L - iphone / T - Nikon
I'll admit I had not heard of Andrew Bird's music until hearing an interview with him on NPR earlier in the year. So back in March when I heard that he was coming to Atlanta I bought 2 tickets. Taylor was thrilled that we would be going. (she probably would have preferred to go with a friend her own age, but hey I was the one with the tickets.) We had a wonderful time together. The concert was at a relatively new venue we have in town called the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center. It's a magnificent facility on the north side of Atlanta – less than 10 minutes from home – so convenient. The opening act was Calexico – a Tuscon-based rock band that gave a very lively performance but nothing compared to the energy of Andrew Bird. His music combines vocals, violin, guitar, glockenspiel (like a xylophone), mandolin and whistling. A sound that's difficult to describe, especially for me. He's quite nice to look at too but unfortunately our seats didn't give us that view. One show I might have been right there with T at the front of the stage if it was possible.
It's funny to think back on the very first concert I took T to – Switchfoot at a small venue downtown called the Tabernacle. In my head I justified that it was ok because it was Christian rock. I took her, and a friend, for her 14th birthday. They wanted to be right at the stage – we ended up right by the speakers. I actually enjoyed their music on CD, but standing for 3 hours and by the speakers was a different story. I bought her a t-shirt as keepsake. For her that was the beginning of a great love for music and live concerts. I certainly don't like all of the music she listens to but she has introduced me to music that I probably never would have been exposed to otherwise – and a lot of it I like very much - Fleet Foxes being a fairly new favorite for both of us. I can't say that I enjoyed those times in loud music venues, but tonight was different and it was nice – we had seats, I couldn't feel the music beating in my chest, there were people close to my own age around me. I like that we can go to concerts together and enjoy the same music. I bought her a t-shirt. : ) / it was odd to be sitting in a seat for a show (it was only my second time doing such an outrageous thing!), i haven't done that since i saw death cab for cutie a couple of years ago at the fox theater. it was funny to see the diverse crowd, the median age being a lot higher than i'm used to, haha, but there were a lot of my age there as well. after the show i realized how much i would like to marry andrew bird. if not for his beautiful voice for his last name. taylor bird. yes please!
this post brought back all those memories of the earlier teen years and my stress about her music and the venues she enjoys. It got too long. Maybe for another day.
