Free Concert!

Thanks to my wonderful friend, Deanne, my sweetie and I got tickets to a free concert last week! Ryan Shupe and the Rubber Band was playing in Provo. Timpview High School held a summer concert series to raise money to buy new instruments. Deanne got tickets, and gave us a chance to attend this one. It was so much fun!

They had an opening band, which was about like most opening bands, not bad but in need of a little more practice and a little more experience. I don't know whose fault it was, the drummer or the sound guy, but you could hardly hear anyone BUT the drummer. I'm not even sure what songs they did. They experimented with some new sounds, which was cool, but didn't really connect with the audience that well.

What a difference when Ryan Shupe and his band members came on stage! They literally ran on, and hardly stopped for the rest of the night. I had never heard of them, but after one song, I was completely a fan! They had some silly songs - 'Corn Dogs' was the best one - and some fun songs - I loved 'Banjo Boy' and some ballads. The audience went wild over their version of 'The Devil Went Down to Georgia.' Super fun! Then they came out for their encore wearing Timpview Band t-shirts, which I thought was a very classy touch.

So we had to get a CD! We got their older one, 'Dream Big,' because I loved that song. But when we got home, I checked out itunes to find that 'Corn Dogs' is on their new one! Oh well, it's one to put on my wish list.

In summary, if you get a chance to catch these guys in concert, it is absolutely worth the money. They gave a great show and we had a wonderful time. Here's a link to their website so you can see them for yourselves http://www.shupe.net/



(Just another note - once again, we sat in the boring section of the concert. Last time we saw a band - ZZTop - we sat with a bunch of losers who could hardly bother to clap after every song. Why shell out money for a concert you don't want to see? This time we sat with all these families. I can understand that a little, I mean, they probably came to support Timpview and didn't know anything about the band. But after you're there, why not put away your distractions and watch the show? I sat across from this teen, and I kid you not, he sat there braiding some plastic laces into a lanyard THE WHOLE TIME! He looked up once or twice, and maybe applauded a little, but honestly! A lanyard? Are you kidding me? And the whole front row was little white-haired grandmas and grandpas. I don't know why they sat on the front row. I'm sure they could have heard farther back. It must have been really loud up there. The fun section was near the back, where all the band students were really enthusiastic. Next time this happens, we are going to move. I came to have fun, not work on arts and crafts!)