A Night to Remember

LAMP

Yesterday afternoon (on 11-11-11) I loaded up the car with four 16-year-old girls (a.k.a "L.A.M.P": Leighanna, Annalisse, Mo & Paige) and headed to Buffalo for the Mat Kearney concert, Annalisse's birthday present from us (the birthday celebrations just go on and on, don't they?). In case you've never heard of Mat Kearney, he's an indie folk/rock artist, and all four girls are huge fans.

The kids were so excited for the concert! We got to Buffalo around 5:30pm, found parking, and walked to a nearby TGIFriday's for dinner (their choice...). The doors opened at 7pm so we stood in line for a little bit, then entered the Town Ballroom, a cozy music hall resplendent in black walls and a mosh pit surrounded by different levels for standing. Not a seat in sight. (I must confess the idea of standing for over four hours caused a little panic for my 48-year-old self, wondering how my back and legs would be survive the night.) Like a true mom I collected all the coats and purses and let the kids go into "the pit" to get closer to the stage. Since it was such a small venue I didn't worry about them because I could watch them from where I was standing.

Mat finally took the stage around 9:30pm (2 1/2 hours of standing by now...thank God I had a railing to lean on), and the crowd went wild. Even though I wasn't really a fan before the concert, I'm definitely a fan now. He was really great: strong voice, talented musician, warm and funny in the way he interacted with the audience. At one point he stepped off the stage into the crowd and walked right past the girls, went up into the upper levels, and headed back to the stage via the stairs directly next to where I was standing. No, I did not reach out and touch him. That would be creepy.

For Mat's encore he invited Leagues, the opening band back out on stage and they performed...wait for it...my current favorite earworm...PUMPED UP KICKS! How awesome was that?! Since Annalisse knew it was one of my favorites she was surely freaking out. Fun!!

Annalisse and Mat

 After the concert the girls were really wound up so we went out to the merchandise table and they got their pictures taken with the "hot" guy from Leagues, and we convinced Annalisse to ask the drummer from Mat's band how she could meet him since she was celebrating her 16th birthday. He told her to go to the bus and wait there - that Mat would be out in 10 minutes. So, out we went, and out he came, and bada-bing! Pictures and chatting with Mat Kearney. What a great night they had. I think I even heard it was "the best night of my life" from one of them.

And I was pretty happy, too. When we can make our kids really happy, what's better than that? Thank you, Mat Kearney, for a great and memorable evening.

Update 11/13/11: Speaking of Mat Kearney, this article was in USAToday this morning.