Thank goodness I braved the heat advisory to join my sister Lisa for an outdoor concert at the last minute. Due to some car trouble, a friend of hers was unable to make it to the Old 97’s, Cowboy Mouth, Those Darlins, and Robert Ellis concert at Crossroads KC at Grinders on Thursday night. When Lisa unexpectedly asked me to be her date a couple hours before the show, I happily obliged. I gotta say, I just love my music with a little twang. The alt-country bands we saw certainly provided some.
We unfortunately missed the majority of the Robert Ellis set, because we just had to eat while we were there. The restaurants Grinders and Grinders West adjoin Crossroads KC, and I posit they serve the best BLTs in town. They are loaded with crisp thick-cut bacon, fresh avocado, lettuce and tomato, and finished off with a spicy chipotle aioli. YUM. My Sugar Sister treated me to dinner (a BLT for me, of course, and a Philly cheesesteak with turkey for the sis, plus a shared fruit cup and smoked gouda potato casserole), a very cute Old 97’s t-shirt in baby blue (Lis got hers in pink), and the price of admission. Such a fine girl and such a fine concert it turned out to be, despite the heat.
Next up were Those Darlins, a band from Tennessee. They were incredibly energetic and led by a woman. No matter how much I like a band, I will probably like them even better if there’s a spunky frontwoman. I’m pretty sure that’s what happened when I saw Those Darlins. Their music was a little bit punky and a little bit twangy. Which I loved.
After that, Cowboy Mouth rocked our socks off. The charismatic lead singer/drummer Fred LeBlanc is a true showman, I'm talking master of ceremonies. He single-handedly (single-drumstickedly??) worked up the crowd. In fact, he walked around the perimeter of the crowd, microphone in hand, to “persuade” stragglers to get closer to the stage. As he walked by my sister and me, who were standing a bit apart from the the excitement, he threatened to bite me if I didn’t get moving. Then he ushered us into position, using a hand on each of our backs to guide us. Yes, the lead singer of Cowboy Mouth touched us!! To show our respect, Lisa and I danced to every song without inhibition. It was really fun, they were great musicians (ooh, plus their badass bassist is a woman), and I was sad when their set ended.
My sister, however, was especially excited to see Old 97’s, one of her most beloved bands. Like most of the girls in the crowd, I swooned when I saw the lead singer. He is so dang cute, and, oddly, he reminded me of a boy I used to LOVE in elementary school. Lisa got the giggles every time he swayed behind his guitar. These guys played with enthusiasm and honesty, but Lisa wishes they had played more of her favorite songs!
Overall, we had a great time dancing to the music, checking out the beautiful people, and sweating profusely. I keep a shortlist of my favorite sweat-induced fun times. ;) This definitely ranked, albeit in an entirely different sort of way!
And the next night I did a near repeat. More about that later.
Who have you seen in concert this summer? Who do you want to see?
Alison :)
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