Staanding for Caamp

I skipped trivia this week to attend a Caamp concert in Philly with my friend Annie. The venue was the Met (which has seats), but we were right in front of the stage (where there are no seats). While there, I took a quick video of the stage and the area in front of the stage and of the many, many, many seats behind us. And then I sent that video to Phil and Brock, along with the caption "Everyone is staanding!" It was well-received by Phil; Brock didn't respond. He was probably sitting down somewhere, listening to music.

So let's recap the evening a bit, shall we? Here we go:

I picked up Annie around 3:15 and we were making great time on the Turnpike until we reached the Reading area. For whatever reason (either an accident or construction; we're leaning toward the latter) everyone was directed off the Turnpike and taken on this roundabout country drive to get back to the Turnpike... which added about 45 minutes to our trip. It was annoying, but ultimately okay because we saw some very pretty views of the countryside.

Once we got to Philly, Annie used every ounce of her direction skill to navigate me to Lot D, where we parked. From there, we walked to a bar called Prohibition Taproom. I'm not entirely sure of the route we traveled to reach this destination because it too was roundabout. We stopped and talked to three different groups of Philly residents to ask directions, and while only one group was even aware of the Taproom's existence, everyone was exceedingly kind.

We finally made it to Prohibition Taproom and this was great fun because my friend Preston and Annie's friends Jen and Jesse met up with us for drinks and dinner! With the exception of Jesse, everyone in the group had grown up in Gettysburg, and then there was this crazy web of connections that continued to happen between Preston and Jen regarding Gettysburg people, along with a separate web of Philly-related connections among Preston, Jen, and Jesse! Annie and I simply sat back and chuckled for part of this.

So the visit with friends was really good and then Jen and Jesse gave us a ride to the Met. We missed the opener (which was fine; I listened to 'em last night while taking a shower and wasn't a huge fan) and got there in time to see Caamp take the stage. I love watching a band take the stage -- I get such a thrill!

This was my third time seeing Caamp in concert, but it was my first time seeing them in an inside venue and as a headliner. The energy was so different! I mean, here was a sold-out opera house (the Met is an old opera house) just for them! Everyone was staanding! No one sat down!

Caamp is a young, skinny band. Taylor Meier, the lead singer, is sooooo delicate! But his voice? It's deep and gravelly and rich. They put on a phenomenal show and I loved every single second of it. It was totally worth the over-three-hour-drive to see 'em. Plus, I had a new idea for a book while watching the men up there on stage! (I often have new ideas for books while at concerts; many, many books and scenes in my books are a direct result of concerts I've attended.)

The ride home was significantly shorter, but I didn't get to bed until 2:41AM. I remember this because "241" is a Reel Big Fish instrumental song that last two minutes and forty-one seconds.

Here's a video of Caamp performing my favorite Caamp song, "All the Debts I Owe":