Saturday, November 16, 2013

Needtobreathe Eaglepalooza Hattiesburg, MS 11/15/13

Last show of The Stomping Ground Tour. Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Three and a half hours away. My 10th Needtobreathe show of all time. Let's Go.

The show was at a music festival put on The University of Southern Mississippi called Eaglepalooza (the USM mascot). There were several other bands that played but they honestly were not anything that I would consider writing about because the night was such a blur. The rain made it ten times better, yet, ten times worse. It was better because of all the jokes that were made from Bear. It was worse because it is hard to take pictures in the rain when it is freezing cold and your hands are numb. But it was so worth it for this band that I have been following for so long.

The setlist somehow got erased from my phone, the order may not be correct, but these were all the songs they played
 
Devil's Been Talking
Wanted Man
Drive All Night
Washed By The Water (Stones Under Rushing Water intro, but then Bear decided that WBTW would be a better fit.)
Girl Named Tennessee/Folsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash cover)
Wasteland (New Song)
Oh, Carolina (New Song)
Lay 'Em Down (?)
The Outsiders
The Reckoning
Keep Your Eyes Open
Difference Maker (New Song)
Something Beautiful
White Fences

After the first few songs, Bear said, "Hattiesburg is a happening town. That is the first and last time I have said that." That was one quote that actually got saved on my phone and I am happy that it did.

This show was a lot different than the other shows I have been to because, one, it was a festival setting (only seen them one other time in that setting) and two, even though it was the last show of the tour, the guys were goofy. Bo danced around half the time (I think, partially, because he drank an entire Monster Energy Drink throughout the duration of the show.) Bear and Seth were making jokes back and forth and laughing throughout the show. It was just a great end to The Stomping Ground Tour, if I do say so. This concludes all of my Needtobreathe blogs until 2014! 
































Thursday, November 14, 2013

The Story So Far Zydeco Birmingham, AL 11/13/13

The Story So Far is finally coming to Birmingham. OH. MY. GOD. *cue my tears*. Although I have not listened to them as long as others, I was still excited to see them because I missed them at Warped Tour.

The first band was Souvenirs. Honestly, I remember nothing about them and I had never heard of them before I got there. Oops!

Rotting Out followed them. I do not remember much about their music because I was focused more on what the singer was saying. At one point, he was talking about how we as an audience, needed to be nice to the security guards. At the end of their set, a security guard removed a guy from the stage and the singer and (I think) the guitar player went off and hit the security guard with a guitar and it caused him to bleed. So at this point, everyone in the crowd is freaking out because we do not know what just happened. Security was on point all night... until the very last song of the night. (That story comes later)

Such Gold was a band I had heard so much about, but never listened to. I really really liked them. Once again, I do not know any songs that they played but their sound was something that I could really enjoy. They were the band that stuck out the most out of all the bands that played.

Stick To Your Guns was good. They were a lot different than I remembered them being at Warped, but whatever! They played

Where The Sun Never Sleeps
Against Them All
Such Pain
Bringing You Down
Empty Heads
Diamond
We Still Believe
The Bond
D(I AM)ond
What Goes Around
Amber

When it was finally time for The Story So Far, the room had been filled with so many angst-y teenagers. When they finally walked on stage, the room was filled with pushing, shoving, screaming, crying, and, most importantly, purpose. Every kid in the room had the biggest grin on their faces because the band that walked on stage held the answers to everything that bothered them or upset them. This feeling would last through the entire set, the feeling of purpose. They played

Right Here
States and Minds
Roam
Daughters
Stifled
Things I Can't Change
Four Years
680 South
Closure
The Glass
All Wrong
Bad Luck
Empty Space
Quicksand

(Encore)

High Regard (Read description below)

Like I said earlier, the energy in the room was perfect. Everyone in the room was there for the same reason. During the last song, High Regard, the crowd went insane and we all stormed the stage. Security did not even try and stop us. It was one of those things that will never happen again and all I can do is hope that I can find the photographer that was taking pictures on the side because every person on the stage was screaming their hearts out with Parker. It was one of the most meaningful concert experiences I have been a part of. I had never experienced anything quite like that before. When I was walking back to my car, I heard someone call their parent and start crying because they got to sing a song with their favorite band. Also on the way out, I saw the band from afar and they all thanked us for coming out and told us to be safe going home. This band is one of those bands that came into my life at just the right moment and this show happened at the perfect time, when I needed it most. 
















Thursday, November 7, 2013

Needtobreathe & The Wild Feathers Rick's Cafe Starkville, MS 11/6/13

Needtobreathe for the third time this year? My thoughts were something like "OK. Great. But, since this is The Stomping Ground Tour, it better be a lot better than the last show I went to." While the band STILL did not play any songs off their earlier albums, this show was better than Birmingham because they played longer and the show was much more intimate. Plus, I got to meet the band again for the first time in almost three years, which was great. There was also a different opening act, The Wild Feathers. They were great!

The Wild Feathers are from Nashville, Tennessee. They just recently released an album and they have even opened for one of my favorite Nashville musicians, Will Hoge and now Needtobreathe. They reminded me a lot of Tom Petty. They played

Hard Wind
Back Woods Company
Love (What it said on the setlist. Not sure if there is more to the title)
American
Got It Wrong
Hard Times
Left My Woman
The Ceiling

This is me cutting to the chase because I am running out of introductions for Needtobreathe because I have seen them so may times. They played

Devil's Been Talking
Prisoner
The Reckoning
Washed By The Water
Lay 'Em Down
Something Beautiful
Oh, Carolina (New song)
Girl Named Tennessee (MY FAVORITE)
Wasteland (New song. Read description at the end)
White Fences
Wanted Man
Drive All Night

(Encore)

Difference Maker (New song)
Keep Your Eyes Open
The Outsiders (Read description at the end)

Like I said earlier, this show was so much better than Birmingham. I was a bit surprised to find out that NTB had never played at Rick's Cafe before (according to Bear) considering that this show was part of The Stomping Ground Tour, but hey, it is cool!

We got a few more songs here than at Workplay and we got more songs that I like a lot more such as Prisoner, Girl Named Tennessee, Wasteland (New song) and White Fences (In Birmingham, instead of those, we got Squeeze Box, More Time, and Through Smoke)

In regards to the new song, Wasteland, this was only one the second(?) time they played it live. The lyric that stood out was "If God is on my side, then who could be against me?" The whole crowd practically screamed their heads off.

During The Outsiders, the band left the stage and went to the right side of the building and sang a cappella. Talk about beautiful.

At this moment in time, I had no idea that I would be seeing Needtobreathe again in a week. That, my friends, is what I call dedication. :)