Incubus Double Whammy with a Little Bit of VIP on Top

Here I am still coming down from my greatly anticipated two nights of back-to-back concerts and VIP experience… I waited two years for this and it was SO worth it. I kind of felt like I was on the road with them because my schedule was just a tad hectic there in between. I’m just glad it all worked out.

So where to begin my story… my best friend went to the first show with me. Luckily, he lives about an hour drive from me and then from his place it’s about an hour drive to the venue. So because of our abundant traffic in this area it can take longer than that and it did, but I went up to his place earlier in the afternoon so we would have plenty of time. He even had ordered lunch waiting for me when I got there so I had a delicious poke bowl while he finished up teleworking. Looking back on this, it’s actually even more significant that I had a decent lunch at that time, because over the next 48 hours I didn’t really have a decent meal after that haha.

We headed to the venue which wasn’t too bad of a drive, just a little rush hour traffic, but we were prepared for that. The parking arrangement at Merriweather Post Pavilion is just a little confusing though so we had to hunt around some and parked at least a few miles away. Later we found out we could have gotten parking closer but oh well. I was concerned about stormy weather in the forecast, because we have been having some fierce summer thunderstorms lately, but mother nature was on our side thankfully. It did start raining when we were walking from the parking garage to the venue, so we got a little wet, but it wasn’t too horrible. It at least cooled us off a little cuz it was very hot and humid. I’m glad my VIP wasn’t that night cuz I looked like a hot mess haha. And I did decide to wear a dark tshirt instead of a tank top for the rain which was a smart call.

We had no issues getting in and we got hot dogs and fries for dinner. I got a big soda that lasted me the whole show (I needed the caffeine cuz I’m getting old haha) and I had my bottle of water too, so I stayed hydrated. We got to hang with another friend for a minute before the show who had separate seats. And she got a shirt so I went with her to check out the merch. I’m glad I did now cuz then I knew which shirt I wanted the next night.

Then it was getting close to show time, so we decided to go to our seats. So when I bought these tickets back in March, on the concert map I knew we were pretty close to the stage, but I thought we were in the first tier of seats, like raised up one level. When we get down there the ticket person directed us down further and I was like, whaaaaaat? We were actually on the ground level in the second to back row of the FLOOR seats. So immediately my excitement went through the roof. I was like, I knew I got good seats, but I did not know they were THIS good!

The first opening band was The Aquadolls, an all-female rock band, and I really liked them. They had some fun originals and also did a cover of The Go-Go’s “Vacation” and that song from the Lindsey Lohan movie “Freaky Friday.” They were very fun and I also loved the singer’s pants. I’ll be listening to them again, you gained a new fan.

Next up was Sublime with Rome, and I was curious how much I would be into them since I really only know their hits, but they played ALL the songs I knew, and a few others, so it was great. And I am such a sucker for reggae-style bass lines, as a bass player myself, so I was feeling it. Also, with how close our seats were, that bass was vibrating in our bones and I loved it haha. At one point, I can’t remember if it was during Sublime or when Incubus was getting ready to come on, but my friend was like, “I can feel the air move.” HAHAHA! I was like, YESSSSSSS. That is how I like it! So I just recorded some short clips of the songs I knew from Sublime with Rome, but I had fun dancing to them and I forgot I knew all the words to “What I Got” till they started playing it and it was like a reflex action, I just starting singing along without even thinking about it. They have perfect summertime music, and even the song to prove it, which is one of my faves. They were a great warm up to Incubus.

Y’all, when Incubus came on… I know I saw them in March, and that was a great show. But this night, I don’t know if it was the long anticipation, the hot and humid summer night, being with my best friend, or just the energy of the crowd was on point, and being so close to the stage and feeling the sound waves bouncing, the drums in my chest, the bass in my bones, and the vibrations pulsing through my veins, but I was so pumped. I was rocking out and singing at the top of my lungs. Everything was perfect. And I had looked at a setlist from the previous two shows so I already had certain songs in mind that I wanted to get on video. I was sad that they didn’t play “Aqueous Transmission” but they threw “Echo” in there unexpectedly and that ending they did to that song was TRANSCENDENT. It was amazing, all the feels… Otherwise I tried to video a few different songs that the show I went to in March for variety. I was also happy they played “Mexico.” They did a great cover of “It Ain’t Over ‘til It’s Over” by Lenny Kravitz, who I also love and still want to see in concert someday. I thought Brandon’s voice sounded great singing that song. Then, “Vitamin.” You guys… that is one of my absolute favorites, especially that drum break, cuz I was a band nerd, like Lizzo said in her show “Watch Out for the Big Girls” that I watched recently haha. I was captain of the drum line in high school, so besides bass, drums and percussion are my second love. I have always enjoyed Brandon jamming on the djembe and I think Jose is an awesome drummer overall. In the video you can hear my excitement because I am “Woo”ing before many people could even tell which song was coming. I knew it by those first few teaser notes and I was so ready. I loved every second of it. Then came my all-time favorite Incubus song right after that, “The Warmth.” Those whale sounds, that bass, and those smooth, sultry vocals and poetic lyrics… I was up on cloud nine the entire time. And no, I don’t do drugs, and I don’t usually drink at concerts either because I want to absorb the full experience of the music, and boy did I. Also, on a random note, since some people are against doing pics or videos for that reason, I will just say for me, when I do record I hold it above or below my face so I don’t actually “watch” the show through my phone. But I also like to preserve some of the memories that way so I can go back and relive some of those moments afterwards.

Oh and a funny moment during the show, was when DJ Chris Kilmore did this really loud, funny sound effect in between songs and Brandon imitated it vocally like, “Beh beh beh bowwww.” We cracked up about that! I was still laughing about it on the way home. And my friend was like, “That is like a sound I would make with my mouth.” And Brandon also said, “Someone on the lawn is tripping on acid right now like, “What is going on…” And fun side note, toward the end of the next show I went to I caught Brandon signaling to Chris about it again and he make that sound effect again but not when it was as quiet. So only if you were at the Friday night show at Merriweather, would you have caught that inside joke moment on Saturday haha. But I laughed.

So I crashed at my friend’s place for the night since we knew it would be a pretty late night. And I had to set my alarm pretty early Saturday morning because I had to be at the other venue at 2:00 for my VIP package. So referencing the nutrition factor again, my friend made me an espresso shot and I ate some weird little healthy mini muffin type thing he gave me haha. I don’t remember what it was called or what was in it. Then I drove about an hour home so I could get a shower and change into something a little nicer for meeting a band and getting my picture taken. I had maybe a 2-hour window to chill and get ready at home before needing to leave again to drive about another hour to the next venue in Doswell, which by the way, has like several names so I don’t even know which one to go by haha. After Hours? Meadow Event Park? Something, something, Doswell, Virginia. This was my first time going to this venue and I wasn’t that impressed honestly… I think the sound quality was better at Merriweather myself. And they also did not seem organized. Perfect example, was getting to my VIP experience. It said I had to arrive between 2:15-2:45 for the Meet and Greet and Pre-Show Jam. So I left early in case traffic was bad. I got there around 1:30. First off, there are at least three different gates to a farm/field area right on the main road. So the first entrance I saw said Fairgrounds so I was like, ok that’s not it. I go to Gate 1 which is literally just a gate across a private road surrounded by grass. That was closed, so I saw there was another gate on the other side of the main road if you crossed the median. I drove over there to Gate 2, which was also closed. There were no people around anywhere to ask anything. So I decided to just go and sit in my car at Gate 1. I tried calling the phone number for the venue several times, never got through to anyone. And then other cars start lining up behind me. I mean they were in the main road, so blocking traffic, nowhere to park. Luckily this road didn’t have a lot of traffic going through I think except for events for this place and a few other places nearby. A few different times cars would drive toward the gate but then make a u-turn and go back. I kept thinking, ok maybe they’re here to open the gate, but no, turns out they were people who got in a different way and were lost too. A few other fans came up to my window and we were all on the same page, clueless and getting antsy. I was getting to the point where I was worried I might miss the VIP experience and I was going to be so upset if that had happened. So thank you to the random man who took matters into his own hands and said, “Well I’m gonna open the gate.” I honestly assumed it was locked so I didn’t think to try that. But he just opened it right up haha so me and this other woman who had gotten out of her car to ask me if I knew what was going on were like, ok if you open it we’re going in. God bless you sir. My foot was on that gas pedal and I just drove around the windy road until I saw the stage area and there was a fence. I noticed a person behind the fence so luckily they walked over to me and I rolled down my window and was like, “Is this where I go for the Incubus VIP?” And they were like, “Yeah, park right over here.” So then I was relieved. From there it was just a matter of checking in to get my VIP items and waiting. I think it was about 30 people or so that ended up doing VIP, and some of them just did the Pre-show Jam without the Meet and Greet. For some reason I thought the Meet and Greet was first, then the jam, or I think that’s how my email confirmation made it seem, but it was reverse. They also did say they were running behind, so I don’t know if that’s the normal order of things or if it was different due to timing. But at least they let us wait under a tent so we had some shade. I was happy they weren’t calling for any rain or storms that day but then on the other hand it was sunny and a little hot. And guess who didn’t think to bring sunscreen? But somehow I didn’t get burned thank goodness. I did get a cool tan design on my shoulder from the shirt I was wearing though haha. And I’m glad my face wasn’t red in the pic with the band, cuz that’s what usually happens when I’m in the sun and heat.

I really love the Incubus totebag I got with the VIP package. I love the colorful design and will use that a lot. And they also gave us a VIP laminate with an Incubus lanyard, a cool little tour poster that was autographed by the band members ahead of time, a few drink koozies and a patch. I bought a tour tshirt with all the dates on the back and I love the colors in that too, purple and green on black. I love contrasting colors so the black with neon colors is just my taste. Mike also gave me a guitar pic during the Pre-Show Jam.

So back to the story, the hostess escorted us all to the stage to sit in the front row for the Pre-Show Jam. I really enjoyed it. I would do that again. I like seeing behind the scenes stuff and the vibe was very relaxed. The band members gradually came onstage one by one and waved and said hi to us. I was almost directly in front of Mike and Chris. Unfortunately there was a piece of stage equipment that was kind of blocking Brandon from my view for some parts but that’s ok. I snapped a few pics and got a few video clips, but I didn’t want to record the whole time because I wanted to be in the moment too. I did have to record them doing my favorite drum break from “Vitamin.” I couldn’t help myself on that one haha. And then I got them jamming “Circles.” They also jammed “Monuments and Melodies” just instrumentally without vocals, but I loved that. That’s such a beautiful song. And Brandon did look at me once and smile. Chris and Mike made eye contact with me several times and smiled and Chris was like goofing off making me laugh. A funny thing I remember Brandon saying was, “It looks like we’re about to play the coolest wedding ever.” He was referring to the style of chairs they had at this venue. They did look like outdoor wedding chairs haha. And Mike gave Jose and Brandon some constructive criticism on an element of the drum part they do on a song and then Brandon was like, “Did we just have a band fight?” It was funny, and in all seriousness they were perfectly calm, just talking through changing something.

When that was over, the hostess took us to a tented area over to the side of the stage to wait for the Meet and Greet. Oh and somehow, not really intentionally, I ended up being first in line for that too. Haha I was the first car in line and the first in the Meet and Greet line. So after waiting some more for the band and photographer to get ready, the hostess came out and told me to start. So I walk up the steps and into the tent and I was trying to get my bearings for the pic. I knew they were still doing it social distancing so they were behind a table and then there were two chairs in front for us to use. So I picked a chair and was preoccupied trying to put my purse and water bottle in the floor behind me, I also had to focus on not tripping on those steps and making a fool of myself haha. I immediately got super shy and just said, “Hi…” and like sat down haha. But then Jose was like, “What’s your name?” So I did turn around for a second and look him in the eyes and said, “Kristen.” Then the photographer started snapping pics so I turned back around and I heard a few of the guys say, “That’s a cool name.” “That’s a great name.” “That’s an awesome name.” But my back was to them so I’m not sure who said what. I think they were trying to make me feel comfortable cuz I’m sure they could tell I was nervous and I felt like I had no idea what to do or say haha. So then when I got up after the picture, Mike asked me if it was hot outside sitting in the sun during the jam, so I looked at him and I think all I said was, “Yeah, it’s hot.” Like an idiot hahaha. That was a great response! So he asked the hostess to try to bring the others in the shade while they waited. And then I know I said thank you and I think that was it. They were like, “Nice meeting you.” And I walked out the other side of the tent and did not know what to do with myself. I was kind of standing around awkwardly waiting for the rest of the people to finish since I was the first one. And then I was thinking to myself, what happened? I like totally dodged Brandon. I mean I love the whole band, but I have the biggest crush on Brandon, and for some reason it was like I couldn’t look at him directly that close up haha. I saw him like out of my peripheral vision while I was up there, but the only ones I really looked at were Jose and Mike I guess because they spoke directly to me. So apparently that one little moment of eye contact and smile from Brandon when he was onstage during the jam was all I could handle. Maybe one day I’ll do a Meet and Greet again and actually be able to speak and LOOK at them haha. I realized I’m much more comfortable with them onstage.

After that we were allowed to stay inside the gates and shop merch and basically just stand around and wait awhile until show time. I did take the opportunity to buy the shirt I wanted before everyone else came in so that was nice. But it was a little hot just standing around in the afternoon sun. Then back to that food issue haha. I ate a granola bar in the car when I was driving, so that’s all I had to eat after that mini muffin thing earlier that morning. I realized I should probably get some kind of sustenance. They were opening the food trucks so I found smoothies and I was like, oh that is perfect. I got a yummy strawberry smoothie so that cooled me off some and at least was fruit I guess haha. Most of the food options looked like bad/greasy ideas for my sensitive stomach, so I went with a hot dog and fries again like the night before. This hot dog was not very good so I don’t think I even ate half of it. The fries were decent so I ate most of those. Then I got a little thing of Dippin Dots because ice cream seemed like a good idea to help cool me off too. I finished my bottle of water earlier so I bought another one to try to stay hydrated. And that was all I had until the end of the night. Oh except I did try to buy a bottle of water when the show was over and the guy was nice enough to just give it to me for free since they were closing up. So I had water to drink on the way home.

For the show, I heard some of The Aquadolls set from the picnic tables where I was finishing up eating. I will say the picnic tables were a nice touch, maybe the best detail of this venue in my opinion. So then I made my way up to my seat. I knew I got the third row for this show and it was kind off further off to the side of the stage. So the advantage was I had plenty of room to dance around because the second row cut off right near my seat. I lucked out with that at the Friday show too because were on the end of like a corner row so we had a little extra space on the side to move around. My stepdaughter and her mom met up with me for this show so that was nice. They were more excited to see Sublime with Rome so that was the highlight of the show for them. I didn’t do as many videos this night for a few reasons. I think where my seat was, or the way the sound system was, the sound wasn’t as good as Merriweather to me. It was still good, but I felt like Merriweather was just a better venue to me. Plus I got the songs I wanted to get the night before and I was also kind of tired from rocking out hard Friday and probably traveling and waiting and standing in the sun and heat for several hours. So I still got a few video clips of Incubus just to have some evidence of the show later and I tried to get a few I hadn’t gotten before like “Megalomaniac” and “Karma, Come Back.” And I had to get that wonderful ending to “Echo” again. I also tried to get a few pics since I was a little closer this time. I got some ok pics Friday night and my friend got some decent ones. A lot of mine still come out blurry though so I don’t usually take a lot.

Also, I’d like to acknowledge two taller guys with good concert manners. One was at Merriweather when I was recording, “The Warmth” you actually see him near the end coming back to the row in front of me but then he realized he was blocking me so he was nice enough to move over so I could still see. And Saturday the guy in the seat next to me held up his phone to record at the beginning of Incubus and he looked back at me to check if I could still see. You can hear me in my video telling him, “You’re good, you’re good.” So as a short girl who many times gets her view blocked by tall people, I appreciate both of you guys for being considerate of me. That is good concert etiquette and I didn’t run into any negative types either night. The energy was very positive. The only part that was rough was trying to get in for the VIP but it ended up working out so it was a great experience.

Ending of "Echo" 7/30/22 Clip

So overall I had a wonderful weekend of concerts and special moments. At Merriweather they also advertised my next concert, which is Duran Duran shortly after my birthday soon so that will be my next adventure. As for Incubus, they’re not playing nearby the rest of this tour but maybe on their next go-round I can catch another show. I can get the cheaper VIP package for just the Pre-Show Jam, which I wouldn’t mind doing again. The Meet and Greet is more expensive so I’m not sure if I will try that again or not… since I didn’t have the nerve to even talk to Brandon or look at him directly hahaha. And here I was thinking I would ask for a hug if there wasn’t social distancing. HA! I was a chicken. But who knows? Maybe one day. Also, I know my Meet and Greet pic is not the best picture, Jose and Mike were distracted by something, but at least Ben, Brandon and Chris were looking at the camera. I wish the venue hadn’t had a white background and I would prefer standing instead of sitting for a pic just personally. But I understand the way it was set up to be safe and all. And I’m still happy about it because that’s freakin Brandon Boyd behind me! ;^p

Also, as usual, you can always watch my videos on my YouTube channel outside of the blog at www.youtube.com/user/mewzak

Light at the End of the Tunnel

"I haven't felt the way, I feel today, in so long, it's hard for me to specify..." Hearing Brandon Boyd sing those lyrics from "Nice to Know You" at the Incubus concert in South Carolina last Friday really hit me because it was my first concert since the pandemic started and also my first concert in about 4 years. It was also my first road trip for a concert since 2018 when I drove to Pennsylvania to see Johnny Depp play with Hollywood Vampires. 

So I did a bit of a whirlwind road trip just to see Incubus, approximately 7 hours down Friday and 7 hours back Saturday. And whirlwind is a pretty accurate description because it was quite windy, I could feel it blowing the vehicle as I was driving.

Oh by the way, since my last entry I actually got a new vehicle about a month after writing that blog. My old 2002 Chevy Cavalier died in the snow on the way to work one morning that February. That car lasted me almost 19 years! It took me on many road trips and adventures. But now I have a new steed, a 2021 Chevy Equinox, and I love it. I even drove it all the way to Florida and back last summer for a family vacation. Road trips are kind of liberating to me, especially when I can blast my music the whole time. And with my new Equinox and the technology differences adjusting from my 2002 car, I now use the Amazon Music Unlimited app on my phone to listen when I drive. I made an 8-hour Incubus playlist for my trip to SC so I wouldn't even have to touch it. 

Let me back track a little bit... I bought a ticket to this show in February because they only had a handful of dates scheduled for awhile and I kept eyeing that SC show, thinking how I had taken several road trips to SC in the past so it was familiar. And I worried that those summer tour dates that were canceled in 2020 would never come, so when I read a post in an Incubus fan group that basically spoke my thoughts, I commented and this other fan persuaded me to go for it. So I got a ticket and made a new friend from Ohio at the Incubus show in South Carolina. 

What's funny is, the Monday right before this show they announced a summer tour and in 2020 they were coming to Jiffy Lube Live, which is convenient to me. But I'm assuming that venue was booked already so they're coming to Merriweather Post Pavilion, where I saw them in 2001 with Moby's Area One Festival, AND After Hours, which is super close to me and kind of a smaller scale outdoor concert setup. I was super excited! So I got tickets to both and my tickets for Merriweather are pretty close, about the same as this SC show, but my tickets for After Hours are in the third row! I'm so happy about it! And I got the VIP package for that show since it's the closest to me and also a smaller venue so I thought that would make it even better. I got the same one I had back in 2020 that got canceled, so I'm supposed to see the pre-show jam and do the meet and greet. So it seems like the 2-year wait and disappointment of 2020 might end up working out for the better! 

Besides Incubus, then I also found out Duran Duran is playing at Merriweather Post Pavilion in August right around my 40^th birthday. Yep, already got tickets for that too. Those are not close seats but it’s hard and expensive to get close seats for Duran Duran. It will be like my 5^th or 6^th time seeing them and they are my favorite band EVER, so it is perfect for my bday. I also already started planning some fun to celebrate my 40^th… I’m going to eat at Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant in Baltimore, which I’ve been wanting to try ever since it opened, and then do a moonlight sailboat ride in the harbor with a few friends. So I’m looking forward to a lot of fun this summer.

Let’s see, what else did I do since my last post? I got to see the Van Gogh Immersive Experience in DC in December. That was very cool. I got a new crush on Adam Driver after developing a crush on Kylo Ren, after experiencing the Star Wars Rise of the Resistance at Disney World hahaha. I already liked the movies, but I don’t know, something about that animatronic Kylo Ren and then later a live actor in costume made me realize I kinda had a thing for the character. So then I got on an Adam Driver kick, which is what I usually do anytime I like an actor or musician. Then I watch or listen to everything they’ve ever done. The cool thing is, Adam Driver had 3 pretty big movies come out last year after theaters started opening back up. And I got hooked on “Annette” from the first trailer I saw and that came out on my 39^th birthday. It was the first movie I saw in the theater since the pandemic and I love it. It’s very unique and you should check it out on Amazon Prime. Then later I also went to the theater to see his movies, “The Last Duel” and “House of Gucci.” “Duel” is very good but also very sensitive so it’s not for the faint of heart. “Gucci” was good but honestly of these 3 films, it was the least impressive for me.

As for some of my other actor crushes, I am stoked about Ewan McGregor in the Obi-Wan Kenobi show coming on Disney Plus in May. “Phantom Menace” was the first thing I ever saw him in and I instantly fell for him and have been a fan ever since. Also, Cillian Murphy is back for the final season of “Peaky Blinders.” It’s already out on BBC but I’m eagerly awaiting it to be on Netflix after the long wait due to the pandemic delaying things.

Now let me circle back to music… In my last post, I mentioned Brandon Boyd writing a type of blog back in the day and emailing these entries to subscribers. Well he recently started doing this again! (Are you reading MY blog Brandon? Did I have some influence on this?) Or maybe it’s just things cycling back around as they do, just like I am with writing here as well. Whatever the reason, I’m enjoying it! I’ve also been following his project “Moonlight Arts Collective” and just purchased my first Brandon Boyd art! It’s also a collaboration with Sarah Hay, the lovely ballerina featured in the art, and Brian Bowen Smith, the photographer. I got “Tiny Dancer III” which is the one with blue and rainbow colors. I was debating between that and the gold one, but the colorful one fits me better. I don’t want to post a photo because I’m not sure about copyright and all that when it comes to art and I always try to be respectful of music and film rights as far as paying artists for their work, so I will share a link to the Moonlight Arts Collective where you can view and purchase the art. moonlightartscollective.com 

It was actually delivered on Friday when I was driving down to SC for the Incubus show so I was a little worried because sometimes I have delivery issues at my condo building. But luckily they used UPS, who is usually good to me. We’re not going to talk about Fedex… So I was happy to find my artwork safe and sound waiting at my door when I got home on Saturday. It is beautiful and my first piece of real authentic artwork too. I got number 46 of 100. I need to get a frame for it, right now it’s just safely stashed away so my cats don’t mess with it. Also, on the subject of art, I still need to get myself back into exploring my own painting creations. I have some of the supplies, but I just haven’t gotten around to it yet. But I WILL.

Brandon also released his solo album and I really love the video for “More Better.” That is also my favorite track on the album. Some others I like are “Dime in My Dryer,” “Ad Infinitum,” and “New Dark Age.” It is quite different so some people like it, some people don’t, but those are the songs that struck my attention so far. I bought the mp3 album from Amazon so I could listen in my app and I also decided to order the vinyl mainly just for a keepsake and because I like the album artwork. I don’t have a record player but I have a few records on vinyl of my favorite artists like Filter, U2 and Duran Duran.

Now back to the Incubus concert, if you are still reading after all my rambling… I took a few pics with my phone and they all came out blurry so I just put a few in here that were the most decent of them, which still weren’t good. However, I am very happy about the good sound quality I got in my videos. The visual isn’t great again, also because I don’t like to be obnoxious and hold my phone up high a long time and block other people’s view. So you’re basically seeing the concert from my perspective and height haha. I will post them here and you can also see them on my youtube channel. youtube.com/user/mewzak

I regretted not recording, “Nice to Know You” but I think at that point in the show I was still soaking it all in. Later I found someone else got a video of that song though so it’s cool I can still savor the moment. I got a clip of "Stellar" which is one of my faves. I was psyched that they played "Sick Sad Little World" and got the whole thing! It was my first time hearing that live in person, but I had seen performances on youtube before so I knew it was awesome live. I got the second half of "In the Company of Wolves" cuz I LOVE that groove. Then another amazing surprise was "Defiance!" That was a treat. And last but not least, I got the closer of the encore, "Warning" another fave. And I made sure to keep recording for the group bow at the end! Some other highlights on the setlist were “Karma Come Back” and “Glitterbomb.” Those both sounded great live and are a few of their newer tracks since the last time I saw them in 2012 at the DC101 Chili Cookoff. I also loved hearing "Quicksand" and "State of the Art." The new friend I made managed to get a setlist from the stage afterwards.

So that’s another thing, I had seen Incubus 4 times before but always at festivals. This was my first just Incubus show and I’m so glad I ended up going with them being the only band because I feel like I got to experience a longer set and some special treats that they may not play on the summer tour with Sublime with Rome and The Aquadolls. I need to check out the Aquadolls but of course I know Sublime, so I’m looking forward to seeing them on the summer tour as well. I’m kind of disappointed I didn’t get to see 311 though, who was supposed to tour with them for the 2020 shows.

I feel like this blog has ADHD so forgive me if I’m skipping all over the place. I used to write these the day after the show back in the day but now I’m getting older and life distracts so I’ve been doing bits and pieces of this at different times and it’s already been a week since the show! But I’m also out of practice because I haven’t been going to concerts like I used to back then. So far this summer is looking very promising on that front though, so hopefully I will be posting several more blog entries in the coming months.

What else regarding this particular concert adventure? Well my road trip was fairly smooth so there’s not much to share about that, but my new friend from Ohio and I did have a little bit of traveling drama at the hotel. It took forever to get a room. They were very backed up. I mean I have never seen a hotel lobby full of people waiting for rooms. She had been there for a few hours already before I got there, so we waited about an hour at that point and then went to get dinner at Bonefish Grill, which was nice. Then by the time we got back they had rooms ready but we still had to wait in line. I think we had maybe 30 to 45 minutes to chill before we needed to start heading toward the concert. But I will say the guy working the front desk was a champ and he ended up giving us free breakfast which was very yummy the next morning. The cool thing was this hotel had a nice walking path to the venue. It was like a raised wood bridge over a swamp so it was like a little nature walk. I had brought a small flashlight with me as a precaution but they had it well lit. We did joke about alligators though. So I got plenty of walking in after my road trip, which was a good thing.

Speaking of the flashlight, another new thing for me was the clear bag policy for the concert. That’s something that has changed since all my previous concert adventures. I’m glad I found out about it beforehand so I ordered a clear purse from Amazon. I feel like I’m really promoting them in this blog… I’m cool with the bag policy though, it’s all in the interest of safety.

As far as the weather that night, they were calling for scattered thunderstorms. We got lucky on that too. It drizzled a little when we were outside but mostly we were good. A storm came through while we were eating dinner in the restaurant but cleared up when we were leaving to go back to the hotel. Then it stormed during the concert but cleared up when we were leaving afterwards. The only thing that disappointed me was there was a full moon that night and you couldn’t see it.

Incubus put on a great show. The band sounded awesome, the sound in the venue was perfect quality, and they also had nice lighting effects. The place seemed a little fancy for a rock concert but it was a nice venue. The crowd was sold out, which I found out afterwards, and it was just satisfying to be in that positive energy again. People were singing along and rocking out and it filled me with a sense of hope and anticipation for more concerts this year and life getting better after the last few years of disarray.

Here's to the future…

The 7-Year Itch

So it’s been about 7 years since I’ve posted a blog entry… What persuaded me to post now? Well, in a roundabout way Brandon Boyd of the band Incubus inspired me. I ordered his 3 books around my birthday in August and just recently got around to reading them all. I ordered them because at the beginning of 2020 I had bought a ticket and a meet and greet package for an Incubus concert that was supposed to happen in the summer and we all know those plans got canceled due to the pandemic. So the books were my treat to try to give me a little substitute for missing out on that experience.

Brandon's books which you can purchase at brandonboyd.me

Now I’ve been a fan of Incubus since 1999 and had the pleasure of seeing them in concert in 2001 at HFStival. Seeing them live made me love the band even more. I remember Brandon with his dreads at the time, not only singing, but playing a didgeridoo and rocking out on a djembe drum, and I instantly had a crush. Anyone who knows me knows I get crushes rather easily. But he was one of my fascinations from that point on.

He used to have an email list you could subscribe to and he would send out emails at the time, similar to what a blog is nowadays, with random journal entries he would write. I used to love reading those emails. He’s a very deep, enlightened human being with a great perspective on the world and he’s also quite amusing too. His thoughts make me think and also radiate a positive energy. If you’ve listened to any Incubus music, it’s also evident in his clever lyric writing.

I didn’t intend for this to be all about Incubus but I might as well tell the whole story since I started… I got to see Incubus again at Moby’s Area One Festival in 2001 as well I believe. He had cut off his dreads at that point. Then I saw them in 2003 at Lollapalooza and my last time was in 2012 at the DC101 Chili Cookoff. So I’ve never actually been to a full Incubus show, it’s been kind of an inside joke that if I went to a music festival, Incubus was there.

Something drew me back to them early last year. I think it was the release of their new song “Our Love” and I really liked the video for it too. Then I found that YouTube has a ton of live concerts and music content now, and with the help of my RokuTV I got hooked on watching music videos and live performances and even found a few years of music I had missed out on. They have continued to be a comfort for me during this pandemic.

So back to Brandon Boyd’s books… They are full of his art, journal entries and randomness. Yes, he also paints and makes art in addition to fronting a band. This is interesting to me now especially because after my divorce I found a love for painting. So going through his books made me realize something about myself… Since I was a kid I loved writing. I wrote stories during elementary and middle school age, then in high school I leaned more toward music so my words delved more into writing poetry or possible song lyrics. I also got into journalism from taking that class and working on the school newspaper during high school. So my writing transformed into journalistic styles as well.

In reading some of Brandon’s writing, he started out with art and then later got into writing and then music. For me I started with writing, then got into music, and much later found art. These connections are what inspired me to write this blog today. I realized I hadn’t written in a long, long time and it’s my most familiar form of creative self-expression. I don’t know if all creative types delve into all the forms of the arts, but maybe many of us do experiment with different forms. I still love music, but making music isn’t my strongest talent. I wish I was better at songwriting and performing music, but perhaps it’s not my deepest calling. Writing is the easiest or most natural thing for me so I really should get back to it more often. Even if it is just blogging, it’s something.

So to fill in the gap a little bit from my last blog entry about 7 years ago… What happened in 7 years? Well I got married and divorced, got a new job, got 2 new cats after my former 2 passed away, still live in my condo and still drive the same car. My 2002 Chevy was given a 1-2 year life expectancy last year though, so I’m trying to hold off another year or so before having to buy a new one, just so I can catch up on some debt first. Those are the boring life details haha. I didn’t go to many concerts during that time period… I did get to see Dead Sara, Kiss, Transiberian Orchestra and Hollywood Vampires. I think those were it besides my ex’s band. You can catch up on some videos from all of those on my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/mewzak

Back to art and such… As I mentioned earlier, after my divorce I discovered painting. This actually started with the fad of these little painting and sipping wine places popping up. I decided to try one at Painting with a Twist and loved it. Unfortunately the location near me closed permanently during the pandemic, but I went there about once a month for about a year to make paintings and sip on a few glasses of wine. I started out with the instructor-led classes but then found I preferred the open studio classes where people are doing different paintings of their choice from the selections and given an example to reference and minimal instruction. I liked going at my own pace and figuring out how to do it on my own with a few tips more than going by the pace of an instructor and the whole class doing the same painting. This became a sort of creative therapy for me. It was a way for me to be expressive and create something I can keep hanging on my walls.

I also tried a paint pouring class once that a lady just did out of her own home. I really enjoyed that but I’ve been wanting to experiment more with it. Whereas regular painting focuses more on the details and usually trying to copy or mimic something, such as trees, the moon, water, and other landscape imagery I did at Painting with a Twist, paint pouring is almost the opposite. It’s more random or chaotic, a sense of letting go and letting it morph into its own thing, and I really liked that too. You can pick the colors or the framework so to speak, but the end result is mostly out of your control. It’s strangely releasing to find beauty in the chaos. I recently finally got most of my own supplies to try more of that on my own at home and also do some more regular painting on my own. I might share some pictures of my creations on here in the future.

Besides painting, I also got into wine. Perhaps Painting with a Twist started that little spark, and then the pandemic ignited it. Not in the way you would think necessarily… My former bass guitar teacher runs a winery and I saw posts on Facebook about struggles with the state of things, so I joined their wine club to help support a friend’s small business, and in return I’ve learned about different kinds of wine and found out which ones I like. Rogers Ford Farm Winery is also off a back road, secluded kind of in the country, in the woods and an old farmhouse tasting room. The setting was a welcome stress reliever over the past year as well.

My other best therapy during the pandemic was nature therapy. I have been walking in the woods at Alum Springs Park about once a month since this craziness began and it’s been my breath of fresh air to have some quiet moments amongst the trees and babbling springs and scampering squirrels and I even had a magical encounter with a deer one morning. I like going earlier in the mornings before more people show up. Sometimes I’ve been the only one there at the time and it’s very peaceful.

I think that’s all I have to say for tonight… Until next time.

My Rockin Boyfriend Ronnie Dixon: Digging up some of his bands from the past

I decided to do a blog post of some of the bands my boyfriend used to be in. I used to go to some of these shows. There's quite a bit for Method of Friction that you can find online, but the other one, Dirty Sanchez, is from about 10 years back and pretty rare. So check out Ronnie Dixon rockin out on guitar.

http://youtu.be/9i_JdwOnruo


http://youtu.be/yPt9DqPsEvc


http://youtu.be/rDMRIjd71Fk


http://youtu.be/XWLBm3l0ONs


http://youtu.be/4_seG8NYQWg


http://youtu.be/zVv0zt2SW2E


http://youtu.be/IQ5XbSArdyY


http://youtu.be/9_bSnmwSvrs

Fuel and Tantric in Fredericksburg

Hard Times Cafe in Fredericksburg, VA, my home town, has been getting some bigger acts in this year. I got to catch Fuel there in May and Tantric in June. It's been awhile since I posted a blog due to being busy with my personal life and a new job, so I haven't had the chance for any big concerts lately. But luckily a few decent ones came to me so I was able to go. Both bands were rocking and it was a good time. Here are some pics and videos from those shows. Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/nync8-3V708

http://youtu.be/k4h72sUdvyE

My favorite Fuel song. 

http://youtu.be/9sUbyFH8ldA

http://youtu.be/kaq_2VMNuRA

http://youtu.be/VtBT67_mZSQ

I loved the bottom of his mic stand.

http://youtu.be/1j8IMazpZpI

http://youtu.be/o8gHeF-Ec_8


http://youtu.be/mUx4JKXA-TE


http://youtu.be/Yw2WMwpKMc4