I have recently graduated high school and at my senior all night party I won 4 tickets to see Train (savemesanfrancisco)! I was so excited, but had no idea what to expect from the band. They are on their Picasso at the Wheel tour with The Fray and Matt Nathanson (mattnathanson)! While I may not have been Train’s #1 Fan before the concert, I definitely am now! All three bands know how to put on a show and I had the best time!
Photo Courtesy: ttheluckyones
The venue was packed to the brim with people-from young children, to teenagers, to moms and dads. Train is a band that is well liked among a broad range of people. I didn’t know that the band has been making music together for 21 years!!! That is so impressive that they have been creating amazing songs and have made a name for themselves that has kept them relevant and cool for 21 years! I can remember singing “Hey Soul Sister” with my friends in middle school! My friends and I got there in time to see Matt Nathanson perform two songs: “Faster” and “Come On Get Higher” which he mashed with “You’re The One That I Want” from Grease.
Once Matt Nathanson was finished performing we waited for The Fray to begin. They sang a wide variety of songs, including their most popular hits. They were able to play 15 songs total, which is a lot for an opening act! Not only were they an opening act-they were a show on their own. It was refreshing to see how much energy the band had! Half way through one of their songs I blinked and all of a sudden lead singer, Isaac Slade, was on top of the piano, singing and dancing around.
Photo Courtesy: divergentdaydreamer
The Fray finished their set and two of my friends and I decided that our butts hurt from sitting on the hill and that we needed to walk around. The venue is set up like an amphitheater with the stage at the bottom and the seats in a pavilion going up. Once the pavilion stops there is a sidewalk that goes from one end of the arena to the opposite side. Then there is a large lawn section where people can bring blankets and rent chairs. So my friends and I decided to walk to each end of the sidewalk. We were surrounded by masses of people talking, walking to the bathroom, and just having a good time. Being the absolute goofballs we are we started dancing behind unsuspecting victims…like these lax bros!
Photo Courtesy: divergentdaydreamer
Finally it was time for Train to take the stage! I was not prepared for the band to be so amazing! Lead singer, Pat Monahan, did a fantastic job at making the huge venue seem intimate. The band performed 21 songs complete with all of their hits and 4 covers including (my favorite!!!!!!) “Dream On” by Aerosmith! I loved how personal Pat was with the crowd. It was unlike anything I had ever seen! He threw T-shirts into the crowd, he interacted with the fans the entire time, he took selfies with people’s phones, he walked into the crowd and sang an entire song, he even brought children from the audience to dance on stage with him! It was fabulous!
Photo Courtesy: poetryinthegrocerystore
In their cover of The Beatle’s “With a Little Help from My Friends” Matt Nathanson came out onstage and sang with the band and it was one of the highlights of the show! He was crazy and funny and such a crowd pleaser!
Video Courtesy: CardX
Around the 3 minute mark in the video Matt Nathanson basically becomes Chewbacca and screams. When this happened my friends and I LOST IT! We were laughing so hard we were crying, and I don’t think there is a better feeling than that. I loved the Train concert and will definitely be going to more in the future! Happy 4th of July everybody!
-Swaggie Maggie