Recap of the Best day ever

Phenomenal does not even begin to explain the spontaneous decision to go drive 4 hours to Raleigh, NC on a Monday night to see Conor Oberst sing. As you have probably gathered, the concert was indeed worth the 8 hour round trip... getting back at 4am. He was beyond what words could even describe. It was like a dream or something. Okay now I know every time I go to a concert, I come back and I'm like yeah the live experience was great... and it usually is. But this concert was all of that and more. It was just so unique. I felt like I was watching Bob Dylan sing, it was such a surreal experience. I couldn't believe I was even there - Drew and I kept pinching each other just to make sure we wern't dreaming... no joke.

Conor is also one classy guy, the venue that he played in is called the BTI Center of Performing Arts located in the heart of Raleigh, NC. The venue was beautiful - like an opera house. We walked in and they were having a nice dinner party to the right of us and in the lobby they were serving liquor (the good stuff) - none of this beer crap. Nice richly colored carpet, and wall-papered walls. The stage was huge and the set up of the room worked so amazingly, we sat in velvet seats. I mean this guy really knows how to treat his fans. And I can't believe all that only cost me $20... Just amazing. And the crowd was refreshing, mostly college students so no little hormonally charged children running around. There were also a lot of old people there too, one guy went with his grandpa and some people even brought their parents - and it wasn't that they brought their parents because their parents wanted to come supervise (like at SoCo) - it's because they genuinely wanted to be there. It was so phenomenal. He reminds me so much of Bob Dylan and the old guy sitting in front of us was loving every second of it which made me happy because for that one moment, when he was "in it" and I was "in it" - it felt like a generation gap had been closed and that all of us in the room shared something - a mutual secret that we swore not to speak of once the concert ended because this was ours, for those few hours, we were one with Conor and vice versa.

The bands that opened for him were really unique as well - I surely have never heard of them, but I am now a convert. First up was Tilly and the Wall and they were awesome, I was hooked after the first song. There are 5 members in the band 3 girls, 2 guys. All three girls could tap dance and sing, one guy played the guitar and sang and the other guy played the piano. Anyway, it may sound corny, but the idea itself is so refreshing. They were able to combine elements of tap into their music which was mind blowing to me. To actually see it, hear it and feel it. Next up was CoCo Rosi which was amazing as well. She has a raspy and eerie voice, and she is accompanied by a french tap dancer/beat boxer/ singer/ scat-er... I started to wonder if there was anything this guy couldn't do and a girl who had rainbow hair. A bit of an offbeat combination but it grew on me and by the end of their set... I was converted. The french guy however... was ridiculously mind blowing.

Overall, this concert was the most aesthetically pleasing one that I have ever been to. And the best day of the year thus far. So far, second semester is off to an amazing start.