Heaven isn't too far away

Getting back to the road trip, the next stop was Joe's Pub in NYC. This was quite an adventure. Todd Carey is on a very short list of people that I would drive to NYC for. Nothing against NYC, but it's a bit intimidating for small town country folk such as myself. It was only my third time driving to New York, the first being to pick up my BFF after she came back from a trip to India, and the second time was on my way home from seeing Todd in Connecticut and my stupid GPS (Nina) decided she should take me through Brooklyn to get home. My friend Emily went with me, so at least I had some emotional support. It wasn't nearly as bad as I though it was going to be in all honesty.

After checking into the hotel and getting accidentally groped by strangers on the Subway, we had almost reached our destination. Unfortunately, I had made a very unwise decision that morning. I had straightened my hair. The subway stop was about 3 blocks from the venue. We got about a block into our short walk when the sky opened up. I'm not sure why it always has to rain when I straighten my hair, but 9 out of 10 times it does. I was walking with my purse on top of my head as quickly as I could in my super slippery flip-flops (which was not very fast at all.) Emily pretty much abandoned me, because she didn't have anything to put on top of her head. After about half a block of this, something miraculous happened. A stranger in New York City came up behind me with an umbrella and walked with me. A random act of kindness in New York City! Who would have believed it? He was going to a restaurant right next to Joe's Pub, so I had an escort almost the whole way. 

At least I was cute when the night started...

Despite the fact that I was soaked and freezing, I really enjoyed the show at Joe's Pub. I was a little annoyed by all the chatter as Bracher was performing. I know he's new, but there's no need to be rude. He pretty much did the same songs he did at Jammin' Java, which was good because I had the presence of mind to take some video this time. He killed the cover of Bon Jovi's Wanted Dead or Alive and Emily and I killed the back up "wanteeed" echo part.

The wall behind the artists performing looked awesome. People on twitter said it looked like a waffle wall was closing in on them. Todd performed second, killing it as usual. He broke one string that night, which is far fewer than the three he broke during the house concert, but it still made me laugh. I suggest investing in guitar strings when Todd goes on tour. Just sayin'. 

Bushwalla performed last, but this time he had a band with him. Billy is entertaining in any circumstance, but I think the band really added another dimension to the performance. But the best part of his performance, by far, was when he started singing "I'll Funk Your Brains Out" to Emily. I almost died laughing.

After the show, we had a good time talking to Bracher, Todd's manager Jason Spiewak, bass player Chris Anderson, and many more random people. Unfortunately, Emily can be a bit anti-social at time. Fortunately, she wasn't this night. And more fortunately, I will talk to just about anyone at any given time. I know no stranger. All in all, another great night of music and a good use of my vacation.

The final stop on the tour was Philly. Traffic on the way there was ridiculous! There were two different accidents and traffic was almost at a standstill. Thankfully, the show made up for it. I met my friend Tiffany there. She crashed with me at the hotel. Tiffany is actually the person that introduced me to Todd's music. She was campaigning to get him added to the Hotel Carolina lineup the year before last, and I decided to help her out even though I had never heard of him. Since then I have been to around 10 shows, so I have her to thank!

The worst part of the night was the service at World Cafe Live. We were about the 3rd table to arrive at the show and order food, and probably the very last people to be served. We waited a full hour. It was crazy! My friend Terri brought cupcakes for everyone which totally saved the day. We were starving!

The show itself was just as great as the rest of the shows that week. Bracher and Todd did a cover of Dreams by Fleetwood Mac which I absolutely adored!

Todd and Bushwalla were amazing as usual. Todd sang a song that I had never him sing called "Talk You Down." I loved it! I recorded a video, but I haven't put it on youtube yet, because I'm a slacker. That, and I started school, so things have gotten a bit crazy. 

I would have to say the best part of the night was just hanging out with everyone after the show. Todd seriously has the coolest group of fans/friends of any artist that I know. I have met so many of my friends through/because of him. And, Todd is the nicest person on earth. True story. I have never met a more gracious person than him. 

The next day, we went to Geno's for cheesesteak before heading home. I don't think I got 12 hours of sleep the entire week combined, but it was worth the exhaustion. I can't think of a better way to complete my summer than this roadtrip/stalking extravaganza. I wish there was a way to make a living out of this. 

Just because I walk around your house dressed like a robber, doesn't mean that I'm a stalker.

Last year, I bought the book 101 Things To Do Before You're Old and Boring. Number 36 on the list was, "Start your own blog." I did the Myspace blog back in the day, I think I had a Xanga at one point, and I've done a blog for school, but I have never really gotten into it. So, before I'm old and boring, I'm going to attempt this.

My life isn't super exciting, but it has its moments. I figure this is as good of a place as any to keep track of those moments, which will mostly revolve around music. I have always loved music, but I never really went to any concerts until a few short years ago. But, that's a story for another time.

I have spent the last week following my friend and one of my favorite musicians, Todd Carey, on tour. First of all, I am not a groupie. I loathe being called a groupie. I have never even attempted to be anything other than a friend to any of the musicians I know. It's nothing personal, and I don't judge people that do that kind of thing. It's just not the kind of person I am. Second of all, I am not delusional. I don't claim to be BFFs with any of these musicians that I see a few times a year. My boss looked at me earlier this week as I was talking about seeing "my friend, Todd," and said, "Does this Todd guy know he's your friend?" Ouch. Musicians are people, too. Just because I'm nothing special doesn't mean I'm not friend-worthy.

from www.redbubble.com

But, I digress. I spent the week traveling around to see Todd with Bushwalla and Bracher Brown. The first show I went to was a house concert with just Todd and Bushwalla in Virginia. I had never been to a house concert before, and was pleasantly surprised at how laid back it was. It was also great to see so many friends who had come from all over: Virginia, Kentucky, and even California!

Todd and Billy (Bushwalla) took turns playing songs of their own. When they weren't singing their song, they were lending a hand to the other, either with guitar, harmony, beatboxing, or sometimes just comic relief. They played for a good hour and a half to two hours. They could have played for 10 more and I would've still enjoyed every minute of it. Overall, it was a fantastic night.

Concert number two also took place in Virginia at Jammin' Java. If I had to pick a favorite concert of the week, this would be it. It was the best setup of any other venue, and the audience was the most respectful. I can't stand it when people are loud when people are trying to perform. I also had a great group of friends with me who love Todd and Billy just as much as I do, if not more.

Bracher opened for them, and I must say, I was kind of blown away. He's this 18 year old kid (no offense,) and I honestly wasn't expecting him to be as good as he was. Or as cool. He only sang 4 songs (three of his own and one Bon Jovi cover,) but it definitely made me want to hear more. He even busted out the harmonica which he had supposedly just learned to play days before. I'm not saying it's not true, but he picked it up much better than I did when I got a harmonica for Christmas two years ago.

After Bracher was Todd. I love Todd and his music, and I have seen him many times on tour, but nothing compares to how he performed at this show. You could tell he put every ounce of energy and passion into his hour-long set. He did a perfect mix of old and new songs, enough to please fans of the older music and enough to keep everyone wanting more. There is nothing I would have changed about his set that night, unless it could have lasted forever.

As I said before, I've seen Todd on tour several times, but I had never witnessed the experience that is a Bushwalla concert. Let me preface this by saying he used to be a clown (which would normally freak me out, but I'm okay with it.) He is definitely a performer. He is also hilarious. It doesn't take much to make Todd laugh, so put the two of them together and it's non-stop hilarity. He also did a lot of audience participation, which keeps everyone entertained and on their toes. 

All-in-all, everyone brought it and we were all thoroughly entertained. I realize that I promised to talk about four concerts, but I have only talked about two and this post is quite lengthy. I think I will take a break and come back and post the second half later. For now I will leave you with a picture of me and Todd with our friend Kate. 

We look like friends, right? haha

Stay tuned for part two...