Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Gin Blossoming

Sunday night, Jordy and I went with April to see the Gin Blossoms. We missed the opening bands, but arrived well before the Blossoms hit the stage.

Robin Wilson is the lead vocalist. He's a thin little guy with long hair who wore large sunglasses the entire show. We laughed at his on-stage antics, as he obviously thinks the mellow, melodic Blossoms ROCK!

I recognized and especially enjoyed "Til I Hear It From You", "Hey Jealousy", and "Found Out About You". I heard "Super Girl" , a song about loving an airline employee, for the first time. Wilson left the stage, and Jesse Valenzuela, Scotty Johnson, and Bill Leen continued playing a long, bluesy guitar masterpiece while Scott Kusmirek accompanied on drums. This song alone was worth the price of admission.

The crowd probably averaged about thirty, ranging from late teens there alone, to active, youngish grandparents, often with younger family. The weather was perfect, and the crowd well behaved. After a few songs, Jordy and I went to stand near the stage. We'd been there for a couple songs, when I noticed with my peripheral vision a blond and a brunette talking about me. The cute blond leaned over and touched me to get my attention, and motioning towards my ears, asked what those (my ear plugs) were for?

"Hearing damage," I replied loudly. "It's about the only thing that won't grow back."
"WHAT?"
"Exactly."

For an encore, Wilson (who only sang vocals and banged the tambourine during the show) began playing a beautiful acoustic version of "Rocket Man" until the rest of the band joined in for the chorus. "Follow You Down", my favorite Blossoms song, was the next to the last song played. We could hear Wilson enthusiastically yelling about the "Power of Rock!" as we fled during the last song in an attempt to avoid some of the traffic.

I rate the Blossoms at this event musically an 8.5. On-stage presence I rate an 8, with Wilson's friendliness (singing into cell phones for fans and brining one little girl up on state to bang a tambourine with him) offsetting his cheesiness. Value I rate a 9, with two tickets going for less than $50. Venue I rate an 8. This gives a very solid 8.5/10 rating for this concert.

1 comment:

phlegmfatale said...

Sounds like a good show. Always liked that guy's voice.


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