So, one day at the beginning of June I was just catching up on some of my favorite band's album releases and such, and I saw that Keane had JUST released their new album Strangeland. So, I thought I'd check if they were touring in the U.S. (A few months earlier, I had checked and it only showed their European tour). Anyway, it just happened to be the day the tickets went on sale for their show in Salt Lake City, so I JUMPED on that quick. After asking Tomás of course! I love love love Keane, so I was listening to them non-stop all month before the show, getting all hyped up.
Finally, the day came around for the trip down! June 26th. Since I have work, We just decided to go down that day, and leave the next day. Just a two-day quick trip. We wanted to make the best out of our time down there, so we set a plan to visit as many friends as possible. It worked out, and we were able to visit many of you many lovelies down in Utah! Sorry for all those who we weren't able to see. Next time around, for sure!
First, we saw Sara (Tomás' sister) in Salt Lake, had some lunch, and saw Moonrise Kingdom at the Broadway Centre Theatre downtown. It's an independent film by Wes Anderson (director of Fantastic Mr. Fox, for those of you who don't know who he is). We love his films. They are so quirky, unique, and 70s like. We loved it! So great. I'd very much recommend it to anyone. Afterwards, we headed to Alyssa & Gideon's, since they were gracious enough to let us stay the night at their place. (Which by the way, is ADORABLE, and so are they.) We had a great time catching up with them that afternoon and evening after the show.
Next: Keane. AH! The doors for the show opened at 6pm, so we got in line around 5:20ish. It was SO hot and sunny the whole time we were down there, which was nice. Time seemed to pass pretty fast until we got in and waited for the opening band to start.
While we were standing our ground in front of the stage, we met a girl named Carly, who was able to go to a meet and greet earlier that day with Keane, and got two signed photographs from them. AND she gave one of them to us! How cool of her, right? Yeah.
Kiev, a band from southern California, opened for Keane, and we loved them. They have a really cool, alternative rock Radiohead kind of sound. They really jammed out, and incorporated many different instruments and sounds. They were on the bluesy side a little bit, with a saxophonist, but I loved them.
After them was KEANE! We were lucky enough to basically be right in front next to the stage for the show. I only had two ladies in front of me, and I was behind them in the middle. The show was AMAZING. First of all, they sound great, and I got some amazing pictures being so close! My iPhone camera isn't an SLR, but it took a few great pictures! Close enough to see Tom's set list too, which was cool. I also recorded "Somewhere only we know" for Tomás. Check it:
The crowd was loving it, and we were super loud. The crowd sang every single word of every song they played. It was crazy! We were so loud, that sometimes it was hard for me to even hear Tom singing. I think it surprised them a little but too, us singing and being as crazy as we were. I guess Mormons really like Keane! LOL. You'll see what I mean in the video. Tom calls us the "Utah State Choir". HAH. Yeah. You can see it
here.
As the show was nearing the end, and the crowd was getting a little crazier, people starting reaching their hands toward Tom for him to grab, yanno? I always thought that was a little weird. I mean, he's just another human being. What's the big deal with him touching your hand? Anyway, I thought, what the heck, I'm pretty close so I'll try too. And, he shook my hand! So, it's kind of like I met him, right? haha. That's what I'd like to think. Nice to meet you too!
After the show, I got a Keane shirt, and Tomás got to meet the opening band he really liked. Overall, it was an awesome experience. I've never been that close to an international band before. It was unreal! They were a lot of fun.
The next morning we surprised Tomás' grandparents in Provo with a visit, and also got to see Sara again, his aunt Sonia, which was nice. They are so cute! We also surprised my sister-in-law Aja, and her two kids with a visit, and my brother Jordan while he was at work. After that, we headed back up to SLC to visit our friend Emily Lee at work during her lunch break, and saw my friend Carolee Beckham after that in her home. I got to see her adorable baby finally! And he, is quite the charmer.
Our last stop was grabbing some lunch with Dave & Diane Moncion at City Creek. Man, are they hilarious. It was so great to see some of these friends that I haven't been able to see for much too long. Around 5:30pm we headed back up to Nampa! It was such a great trip!
