April 8, 2009

Instead of watching American Idol last night...........

We went to Berkeley to see "Travis." The lead singer, pictured above is Fran Healy. He is an amazing singer and lyricist. Love their music, and they are so good live. He chatted a lot with the audience last night,and it is always fun to hear that Scottish accent. The venue was the Zellerbach hall on the UC campus. I give the venue an F- for a rock concert. I have been there before, but for classical music. The acoustics are great, but it really isn't great for a rock show. Usually on the ticket stub it will say, "No cameras, or recording devices" our tickets didn't say that,and I have photographed them before at the Fillmore. When I got there, they had posted no cameras or recording devices. Well, you just know that people are not going to listen to this, given that everyone and their uncle has a camera phone or IPhone. The security tried their hardest to stop it, but really why? I was sitting near the aisle, and was told not to take pictures. This particular lady had it out for me, since I was a bit frosty towards her. I later took some more photos,and she returned to scold me and threaten my life if I didn't stop. OH BROTHER! As she is telling me this, all you see are flash bulbs going off every second. I was an easy target,since I was so close to the aisle. I put the camera away, and then decided on the last song, I would take more and not use a flash. I'm sure though that if the flashes were bothering the band, they would say something,since they are a very outspoken group. ANYWAY, aside from that minor annoyance, they were fantastic as usual. Close to the end of the set, they did a cover song, Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl." Very funny and well done, as the two men,Fran and Andy,the guitar player, decided to get cozy with one another, just short of a kiss.
This band members name is Dougie Payne. This guy is too funny! He is very tall and thin, and when he is up there he always has a smile and tends to slowly sway with the music. The smile is so cute, but every time I tried to take one of him smiling it came out blurred. Last time we saw them at the Fillmore in San Francisco, we were so close to him on a balcony that we got to wave to him,and he just smiled away at us.
If you don't know this group, go to You Tube, and watch the video "Sing." That one is my favorite!
It was a fun night out,and I hope to see them again,but according to Fran, that won't be for a while, since they plan to take some time off and craft another album and just live life for a while.

3 comments:

  1. sounds like a nice night out. i always love a concert! idol was good too though.....lol

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  2. Oh my!!! I am so very jealous that you got to see this amazing bend live! They are one of my absolute favorites of all time! You have a lovely blog here, and thank you for visiting mine!!!
    (~.~)Bekah

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