Concerts of 2009

2009 was a great year in music for me. I found a bunch of new artists to listen to, and I was lucky enough to a bunch of them in concert this year. The picture and video quality on some of these are not the greatest, apologies in advance. I don't like using my flash at concerts - it's pretty obnoxious to me (at least) and I'm sure the performers aren't so keen on it either. Plus, I like being a stealthy rabid fan.

I'll go backwards in time. The last concert I saw on Thursday at the Nokia Theatre in Times Square. I saw Straight No Chaser, an a cappella group from at Indiana University. I was able to get a ticket from a friend who's an IU alum - they were sold out by the time I tried to get ticket. They're famous now for their Christmas a cappella songs, but they did more than that at the concert.

The CMJ Music Festival in NY featured 1000 acts across the boroughs in a few days' time span in October. I went to see Jukebox the Ghost while they were part of the festival at the Bowery Ballroom. You'll see where these guys came from as the post continues.

Yep, I was standing at the stage for Jukebox the Ghost

My friend BA invited me down to see The Bravery at TLA in Philly in October. The lead singer had the swine flu but still put on a good show.

The Bravery

The concert where the average age was definitely at least 5 years lower than my own was the blink-182 show (also with Fallout Boy) at Madison Square Garden. I went with my friend Brett from work and his wife Amanda, who had seen them play 10 years ago. I can't imagine these guys have changed much in the last 10 years. High energy, and lots of boy humor. The best part was Travis's drum solo that had him flying through the air - that was super awesome.

Blurry blink-182

One of the concert highlights was certainly U2 and Muse at Giants Stadium. I had never been to the stadium before, and U2 was on my list of must-see concerts. I took my mom, and she loved it as much as I did. Muse was also great - they are extremely talented musicians.

Muse

Me and my mama before the show started

I saw Jukebox the Ghost for the second time in May, along with Jenny Owens Young at the Bowery Ballroom. A nice, smallish venue allowed me to get pretty close to the stage - I'm so spolied now.

In April I snagged a 5th row seat to Flight of the Conchords at Radio City. This was the best show I went to all year - and possibly of all time. These guys are hilarious, excellent musicians, and put on such a great show.

Terrible Blackberry picture of FotC, without zoom. Part of the great "Alexis lost her camera charger" episode

Ben Folds was pretty awesome too; saw him at the Wellmont Theatre in Montclair with my friend Steve in March. This is where I was introduced to Jukebox the Ghost (thank you thank you!) Ben Folds also puts on an excellent show - beside being so talented, he knows how to play to the crowd to make us laugh and participate in the show.

On the floor for Ben Folds

And, the first show of the year was Rufus Wainwright, also at the Wellmont, in February. It was a nice, mellow show for Valentines Day. Great piano skills.

Straight No Chaser tickets are already purchased for their April show. I have my eyes on a few other bands that I didn't get to see this year (MGMT, Arcade Fire), plus Jukebox the Ghost when they go back on tour (how many concerts do I need to go to in order to make me a groupie?)

Dear Old State

I spent the weekend in State College to visit old friends. We played Ohio State, and the going price for tickets was absurd, so we watched the game at Rotelli's. Even though our big match-up against Ohio State did not end in our favor, it was still a great weekend in Happy Valley. DP Dough, Jimmy John's, Pokey Stix, and lots of cheap drinks - sounds like college all over again!

Spinelli and me during the game

My bubbles!

Not in any of the 50 states, but still in the US?

How is that possible? DC!

I spent 5 days down in the DC metro area visiting friends and playing tourist. Julie was down from Alaska for her sister's wedding in Pittsburgh (congrats Maria and Bill!). We have a bunch of mutual friends in the DC area, so rather than her trekking from the 'burgh to Jersey to meet up, we decided to meet in DC.

I took the Megabus from NY to DC on Wednesday morning. My fare on the way down was $1 (no lies!) On-time, clean, and free wi-fi, I can definitely recommend them. I took the Metro up to Rockville, MD to meet up with Julie, as we were staying with her friend Meg for the night.

Meg's super cute hot dog dog Bailey

On Thursday, Julie and I were DC tourists. This was Julie's first time to the city, and even though I've been twice before, I had forgotten most of everything, so I was happy to play tourist again. We wandered the Mall and went to the Holocaust museum (very well-done, I would definitely recommend it). We headed to Fairfax, VA to stay with Laura, and met with Armand for a tasty dinner.

Julie got 2 falls this year, no fair

We Are! Hungry!

Julie left early Friday to continue her mid-Atlantic tour, and I took to the streets and museums again. I went to the top of the Washington Monument (uber-tourist!), visited the American History museum, grabbed lunch in Chinatown, did a quick tour of the National Portrait gallery before running to catch my train back to Fairfax. I randomly ran into a friend, Nicole, from Penn State in the Metro station. It was so funny- I was on a mission to get to the train, and all of a sudden I hear my name. We had a quick chat, and I was still able to catch the train.

The Monument from the Lincoln Memorial

From the top of the Washington Monument, look at the Capitol Building

On Friday night I went to see "Waiting for Godot" at a theatre in Maryland with Laura and some of her friends. Saturday, we went into DC for a tour of the National Building museum (very cool) and to watch the Penn State game with Armand, Steve (down from UMD), and Laura's friend Paul. After that, we decided to head to Georgetown for dinner, and the streets were PACKED for Halloween.

I stayed with Armand in Silver Spring, MD on Saturday night. I got a tour of Silver Spring (and saw the namesake silver spring) before heading back into DC to catch my bus back home. After nearly 2.5 years of saying "I've gotta get down to DC!", I had a blast. Thanks to Julie, Meg, Armand, and Laura (and Autumn, Gideon, and adorable little Rachel) for putting me up and acting as chauffeur for the trip.

Later DC, and the really neat architecture of the Metro stations.

Alaska is now back-blogged

For those still following along (and at the persistence of a certain friend who I may have visited in Alaska), I've added the rest of my Alaska adventures. Scroll down to find the labels list and click on Alaska to find them. No, I didn't make things up after many months - I wrote all the text on the plane from Fairbanks to Minneapolis, and I just got lazy in posting the rest of the trip.

I miss Alaska

Bushkill Falls

I went out to Bushkill Falls, just north of Stroudsburg, PA, on a beautiful fall day. I went out with my buddies Rhett and Richard, and met up with 2 of Rhett's friends from Philly to do some grilling and "hiking".



Bushkill Falls is pretty touristy. The $10/person admission charge is quite steep, and the planked trails and hoards of people are a bit off-putting. That said, the waterfalls are quite nice, and getting on the "expert" trail (2 miles round trip, most of it on a walkway) got us away from some of the crowd. I went when I was a kid, and I probably won't be back till I have kids of my own to take (which is not any time soon), but it was a nice way to spend an afternoon with friends.

Blue Skies and Brews

Summer hasn't given up yet. I went down to the Central Jersey Beer Fest yesterday to sample some of the Jersey breweries finest. There was a huge turnout, probably because of the fantastic weather- 70 and not a cloud in sight.

Sun and beer. Can't get much better.

There were about a half dozen breweries showcasing 3-4 beers each. The lines got pretty long as the afternoon wore on, but I found a nice pumpkin ale from Harvest Moon Brewery and a raspberry wheat from JJ Bittings in Woodbridge, around the corner from where the festival was held. I stopped into the brewery for late lunch with my friend Justin, and then wandered around Woodridge.

I think this fire station may be out of use now. Just a hunch.

The End of Summer 09

It hit me over Labor Day- summer's ending. Where the heck did it go? I guess I did spending half of it traveling. So, to make the most of the waning summer, I:

-Went down the Delaware with my aunt and sister in sweet inflatable kayaks.

-Checked out the park across the street from work for the first time (uh, 2 years late) and found some deer behind a strip mall

I see youuuu

-Enjoyed Jersey Fresh fruits and veggies

Doesn't everyone take pictures of their beautiful local vegetables?

-Watched Penn State win the first 2 games of the season

-Saw some dear friends from Penn State, who were in town for another friend's wedding

-Went hiking in the Watchung Reservation in NJ

You almost couldn't hear the highway.

-Played golf for the first time

Let's pretend that I didn't miss the ball 6 times before this shot, and that the ball didn't kerplunk into the lake