Tour Stories: Mayfest 2005

As told by: Melanie.Kristy

                                                                                                                                              hanson.net

Remember When:
we went to tulsa & saw hanson at mayfest?
 & miranda almost killed el savador just over the oklahoma border?
& we passed zac's car on the drive into tulsa?
& jenny pretended to be tom hanks at the airport while we drove to tulsa?
& we ran across/jaywalked on 71st street to target?
& we sat in the sun waiting for hanson to do soundcheck?
& they finally showed up four hours later?
& we learned about the sooner state from the 50-year-old guy hanging around?
& taylor forgot the words to "tulsa time?"
& zac taught us about the chord x?
& taylor was showing zac how to drum vocally?
& jenny saw the secret smoker in her car?
& melanie & miranda dressed up like lady ivory & alabaster duchess for the show?
& we got to see admiral twin?!
& connections saved miranda from not getting into the doc?
& hanson played for an entire city block of downtown tulsa?
& the old guy in an acoustic tour shirt was dancing hardcore the entire show?
& we were dancing with him? (from a distance)
& miranda had a total teenie moment over the papoose?
& hanson played the kick-ass ending to "hand in hand?"
& taylor played "love me?" ♥♥♥
& hanson played "mmmbop" and we just stood there, vaguely singing along?
& hanson played "crazy beautiful" and it was amazing?
& the mean asshole doing the sound wouldn't give miranda the setlist? (ROAR!!! )
& we got lost on the way to the church?
& the "dip" in the road was really a fucking cliff?
& miranda nearly killed us all going over it?
& everyone in the backseat hit their heads?
& we were laughing about it within five minutes?
& we thought they were going to gas us at the church cause it was scary?
& isaac, taylor & ash thought they could do good impressions of the parents on charlie brown?
& zac just stood there like "wtf is wrong with the three of you?"
& we had to turn off our dang cell phones?
& poor zac got woken up with headphones cause he was snoring?
& taylor flicked off that stupid jeff finster?
& isaac had the pickle up his booty?
& STEPHAN JENKINS was in the documentary & melanie cheered for him?
& CAROLE KING was in the documentary & miranda cheered for her?
& SAM FARRAR was in the documentary & mel and miranda had a big teenie moment?
& hanson recorded "penny & me" after the split and isaac said it's gotta feel like you're about to break and miranda wanted to jump up and go "EXACTLY!!!"?
& we decided taylor is a fucking genius & our new favorite hanson?
& the entire thing made us proud to be fans of this little band?
& we went to ihop afterwards, had a brilliant conversation about the doc & the ash g showed up?
& he asked lindsay if she was done with her pancakes?
& we should have told him no, but amanda was done with her pickle?
& john russell showed up & made miranda happy?
& then we decided miranda was the mom of the group?
& we took jenny back to the airport & missed hanson by 30 minutes?
& the effects had the guy stripping for them on stage?
& they played a new song? ♥
& we found fried pickels?
& we saw the hero factor play?
& when miranda went to visit sam, everyone filled her suitcase with fun notes?
& mel called her to tell her the children were lonely, when was mommy coming home?
& everyone had a dance party?
& everyone text messaged miranda 'pickle / shoved / up the / bootay?'
& she laughed her ass off?
& when miranda got back to the hotel everyone was "sleeping" until she found the 'laziey??' note in her bag?
& she spent the next 30 minutes searching through her bag finding all 15 notes?
& we decided since miranda was the mom, everyone was a rock star's daughter?
& we decided the fathers were jacob dylan (mel), taylor hanson (amanda), adam duritz (melanie) & brandon flowers (lindsay)?
& miranda didn't mind having slept with any of them?
& we took a lil drive by the moe house on the way out of tulsa - since we were already going out that way?
& we watched UAL on the way home & miranda kept trying to kill us by watching?
& miranda ate a bee?
& we decided it was pretty much the best weekend we'd had in a long time & it was good to share hanson with so many friends?
& we decided hanson should tour again very soon because they're an amazing band we love with our whole hearts?

I'm only saying things you already know...

All photos in this post by: AJGPhotoEtc.

Quiet Company at Walters on Washington

Back in August when I was following Rooney through the end of their summer tour, I happened across this fantastic band from Austin called Quiet Company. We walked into the Granada in Dallas a couple songs into their set, but by the end of the first song I was hooked. Great beat? Check. Variety of instruments, including a trombone player that dances his ass off while he plays? Check. Local? Eh, close enough.

After obsessively listening to them all fall and missing out on two shows (one during ACL, the other was their Twitter show Thanksgiving weekend, which I am STILL heartbroken over), I finally got the chance to see them in early December at Walter's.

The show was small, which was fine by me. Especially when it seemed like everyone was there for Quiet Company. They rocked it. I was reminded of why I fell in love with them. It met my I-need-live-music-soon-or-I-might-die quota. I got to chat with the man behind their Twitter account and scored two T-shirts.

But it wasn't until later that night and the next morning that the evening really set it.

A Good Groupie in training...

Yesterday, I did the unthinkable.

I turned my mother into a good groupie.

This is the woman who I know loves me to no end but generally rolls her eyes or sighs disparagingly when I'm laying out my musical escapades for her. (Y'know, so when I don't turn up in three days, she knows where to start looking.) She asks why I need to see Band So-and-so for the 12th time, and why can't I just go to the show in-town and be done with it? Why traipse all over Texas - and the country - in pursuit of live music?

I've long since given up trying to explain my own personal insanity to her.

But when she turned the tables and asked if I would be interested in making a day trip to Fredericksburg to see a pianist, Emile Pandolfi, she's been dying to see live for years, I leaped at the chance - because now I have something to point to and say "Well, remember that one time we drove to Fredericksburg? Yeah, that's why I do this."

That, and it held the promise of a free lunch - probably somewhere I could get a good cheeseburger. And I'll do anything for a good cheeseburger.

Well...almost anything. I do have to retain the "good" in my name.

Tour Stories: where it all began

Good Groupie #tourstories

Thursday afternoon, I started seeing the hashtag #tourstories pop up on my Twitter feed, and I was immediately hooked. (And amused when my brother, a die-hard Every Time I Die fan, told me it was started by ETID's sound guy for bands he knows to share their stories of being ON tour. Oh, what a turn it took once girls like me got a hold of it...) When I first thought of creating a music blog, my initial point was to chronicle my own stories of being on the road, following bands for a couple shows and whatever other musical antics I could get myself into.

Unfortunately, with a name like the Good Groupie…I don’t often find myself in situations that would help me live up to the “groupie” part and make for some really good tour stories. But I stick to the "good" part fairly well - as in I will buy your merch, I will sing along, I will come say hi after you play to tell you how great it was and then I will leave you the hell alone because you've talked to 1,000 other girls just like me while you've been on the road and I know we all start to blur together after awhile.

Regardless, that doesn’t mean I don’t have stories. All of us who live in this crazy world-o-music have tour stories. It just means mine are not quite as rock-n-roll as say, Pamela des Barres’ tales. (Which I don’t mind, she can keep that one about sleeping with Mick Jagger…)

Over the next couple of weeks, I will be sharing my top five tour stories from the past 14+ years of going to shows. And where better to start than with the event that, in my opinion, set me down this literal and figurative road of chasing the music, selling my soul to the road and living for live music.

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

The Good...Grinchie?

It's December 1. There are officially 24 more days (more like 23 by the time I post this) to send your holiday cards, hang your lights, bake your cookies, master your festive playlists, make plans with your family and friends, finish your gift shopping and generally make the world look like a slightly better place to live.

In short, Andy Williams was right: it's the most wonderful time of the year.

Unless you're a Grinch like me.