Oscar The Third: Eric Clapton

Friday, 29 July 2011

I hear footsteps in the dark when you hijack my heart

This is the short story of how I got my very first set list, which was the start of the fairly impressive collection that is continuing to expand. I was seeing Ladyhawke, the year was 2009 and the day was Halloween, a holiday that isn't really celebrated in New Zealand but it is still an excuse for normal people to do weird and freaky things. At this point in my life, I hadn't been to many concerts. The only musicians I had seen live were Alter Bridge, Disturbed, Iron Maiden and Eric Clapton (a pretty sweet list actually) but I was young and quite unfamiliar with the concert environment. That was all about to change on Halloween night though, I was breaking in some new shoes so my feet were killing me by the time we got to the venue. We got there after the doors had opened and ventured inside to see how many people had got there before us. A lot of people were inside the Powerstation but for some reason, there was not a single person on the floor in front of the stage. The audience was crowded together and pressed up against the walls, like there was an invisible barrier stopping them from getting too close to the stage. I guess every single person in the venue was just 'too cool' to be the first one on the floor. Being different is something that has never stopped me in the past so I just pushed my way through the cowardly crowd and walked out into the big, open space that was the stage floor. I walked straight up to the barrier and sat down against it, front row and centre. I was probably the 500th person to get to the venue but I had no problem getting front row, and it was my first time front row so I was pretty excited. It wasn't long after I claimed my spot that other people noticed and followed like sheep. I guess now that I was the 'uncool' one who was eager to get front row, it was okay for all them to move towards the stage without hurting their 'street cred'. A local band called Over The Atlantic opened and they sounded so much better live than they did on CD, there music was just so much more dynamic. Ladyhawke and her band came out next and they were all dressed like skeletons. It gave a very cool effect to their whole set, and the microphone stand wrapped in fairy lights helped too. I think it was her first headlining show in NZ since her debut album hit the charts, so it must have been a pretty big deal to her. The show went really well and she played her entire album with a couple of covers at the end. She seemed so adorable every time she shyly tanked the audience after a song, and she was even cuter when she confused some of the lyrics to My Delirium and looked so embarrassed, but she recovered really smoothly and it was a great song to end the night on. I was given the set list by one of the sound techs after the show and I had a really special item to remember the night by. That night is what began my obsession with doing whatever is necessary to get front row and grab a set list after the show. So here it is, my first set list:

Ladyhawke. 31/10/2009. The Powerstation, Auckland, New Zealand.

Sunday, 10 July 2011

Belief is a beautiful armour but makes for the heaviest sword

It was in April of 2010 that the mature ladies man with a sense of humour came to town. John Mayer hadn't been to New Zealand in over 3 years but this would be my first time seeing him live in concert. I was lucky enough to be sitting in the fourth row and was blown away right from the opening act. I had never heard of Lisa Crawley before but she came out on stage looking adorably nervous and played some of the most beautifully lovable music (for those of you who have read my New Zealand Music Month posts, then you are probably already familiar with Lisa Crawley's amazingness). Despite the fact there were not many teenage/young girls, the scream that erupted from the crowd when John Mayer came on was unbelievable, and there was no shortage of the random, shrieking declarations of love during the momentary silences between songs. John Mayer is the perfect example of a modern blues man and an amazing improvisational guitarist, breathing new life into all of his songs through his suave personality and electric fingers. I have not seen a performance like that since around the time of my 18th birthday when I saw the legend, Eric Clapton in the same venue (according to the album booklet of Continuum, John steals from Eric Clapton but he is cool with it). Backed by his 5-piece band, he put on one hell of a show, and he even managed to make the audience laugh. He was full of jokes and little monologues, helping everyone to relax and have a great time. The greatest moment was when John asked a question to the audience (in the middle of a strange rant)

John Mayer: Who would win in a fight between the Karate Kid and Rocky?
Random Guy: JOHN MAYER!
John Mayer: That's right, John Mayer would.

John Mayer w/ Lisa Crawley. 28/04/2010. Vector Arena, Auckland, New Zealand.