hootie!

originally we were supposed to go see hootie back in july. but then darius rucker (aka hip shaker) got hurt and they had to postpone their tour. so two months later we finally go to see them. and honestly i'm kind of glad it was in september - the weather last night was absolutely gorgeous! (just like darius, right brigid?)

i had done some research earlier in the day on the opener - patrick davis. i listened to his music on myspace and i was not impressed. he reminded me of a southern, country josh groban. does that sound like a good combination to you? let's just say he didn't do anything to win me over with his live performance. in fact i think his cowboys comment made me cross him off my list forever. sorry.

but hootie was a completely different story. they sang through their old hits and a few of their newer songs off of looking for lucky. did you know that hootie and the blowfish has been a band for 22 years? that means i was two years old when they first came together. that is just crazy. but by the way they move on stage you could never guess that they are all in their forties.

a special treat was that peter holsapple was playing on stage w/ the band. it was especially cool when they played a cover of rem's "losing my religion" since peter played guitar on the original recording of the song w/ rem. he played keyboard for most of the night - but through in some guitar for some of the songs. and i'm pretty sure he was the one playing harmonica - but really we couldn't figure out who exactly was playing it.

but probably the best part of the night were the two signers. yep, there was someone signing the entire concert. it was really cool! and apparently it's really tiring because the guy and the girl kept switching off. but the guy was so much better - he really evoked the rhythm of the songs. and i got to learn some sign language from the girls i was sharing my blanket with.

i have a few complaints, though. first of all i don't like the double encore. it's really not cool. especially when you don't even play for a hour and a half total. and a big concert pet peeve of mine is when bands end on a cover. i don't even care if it is oasis - we paid to see hootie. and if they had played all of their songs i would have understood - but they left out tucker's town and i go blind. total bummer.

ps. i'm so glad i'm stuck here at work while my coworkers are off in toronto gallivanting w/ paris hilton.