Saturday, August 28, 2010

Jack Johnson and G. Love

So, I actually ended up going to the Jack Johnson concert on Thursday. This seemed like an impossibility, driving 2.5 hours away on a school night with friends to go listen to music. When Girl Crush brought it up, I was like, "During the first week of school? On a school night? In West Palm Beach?"

"Yeah," she said. "Get tickets and come with us." Like it was no big deal.

Jack Johnson is definitely one of the artists that make up the soundtrack of my life. I love his music and have so many great memories that he's played background in. The thought of driving far away on a school night with friends to listen to music seemed adventurous (hey, I'm old!) and I really, really wanted to go.

At first, Mr. Ashley acted like I was nuts. I think he just likes the struggle because we both knew we were going to go. He loves Jack Johnson too, he's just practical about things. "Who would watch the kids? Who would drive? When would we get home?"

I asked my mom about watching the kids, half expecting some hesitancy or a hint of "this is a crazy plan" but she was like, "Sounds fun, you should go."

So we went!!

Girl Crush and her husband had already invited another couple and I was nervous about if they would be fun and if they would like us. Conversation was slow at first but the husband ended up telling some stories about his brother that closely followed the Facebook updates of a good friend of mine and we figured out that his brother was one of my brother's best friends. The wife was really funny and sweet. We all liked each other and were good friends by the end of the car ride.

We got to the concert and walked in and paused next to a small platform while we figured out where to go next since we were hours early. A lady on the platform picked up a microphone and announced that G. Love was going to come up and play. We love G. Love and were doubly excited when we found out he was also on the tour. We stood there in disbelief as this cute geeky guy hopped on the little stage. People were walking right by, buying t-shirts, sitting in the parking lot drinking before the show, and we were 20 feet from one of the artists we had come to see, listening to some of our favorite songs with a very small group of people just beginning to gather.



There he is singing "My Baby's Got Sauce". Sorry for the poor video quality; I'm short, don't have zoom, couldn't stay still and people did begin to congregate when they started recognizing songs.

Then G. Love announced that Jack Johnson was going to hop on stage so they could play acoustically together, and sure enough, he did. It was awesome and he's amazing. We made eye contact and I'm pretty sure he wanted me to travel around the world with him while he wrote songs to serenade me with nightly. But since we're both happily married, we knew it wasn't meant to be. Girl Crush thinks she had the same kind of eye contact, but that can't be right.



We had cheap lawn seats, so to end up so close to the entertainment during what felt like a private concert was pretty awesome.

The concert itself was also a ton of fun. It rained a little while the opening acts played but we were lucky enough to have an umbrella. The girls huddled under it and people-watched while the guys sat in the rain and laughed. By the time Jack Johnson came on, the sky was clear and the weather was perfect and we all danced and sang and had more fun than I can even remember. (There may have been some alcohol involved.)

I was going to upload more videos, but I swear just getting those 2 up took me 3 days. My computer is doing a fun new thing where it turns itself off randomly because of a cord issue, so starting any task is like playing Russian roulette.

Anyway, it was soooooooooooooooo much fun that I'm now sad forever that it's over. Best concert ever and I've been to some good ones.


The moral of the story is to go on adventures as often as possible. Especially if you're old and otherwise boring.

7 comments:

kim {the non-mom blogger} said...

OHMYGAWD!!!!! I don't know if I would have been able to control myself being so close... Glad you had a great time :)

Preppy Pink Crocodile said...

How awesome! It sounds like the perfect night out- even it was on a school night!!

Jennifer said...

Wow, that sounds like a lot of fun. We never do grown up stuff like that. It is great that you have friends and parents that encourage you to run away for a few hours.

Laura said...

I am so jealous! Everytime Jack Johnson has had a show close to us it's been a week night and it is near impossible to find a babysitter! Sounds like a great time was had by all! :) Lucky you!

Stereos and Souffles said...

I went to the Tampa show and had a great time!

Kids, Canines, and Chaos said...

How on earth am I JUST finding out about Jack Johnson? I may have just downloaded all of his songs on iTunes.

Unknown said...

Kids, Canines and Chaos (Great name!) you might also like Ben Harper and Matt Costa!

Stereos and Souffles, I saw pics of that concert! You guys got wet too, right?