Friday, December 4, 2009
Even though we had just made a trip to Austin to see our favorite band, Train, perform live on their Save Me San Francisco Tour; when they added nearby Birmingham
, Alabama, to the schedule and the tickets were only $15 each, we just couldn't resist. We headed out that afternoon for the 3-hour drive south because the tickets said the show started at 7 PM which seemed a little early. Sure enough after we checked in to our Doubletree hotel (more Hilton points to use later!) and walked a couple of blocks to the 5 Points Music Hall there was a line to get in the place just before 7 PM...but the show didn't start until 9 PM!!! Ugghh, looks like it was a misprint on the tickets that should have read "Doors Open at 7 PM." Because of the long line to get in we figured we wouldn't get as close to the stage as we did in Austin, but thanks to the grueling 2-hour wait, we actually were a few rows closer providing great views of Train and their sensational opening act, Serena Ryder (photo below). Her strong vocals and emotional delivery reminds one of an early Melissa Etheridge before she got 
famous and over-focused on her sexual preference instead of her music.
The 5 Points Music Hall has had a strange little history we learned via Google on Ashlee's Blackberry while we killed time before the show. Evidently, the building was originally a Piggly Wiggly grocery store. It became a hot-bed of live music in Birmingham throughout the 90's and the early part of this century until a double-homicide in the parking lot by an underage
patron shut it down for several years. It re-opened a couple of years ago and is building back up its reputation for great live music. We were impressed with the venue for the most part. Good acoustics and sight lines to the stage. A bit smaller than La Zona Rosa in Austin, but not too cramped. The place was packed and Train has a huge following in Birmingham it seems. Lead singer, Pat Monahan (photo above), even told a story of how Birmingham is near and dear to the band's heart because it was one of the first major cities whose prominent radio station featured the first songs from the band on their regular rotation which led to growing exposure and on to nationwide success. I guess that explains why Birmingham was added to the tour dates and not Nashville which we were hoping.
This acoustic show put on by Train was not only different in sound, but also in song selection, from two weeks ago in Austin. This made it a wholly unique experience. After the amazing show, we stepped outside with the bustling crowd just in time to see huge snow flakes billowing down from the sky. Too bad our camera batteries were dead! But still a very memorable night deep in the heart of Alabama with our favorite band of all time as we chalked up an 8th time we have seen them live and they still never disappoint.
, Alabama, to the schedule and the tickets were only $15 each, we just couldn't resist. We headed out that afternoon for the 3-hour drive south because the tickets said the show started at 7 PM which seemed a little early. Sure enough after we checked in to our Doubletree hotel (more Hilton points to use later!) and walked a couple of blocks to the 5 Points Music Hall there was a line to get in the place just before 7 PM...but the show didn't start until 9 PM!!! Ugghh, looks like it was a misprint on the tickets that should have read "Doors Open at 7 PM." Because of the long line to get in we figured we wouldn't get as close to the stage as we did in Austin, but thanks to the grueling 2-hour wait, we actually were a few rows closer providing great views of Train and their sensational opening act, Serena Ryder (photo below). Her strong vocals and emotional delivery reminds one of an early Melissa Etheridge before she got 
famous and over-focused on her sexual preference instead of her music.
The 5 Points Music Hall has had a strange little history we learned via Google on Ashlee's Blackberry while we killed time before the show. Evidently, the building was originally a Piggly Wiggly grocery store. It became a hot-bed of live music in Birmingham throughout the 90's and the early part of this century until a double-homicide in the parking lot by an underage
patron shut it down for several years. It re-opened a couple of years ago and is building back up its reputation for great live music. We were impressed with the venue for the most part. Good acoustics and sight lines to the stage. A bit smaller than La Zona Rosa in Austin, but not too cramped. The place was packed and Train has a huge following in Birmingham it seems. Lead singer, Pat Monahan (photo above), even told a story of how Birmingham is near and dear to the band's heart because it was one of the first major cities whose prominent radio station featured the first songs from the band on their regular rotation which led to growing exposure and on to nationwide success. I guess that explains why Birmingham was added to the tour dates and not Nashville which we were hoping.
This acoustic show put on by Train was not only different in sound, but also in song selection, from two weeks ago in Austin. This made it a wholly unique experience. After the amazing show, we stepped outside with the bustling crowd just in time to see huge snow flakes billowing down from the sky. Too bad our camera batteries were dead! But still a very memorable night deep in the heart of Alabama with our favorite band of all time as we chalked up an 8th time we have seen them live and they still never disappoint. 
3 comments:
Your Blog titles are usually clever, but this one is a stretch. LOL, Don't try so so hard!
I agree it doesn't ready easy, but it matches the previous blog title consistently
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