Delta Rae, this one's for you!

Delta Rae, man. Let me tell you, let me tell you all of it;

from that night / 10.4.12

So a few months ago XRT was playing at work, which is a pretty common occurrence. I am very thankful for this because XRT is CHOCKED FULL of my kind of jams. So needless to say, I was the least bit surprised to be introduced to this fantastic band via my favorite radio station, but the first time they played 'Down By The River', I'm sure that I stopped whatever the hell I was doing in that bakery, ran over to the speakers, turned it up, and soaked up the pure greatness that was pouring from the sound dock.

I. LOVED. IT. IT HAD SO MUCH SOUL! I went home, bought it, danced + sang along to it endlessly, and waited for them to come to town again because I had missed them at Schuba's the first time they rolled through. Of course, I was over the moon when I found out they would be doing a FREE XRT SHOW over at Bottom Lounge! I saw and met Lissie in the same kind of setting awhile back over at Reggie's and I knew this wouldn't be something to miss. Every time they talked about it in the upcoming week on the air, I got SO excited. When I heard Lin talking about it himself, I had this growing anticipation that he may be present himself. I BECAME WAY PSYCHED. I gathered up a groovy little group, which consisted of Dan and Brooke, to accompany me to the show. We headed for drinks at Haymarket and dinner at g.e.b. and then we sauntered on down to Bottom Lounge for the amazing tunes that would flood us from the stage and as always, a hopeful encounter. Since our meal was so delightful, I truly feel that it needs to be included at least in some sort of way. So here's what went down at g.e.b;

Brookie and I at Haymarket

hi! this is a pointless caption because you know what this is!

 heirloom tomato salad + venison tartare. BOTH = AMAZING.

Calamari + Atlantic Skate 

 risotto rouge + flatbread

now this was the meal to have and split among great friends before one hell of a show, let me tell you.

It really it is a really delicious throw down of food when I go there. I'm glad I got to check it out for the dinner menu, because the last time I had dined there it was for brunch. These pictures do not really do it any justice, but that risotto is something that my mouth and stomach long for even weeks after consumption. The whole melt-in-your-mouth quality was also present for these courses. GET SOME!

Once we had arrived to our destination, we ended up meeting a pretty cool chick at the bar that was hangin' solo and we made her a part of our group, which is always a fun time AND THEN IT HAPPENED! When we were outside smoking a cigarette, I spotted one of my favorite people strolling in my direction. "IS THAT LIN BREHMER?!" I said much louder than I had actually anticipated. When he bellowed "Why, YES IT IS!" I ran in his direction to introduce myself and throw my arms around him, he stopped me and proceeded to tell me he knew just who I was. Oh, Twitter, I love you. What a moment; he was so approachable and so full of energy. It was such an honor to meet a man that I had grown up listening to. I truly love XRT and am so glad that I've been able to meet two awesome DJs from that station- really rad people, feelin' very lucky.

me and Lin Brehmer outside of Bottom Lounge. HOW RAD!

So the doors for the event started at 7, concert started at 8. We made our way in and nuzzled up close to the stage, where I feel most comfortable. Lin Brehmer made his way up to it as well to introduce the band to all the rad folks waiting to hear the stellar tunes. The band took the stage with great command, the three siblings stood out right away; Brittany, Eric, and Ian and let's just say that their talent is astounding. They're kind of like a pop-soul-rock version of the Von Trapp family...? (well, maybe just in terms of these siblings being so talented vocally/musically...). When you add the other three members into the mix, it really just blows you away. This band came out with such ease and rocked the house. Their voices were so strong and loaded with soul. They really have a variety in their layout in terms of their setlist and song order, which is always pretty vital. There were definitely some slower songs mixed into the groove which complimented the songs that made you lose your inhibitions. They played a lot of songs off their album, new tunes, and a cover; Fleetwood Mac's 'The Chain'. -awesome. There's a big sense of group collaboration; everyone gets in on the fun in this band.

I wore shoes that allocated serious grooves. I knew that I would not be able to stand still during this show. They really brought it and they seemed genuinely happy to be there. Not to mention that at the end of their set, they came out into the crowd and just did a little jam circle, the crowd gathered around, and they did their thing.. This is kind of the part where you want everyone to drop their phones for a hot minute and just groove + move, because you need to soak up the essence of sharing the floor with Delta Rae instead of trying to capture it for later. I loved that they did this, they literally just walked into the crowd. Unplugged say WHATTT?! That was all sorts of rad! Overall, phenomenal experience, totally worth every ounce of my energy to scamper from the burbs to the city on that cold, rainy night. Every. Ounce.

So afterwards, a merchandise table was set up and of course the band was crankin' out the signatures and conversation with the fans. I have a tendency to tweet them every time XRT plays their stuff. No, seriously, I do. Well, they take note of that stuff, dudes- just like Lin Brehmer takes note of my twitter musings. Social networking, man...okay, anywho, I was able to get my CD signed by Eric, Ian, Brittany, + Mike. I missed the other two cool cats, but next time!

me with Brittany Holljes of Delta Rae

Very glad I was able to chat a bit with Eric and Brittany. I really wish I would have asked them more questions, but who had time for that? I was too busy asking Eric to doodle up extra stars and smiley faces on the album sleeve. It was pretty awesome to have Brittany tell me that she liked my dance moves and my energy. That's all you want to hear from some of your favourite musicians. Delta Rae is composed of people who are extremely down to earth, have a great ease about them, and can really bring a great show. Each member has a such big role, Brittany would seem like the standout singer, but when you listen to the album, you see that four of them; Eric, Ian, Brittany, + Liz all really have songs that are their own. It's great to see each member be so loaded with ability. I am so glad that XRT is behind them and promoting them, along with VH1 picking them up for Artists You Oughta Know for this month. I am stoked for their success and I love telling people about them, because they deserve the recognition. I think a really good way of determining this is by bringing someone who is completely unfamiliar with that work and having them really dig it by the time the show is over. That's exactly what happened with Dan. I wasn't even familiar with all of their jams, I was in-the-know with maybe 5 songs, the rest I wanted to leave for live. I recommend you listen to all of them anyway, and then still see them live. A really awesome bunch of people, I'm very lucky I got to share a few words with these cool cats!

I was't kidding, you see that star at the top and that smiley face?
YAY! How awesome. How extremely awesome.

This was a righteous night and I seriously suggest that you sample this album for sure. I also recommend that you dine at g.e.b. because you will very likely DIG IT. Here's to that night, and hopefully many more like them.

hey, don't forget that you're pretty awesome.

-T

The Rock Island girl that rocked the house.

I'm still wearing my cloak of excitement from last night and it look it looks fabulous!

I cannot believe it happened. Did it? Yeah. There are pictures. No pinching necessary here.

My girl, Brooke, told me about a FREE Lissie show going down at Reggie's. Um...FREE? Hell, I paid for tickets to see her at Lincoln Hall back in January and didn't end up making it. I didn't really mind that I lost money on this one, I don't mind contributing to Lissie's music one bit. So I scooped up the offer for this gem, made the trek to her casa, and hopped in the car to go nice and early. We arrived to meet her friend, Dana, around 4:30 or so. The place was still pretty empty, so we were able to snag a huge booth right off the side of the stage. Appetizers are half off on Wednesdays and my Margarita was $5. I felt like the money-saving gods where whispering my name and pouring my drinks.

So I go out to snag a cigarette and of course Lissie was out front being her cool rock star self chatting nicely (ABOUT XRT! duh HUGE ear perk) with people. I genuinely wanted to smoke, but I genuinely wanted to tell her that I'd been waiting for her to be played on XRT since I've heard music escape her mouth sometime early last year. So I puff, puff, put that shit out, and made my way over. I stood behind friends she knew when she diverted the attention to me. Opps. So I said "Hey, I'm a huge fan, you'd be perfect on XRT, I tweet both of you guys all the time, so I hope you get played soon!" I'm telling you, this girl is so freaking adorable and genuine and totally tubular.

So back inside, the crowd and excitement were growing and my sobriety was somewhere in the mix when these three older women sat down at the table in front of us. My first thought was "Hell yeah! I knew I should have told my mom about this artist...teehee hipsters".

Sound check came and went. Why do they never say "Check Check Czechoslovakia"? or "Check Check Checkmate"? I've been wondering that for too many years now. This was an XRT show. I'm sure you know what that means to me. I knew there would be a DJ in the house somewhere. AH HA! I saw Marty Lennartz from a mile away. I wanted to go up to him so badly, ask him about what it was like to work there, ask him to get me a job and then just stick with that topic for 30 minutes, but I didn't. Why? I don't know at all ::kicking myself:: I am so revved that Lissie is trying to get her stuff out on such an amazing station. Lissie reminds me of a really early Melissa Etheridge (no...not that kind, Brooke). I love that. Some of her pictures even confirm that...

 

So Marty Lennartz announced her on stage and a wonderful hour and a half ensued. She played an 11 song show I believe; Wedding Bells, Worried About, When I'm Alone, Bully, Little Lovin', Record Collector, In Sleep, Cuckoo, Everywhere I Go, Oh Mississippi, and Kid Cudi's Pursuit Of Happiness. This was an amazing set. I love all of her songs, especially her Lady Gaga cover of Bad Romance.  I had never heard Kid Cudi's song or heard Lissie's cover of it somehow. I ABSOLUTELY fell in love with it and upon hearing it last night. You better believe I got it today. I've decided a skating routine needs to get choreographed to this song immediately. I just love the way she sings this. It's a perfect cover, especially because I feel like she would heavily relate to this song. I want to tell the world about this song. The way she went into it below is very similar to the clip below and that was thanks to Brooke. I want to tell the world about how awesome Lissie is. She gives off this exuberance.You can tell she loves what she does and that she worked her ass off to get where she is. She is so real and you can definitely tell she's from the Midwest. Poor girl's bus driver took off in Finland with her equipment, they had to rent her gear. She rocked it and there were no need for apologies, but I loved the guitar tuning session where she went into the end of "part of "Little Lovin" and I belted out the "WOAH OH OH OH OH OHHHH!" to go along with it. Sorry crowd, couldn't resist! And yeah, I'll consider that a duet!

I also thought it was vital to shout at the crowd for being stiff as boards. This was a dancing show, my friends. Start acting like it.

Listen to how rad this chick is live:

"Pursuit of Happiness"

Kid Cudi Cover

So back to those three older women that were seated in front of us. Well, before Lissie played Bully, I believe that is when she announced her mom was in the audience. Two of the women pointed at one of them and I was so stoked! I couldn't believe it. I (like a huge creep) put my hand on her back and said "You must be so proud!" and she was like "We are!" One of her two best girlfriends was dancing around with us and was so excited we were such big fans. Before Lissie performed Pursuit of Happiness, Brooke bought her a shot of tequila because that her thang.

I got a few pictures, but since I have a temp phone, they aren't really worth posting in the slightest. However, I did snag this-

Okay. So let it be noted that when I get excited, it tends to show in my gums.

She looks adorable here! I look frightening, but what are ya gonna do?

please please please go buy "Catching A Tiger" and then go on a long drive on a country road with your best girlfriend. You will not regret it!

I cannot even believe that all happened. Then after the concert they hosted karaoke. The cool part was that it featured a live band, the unfortunate part was that you had to read the lyrics off a sheet, but it's worth it to have the band behind you. I had never done karaoke before and their selection was really limited, but I ended up doing "Me and Bobby McGee". I really, really enjoyed myself! I love performing, but have never sang in front of people before. Hopefully there were no bleeding ears! Ew, that grosses me out. I don't know why I wrote that.

Gosh. What a fantastic night! Now Common XRT! Play her!

-Tessa