The BEST $5 I Ever Spent!

A couple of weeks ago, we headed down to 12th & Porter (my new favorite little hole-in-the wall bar) to see three of my favorite little indie bands: The Weeks, The Romany Rye and Feedback Revival.  Grant's cousin's husband, Nathan, is in Feedback Revival, so we were excited to finally see them play. The cover charge was only $5, and can I say, it was the best 5 bucks I have ever spent.




All three sets were fantastic, but a little surprise was thrown in that I could never have expected, nor will I ever forget!



The Weeks

There wasn't a very big crowd, however, we decided to head upstairs and watch the show from the loft area because the acoustics are better there. We pleasantly discovered that we were the only ones up there...that is, until the surprise occurred. But I will get to that later. Anyhoo, Nathan joined us for the first two sets because Feedback Revival was going onstage last.



The first band up was The Weeks. I love them. They hail from Mississippi and their blend of alternative southern rock is out of this world. The sets for all three bands were pretty short, probably around 6-7 songs each. So I didn't get to hear my favorite song, Mississippi Rain, but they did play Buttons, my other favorite Weeks song. It was a great start to the evening. (Just a note...my camera SUCKS.)

Next up were The Romany Rye. They are a relatively new favorite of mine. I discovered them in the Rolling Stone Cover Contest I wrote about in a previous post. It took them just a little bit to grow on me, but once they did, I was hooked! In the article in Rolling Stone, it mentioned that Kings of Leon called The Romany Rye "the band to watch." I guess that's the truth...and that leads me to the ultimate surprise that took place that evening.

We were sitting along the edge of the loft, waiting for the set to begin when I heard footsteps on the stairs. I rolled my eyes because I had enjoyed having the loft all to ourselves until that point. I didn't even bother to look to see who it was. The band had just started and I was too involved in that. A few minutes later, as the other people began to edge closer to us for a better view of the show, I turned my head to see who it was. To my utter shock and amazement...it was Matthew and Jared Followill of freakin' KINGS OF LEON. They were seriously four feet from me. It was one of those moments that I was remaining calm on the outside, but inside I was screaming! Regretfully, as much I wanted to, and as much as I am kicking myself over it now, I didn't ask for a picture. I felt like they were just there enjoying a show, watching their friends play, and I wanted to allow them to do that. But since that will probably never happen again, I'm quite sick over it now. My cousin, Travis, joked with me that without photo documentation, it didn't happen. I assure you...it did!

The Romany Rye

So, The Romany Rye played their set. It was fantastic of course. They didn't play my two favorites, Black Hair and Long Way Down, but they did play one called Love Song, and I fell in love with it.  After they finished with their last song, the two Kings of Leon headed back down stairs, and Nathan went to join the other members of Feedback Revival on stage.

I had really liked FR ever since Alisha (Grant's cousin) had told us about them. But, like most bands, seeing them live is a whole other story. They really  know how to jam and I was just blown away by their stage presence. It was if they had been rocking that stage their whole lives. They did play my two favorties of theirs, Delta and Money. And of course, I love to see local bands really doing well. It was an amazing conclusion to a stellar night. I could not have gotten any more out of $5 if I wanted to!



Feedback Revival

If you were to ask me what one of my favorite things about being into indie music is that it's cheap. When you think about all the entertainment we got out of $5, it's almost ridiculous. I was fortunate enough to get to see Kings of Leon in concert last summer, and those tickets were in the neighborhood of $75 each, and those were for nosebleed seats! We saw Tom Petty last fall and paid over $150 per ticket! Now, don't get me wrong, I will gladly pay what I can afford to see such amazing talent. But it's nice to know that there are some of the most talented musicians in the world touring this country, and I can see them for 5 bucks. :)