Eisley Concert

There are 4 bands in this world that I listen to religiously and I never get sick of them: Brand New, Manchester Orchestra, Taking Back Sunday, and Eisley. In this past year, I have seen all 4 bands for the first time! Further, I am proud to say I have seen all 4 from the front row. (To read about my past concert experiences, click here: Brand New, Manchester Orchestra, Taking Back Sunday).

When I found out Eisley was coming to the area, I knew I had to go. Omaha was the closest place (a 2 hour drive), and the show was at 8pm on a Sunday night. (Side note: Eisley stopped in Des Moines Saturday night [Instagram makes stalking easy] and I sent a message to band member Sherri and she wrote back to me!)

Knowing we both had to work the next morning, I threw out the idea to Kevin, not thinking he'd actually be interested in going. To my surprise, he said he would go! What a lovely fiancé I have!

Eisley is a 5-person band. Sherri Dupreee Bemis (guitar/vocals), Stacy King (keyboards/vocals), Chauntelle Dupree (guitar/vocals), and Weston Dupree (drums) are all siblings. Their cousin (Garron Dupree) plays bass.

Stacy King (With a 6-month prego belly!)
Chauntelle Dupree in the background (with another prego belly!)

Weston Dupree on drums
Garron Dupree on bass

I have a girl crush on Sherri. She is the coolest girl ever. She has pink hair and awesome tattoos and I love every single thing she wears. She sings, plays guitar, writes music, and draws! I want to be her.

Sherri's Guitar, illustrated by her

There surprisingly weren't many people at the show, less than 100. We could stand comfortably and just enjoy the music without being pushed around and cramped. It was very enjoyable! Merriment opened up for Eisley. Merriment consists of two more Dupree siblings, Christie and Collin. Christie plays acoustic guitar and Collin plays electric. Her voice is amazing and I liked them more than I expected to.

Christie Dupree

Collin Dupree

Without even trying, we ended up standing directly in front of Sherri. It felt awkwardly close since there was so much room in the venue, staring at her from 3 feet away.

The concert definitely didn't disappoint! Seeing them live made me love them 100x more. Their albums are more on the mellow side, and I was pleasantly surprised they rocked out in concert. They sounded great and played a lot of songs. Here is the set list if you're interested:

I Can Be There For You
Smarter
Lights Out
The Valley
Better Love
Marvelous Things
Laugh It Off
Watch It Die
Please
Sad
Oxygen Mask
Mr. Moon
I Wasn't Prepared
Golly Sandra
Ambulance
Deep Space
192 Days

If you have never listened to Eisley, you are missing out. They are fantastic musicians and put on a great live show! The Valley is my favorite album if you are looking for a starting point. They just put out an EP called Deep Space which is also a great album. They will be releasing another album early next year, which they are recording themselves. They said it will be more "Eisley unhinged" and authentic to them since they are doing it without the control of a record label.

Anyway, we had a great time and I'm glad we went! Kevin even came away liking Eisley. I occasionally make him listen to them when we're driving, but he never really caught on. He had a smile on his face the whole time and even requested we listen to Eisley the whole way home. (I think 87% of his new "liking" of Eisley is due to the fact Sherri is a babe.)

SO GOOD! I took quite a few videos that I'm working on uploading to YouTube. I'll update this post once (if ever) I get them uploaded. One thing I regret from Brand New is not taking more videos, so I made sure to record some more this time around. I have been watching them all day and reliving the awesomeness that is Eisley!

Moving On Up

It all started on Cinco De Mayo. Kevin and I spent nearly the entire day downtown, soaking up the sun and the culture and just being awesome. We got to talking about how nice it would be to live downtown, be able to walk everywhere, go to the farmer's market each weekend, enjoy all the downtown events, have a couple drinks together and not have to have a designated driver to get us back home. We'd be in an awesome place for visiting friends. He'd be able to walk to work and I'd be a lot closer to my school, saving us both a lot of money on parking and gas.

So.....we're moving downtown!

We found a cute little loft in the East Village. This is a "trendy" little area of downtown. There are lots of little shops, bars, and restaurants. It's a more laid back, artsy area of downtown. Our loft is in a historic building converted to lofts.

We have a view of the capitol to the east and the skyscrapers of downtown to the west.

Inside, we have exposed brick walls and an open "loft" feel. There is no bedroom wall or door, it's open to the living space (it's around the corner in the picture below). When looking at lofts, I was worried there would be little closet space and everything would just be open. This is not the case. We have 2 big walk in closets and a good sized linen closet in the bathroom. The loft is only 675 sq. ft., but the space is used well. (These next pictures are taken from the Craigslist ad I found the apartment through).

We also have a HUGE covered patio (200 sq. ft.) that will be useful when Kevin and I have had too much together time. Let's face it, we will be living in close quarters! I need somewhere to storm off to when he makes me angry :). I'm excited for our eventual house-warming party to see how many people we can fit out here!

The kitchen area is a nice size as well with plenty of cupboard space (I realize I'm starting to sound like a realtor. I blame HGTV.) You can kinda get a glimpse of the industrial feel of the loft here with the exposed ductwork and industrial lights.

I will of course provide many more photos once we move in, which will be at the end of July! I'll have to start crafting again as well to decorate our new pad! Until then I'm doing a little spring summer cleaning and de-cluttering.

I am really going to miss our current apartment. (You can see our furnished and decorated home tour here.) There is so much room here and everything is so new and nice! It was Kevin and I's first place together, and we got engaged in our bathroom!

More than anything I'm excited to live downtown and be in the center of it all. Come visit, friends!

River's Edge Music Festival

I know, I know. I haven't blogged in forever and I have been getting a lot of grief about it from friends and family. It's not because I've been "too busy." My blog just started feeling a little too personal now that I have a "big girl job" (not that I'm not very careful of what I write on here), but I think I'm just being paranoid.

I decided to post again for a very important reason. This weekend I traveled to St. Paul to attend the River's Edge Music Festival. Mainly, I went to see Brand New. For those of you who have been here since the beginning, you know this blog's name is inspired by Brand New, so I felt like I owed it to "the blog" to share my experience. (I am also bursting at the seems with excitement and want to shout from the rooftops how AMAZING the experience was and how in love I am with Brand New!!!!!!!!) So I will. :)

The River's Edge Music Festival was a 2-day event on Harriet Island downtown St. Paul. This was a first year of the festival, and there were a lot of well-known bands there (Dave Matthews Band, Tool, The Flaming Lips, Sublime, Coheed and Cambria, Mutemath). So much good music, good food, and good people watching. It was an awesome atmosphere and I would definitely go again. I had never been to a music festival like this, and BOY was I missing out!

Brand New is my favorite band period. I have never seen them in concert and have been DYING to see them since I first started listening to their music 3 years ago (they've been around for 12 years...I was a late arrival.) Seeing them in concert was truly a dream come true, as lame as it sounds. 

Tonia and I arrived at the venue at 10am, 2 hours before doors opened. Completely unnecessary but we did it. We walked right up to the front of the stage Brand New was set to play on (at 6pm). Yes, again, unnecessary. There were 2 bands who performed before Brand New, so we were adequately entertained while we waited.

"Kinky" was the first band. They were a Mexican rock band who sang only in Spanish, but they were awesome! They were very entertaining to say the least. The best part was one band member dressed as a sort of police man (on accident I'm assuming) who occasionally played the accordion. He would strut to the front of the stage and play, as if he was saying, "That's right, I'm playing an accordion, I'm awesome."

Next up was Coheed and Cambria. I had heard of them but wasn't familiar with their music. Overall, wasn't impressed. The lead singer had a MASSIVE amount of hair and I never really saw his face. Their music was just OK. The highlight was when they covered "Somebody That I Used To Know," which you may know I declared my love for that song in this post.

Alas, BRAND NEW!!!! It was the coolest feeling seeing this man that I have watched on YouTube SO many times, literally feet in front of me. We were front row center, couldn't have been closer! My first thought: "Wow, he is so much more attractive in real life than I could have ever imagined!" He's beautiful. (Sorry, Kevin!) He was sporting a newly shaved head and scruffy beard, which just does me in! Ok, moving on... :). They sounded awesome. Even better than I could have imagined. Their set list was impeccable and I enjoyed every single minute. It was a great mix of songs from each album. They interacted with the crowed and looked like they were having so much fun. Their music means so much more to me now that I've seen it and heard it first hand. My 4 hour drive home from St. Paul was rather enjoyable, listening to the set list with my radio blared, jamming out by myself! I've been singing to myself all day, and going on and on to Kevin about how awesome it was. SO AWESOME!

For you Brand New fans, this is the set list:
Tautou (opener)
Sink
Sowing Season
Millstone
The Archers Bows Have Broken
Mix Tape
Soco Amaretto Lime
Jesus
Okay I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don't
Bought A Bride
Gasoline
Degausser
You Won't Know (closer)

I promise, there are other band members who are also amazing musicians... :)

(Vinny)

(Garrett)

(Brian)

(Jesse)

More pictures for your viewing pleasure:

(I couldn't help myself)

We spent the rest of the night eating yummy food, taking in the atmosphere, and we also listened to Sublime. It was a great experience and I would do it all again in a heartbeat! 'Twas a beautiful day and evening!