That title pretty much says it all, right? I’ve gotten the chance recently to see some really cool performances. I wanted to share them with you and the stories behind them. I know you’re not going to read everything. So I’ve highlighted the good parts in green.
Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story
If you live in the Philadelphia area I HIGHLY recommend going to see Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story at the Walnut Street Theater. I’ve had season tickets for two years. I’ve seen some pretty awesome shows there, and this was one of the best. Maybe it was the music. Maybe it was the fact that the cast was SO into it. Or maybe it’s the fact that the AUDIENCE was so into it. But it was incredible. It made me wish I was growing up during a time of rock and roll (goodness gracious the music was -in general- so much better). I’m inspired and awestruck. If you can’t get to the Walnut Street Theater, turn on my “song of the moment” on the right hand side of this screen (currently and take a minute to read up on Buddy Holly’s life on Wikipedia – it’s a pretty awesome story.
Picture taken from philly.com article.
Click here to get to the Walnut Street Theatre site.
I’m now pretty set on hosting a 1950′s sock hop as my birthday party this upcoming year. Can’t wait to make this happen. Get ready, world.
The Fire – Dinner and a Suit, Talain Rayne, and The GoAround
I acquired a piano at some point in my college career. I’ve been moving it from apartment to apartment and finally I’ve realized it’s just not worth it. I don’t play it very much. It’s just out of tune enough that my tentative playing sounds pretty horrible on it. And it’s taking up a lot of space. I decided to sell it (the piano). I put the Craig’s list add up. This guy Anthony emails me to come look at it. He shows up at my apartment building with a huge truck and a trailer and says “we’re on our way to a gig, we figured we’d throw it in the back of our trailer on the way.” Within two-and-a-half minutes five guys had come into my apartment, briefly made sure the piano actually worked (I think they hit three keys), and picked this thing up and hauled it out of my apartment. On the way out one of them said, “if you have nothing to do tonight, you should come check us out, we’re playing at The Fire”. My first question, “what kind of music?”. Their answer, “what’s your favorite? Whatever it is – that’s what we play.” And they were out the door. Well, they had intrigued me. My sister and I googled the venue and found out they were the guys from Dinner and a Suit. And they were playing in a show that started at 6 at The Fire. It was 5:20. Wow these guys were cutting it close. They were pretty awesome. We stopped to say hello to them after the show and to tell them we really enjoyed it. They were so surprised we came, they gave us a CD on the spot (thank you!!) Check out one of their songs:
Also playing that evening were Talain Rayne (pronounced “Salon” but with a T) and The GoAround. They were all incredible. Each group had their own sound, but the set meshed really well together. The harmonies of The GoAround and the voice of the lead singer were awesome. Talain Rayne’s piano playing skills and schmoozing skills were captivating. And the guys from Dinner and a Suit were rocking out so hard, the audience had no choice but to participate. At the end of the show Talain Rayne got “one-more-song-ed” back onto the stage, and they had the guitar player from The GoAround join them. One big happy family. Great way to spend an evening.
A Burlesque Show
I told one of my friends that I was having a bad week, and what does she do? She turns around and invites me to a Burlesque Show presented by Annie A-Bomb. It was in the upstairs room of a local venue. It was a small stage and an intimate audience. There was a live band. There was a singer. There were dancers. There were skits. It was comedic, it was sexy, all in all it was just fun to watch people do their thing on stage. They kept it rated PG13, well, a little more than PG13, but all in all in all it was an awesome night. And I learned about a fun venue in Philadelphia that would be PERFECT for my sock hop birthday party. We’ll see how this goes.
