So, as I've mentioned in previous posts, Kam was going to be attending this concert with me. This was great because I wouldn't even know JtG existed if it wasn't for him, and it's really hard in our busy schedules for find time to hang out with me student teaching and what not, so I was really looking forward to getting to spend some time with him along with seeing this amazing band that changed my life. Kam's friend Alejandra ended up getting a ticket to the concert and came along with us as well. The more the merrier, right? We left SL a little after 3:00 and began making our way towards the big city (in comparison to other cities, Omaha really isn't that big, but I'm from SL, so to me, it's a big city. Back to the story ---->) My bargain with Kam is that I would pay for his ticket to the concert if he drove, because this small-town girl does NOT do interstate driving or city driving (although I should probably get over that fear and get some practice doing both of those things.) The trip got off to an....adventurous start when Kam got pulled over for speeding by the Ida County sheriff. Luckily, that charming son of a gun managed to get away with a written warning. He was VERY careful to drive the speed limit the rest of the way there and home, however ;) ;) So we eventually made it to Omaha, got to "North Omaha" and found a place to park. As we were walking from the truck towards the venue, the Waiting Room Lounge, we could actually hear JtG doing their sound check. Soooo naturally we ran over there, looked through the window, and there they were. JtG, in all their glorious perfection, doing the sound check. It was at this point that I got VERY excited for what the night had in store for me. Food was the first priority before the concert, so we started roaming looking for some place to acquire nourishment. There was this pizza place that smelled seriously amazing, but we weren't willing to commit to the 30 minute wait, so that didn't happen. Another restaurant in our price range was also very busy, so we ended up eating at Subway. (I know what you are all thinking, you guys were in OMAHA and you ate at Subway. Yes, we did. Move on already.)
After the foods, we made our way back down to the venue for the LONG wait for the doors to open at 8:00 PM. It got very cold, and my biggest complaint was that I didn't make the wisest choice when it came to footwear and my feet were literally frozen. Kam assured me that it would all be worth it because we were at the front of the line and that meant we'd get AH-MAZING seats for the concert itself. As more and more people showed up, and the line grew longer and longer, I had to admit to myself that he was right (although, I'd never actually admit that to him. Lawlz.) The coolest part of the whole standing in line thing was that we ACTUALLY SAW JtG walking across the street from this super fancy and classy restaurant to get into the venue. It actually wasn't nearly as cool as I'm making it out to be right now, but #details. 8:00 finally arrived, the doors opened, and we were that much closer to the concert. I'm convinced one of the greatest parts of being 21, besides you know, legally being able to buy and consume alcohol, is the fact that when you go to any sort of event at a bar/club, you get a nifty little bracelet that screams "I'm 21 or over, huzzah!" whereas all the young ones, such as Kam and Alejandra, got GIANT, and I mean GIANT, black X's on each of their hands that scream "I'm young!" Being that we were like the fourth people in line, we bee-lined for the front, and we were literally standing right on the edge of the stage. We decided (and when I say we, I mostly mean Kam decided) that we would buy the majority of our merchandise before the show even started, because that would avoid the whole long-lines thing after the show, and then we would be well-prepared to get everything signed by the band when the concert was finito. So, we did that whole "here take all of my money and my first born child for all this concert merchandise" thing, and then it was just....a matter of time before the concert started. (See what I did there.. because JtG has a song called "A Matter of Time...." get it? get it?) Anyways...
FINALLY. 9;00 had arrived, and the opening band came out on stage. Allow me to share with you the first observations I was making in my head as the opener (there a band called Mainland btdubs) came onto the stage:
1. Holy toledo, that is one attractive bass player.
2. This lead guitar guy looks like he walked out of the 1950s.
3. But seriously, that bass player.
So, if you can't tell, the bass player was my favorite part of Mainland, and I took a bunch of pictures of him and pretty much just fangirl stared at him the whole time. To be completely honest, I wasn't expecting much from the opening band, because a) I didn't pay or travel 3 hours to see them and b) see reason A. But these guys were really good. Really good. They finished their set, I stole the set list off the stage after they left, and then it was.... ONLY A MATTER OF TIME before JtG would hit the stage. (That was a punny reference to a JtG song. Maybe I thought it was punny, you probably thought it was lame, but this is my blog so I do what I want.)
Finally, they came onto the stage. Jukebox the Ghost. They were getting all their equipment and cords and other rockstar things that you have to prepare ready before they started their set. Like the total fangirl I am, I had my camera at the ready, snapping pictures left and right of them getting ready to do the whole rockstar thing. Tommy Siegel (he's a guy in the band, duh) saw me with my camera snapping shots, AND ACTUALLY STOPPED WHAT HE WAS DOING TO POSE FOR MY PICTURE. Yes, that actually happened. It was magical. And, I was about 3 feet away from Ben Thornewill, the most attractive member of JtG. The girl standing behind-ish me was like "Hi Ben, how are you?" And, he must have thought it was me asking...BECAUSE HE LOOKED RIGHT INTO MY EYES AND WAS LIKE "HOW ARE YOU?" WE MADE SERIOUS EYE CONTACT IN THAT MOMENT, AND IT WAS MAGICAL. Okay, so they got all their stuff set up, and then it was time. They came out and started their set. I was so ready.
I'm not going to go into a lot of details about the concert because I'm pretty sure we all know how a concert works: I fangirl like crazy, the band sings songs, I sing along very loudly and take lots of pictures, and then they finish. That's pretty much how the concert went. I will mention one song specifically just because it was cool. In one of my earlier posts about JtG, I specifically mentioned the song "The Great Unknown" because it just like punched me in the feels a lot. Apparently, this is not a song that they guys sing at live shows very often. But, wait for it, THEY SANG IT AT THE OMAHA SHOW. I repeat, THEY SANG IT AT THE OMAHA SHOW. Of course, I video-taped the entire thing, sang along, and cried throughout the entire thing. I lucked out, that's for sure. The coolest thing about this concert is that I was seeing this band that had such a profound impact on me from the first time I listened to them, and I made direct eye contact with each member of the band at least 20 times during the set. It's hard for me to describe what seeing these guys live meant to me, but it was amazing, and I'm just going to leave it at that.
After the show was over, we made another run to the merch table, mainly to buy some stuff from Mainland (they were the opener, remember?) We got to talk to those guys and they were super chill. I'm really into their music and I hope to see them again sometime soon. But, I was mostly excited to meet the members of JtG. I got to have a mini, sort of "hey the show was awesome" conversation with each of them, get some of my merch signed, and get a picture taken with each member of the band. A perfect ending to my first indie-band concert experience.
Now, I'm going to be honest. The drive home sucked. We didn't leave Omaha until after midnight, and it's a 3 hour drive back to Storm Lake. I was on a student-teaching schedule, which meant that I was used to going to bed at about 9:00 pm, and I didn't even get into my house until 4 AM. I woke up the next morning extremely fatigued, sore beyond repair from the car ride, and I sounded like I smoked two packs a day. But, it was more than worth it. Because I got to see my second favorite band with my first favorite person (that's you Kam.) I can't wait until I get the opportunity to see them again, and hopefully it will be SOON!!
Top Left: Ben Thornewill (he plays piano and sings. He's also my future husband but he doesn't know that yet.)
Top Right: Jesse Kristin (drums)
Bottom Left: Tommy Siegel (much more attractive in person, I promise.)
