After a whirlwind rehearsal, it’s opening night of the Boys Like Girls “Soundtrack of your Life” tour! Longest 20 minutes of my LIFE.
Opening night of any tour is always exciting – even when you know what’s going to happen. I have only ever gone to one other tour opening night, which is another story for another day. Back to the point:
Many friends and myself (who, as previously mentioned, I met on Thunder Club), had VIP meet & greet for the first night of tour, so of course we were all buzzing with excitement. We all met up at the venue and waited impatiently for checkin and to be let in. Unfortunately the band was running a little late but we could still hear them soundchecking from outside the venue. Eventually tour manager Ryan let us in, and we went straight to the barricade. It felt like home.
Soundcheck
Soundcheck was intended to be 2 songs that weren’t in the show, but we know Martin can’t help himself. They did their famous cover of Frou Frou’s “Let Go”, which they were going to be performing for a radio station in Chicago the next week. They also played Language from their album “Sunday at Foxwoods” (a personal favorite). After that, he looked at the rehearsal crew and he asked us which song we thought needed work from the previous night.
None of us had a response, but somehow we all said the same thing: “Jamie’s In Love or Whatever it’s Called.” We all giggled while Greg (bass) said “oh….I thought that one sounded great” and Martin laughed and said “you guys just wanna hear it again!!!” They played it. It sounded great. After this, it was time for the meet and greet photos!
Meet & Greet
Something about me, is that I was the first person to EVER buy a hoodie of theirs. It was September 13, 2006, there were maybe 10 people at the show. It was a white zip up with the self titled album art across the front, and I vividly remember Martin opening the box and telling me that was the first one they’ve sold. I’ve held onto that for 20 years – both the story and the hoodie. I brought it with me to Salt Lake so I could get a photo of the whole band with it, and then it was going back into retirement. Martin knows me as the white hoodie girl, so I couldn’t not.
When it was my turn I walked right up and said “I brought the goods!!” and held it up. Martin immediatelyb grabbed it from me and started commenting on how cheap quality it was. He held it up, we took the pic, and it came out GREAT.
The Openers
I’m going to be honest here and say I didn’t know much of anything about the two openers – Arrow in Action and IDKhow, but that will change later. I really enjoyed Arrows in Action, especially their “stomp clap” song. I am a millennial, of course I love a good stomp-clap.
What I can say is Arrows in Action seem to all have great personalities, and Dallon from IDKhow seems very eccentric. At one point, he ended up with a guitar pick on his forehead and I am still confused as to why. Both great sets! It’s tough being an opener, so for anyone reading this, show the openers respect, especially if you’re at or close to barricade. You might get a new favorite band out of it.
The Main Event
Seeing shows with friends who love the same band as you is always so much fun. The giggles between songs and the little things that other people wouldn’t notice, all go into the makings of a great night. This show was no different.
Something to know about Martin and Thunder Club is he bullies us, so we bully him back. Back in the fall, he did a Reddit AMA, and the photo he submitted looked like he was being held hostage. We took that image and removed the original handwriting and started adding things he would say to us in Thunder Club.
I can’t not commit to a bit, so I printed out my favorites to hold up at barricade. Spoiler alert: We got a laugh, an eye roll and the thing people do where they point at their eyes with two fingers and then point them back at you. One of their photographers noticed what was happening and got closeups of each sign and us laughing. I’d love to see that footage one day.
The Finale
The crowd, as expected, loved the show. They ended with Holiday (a personal fave), which itself ends with a callback to The Great Escape. To end every BLG show, they do a mashup of The Great Escape and Love Drunk. As expected, the crowd went wild. My only critique is that I wish he would tell the crowd to put their phones down like it’s 2006, but oh well.
During that final song, he throws a tambourine into the crowd. After getting the setlist at rehearsal and having more picks than I could ever need, all I need is a drumstick and a tambourine. They know when I’m at a show because Martin Johnson eye contact is akin to a Pokemon using Leech Life in battle, so hopefully this run of shows I finally complete the set.
Exhaustion. Hunger. Travel the next morning. We thought about waiting by the busses, but Dennys called. We wanted Waffle House, but did you know those don’t exist in the west? I won’t recap the Dennys adventure, but our waiter was NOT GREAT.
Anyway. Here’s a few photos and videos from opening in SLC. Enjoy!
