Vampire Weekend is an American indie rock band from New York City, formed in 2006....The band is influenced by both African popular music and Western classical music,[4] describing their genre of music as "Upper West Side Soweto", with such songs as "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" referencing Congolese soukous music.[5]Check out their website or search for them on youtube to become more familiar.
Now on to the post...
Yesterday was such a treat- a date with Brian! Grandma B came from NJ to watch the children.
First we drove down to Columbia and stopped for a bite to eat at this cool French place called La Madeline. Think Panera Bread but French. It was yummy. I had a pasta dish. You just have to love Columbia with all the outside of the box food choices. I'm not sure moving to Columbia is going to be good for our waist lines or wallets!
Then on to Merriweather Post Pavilion. Local friends, if you have never been here for a concert, do put it on your to-do list! Its located in Columbia, an easy drive down 95 from Harford Co. The parking is free. It feels so relaxed and fun. People tailgate in the parking lot before the show eating, drinking, playing cards, etc. "Inside" is really an open pavilion. In the very front is the pit, standing area only. Then the chairs under the pavilion so you won't get rained on (this is where our seats were.) And then there is the lawn. That is right, bring your blankets and get there early! You can even bring some food and water in (but check the website for the guidelines.) They also have a camera crew that records the concert and shows it on big screens, so even if you are far away you can still "see" the band. Brian and I are going to make it a point to take the kids there for some concerts on the lawn when we relocate. .
The show started with a fun punk-rock all girl band called The Dum Dum Girls. Think: black hair, black stockings, guitar rocking girls. And The drummer, an Asian girl, was awesome! She had a lot of energy. The only one of the 4 member band who didn't have black hair was the base player. She was tall, red headed, probably a bit older then the others, and characteristically acted like a base player- with a serious air and only a little bit of bobbing back and forth.
In between sets I saw some people we know sit down a few rows in front of us. I elbowed Brian to point them out and he didn't believe it was them, so he tweeted to this person and a minute later the person looked back and waved. Oh thank heavens for Iphones. haha. What geeks! ;)
Up next was a band called Beach House, who are from Maryland. They were interesting. I liked a lot of their music but will have to listen to it more to really grow into it. They used a lot of keyboard sounds and had an interesting array of sounds. I could tell there was a large Baltimore fan base there, so excited to see a band that started out in Maryland. The lead singer in this band is a women who played the keyboard and was very melodramatic..especially with her head\hair. I could tell she was really into her music! She has long curly hair that covered her face just about the whole time. They had a nice stage show too with stars, lights, and some pyramids. Here is a video from the concert (I did not record this.)
And I'm amazed at how fast the lead singer, Ezra, can talk\sing!
When the band was done with their set and they said "good night" of coarse everyone was screaming and cheering. It was so loud. My ears were ringing from it. I really wanted to stay to see if they could come out for an encore, and I really thought they would, but we left on account of having a baby at home and knowing if we left just a bit earlier it would be so much easier to get out of the parking lot. Sure enough, as we were walking out the band came out and played at least 1 more song. At least I got to hear it as we walked to the car. I hate being one of those people who hi-tail it out of their ASAP just to avoid traffic. (Isn't it horrible when people leave a baseball game at the top of the 9th inning, just to avoid the traffic?!)
Here are some videos from the concert:
We got home at about midnight. The baby did well. Grandma was rocking him in the living room because every time she put him in the bed he would wake up and cry. When he heard my voice he woke up and was happily awake for a while. Grandma left to drive home to NJ. We went to bed and for some reason at 2am he woke up screaming bloody murder for 15 minutes. Joy!
All day today while packing and working on house projects we were listening to V.W. and taking breaks to watch their music videos. Now I have my eyes on tickets to see Cloud Cult. They will be preforming in both D.C. and Philly soon, both places are 1.5 hrs away from us. I really, really want to go but think childcare will be an issue. I love Cloud Cult!
