My Top 8 Song Lyrics About Sleep

Why 8? Because these are true favorites and I wasn't going to resort to Frere Jacques just to have 10. Also, 8 is a really good sleepy number. Everyone should sleep at least 8 hours every night.

8. "So long sweet slumber, I fell into you now you're gracefully falling away." Age Six Racer, Dashboard Confessional
7. "It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep because my dreams are bursting at the seams." Fireflies, Owl City
6. "Your clever mind, can’t sleep forever. Open your eyes." Better By Design, John Lefler
5."The time for sleep is now. It's nothing to cry about 'cause we'll hold each other soon." I'll Follow You Into the Dark, Death Cab For Cutie
4. "So sleep, sleep 'til the darkness ends, guarded by your angel friends." Angel Lullaby,
Lex de Azevedo and Carol Lynn Pearson
3. "Our dreams assured and we all will sleep well. Sleep well." Stolen, Dashboard Confessional
2. "Sleep, rescue me. Take me back to my home." Dope Nose, Weezer
1. "You give me the most gorgeous sleep that I've ever had. And when it's really bad, I guess it's not that bad." Underneath It All, No Doubt

February 22nd, HP Pavilion

Dashboard is down there. I promise.

Ready to rock?

After the concert in Portland, I decided that I needed more Dashboard Confessional and finally talked Krystal into going with me to see them open for Bon Jovi in San Jose.

I was kind of surprised when I heard that Dashboard was touring with Bon Jovi. I wouldn't say their music isn't at all similar. The crowd was definitely there to see Bon Jovi. The people watching was great. Quite a few characters there that looked like they just stepped out of 1985. Leather everywhere, oh my goodness.

Dashboard's set was great. Heavy with songs from their most recent album Alter the Ending and their biggest hits "Vindicated," "Hands Down," and "Don't Wait." Not an acoustic guitar in sight as they amped things up for the rock fans.

One of my favorite moments was when Chris shouted, "Pick it up," to drummer Mike who was playing "Don't Wait" at the wrong tempo. There are two versions of the song and the up tempo one is more widely known because it's in the music video and such. I guess Mike wanted to play it like it was written. It was cool to hear the band adjust so effortlessly.

The Dashboard Fans were few and far between. I could hear a few of them yelling their support and Krystal and I added ours, but it was a far different experience from the typical DC show where everyone sings along. I definitely prefer small venues for my favorite bands where you can feel a connection with the performers and can actually see their faces.

Bon Jovi

Bon Jovi sounded great. We didn't stay for the whole show because it was a school night and, believe it or not, Krystal was falling asleep! The crowd and the band had tons of energy. The staging was pretty cool too with huge video screens that split apart and moved around showing graphics and lyrics throughout the songs along with views of the band. I several songs that I knew including "Shot Through the Heart" and "It's My Life," but I realized that I am mostly unfamiliar with Bon Jovi's music.

Bon Jovi

Overall, I enjoyed the experience but I would much rather see DC as the headliner in a more intimate venue.

Eureka!

1. Follow Rooney on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/rooneyband.
2. Listen to their new single "I Can't Get Enough": myspace.com/rooney.
3. Check out this acoustic version of their new single: http://bit.ly/ayEo29.
4. Watch the music video: http://www.mtv.com/videos/rooney.
5. Buy the new album Eureka! available June 8th. Pre-order here: http://rooney.hasawebstore.com/.
6. Go to the show. Tickets available now: rooneytix.com.
7. Complete steps 1-6 for Rooney bliss.

February 18th, Wonder Ballroom

I just love the name of this venue. It makes me think of big band and swing dancing. Turns out the building was originally used by "The Ancient Order of Hibernians, a group committed to immigration reform, civil rights for those of Irish descent and the preservation of the old Irish culture," as I learned here. As proud as I am of my Irish heritage, the reason I was there was to see Dashboard Confessional.

Portland is quite a distance to travel to see a band, but as my faithful readers know, in my opinion, no distance is too far for a dose of Chris Carrabba and Co. It was worth every mile. I was even lucky enough to convince Adam, one of my favorite concert buddies, to go with me.

Chris getting all emo

This was my 5th time seeing DC live and I have always been impressed by the fans. All the people I've met have been super nice and I could see myself being friends with pretty much any of them. This includes the people at the Slim's show in SF last December. Things got a little dicey when John Lefler started handing out little shakers and everyone started pushing toward the stage. But then people in front started handing them back and helping get them distributed to as many people as possible and everything turned out alright.

For some reason, though, the fans at the Portland show were a bunch of jerks. I don't know if it was because Dashboard hadn't played there in such a long time but these people were almost in a frenzy. This is quite unusual for Oregonians, they are usually friendly and laid back but people were pushing and shoving and swearing and just generally not being very nice. It gave the show a strange vibe. Don't get me wrong, Dashboard is always amazing, but there wasn't the same connection between the crowd and the band as at the other shows I've attended.

Despite all this, I loved the show. Here are a few highlights:

• Getting a new Dashboard t-shirt.
• Getting to be there with Adam for his first live Dashboard show.
• Watching Mike Marsh going postal playing drums during "Vindicated."
• Hearing DC's cover of "El Scorcho."

Adam and Me

After the show we hung around to meet Chris. He usually comes out to talk to the fans. He never showed, but drummer Mike Marsh, bassist Scott Schoenbeck and guitarist John Lefler did. It was awesome to meet the other band members (I had previously met Mike). John Lefler was super excited when I asked him about his solo album Better by Design. He asked me my name and if I was on twitter and when I got home I tweeted him and he tweeted me back!

Drums

I'm pretty sure that Mike Marsh was slightly intoxicated. When I asked him to sign their album Dusk and Summer (for Adam because he was being a coward and wouldn't ask for himself) he called it Dusk and Bummer. Haha. Then, when I told him that I tried to play "Hands Down" on Rock Band and it was super hard he was like, "Yeah, 'Hands Down' sucks." What?! That is pretty much the DC anthem.

John Lefler and Me


Scott Schoenbeck and Adam

So, overall I had an amazing time. And being in Portland was great because I got to visit my favorite Braun family. More Dashboard coming soon . . . .

Porter and Mason happy, yum!

Mike Marsh, Vindicated

My Year of Music

So, I decided recently that 2010 will be my year of music. Live music that is, aka concerts. I realize that the year is already more than 25% gone, but don't worry, I am making good headway. These are the concerts I have attended so far:

18th February - Dashboard Confessional @Wonder Ballroom, Portland, OR
22nd February - Bon Jovi w/Dashboard Confessional @HP Pavilion, San Jose, CA
25th March - I don't know if this would really be considered a concert (the music was recorded) but I saw 2 songs from Wicked performed by the understudies for Elphaba and Glinda @Sun Valley Mall, Concord, CA
6th April - Michael Bublé w/Naturally 7 @Oracle Arena, Oakland, CA
14th April - Muse w/Silversun Pickups @Oracle Arena, Oakland, CA

I'll be doing individual posts with pictures about each of these concerts and any others I might attend. Here is my wish list for upcoming concerts:

Paramore
Jamie Cullum
Jack Johnson
Imogen Heap
She & Him
Muse (again)
Sugarland
Rooney (tour dates forthcoming. keeping my fingers crossed that they will be in the area)

No concert is too big or small. The only requirement is that it be LIVE and IN PERSON.