Lights, Camera, Owl City

 

We took the kids to their first concert Saturday. Owl City was playing at the State Theater in Minneapolis and we got tickets the minute they came out. Adam Young is the lead singer and he’s from Owatonna so that made the concert that much more cool.

 

I tried to explain to the kids how momentous this occasion was. For the rest of their lives they will get asked, “What was the first concert you went to?” and for the rest of their lives they will answer, Owl City.  For me it was Richard Marx…..yeah, I know, I am so cool.

 

So, we got there in plenty of time, an hour to be exact. We went through security where Mike presented my camera bag and all it’s contents.

 

We proceeded to find our seats (row S, main floor) and I had Mike take couple of pictures of the kids and I. immediately one of the ushers was on me.

 

14-year old usher: “Excuse me, is that a professional camera?”

Me: “Um…no?” said while shrugging because I have no idea. I mean, I am not a professional, so therefore neither is the camera. Right?

14-year old usher: “Because we don’t allow professional cameras in the theatre.

Me: “Okay.”

 

 

I remember going to the theater in Chicago and getting in trouble for taking THIS picture because apparently you can’t take pictures of the stuff on the stage of a play. It’s copyrighted, or something and you can’t take pictures. I also know not to use flash and not to videotape the performance…..I KNOW DA RULES! I thought I was following them.

 

 

Ten minutes later a security guard comes over and asks me if I have a professional camera. I explain that I don’t think it is, but that I have put it away. She tells me that if the camera has lenses that come off, it’s considered a professional. Well, I do have lenses that come off and on so apparently I am busted. She was super nice about it, told me that some bands are really strict about it, but that Owl City really isn’t. She said if i got through security, then I should be fine to use it. However, I decided to avoid further hassle and just not bother with it. Didn’t bug me at all.

 

 

Who knew one little camera could cause so much trouble?

 

 

The nice security lady also told me I might want to take advantage of the ear plugs the ushers have for guests. That little tidbit of info will come on handy later in this post.

LIGHTS was the opening band for Owl City. It was a 20-something girl from Canada that played similar music to Owl City. It was just her, a drummer, and a keyboard player otherwise she played all her own instruments. She writes all her own music and I thought she was really good!

Check her out here.

Then is was OWL CITY! My impressions:

• To go from being a QUIET, SUPER SHY kid to performing on stage in front of screaming people, must be overwhelming.

• The live performance is way better than the CD. More rock sounding than “teeny bopper” sounding.

• He’s kooky. He asked us if we wanted ice cream sandwiches and paused in the middle of a song to ask how the Twins were doing.

• He also mentioned the thing he was looking forward to most being home was Taco Johns!

• Girls can scream really loudly when they want to.

• He gets really into his music. I imagine when you write all your own songs, it would be easy to do that. He kind-of gets lost in it, dancing around up there!

• I kept thinking about his mom (teacher in my district who I just sat with in a meeting…super nice woman) and how amazing it must feel to see your son up there on stage performing something he worked so hard at.

Overall it was a great time. Both kids needed ear plugs to make it through the performance, but both said they liked it. They both really liked it when it was a song they knew….which is typical.

For $18 it was well worth our time on a Saturday afternoon. We stopped at the Cheesecake factory on the way home and topped off the day with a yummy supper!

 

Between getting up early to work the race (and not sleeping well due to a glitch in supplies that I worried about all night), working the race in the WINDY and cold conditions, the concert, and the drive home…..I was beat! I told Mike I could have gone to bed at 6. Poor Mike had to get up at 5:30 to get the kids registered for Sunday school this morning (this is where the biting of the tongue begins……who has to get up at 5:30 to sign kids up for Sunday school?).

Hope you had a great weekend.

LB