Needtobreathe and Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors Birmingham, AL 4/5/13

Ah, Needtobreathe: one of the meanings of my existence. A band that I have seen more times than almost any other band. Over the last several years, I have seen them every time they have been to Alabama. They put on one of the best shows in Rock and Roll and that is not an opinion. It is a fact. When I found out they were coming to Birmingham, it was not long after I had just seen them in Huntsville. Heck yeah, I was so there! The first band of the night was Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors. I had never heard of them but they were decent. They all walked out with their instruments and I thought it was pretty cool when the girl in the band, also Drew’s wife, Ellie, walked out with a mandolin. They harmonized very well and they are a cute little band. The opening slot on this tour will definitely work in their favor. Their newest album, Good Light, was released in February and most of the songs they played were off that. Go get it.

Then it was time for Needtobreathe to grace the stage with their presence.

Their stage setup was simple, but intriguing with a black curtain as a backdrop, a cello (girl, look at that cello, ah!! *to the tune of Sexy and I Know It.* ;)) a small piano, and an oversized drum. They opened with Girl Named Tennessee and I could have cried because that is one of my favorites. Then they went straight into Washed By The Water. That is my favorite crowd song to hear because everyone sings it in harmony and it is purely beautiful. After that, they played a new song that I cannot remember the name of at the moment and The Reckoning before they disappeared from the stage. When they walked back out, the cello and the big drum were gone. The black backdrop fell and then there were ropes hanging everywhere behind the band. When they came back out, they played (not in the right order at the moment)

Devil’s Been Talking

More Time

Stones Under Rushing Water (Ellie from Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors came out and sang the girl part)

Something Beautiful

Drive All Night

A Place Only You Can Go (Electric)

Wanted Man

White Fences

Start A Fire (New Song)

Stand By Me (Ben E. King cover, Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors came out and there was a huge party on stage. It was awesome.)

The Outsiders

Keep Your Eyes Open

Difference Maker (New Song, Acoustic and with the whole band on vocals)

When they walked on stage after the curtain dropped, Bear thanked Birmingham for always having them back time after time and told us that they had played here at least 25 times in their careers and they love it.

Before Difference Maker, Bear told us that there was no way we could top last nights show in Knoxville because there was a 67 year old lady in the front row and she told them “I’ll make youll dinner when you come back!” Bear proceeded to talk about how nice and funny it was and then a guy in the crowd yells “I’ll make you dinner when you come back!” Bear responded instantly by saying “It’s not cute when you say it!” That was definitely one of the funniest things that happened.

To sum up this show, I guess I could say that 8^th times a charm, right?