Anyhow, we hit Burlington for some shopping and a good lunch, killed some time at Barnes and Noble reading books and finally headed over to Higher Ground. It was damn cold on Thursday, the temperatures well below zero. After we picked up our tickets at the 'will call' window there was more than an hour before the doors opened. In my younger days I might have stood in line in such frigid temperatures. Those days are long gone. Standing in line was not going to get us any closer to the stage, so we instead sat in the nice warm car while all the young idiots froze their asses off outside. Cori spent the time web surfing on her phone and I put the time to good use by calling my friend Christine, whom I have not talked to in way way way too long. It was good to get caught up with her.
First up for the evening was Rookie of the Year. I have heard them before and was somewhat neutral about them. However, they put on a great show and their new material really grabbed me much more than the first CD I had heard. I was suitably impressed and wouldn't mind seeing them again. The fact that they did a cover of "I Think We're Alone Now" was just icing on the cake.
The next group was The White Tie Affair. They were one of the opening acts for Secondhand last time we saw them. They are certainly a high energy band and get the crowd moving, but as I may have mentioned before, the whole rock star shtick they try to pull off may play well with the eighteen year old set, but I've seen it all before and done better. The fact that their sound mix was terrible didn't help. The vocals were lost and the guitar was distorted. But as I have also said, I am hardly their target demographic. Said target demographic really seemed to like them.
The third act was Meg and Dia. They are sisters, with Dia being the singer with Meg providing harmony vocals and guitar. I have been listening to them for a while thanks to Cori who is a huge fan, and was not disappointed in the least
Meg & Dia
Meg & Dia put on a really high energy show and were as ever bit great live as they are on their CD. I felt like they weren't as well known in the crowd as some of the other acts, which is really too bad, since of all the bands performing that night, they are the ones most deserving of recognition. Hopefully they won over some new followers from this show.
Finally it was time for Secondhand Serenade. John Vesley, who pretty much is Secondhand, has done well since the last time we saw them perform. The single 'Fall for You' did very well, earning him some air time on MTV and VH-1 and hopefully his new single, 'Your Call' will do equally as well. The set was almost the same as last time. The fun part was that Thursday was Vesley's birthday, which the other bands had some fun with. Ryan, the lead singer of Rookie of the Year came on stage midway through Vesley's performance of 'Vulnerable' to do a birthday shot with him. Then prior to 'Fall for You' all the bands came onstage with a cake to sing happy birthday to John. It was a lot of fun and as always Secondhand Serenade put on a good show.
Secondhand Serenade
As always is the case at Higher Ground, we got the chance to meet some of the bands. As always, they were accommodating and very nice to talk to. We had a nice talk with Mike, the guitar player from Rookie of the Year and picked up their new CD which they were happy to autograph. Cori, who is a huge Meg & Dia fan was almost speechless when she got to meet Dia and get the concert T-shirt she had bought autographed and a picture taken with her. Dia was also nice enough to autograph my ticket stub as well as pose for a picture with me.
Me and Dia
Dia and Cori
Before long the whole evening was over and we wandered back out into the freezing cold and start the long drive back home. But we laughed and listened to music the whole way back, just like we always do. As usual, it was indeed an excellent adventure.
