A Concert Date.

When I found out that my favorite band - Relient K - was going to be stopping on tour about an hour from us, I asked Mike to take me to the concert as a birthday gift. 

He readily agreed because he also really likes them, and it has been about 3 years since we last saw them in concert. We are both pretty big fans - dating back over a decade for me and a few years less than that for him.

This song is the first song I ever heard of theirs. After I heard it, I knew I had to buy all of their albums. And I did! But this song in particular...it has given me comfort on some of my darkest, hardest days and continues to be my go-to song when life gets hard sometimes.

Mike asked me where I wanted to eat - and I didn't even think twice! Qdoba is my favorite fast food Mexican. :) Haven't been there in over a year. It did NOT disappoint :)

We got into town a little early, so we went to the South Campus Gateway.
We reminisced about our dating days when Mike was attending OSU.
We went to Barnes and Noble, and I found this book.
I think I know what will be part of Grayson's first birthday gift :)

Not sure while this picture is all stretched.
We hung out on the second floor of the Barnes and Noble.
I could have sat there all day.

Between sleep training the kiddo and some long shifts at work for Mike, we were exhausted.
Our drinks of choice were Monster Energy for Mike and a black iced tea from Starbucks for me.

After waiting in line, and having a few run-ins with some of Columbus' finest people, we finally made it through the doors of the venue - The Newport. It is an old theater turned disgustingly gross and dirty but quite popular concert venue.

Our wait in line paid off and we scored some prime real estate up by the railing near the stage in the balcony area. It was perfect.

First up: Mike Mains and the Branches. Fantastic. High-energy. Loved the keyboard player - she reminded me of Florence from Florence and the Machine. The lead singer has some pipes. WOW. They were great!

We saw A LOT of this...with three opening bands, about an hour and a half was dedicated to switching out equipment.

Some of our fellow concert goers across the balcony from us.

Relient K is from Ohio, so it was a packed house. 

Next Up: William Beckett - former lead singer of The Academy Is. I thought he was amazing.
Also a little on the sad side, but a very good singer.
His "band" was his Macbook Pro, which I think took some guts.
I worried for him that his Mac would get that spinning rainbow wheel of death that mine gets every.single.time I use it.
Fortunately for him, that did not happen.

Matt T. - lead singer of Relient K - came out on stage and sang along with William.
Of course the audience cheered.

And then out came the worst band I have ever had the displeasure of listening to: HelloGoodbye.
I am sorry if you are a fan, but I did NOT like them.
Maybe it was the autotuning. Maybe it was because no one could understand what they were saying.
Heck, even the girl backstage who handed them their guitars looked bored to tears, texting on her iPhone.
I could see her from my vantage point.
I wanted to boo them off the stage. They were just terrible.

Four hours after the doors open, and five hours after we had been standing, Relient K put on quite a show.
It was worth my sore feet and ankles, dealing with the kids standing next to us.
Before they came on, I actually begged Mike to leave. I am a mom now. I am TIRED.
All the time. I was so ready for bed at 8 pm.
Mike encouraged me to buck up, and I am certainly glad I did.
Favorite concert moments: When they sang The Lining is Silver and when one of the band members of Third Eye Blind sang with them on their cover of Motorcycle Drive-By. Amazing.

I loved spending most of the day with my Mikes. <3