Summer Concerts

Geoff and I love music. We always have. We have more music on our iTunes than I ever thought was possible. We're always looking for new artists, new kinds of music, and especially for opportunities to see good music, live. Outdoor summer concerts are the best. We love them when they're smaller venues where it feels more intimate, you can sit down and enjoy yourself while you listen, and where you're not always fighting off the crowds of people trying to get closer to the stage. We've already been to two great concerts this year. The first was Buddy Guy with Mavis Staples at Red Butte. My parents gave us these tickets kind of last-minute, but we were so glad we took the opportunity to go. Not only is Red Butte an awesome venue, but both Buddy Guy and Mavis Staples were incredible. We were both kind of surprised at how great they were and how much we enjoyed it. Buddy Guy was very entertaining and acted more like a twenty-something guitarist than a 74 year old musician. This concert was the night after Geoff's Birthday, which you would think would be nice and warm. But just like when we saw Steve Martin for Geoff's Birthday last year, it was pretty cold when the sun went down. I was prepared with lots of blankets, gloves, beanies, etc. and we were quite cozy.

The next night (yes, 2 concerts in a row), we went to Library Square to see Ray LaMontagne. We had great seats, the weather was perfect, and Ray was even better. We've seen Ray live one time before in Baltimore, where he performed with the Symphony, so we were excited to see him in a little bit different light, with his whole band. I was even more impressed this time (which I didn't think was possible). If you ever have a chance to see Ray live, do it. I told Geoff if he was coming again the next week, I would pay to go see him again. He is very, very shy so doesn't interact a whole lot with the audience, but he always sounds so amazing. In Baltimore, he played a version of "Henry Nearly Killed Me," all by himself, just stomping his boot and playing his harmonica. This year, he played the same song with his whole band and sang the last verse through his harmonica amplifier so his voice was distorted. It was pretty awesome.

We've got a couple other planned concerts to go see this summer and we're very excited. Hopefully they'll be as fun and enjoyable as these 2 concerts were.