2009 - A Bad Year...
...And hardly any live shows. It came to the point where I was searching every venue in Philadelphia looking for someone I remotely knew. Fortunately in November, I discovered that Switchfoot would be releasing a new album, Hello Hurricane on November 10th with a tour to follow, and there was a Philly date. Thank God. Now I wonder, "Why have I never seen these guys live before?" I have a couple albums (I need to get the rest) and I love them. Before tickets even went on sale, I was planning to go. I needed to hear live music again.
I received a copy of Hello Hurricane in the mail and proceeded to listen. Let me tell you something, if you haven't listened to it yet, what are you doing with you life? Best album of 2009 for me.
The day of the show came, and ended up being a very cold day. I went to the venue around 5 to start lining up. I really wanted to get front row, but for some reason this venue doesn't like us. I've only had it once and Kate has never had front row at TLA. Tonight would be no different. I asked the man at the box office if we could start lining up and he informed me that because of a fan club privilege, about 80 people would be allowed in before doors. What? 80 people? That's ridiculous. I have a problem with people paying for front row...but that's another topic. So I called Kate and told her the bad news. We decided to go up in the balcony that we were in for Jack's Mannequin; it's a nice view of the stage and has great sound quality. She picked me up at my apartment around 7 and we went to park her car in a garage. We waited in the regular line for a half an hour and then went in at 8. We got a nice spot in the balcony and eagerly awaited the show. NO OPENER! 2 hours of Switchfoot.
The set was incredible. Switchfoot is an amazing live band, and Jon Foreman is an extremely talented songwriter, performer, and musician. He started the show on the back wall dividing an over 21 area from the GA. Throughout the show he walked through the many bodies (very brave) and even came up to the balcony to sing. He covered that venue very well.
Setlist:
(the entire HH album start to finish)
Needle and Haystack Life
Mess of Me
Your Love Is A Song
The Sound
Enough To Let Me Go
Free - video
Hello Hurricane
Always
Bullet Soul
Yet
Sing It Out - video
Red Eyes
Jon said, "That's the end of the album. We'll be be back!"
Second Set:
Chem 6A
Stars - a couple guys from the audience had a sign that asked if they could play stars with the guys, so they brought them up on stage. they were really good.
Oh! Gravity
Let That Be Enough - love this song - video
Evergreen - first time they've ever played this live - video
This Is Your Life - Jon came up to the balcony and sang
Dare You To Move - stayed up and sang down to the audience
Encore:
Awakening
Love Is The Movement/ Meant to Live
The concert was amazing. I only wish I was closer. There's always that connection that's missing when you're not up front, and that's my only complaint of the night. I'm 2010 is much better in general, but especially for live shows.
