And last weekend I was lucky enough to experience them in person with the woman I love.
As with most concerts, the main band that everyone paid to see wasn't the ONLY band performing. There were two pre-show groups that I hadn't ever heard of before. First, Oh Honey jumped on stage to start the evening. The music wasn't too bad but I was quite thrown off by the way their lead singer tried guilt tripping the audience for not dancing along.
The next group was awesome... and modest! Three dudes walked onto the stage next calling themselves Barcelona.
This is my favourite song from Barcelona:
These guys sounded amazing, and better yet, had some serious soul! All three of them were putting everything they were made of into this performance and boy did I ever notice! Think of The Fray with an electric twist. Like what you might hear in a club. That was Barcelona, and it was great. I remember telling Hannah "screw The Fray, let's keep these guys on stage". As they left the stage they nonchalantly gave the audience their thanks and told us to get ready... because The Fray was about to "knock our faces off". I should have heeded their warning.
* * * * *
The crew began to remodel the stage. Big silver boxes and brand new instruments were brought out. I started to get a weird feeling deep inside me sort of where my stomach is, but not quite. It might be important to inform you at this point that The Fray has been one of my favourite bands for a very long time. When I heard they were performing so close... in my very own city of Vancouver... in Stanley Park of all places, well, I was speechless. I texted Hannah to let her know of this world changing discovery before I even knew what my fingers were doing. I thank the E-havens for her awesomeness every day, because she didn't even hesitate. Before I knew it we had tickets, and arrangements were made. Memories WOULD be made.
Then, there they were. I could see them. The crowd erupted as if a volcano had just come out of dormancy. As soon as the music started I forgot everything else I had heard earlier that evening. I was in a trance of awe and excitement. It didn't take long for Hannah and I to pack up our "picnic" and get to the stage.
The Fray gave an amazing performance. It even included a very special singing of Happy Birthday to one of their crew members who they proceeded to invite onto the stage and gift a cake to. Which was then used to make a hilarious mess of the stage.
Special 'Happy Birthday' Bit for a Crew Member
They even had beach balls flying around the crowd and high fives from the lead singer (Isaac) who even ran through the crowd at one point in the middle of a song! It was a ton of fun and I would definitely do it again in a heartbeat (no pun intended).
Awesome Beach Ball Action (please excuse the bass)
Here's "Wherever This Goes". It was performed directly after the birthday song. It was pretty cool having the crowd involved. Lots of feels.
"Wherever This Goes" performed Live
All-in-all it was an absolutely wonderful night. The Fray was great. I look forward to the next time I get a chance to see them.
