st. louis: the spring standards and wakey!wakey!

here's a story for you. my best friend is absolutely obsessed with the tv show one tree hill. she also just experienced a really painful break up. what ties these two things together, you ask? wakey wakey. wakey wakey (the brainchild of singer/pianist michael grubbs) was featured on one tree hill for a season and michael became a pretty prominent character in the show. so of course, the bff became obsessed with him and his music. so when her and the bf of three years broke up a few months ago, wakey wakey's "almost everything i wish i'd said the last time i saw you..." of course became the "break-up cd" of choice. so awhen angie found out wakey wakey would be in st. louis this past thursday, she just haaaad to be there. and she's not a huge concert goer these days, so she asked me to go with her. being the best friend, and being the music lover i am, i said yes. then promptly dropped twenty bucks on their discography, and ten bucks on the ticket. oy.

so the moral of the story is, that this was something unusual for me. i don't usually go to shows where i don't know the band and their music really well. and i usually go by myself, or at least with all of my "concert friends". so i drove to st. louis when i got off work, met angie for dinner, hung out in the loop for a bit, and drove on over to off broadway. there was a decent sized ctowd when we arrived, mainly consisting of girls who were (presumably) one tree hill freaks. not that that's a bad thing. i've become obsessed as well, and am just starting season six right now, and my netflix queue contains pretty much nothing else.

the first opener was decent, but nothing to write home about. it was their very first show though, so i guess they deserve a little bit of credit. but the real talent was in the second opener, the spring standards. they're from new york as well, just like wakey wakey so i presume they were on tour together. but woooow. they were raelly great. it was a little annoying how long they took to set up, but it was worth it. three part harmonies just sucker me in. lead singer was a girl, who also played keyboard, synth, and a couple drums here and there. and then there was the bass player and guitar player. and all three of them had fantastic voices. so when you put them together to create some great harmonies, the effect was mind-blowing and gave me goosebumps. that's always how i know - if a band gives me goosebumps live, they're good, and they've got real talent. because it's one thing if i enjoy listening to your CD but you suck live. so i very much enjoyed the spring standards, and highly suggest you check them out. it was a lovely little marriage of sounds, and i will liken them to a mixture of ha ha tonka and the hush sound. a little bit of twang with all the harmonies, and a lot of really great sounds elsewhere as well.

and next up was wakey wakey. angie was acting a fool. everytime michael grubbs walked past, she'd grab my arm and squeal. fan girl to the max! it was entertaining though, and i was happy she was having such a great time. their set-up was really simple and intimate - it was just him and a keyboard, a bass player, synth player, violin, and a drummer. and man were they all a great mix for each other. michael grubbs has this really great voice, and he sounded just like he did on all the albums i'd bought just a few weeks before. i can really appreciate his recordings because they're so real. you can hear the squeak of a chair here and there, and a few taps on the mic, too. and hearing him likve was no different. little things here and there that reminded you how real and raw everything was. and i just love that. he held the attention of a very captivated audience, and i really enjoyed the show even though i didn't know most of the songs. angie's not one to really stick around after shows, so we headed out right after the show was over. and it was probably for the better; i had to drive back to columbia and still make it to work early the next morning. but it was a great night with the best friend, and a great show too.

follow the spring standards: www.twitter.com/springstandards
and follow wakey wakey, too: www.twitter.com/wakeywakey