On the Subject of Concerts

While I'm on the subject of concerts (okay, maybe it was last week when I was on that subject, but whatever), I mentioned a few weeks ago that my Old 97's were kicking off a new tour, which actually started in the wee hours of the morning on March 13, the day that their new album Blame It On Gravity was released. I'm embarrassed to say that I haven't actually purchased the new album yet, but I have listened to several new tracks on their MySpace page, and so far, I like what I've heard. Even if I hated every song, I would still be thrilled to see them live in their current tour, based on their many previous albums that I love and their spectacular live shows.

So based on my obvious fanaticism, you can probably imagine how elated and excited I was when I found out that they were actually coming here to Lawrence on their tour. I seriously just about flipped my lid. They haven't been in Lawrence for years, and until last summer's concert in KC, we'd been driving to places like St. Louis and Dallas to see them. Even though the Lawrence venue is the Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival, which isn't exactly our cup of tea (think Woodstock), I was still prepared to wade through the masses of unshowered campers (aka "stinky hippies" per my husband) to see my favorite band of all time.

What I failed to consider in making my concert-going plans was that my husband was busy making surprise vacation plans. When I got home one night and Chad had the tickets for our flight all picked out, the first thing I said was that we can't go that weekend because my Old 97's will be here! My dear hubby talked me into the trip and out of the concert, by stressing the importance of us having a romantic getaway on our anniversary instead sometime after our anniversary. Oh yeah--he also promised to take me to any other location in the country that they happen to be playing on their tour. :)

The bummer is, most of the dates that they'll be playing in the Midwest, we'll be on the west coast! We might still be able to make the concert in Tulsa (what's a four hour drive on a Sunday afternoon, anyway?), but since we'll be just days away from leaving for California, I'm guessing we'll be just slightly busy packing for our trip! Even though it wouldn't be the most convenient of concerts to attend, I have no doubt that it would still be worth it!

Check out the 97's tour dates and be sure to see them when they visit a town near you!