Carah Faye and Lindsey Stirling at Mountain Winery

 

In a moment of spontaneity, Casey and I decided to go see Lindsey Stirling at Mountain Winery. We had been to Mountain Winery before and thought that it would be a really cool venue to see a show.  Lindsey Stirling, for those that don't know, is a violinist.  I know...it seems like a really odd choice for Casey and I.  For some reason when choosing a show to go see her name stuck out to us.  I read later that she was on America's Got Talent one season, so maybe we saw her on there.  Lindsey Stirling not only plays violin, but she dances around and mashes a lot of her music with electronica.  It is actually pretty cool, and you haven't seen a show like it...scoring extra points for originality.

Going to a concert at Mountain Winery was interesting in itself.  There is basically one road that winds up...you guessed it...a mountain.  The drive itself is pretty interesting, however, getting a lot of people up one long, winding road isn't the most efficient process in the world.  It was doubly inefficient on the way down.  The amphitheater at the venue itself was spectacular, it is one of the coolest places I've ever seen a show.  The owners of this venue exploit the uniqueness of the venue by charging outrageous prices for food and drinks(wine).  Even the wine that they produce at the estate was extremely up-charged from normal pricing for the concerts.  It was even worse that stadium pricing at huge arenas/stadiums.  Once you get past the sticker shock and general inconvenience of going up/down a mountain, it was all positives.

The opening act was Carah Faye.  I personally hadn't ever heard of her before but Casey and I enjoyed her show very much.  Upon googling her we found out she is the lead singer of a band that Casey has on her iTunes, Shiny Toy Guns, so it makes sense that we enjoyed her piece.  She is launching a solo career so her album isn't even released yet so it was really cool listening to all new music.  I think she has a single out so I highly recommend checking it out.  On a completely unrelated note, the keyboardist looked exactly like Jason Sudeikis...like serious doppelganger.

The main attraction was next:  Lindsey Stirling.  Casey and I had no idea what to expect from the show.  Not having expectations was awesome though, because we were blown away.  It was a combination of incredible musicianship combined with really cool dancing(her and her dancers), dubstep-like mashups, light shows, and even periodic video clips.  It was eye and ear candy for the entirety of the show.  Towards the end of the show Carah Faye even came out and sang a guest spot on a song that they collaborated on.  Another surprise was that Jason Sudeikis was the keyboard player for Lindsey Stirling as well.  He was so goofy.  Anyways all in all it was an incredible show.  I highly encourage you all to try and see her if you get an opportunity.  Go into it with zero expectations as we did and you will be blown away as well.  Just as a fyi, she is primarily an instrumental-only artist, so don't fast forward through songs looking for a chorus lol.  If you are wanting to check out a couple of songs on Youtube try The Arena (instrumental) or Something Wild (someone guest sings on it).



SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave
SaveSave

Coachella '16

Ok, Ok...........I said we were back and that was it, nothing else followed. Maybe you feel like the hubs in the car, maybe you're cheesing like me, who knows, but what I do know is, I vow to actually get it back up and going!! Yeah!!!!! Like for real this time! I probably have stuff from the East Coast still left to talk about.........maybe one day I'll get caught up! Until then, look forward to keeping you posted and hope you enjoy what we have so far! FYI, the videos may have explicit lyrics, view at your own risk!

So the hubs and I went to this little music festival, maybe you've heard of it, maybe not, Coachella this past April. Close to our West Coast arrival, we were discussing how it was on our bucket lists and that we should look up to see when tickets went on sale/when it was, etc. Lo and behold, we got online and tickets were actually on sale at that moment and there was no question about what was about to take place. Weekend 1 was already sold out, so if we were going to do this, we had to decide now. With one look, two weekend 2 tickets were added to cart and the countdown began. In the months leading up to April we often discussed if we would be able to handle a full three day weekend in the desert listening to music for hours and hours each day. We had been to one day of the three day Governor's Ball music festival and honestly, that was a bit rough. I don't even really know why. It wasn't as hot, we didn't have too many drinks, and it was one day, but that alone made us a little nervous. Then the various news articles speculating who would be performing this year started coming out. The name that they all kept mentioning, well at least the ones I read, was Guns N' Roses. We were both beyond excited, though we knew it could easily just be a nasty rumor. As the months kept passing. more and more information kept coming out to keep us on the edge of our seats, eager to just get to Coachella already. First was the Coachella app, it was pretty much useless at first (makes sense seeing as the festival was still months away), but it still had basic info and the countdown on it to keep you going! Then, it was the main information everyone was waiting for, the set times for each of the three days! That alone should have been enough, but no, then there was the ever important outfit preparation for the weekend!

Now when it comes to packing, I am the best/worst ever. Kev just throws whatever together (according to the situation obviously) which in the case was t-shirts and shorts, a day before hand. I on the other hand have to start a pile months in advance of possibilities, then start narrowing it down. In the meantime though, I am still shopping and adding and subtracting to my pile. Needless to say, the hubs goes a little bonkers, but I am usually relaxed the day we are leaving because I am confident with my selections and know I have everything. Since this was our inaugural Coachella, I decided in true festival form to let my inner flower child fly...literally. I swear I had something floral on with every outfit and of course, I made the ever important flower crown (which I threw away the same day because it got too hot and annoying lol). My essentials were: #1 Bandanna. I was so surprised how much I actually needed it, but the first day I tried to not wear one and it was coughing most of the night and morning. Luckily I had some vintage ones from my grandma packed and ready to go. #2 Layers. Now I know that's not really an item, but layers are essential. It goes from chilly to warm morning, hot day, and cold evening. I had everything from bikinis to jackets on and everything in between. #3 Sun protection and a water bottle. Hats, sunglasses, and sunscreen, oh my. My hats are cheap ones from a market in the theater district in NYC. For my sunglasses I went with the classic, round Ray-Ban, perfect hippie style for festivals. Sunscreen and water bottle are pretty self explanatory, but if you want to know what I use, let me know! The brands I was mostly rocking this year were Flynn Skye, Auguste the Label, Gucci, Triangl, Tularosa, and One Teaspoon!     

The festival itself was a blast.  Guns and Roses weren't even the highlight of the show.  During Ice Cube's set, there was a surprise NWA reunion complete with Dr. Dre that was incredible.  Sia's dancing girl performed with her, and we discovered many great new artists that we'd never personally heard of or listened to before but are now on permanent rotation on iTunes.  Joywave in particular was pretty cool to see live.  It was also neat checking out genre's we weren't familiar with.  Kevin listens to hard rock and metal primarily, but on the way home he even purchased a reggae album (Protoje).  The crowd was a lot of fun and we managed to keep Kevin from getting extra crispy in the dry, summer sun.  The food was great, they had a lot of awesome craft beers, and the grounds the festival were held in itself were really nice, contrary to what we would have thought prior to attending.  All around great experience and must do event if you are ever given the opportunity.

Overall, it was an amazing experience and we hope to do it again.

NYE with Skrillex and Diplo at Madison Square Garden

Happy New Year! Ok, it has been 2015 for a couple weeks now, but I stated last week that I would be posting about the holidays for what will seem like forever. And yes, I do still have more to come, but for now, welcome to our New Year's Eve celebration!

To start things off, Kev and I stayed true to our married New Year's tradition of having our favorite champagne, Veuve Clicquot, in our Kate Spade wedding glasses. I really don't remember how it started, but we've done it every year for the whopping whole two years we've been married so far, so why not keep it going! Plus, it's always fun to pull out the "fancy cocktail glasses" and sip champagne! Since we had plans, we cheated a little and had it before midnight with a kids countdown we found on Netflix. Silly I know, but we like to have fun and that's just what we did! For all you parents out there, the Netflix countdown was actually pretty genius. You could play it whenever to fool your kids into thinking they stayed up until midnight. It may not work if they can read time, but it could be worth a try next year if applicable to you! 

One of the biggest things we got asked about was if we were going to go to Times Square for NYE. While it looks wonderful on TV and is something everyone wants to do once in their life, it just wasn't for us. After going to Rockefeller Center earlier that week and dealing with those crowds, it just didn't seem like we would have any fun or really get to see anything. Instead, we opted to go to a concert at our winter home away from home, Madison Square Garden. I actually still have at least one more event from MSG to post regarding the holiday season, maybe you'll see it next week!    

The concert we attended was the Jack Ü tour, featuring Skrillex and Diplo who formed this super duo group in 2013. They also had special guests Yellow Claw (not pictured), Rudimental (in the collage with beers at Penn Station), and A$AP Ferg (the three part collage) join them for the NYE show. Now while I actually hadn't heard of the guest acts before, they each really put on a great show! Their songs were great, they had amazing stage presence, and their energy was out of control! If you are an EDM fan and haven't heard of them, you should defiantly check them out!

You may recall from this summer that we attended the Governor's Ball music festival which also had Skrillex, my fave DJ, as a main act. I know he's been around for a little over ten years, but I first fell in love with him when his song First of the Year (Equinox) was released off of his album More 

Monsters and Sprites in 2011. His shows and setlist never disappoint. He mixes old with new and does so flawlessly. Seeing him twice in one years time was absolutely incredible! I can't wait to see what he has in store in the future,  

The countdown starts! We weren't sure if there would be a traditional countdown that's why we did the Netflix one before we left. It was an amazing site to see everyone enjoying the moment together! May this year bring you all that you want and desire! Now I present you the duo Jack Ü.