Big World, Minnie Mee: Concert Review: Mermaids of Alcatraz Tour

Train
The Script
Gavin DeGraw
Tinley Park
21 July 2013

Second day in a row, I find myself at Tinley Park. However, this time the event is totally different. Instead of the fun, hardcore, excitement, day packed Warped Tour, I am here for Train's Mermaids of Alcatraz Tour.

I went to this concert with some different people than I normally do, I went with Rachel, Becky, and Becky's roommate, Rachel. (Let's just say her roommate is a different kind of person...) We got to the venue pretty early, and got a really nice parking spot. Our seats were in the lawn, and just like Friday, we were hoping that it wasn't going to rain. While it didn't actually rain, falling raindrops kept threatening us.

While we were waiting in line to get into the venue, we got to hear Gavin DeGraw's soundcheck, and he played Chariot. Which is simply amazing because I love that song! However, the bummer about waiting to get into the venue was the d-bag security guy that checked our bags. The other security guards did a casual check and let everybody in, but the guy that checked our stuff was so painfully thorough. He went through our bags and removed everything and opened every little pocket, and while some people would say hey, he's just doing his job and protecting the artists, I must say that I didn't know pretzels and a plastic water bottle were so threatening. Ugh. He kinda spoiled the mood for the moment.

Anyways, we got pretty good seats near the edge of the lawn. Gavin DeGraw played first and he sounded wonderful. He sang and played the piano and guitar. His voice never fails to uplift mee, and his set was perfect. He played all his old singles, like Chariot and I Don't Wanna Be. The only bummer was that he was a bit far away to see, since we were in the lawn. It was also a bummer that not as many people knew his music, I was a bit shocked, but I guess that the majority of the people were there for Train.

Next, The Script performed, and wow they were really impressive! Danny did a wonderful job getting the crowd excited and performing. He ran into the audience, and even ended up running into the lawn. So I got a pretty neat experience, being about 10 feet away from him. Their music was even better live, and the bands opening comments about each song gave so much meaning behind the words. They played my favorite two songs, If You Could See Me Now and The Man Who Can't Be Moved. They even sang a cover of Can't Hold Us by Macklemore. Their music was so moving, I got goosebumps during If You Could See Me Now. I'd say it was really enjoyable except for the fact that Rachel (the roommate) kept "showing off" by asking us all these questions and saying random comments to make herself see all knowing about the band. This would've been cool if I hadn't known they existed about 3 years before she had known they existed. Annoying.

After The Script performed, Becky and her roommate wanted to see if we could find the tour buses and meet the band. So we spent the intermission by the entrance to the back of the stage waiting. However, we waited forever and they still didn't come out. Because they were so insistent on waiting, we missed Train's opening song. Which kinda ticked mee off, because I was really really excited to see Train perform. And their opening song was my favorite song that they sang, Calling All You Angels. I was even more annoyed because I had mentioned this to everyone, and Becky said she knew the set list, and she could've just told mee when they were going to sing that... but ugh whatever, 'tis in the past. Train did a wonderful job though, simply because they sound amazing! Pat's vocals are bliss, and he has so much energy while performing. His emotions poured through the song, and everyone was moved by it. Everyone around us was swaying, dancing, or singing along to the songs. Even Rachel (not the roommate- confusing, I know) was surprised by how many songs she knew. At one point during their set, Train even brought up all these girls and a few guys who were dressed like mermaids. It was really cool, since he made them do a special "mermaid dance" to the song Mermaid, all in spirit with the name of the tour. But my favorite part of the concert was when they played Drops of Jupiter. It was so powerful, I got goosebumps for the second time that night. For their final song, Train had all the bands and Ashley Monroe, who was featured in their song Bruises, come onstage and they all sang a medley song together. It was really cool to have all 4 groups together, united was the word they used.

At the end of the concert, Becky and her roommate wanted to see if they could meet the bands again, despite what I said (since bands usually never come out at super large venues, like Tinley). And to my non- surprise, I was right. The bands never came out, and we were ushered out with all the other crazy fangirls. Despite my utter annoyance with the way people acted, the music was simply perfection. The night was amazing, and none of the artists disappointed.

All the pictures were taken on my phone, since the security told us no cameras...