of amazement.  I wasn’t sure how my friends were going to react to the show, but when we walked out they were blown away as well.  Then one of my friends asked me "How did you manage to get tickets to that?!?  To see someone acoustic and small as that – you have to know the band personally".  I still find it funny [Back in 2005]

It doesn’t look like I’ll be able to bring a camera (which is a real bummer), but I’ll definitely offer my thoughts after the show on Monday.