Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Review: Ryan Star and Andy Grammer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

I was in Fort Lauderdale, Florida visiting my grandparents for spring break this year. About three days before, I found out that Andy Grammer and Ryan Star had a show while I was there! Obviously, there was nothing I could do but ask my 71 year old grandpa to come to the show with me. Since he’s literally the coolest and most awesome guy on Earth, he agreed to take me! To be honest, I wasn’t super familiar with either of the artists before the show. A lot of people have told me what an amazing performer Ryan Star is and I really liked what I knew by him. I also thought it was necessary to go since I hadn’t been to a concert in an entire month.
Right before the show, my grandma and sister dropped us off and then left to shop to kill some time. This ended up consisting of wandering the aisles of Target for about three hours while my grandpa and I had a fantastic time. The first band to play was called Action Item. I had never really heard of them before, but I enjoyed their set! The part I liked the best was when they played a cover of Goo Goo Dolls “Better Days”, which is a song I love by one of my favorite bands! After a couple of songs, I looked to the back of the venue where my grandpa was standing against the wall, and noticed a huge smile on his face while he bopped along to the music. I think he even may have enjoyed their set more than I did!

After a half hour or so, Ryan came on stage! He ended up playing an acoustic set of only thirty minutes, but oh, what a fantastic half hour it was. He has such great stage presence and it’s really obvious that he’s extremely passionate about what he does. I also love it when an artist is funny and cracks a lot of jokes during the show, which always makes their set even more enjoyable. During one of the songs, he had some young girls come up and play the tambourine, which was adorable! I loved how much he interacted with the crowd, and even though I found his set too short, it had me aching to see him play a longer show.

Right after his set, I went up to say hi to Ryan. He noticed my necklace right away and commented on it. He was like “What’s that? Ohhh Lifehouse, my boys!” so I obviously immediately loved him ten times more! I told Ryan how I was visiting from Montreal and dragged my 71 year old grandpa to the show with me. My grandpa then chimed in how he only came to the show for me but really enjoyed his set! Ryan thought that was pretty funny. He also kind of misunderstood me at first and thought I flew to Fort Lauderdale specifically for the show, which is really not something I would put past myself, even though it was not the case this time haha! We talked for a bit, and he signed my CD that I bought at the show and took a few pictures with me. My grandpa just kept snapping away and Ryan kept giving me (excellent) hugs! We even took a picture with my grandpa! I loved him so much that I went to buy one of his shirts and changed into it right then. A few minutes after that, I went back to him, and because I still think I’m 14, I said “Now that I went and bought one of your shirts, will you sign it for me?!” He told me it looked good on me and that I was amazing (both true) and signed my shirt with a heart. I told him he was amazing too and should come play a headlining show in Montreal so I could see him for longer! He gave me a few more hugs, and then I went back inside to watch Andy Grammer.

I had only heard the two singles Andy had on the radio before the show, but I was so impressed with his performance. He played a great mix of upbeat, poppy songs and some slower ballads. The whole set, he was full of energy and chatting with the crowd to get everyone involved. He told a lot of stories about his music career and how thankful he is to have gotten to the point where he is now. I was so impressed when he talked about how three years ago he would play on the streets in LA and no one knew who he was. He had a song about that called "Biggest Man in Los Angeles", which was great! Even though I went to the show more to see Ryan, I immediately became a fan after seeing Andy perform. I went and bought his CD right after his set!
After the show, I saw Ryan on the way out again. I told him “See you soon in Montreal!” and he came and shook my hand and thanked me for coming. He really was one of the sweetest guys I’ve ever met. He has that rare quality where, even surrounded by a ton of other people, he can make you feel extremely special and like you’re the only one he’s paying attention to. Not to mention, he’s a huge flirt!

By that time, my grandma and sister were waiting in the parking lot. My grandpa got into the car and told them how much he loved the show and how he was surprised by how talented the artists were. He went on about how he couldn’t believe they write all their own songs and play all the instruments. “I enjoyed this show even more than Rod Stewart!” he told them, at which point my sister thought he was being sarcastic. He insisted that he was not joking. The next morning at the pool, he even bragged to all the 80 year olds in the complex that he went to a concert the night before lol! Overall, it was such a great night, and I’ve also realized that my grandpa is a way more exciting concert buddy than any of my friends!

Another thing I’m so impressed with is Ryan’s album called Songs from the Eye of an Elephant. Since I wasn’t a huge fan of his before the show, I didn’t know about this album. It was recorded in 2005 when he just sat down at his piano and played all these songs without any fancy production. It’s so raw and real and emotional and perfect. The song “So Ordinary”, especially, is something that everyone should hear. He also has a new EP out called The America EP, which can be downloaded right here: http://www.mediafire.com/?53bps1oknokkpvf
It is a FREE download, so there is absolutely no excuse not to get it if you haven’t already!

Ryan also has a new music video for his song "Stay Awhile" which can be viewed below!


2 comments:

  1. i remember seeing you at the concert! im posting videos on youtube as we speak i had googled to see what date it was and your blog came up so i thought i should leave a comment and let you know

    =]

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    Replies
    1. No kidding! That is pretty awesome, thanks for sharing :)

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