Though this was only my second time attending the show I had been hearing about it for almost as long as I can remember. It has become somewhat of a Holiday tradition in Denver and the surrounding area, and it almost always sells out so you have to get tickets in advance to insure your spot in the crowd.
Last year I cut it really close when it came to getting tickets. My friend had said she was going to get some tickets and we could go, but in the end that didn't work out and I was ticketless. To make matters worse I later found out that my brother had bought tickets for him and his friends. That left me with the option of buying scalper's tickets (boo!) or not going at all. Flash forward to the day of the show... my brother had just come home from college and was hanging out with his friends watching football, while I was perusing the internet, moping around and thinking about how I wasn't going to see My Body Sings Electric, Saints of Vallory, Bastille, New Politics, Grouplove and Young the Giant. Then all of the sudden on Facebook KTCL posted that they had fifteen extra general admission floor tickets to the show. I quickly snatched my ticket from the site, and I was ecstatic! My friend with the tickets had been waiting in line for three hours and so she was the fifth person in line, and when I arrived the line was wrapped around the entire huge parking lot. Thankfully she let me in line with her and we ended up being in the second row for the show.
This year I wasn't going to make the same mistake, and so as soon as the tickets went on sale, I bought them and had them in my possession. When KTCL announced the line up I almost couldn't contain my excitement. I had been waiting to see Fitz and the Tantrums for forever! They are one of those bands that I love every single song they put out, the only other band that fits the same description for me is Jack Johnson The plan was to get to the venue early to insure maximum possibility of being in the second row like last year or even better, front row. What made this show even more exciting is that I won a pair of meet and greet passes from Channel 93.3 just three days before the show, and so my friend Andrea and I were guaranteed to meet all the bands performing that night.
With the meet and greet passes Andrea and I got to go into the venue before the massive crowd waiting outside and we were given a poster to get signed from the KTCL staff, who were all very nice and fun to talk to while we waited for the meet and greets. Shout out to Erin and Jen for making the night so awesome and to Steve for solidifying your spot as my favorite DJ at 93.3 for giving me the tickets and meet and greet passes.
The first band we got to meet was Half Moon Run. Me being the camera hog/outgoing personality I am had to be at the front of the line when we walked into the green room (it was a literal "green" room). They were all very nice and they signed our posters and took pictures. Then our next meet and greet was in about twenty minutes, so we were set free to roam the empty venue and buy merch or what not with no lines. I got myself a Cage The Elephant T-shirt. Then the clock struck 8:30 pm and the mass of people stormed into the venue like the blood escaping the elevator in the Shinning. It was crazy to see, but also really fun.
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| Me, Andrea and Half Moon Run Photo Credit: 93.3 KTCL |
When we returned we found out we would be meeting Vance Joy next. James aka Vance Joy was incredible nice and pretty much the tallest person I have ever met. You can see in the picture that I only came up to his shoulder and I would say I'm of average stature. James was shy but welcoming at the same time and he had a lovely Australian accent.
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| Me, Vance Joy and Andrea Photo Credit: 93.3 KTCL |
The next meet and greet wasn't for a little while and so we had a chance to go and listen to part of the show until then. While I walked through the empty halls I could hear Modern Suspect's song Sequel playing and I began to pump myself up for an awesome night of music. Now was the struggle of finding the friends we had came to the show with, you know the ones who had been at the front of the line. When I finally spotted them in the crowd they were in the front row and we were about thirty people away from them. I became that person everyone hates at concerts, the one who shoves their way to the front saying my friends are up there. Well this time it was true and since I had waited in line for about five hours I just kept on telling myself that it was OK. We got to listen to the end of Modern Suspects set and saw the majority of Half Moon Run's and then it was time to meet another band.
This time it was Fitz and the Tantrums. I was super exited to meet them because I had been a fan for a really long time and I missed their shows at the Ogden Theater that past summer. Fitz was another really tall guy, Noelle was as beautiful as ever and all the "J" name guys (James, Jeremey, John, and Joe) were super cool. When we took the picture together John Wicks the drummer complimented me on my red elephant pants, and then he became my favorite member of the band.
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| Fitz, Andrea, Joe, Me, Noelle, John, James and Jeremy Photo Credit: 93.3 KTCL |
We were released once again and had to make our way back through the crowd, this time to see Vance Joy's amazing set that included a great moment for him when everyone brought out their cell phones for a light and the crowd lit up like fireflies. I guess he had never played at this large of an enclosed venue and it was new for him to see that. The best part about the meet and greet passes besides the commemorative laminate we got to wear and keep was that we got to meet the bands while the rest of the crowd was waiting standing for the bands to come on.
The last meet and greet was extra special because we got to meet both Modern Suspects and Cage the Elephant in one "power hour" of band meeting. We first met Cage The Elephant, and I was beyond excited, mostly to meet lead singer Matt Shultz. I may or may not have a huge crush on him. I gave him my art I made for the band and they were all impressed and their manager was especially impressed which was kind of funny. They were all incredibly charming and fun to chat with/ hang around. Then we waited in the hall way for CTE to finish up taking pictures with people, when they were done they came back through the hall way and we had a high five gauntlet going for them. It was one of the highlights from the night.
Next we met Modern Suspects, the local band from Colorado Springs, who I would be interviewing later that night for the blog. The guys recognized me when I introduced myself to them at the autograph table, which made me feel extra special and made it seem like I belonged back stage because hey I'm a friend of the band.
I had made an art piece and wrote a letter to each of the bands and it really great to hand it to them in person, and I even received a response from Noelle of Fitz and the Tantrums later that night through Instagram. After the last meet and greet was done we went back to fight our way to the front row with the rest of our friends. We came back right at the beginning of Fitz and the Tantrums rockin' set, I wish I had seen the entire thing, but what I did see blew my mind. From their own rendition of "Sweet Dreams are Made of These" to when they had the whole room kneeling on the floor for an epic "everyone stand up on que." Their music made everyone dance and go crazy, and if you were standing still you stood out like a sore thumb. The end of their set was greeted with about a thirty minute wait for Cage The Elephant to come on, but when they did...
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| Kyle, Daniel, Andrea, Brad, Matt, Me, Matthan, and Nick Photo Credit: 93.3 KTCL |
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| Matt, Andrea, Jim, Bart, Me, Tyler and Garret Photo Credit: 93.3 KTCL |
It was the highlight of the show! Cage The Elephant puts on one heck of a show, their music fills the room and everyone gets into the beat. Matt Shultz has so much energy he could run the empire state building off of his performance. The band as a whole was so fantastic and with hit songs like "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked", "Come a Little Closer" and "Cigarette Day Dreams" there wasn't really even a chance they would be anything but amazing. They ended the show with "Sabertooth Tiger" which was quite exciting with Matt jumping into the crowd and dancing on top of us for a while along with his guitar playing brother Brad. Earlier that night Cage The Elephant found out they were nominated for a Grammy, which might have added to the excitement of the show.
Overall the show was epic in more ways than one and I will definitely be coming back for more next year.
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