Tag Archives: blossom

Sep19

“Weird Al”: Bigger & Weirder Concert

Posted on by
Standard
“Weird Al”: Bigger & Weirder Concert

Hello! “Weird Al” Yankovic is a beloved favorite to me, Johnny, and my big brother Andrew and has been since childhood. Whenever he comes to the greater Akron area, it is an absolute must for us to see him and we were lucky enough to be at his Bigger & Weirder tour at Blossom Music Center this past Saturday. This is the third time I have seen “Weird Al” live and this was my favorite show, hands down. His opening act, Puddles Pity Party, was hilarious and Al’s set was a celebration of all of the fun and laughter he has gifted to the world for so many years. I’m still on cloud nine from it! Let’s discuss further:

Our night at Blossom began with the traditional long journey from the parking lot to the venue. Once we arrived, we had time to snag some shirts and make our way to a good spot. At Blossom you can either be in the pavilion or posted up on the lawn. I always like to go to the barricades that separate the two areas for the best view and we got ourselves a spot there smack dab in the middle. It was perfect! By the time we were settled, it was about seven fifteen and Puddles Pity Party promptly took the stage at seven thirty. We had no idea who or what this act was going to be but were hooked as soon as he made his entrance.

Puddles Pity Party is a one man show where he is dressed as a clown and sings the most gorgeous operatic music you will ever hear. It is such a strange juxtaposition but it works so very well. His performance also included excellent media including a “Cry Cam” and a moving montage of Kevin Costner as Puddles belted My Heart Will Go On. His set featured renditions of Come Cry With Me, Crazy Train, and Estoy Sentado Aqui. Our favorite had to have been Let’s Give ‘Em Pumpkin To Talk About because funnily enough, I just purchased wall art with the exact same sentiments! He was such a fabulous opener for “Weird Al” and when we got home, Johnny and I watched Puddles Pity Party perform on America’s Got Talent. It was so crazy to watch that when we literally had just laughed and cried with him!

After Puddles Pity Party got us all warmed up, we were ready for the big show and “Weird Al” didn’t disappoint. In fact, he played SO. Many. of our personal favorite songs that it felt like he made the set list exclusively for us. He opened with Tacky which was really cool because that’s what he started the show with the first time we saw him live. From there, he continued to deliver heavy hitters like Fat, Eat It, Dare to Be Stupid, eBay, Everything You Know Is Wrong, Like a Surgeon, Word Crimes, and so much more. His performance was high energy and everyone in the crowd was laughing, dancing, and singing our hearts out. It was the most amazing night and we still can’t quite believe we got to be there and hear a set that felt like we planned it. ❤

If “Weird Al” ever comes to your area, seeing him live is a complete must. I can’t wait for him to return to Akron so I can experience the magic for the fourth time!

What is your favorite “Weird Al” song? What was the last concert you went to? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jun29

Bob Dylan & Willie Nelson Concert

Posted on by
Standard
Bob Dylan & Willie Nelson Concert

Howdy!! This past weekend, Johnny and I checked off another concert on our summer lineup list. It was Outlaw Fest at Blossom Music Center and Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson were performing. We were supposed to see Willie Nelson at Blossom during the pandemic and had to skip on it so we were so happy to have been able to make up for it. I mean… kind of? Because the night definitely didn’t go accordingly to plan and it was basically one of the wildest nights out I’ve had since the after party at our wedding lol. Take a look at some pics that I don’t even remember a random stranger taking and let’s discuss:

Like any big event, the concession prices at Blossom are absolutely insane. To remedy that, literally everyone going to a show there pregames in a great big parking lot tailgate. Johnny and I got to the show with about an hour to kill, White Claw ready to go, and we posted up in the trunk of our car to sip away. As we were having our trunk time, a young couple who went with family across the way approached us to talk about our tattoos and they became our instant BFFs. We were chatting up a storm and, eventually, the entire family joined us. They were absolutely hilarious and we spent our pregame in stitches together. We were having so much fun that I don’t think any of us noticed we were all getting a fair bit tipsy.

Once we all felt good and ready to head into the venue, we did so as a team and found a nice, shady spot to watch from. We couldn’t see anyone on the stage, but we could hear the music and that was perfectly fine. Besides, Johnny and I were DEEPLY invested in conversation at this point. You guys, I kid you not, Johnny and I held individual sidebars with every single member of the family. Lol, they came to us with their complaints, we essentially gave them the “you have to get your ish together” motivational speech and we’re keeping our fingers crossed that the mother’s daughter’s boyfriend would get a job and a license. We stepped into our roles as therapist beautifully and hope for nothing but the best!

Once Johnny and I had our fill of other people’s problems, I REALLY needed the bathroom so he waited for me while I did my thang. When I emerged from the facilities, I found Johnny standing there with two mixed drinks that featured a commemorative plastic pink cowboy hat. Lol he just couldn’t help himself! At this point, I was gone to the wind (Johnny was responsible because he was driving!) and we broke free from the family therapy session. We had been outside in ninety plus degree temps for close to four hours, Willie Nelson was going to be on soon, and we wanted to be able to fully enjoy it.

From what I recall and the poorly shot videos on my phone, both Willie and Bob tore it up. Those senior citizens still sound great!! Also, I was a little busy while Willie was playing because I ended up somehow with a new job perspective lol? One of the people we were standing by needed some social media assistance and we exchanged information! The night just kept getting better and better and I joked that Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan were simply our background music for the evening. By the time the show was over, we were totally and completely beat but it was so worth it for a whole lot of fun!

When we drove to the concert, we were not expecting for our night to transpire the way it did. It was, however, a memory (Or lack thereof!) for the ages!!

What is the craziest night out you have ever had? Are you going to any concerts this summer? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

May16

Can’t Wait!!!

Posted on by
Standard
Can’t Wait!!!

Hello!! During the pandemic, Johnny and I had tickets to several concerts that we could no longer attend. We were going to go to Riot Fest for the My Chemical Romance reunion and that hurt deeply. We also had tickets to see Willie Nelson at Blossom Music Center and that fell through too. It was all extremely disappointing, to say the least. However, I am thrilled to say that we have an excellent concert lineup for this summer and the festivities are going to be starting very soon because…

WE ARE GOING TO SEE AC/DC AT THE END OF THE MONTH!!!!

Johnny and I don’t merely celebrate birthdays, but a birthaversary. His birthday is June first, mine is the seventh, and we got married on the fourth. So, when this momentous occasion happens – we do it big! My husband has wanted to see AC/DC live since he was just a little guy and when we found out they were coming to Cleveland, I had to make it happen. We will be in the nosebleeds and that is A-okay because we are going to be there!! Since the beginning of May, I must have heard Johnny say how excited he is at least one hundred times and it never gets old. We have been listening to ALL of the AC/DC even more so than usual and I can’t believe the big show is only a few weeks away since I purchased the tickets forever ago. It’s going to be so special to have this experience with him and I wish it would just hurry up and get here! 😀

Not only do we have AC/DC on our roster but we are also going to be seeing Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan for Outlaw Fest as well as Weird Al, both taking place at Blossom Music Center. We will finally be making good on seeing Willie Nelson together and this will be mine and my brother’s third time being blessed by Weird Al. Blossom has gifted us with an amazing lineup this year and I am chomping at the bit to fill mine and Johnny’s summer concert series even more. Ghost will be coming to Cleveland as well as The Struts and we would absolutely love to see them too. Needless to say, my honey and I are going to be living it up this summer! ❤

So many concerts, so little time and I am so excited to be able to share them with all of you!!

Are you going to any concerts this summer? What is the best concert you have ever been to? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Sep2

Alice Cooper Concert

Posted on by
Standard
Alice Cooper Concert

Howdy! Last Wednesday was one of the best nights ever because Johnny and I got to see Alice Cooper at Blossom Music Center. It was the most fantastic time and we both still can’t believe that we actually got to see him live. It always feels a bit surreal to see an artist you love in real life but this concert definitely hit different. We have talked about it every day since! Even though we were seated at the back of the pavilion, we had a pretty good view of the stage. I took tons of pictures and videos and just had to share some of them with all of you! Check it out:

IMG_8975IMG_8965IMG_8955IMG_8925IMG_8962IMG_8926IMG_8980IMG_8994IMG_9026IMG_9008IMG_9030IMG_9017

As you can see, this was quite the production indeed! I have never been to a concert that felt like I was watching live theater too but that’s Alice Cooper for you! Every new song played was like a set change and it was so cool to see the stage transform before our eyes. There were amazing lights, projections, props, snakes, and sets which is such a far cry from any other concert I’ve seen before as the production value is limited to what can be done with lighting. Our favorite part has got to be when a giant Frankenstein lumbered about the stage during Feed My Frankenstein. We also loved when Alice Cooper entered the stage on a parade float for Elected. What really took the cake, though, was seeing a tried and true staple at an Alice Cooper concert: When his wife dressed as Marie Antoinette “beheaded” her husband on a guillotine!

The set list included lots of fan favorites including No More Mr. Nice Guy, Hey Stoopid, Snakebite (Complete with snake!), Go To Hell, and Poison. As I suspected, the show ended with a huge blow out production of School’s Out. It also included parts of Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2, which was a nice touch. During School’s Out, there was confetti everywhere and the biggest balloons I had ever seen going haywire. When the balloons got close to the stage, Alice Cooper would pop them with his cane and more confetti went flying. My only disappointment about the set list was that Black Widow in its entirety wasn’t played. However, the intro was performed and we got to see a projection of Vincent Price so that was the tops. 🙂

This was, easily, one of the best shows Johnny and I have been to and we are elated to have checked Alice Cooper off of our concert bucket list. If he is coming to your neck of the woods, it is a must go!

What is your favorite Alice Cooper song? Are you going to any concerts soon? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Sep1

Best Date Night EVER!!!!

Posted on by
Standard
Best Date Night EVER!!!!

Hello!! This past Wednesday was the absolute best because Johnny and I had a night on the town. We literally never do anything during the work week because of our demanding schedules. However, sometimes exceptions need to be made and that came in the form of an Alice Cooper concert at Blossom Music Center. This is the second concert I have attended there in the past month and I am so happy that Johnny and I were able to make this date night work. This show was our very first concert together! I will post tons of pics tomorrow, but would love to discuss our experience today. Let’s get to it:

image_50439425(9)image_50401281(8)

Johnny and I are HUGE Alice Cooper fans and when we learned that he was performing at a venue ten minutes away from our apartment, we just had to go. We spent all of Wednesday willing the day to go by faster so we could get our Alice on and made our way to the venue around 5:30. The show started at six and the opening act, Ministry, was already playing by the time we got there. This was no harm no foul because we didn’t care at all lol. As the opener played, Johnny and I purchased drinks and had to make a pit stop so he could use the little rock star’s room. This ended up being an awesome detour, indeed!

While Johnny was in the facilities, I sat at a picnic bench with a mom and her daughter who was my age. We got to chatting and Didn’t. Stop. Chatting. Johnny and I spent the majority of our time getting to know our new friends who were freaking hilarious. In fact, we were so deep in our conversations and belly laughs that we didn’t even realize the second performer, Rob Zombie, had taken the stage. I genuinely thought music was just being played through the speakers. I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed not to have watched Rob Zombie’s set because I have never seen him live before. I had the opportunity to at another show but left before he went on. In a way, though, this was also no harm no foul. I can’t imagine the set was anything to write home about considering we had no idea it was even happening lolol.

As we continued with our newfound comradery, Alice Cooper finally began his performance. We said quick goodbyes and are very much looking forward to hanging out with them again. Johnny and I hauled ass to our seats in the pavilion and were treated to the show of a lifetime. Alice Cooper’s set was honestly like watching a horror movie unfold onstage. We were well aware of his usual tricks and gimmicks but to see them live before our very eyes was pure magic. He sounded amazing, the band was phenomenal, and the production value was equivalent to watching theater. A complete and total dream come true.

Alice Cooper played for roughly an hour and my only regret was that the show wasn’t longer! The concert ended with a rousing performance of School’s Out and it was so celebratory and fun. After the song ended, Johnny and I started making our long trek back to the car. We knew that if an encore was performed that we would still be able to hear it as we walked and we were not trying to be stuck in traffic for hours on end to get home. It took about twenty minutes to get back to the Little Red Love Machine and there was no encore to be heard. Once we were safely settled in my whip, we saw a massive throng of concert goers making their way to their cars too. We were well ahead in that race and got out of the venue and home within ten minutes flat. That’s what I’m talking about!

Johnny and I are still pinching ourselves that we actually saw Alice Cooper live and I can’t wait to share more from the show tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Who would you like to see in concert? What was the best concert you attended? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Aug12

AFI Concert

Posted on by
Standard
AFI Concert

Hello!!! As you all know, I very rarely do much of anything that isn’t work related during the week days. My schedule is always crazy and I like to be well rested every day so I can do my best. However, sometimes exceptions need to be made because all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy! This past Wednesday, I enjoyed the most amazing sister’s night out with Kristen to see AFI and 30 Seconds To Mars at Blossom Music Center. We scored fantastic seats in the pavilion, had a perfect view of the stage, and spent the evening living our best lives together. Check it out:

IMG_8755IMG_8823IMG_8764IMG_8752IMG_8770IMG_8786IMG_8787IMG_8806IMG_8792IMG_8841IMG_8856IMG_8834

Kristen and I were not interested in seeing the two opening acts, KennyHoopla and Poppy because we never heard of them and frankly didn’t care. We arrived right when Poppy was finishing their set and they actually sounded really good so we are both going to be looking into that! Very shortly after we settled into our seats, AFI entered the stage and we were so happy to have gotten there right in the knick of time. We haven’t seen AFI in seven years since they played at the House of Blues and we didn’t want to miss a minute of it.

The show opened with Girls Not Grey and when I say Kristen and I lost our shit, I mean we literally lost our shit lol. We were going absolutely crazy singing our lungs out and dancing like no one was watching. We were both huffing and puffing after three songs and needed to take a breather and it turns out people were watching! The concertgoers sitting behind us apparently were deciding amongst themselves if we were sisters or not and one of the ladies was so triumphant because she called it. Kristen and I often get told we don’t look alike at all but that’s simply not true. Our style might be polar opposites but our faces are incredibly similar. The reasoning behind this gal’s educated guess was so sweet – she told us we were dancing exactly alike. ❤

AFI’s set included tons of crowd pleasers like Miss Murder, Love Like Winter, I Hope You Suffer, and Beautiful Thieves. Kristen and I were both elated that the show closed with our all time favorite of Silver And Cold! AFI sounded amazing from beginning to end and were just as good, if not better, than when we saw them almost a decade ago. Our only regret was that their set wasn’t longer. They played for roughly forty-five minutes or so with no encore and it just wasn’t enough. AFI was the reason we were going out to begin with and in my perfect world they would have played all night.

30 Seconds To Mars took the stage at nine o’clock and Kristen and I both agreed on leaving after thirty minutes to avoid traffic. We left after twenty minutes because they lightweight sucked lol. Neither of us are 30 Seconds fans but we were willing to see what the performance was going to be like and even stick around longer if we wanted to. It was cool to see Jared Leto in the flesh and I definitely made the joke of “Do a scene from Dallas Buyers Club” several times. However, their music was kind of lame, was basically just saying “woah” a ton, and we had no desire to stand there any longer. Jared did a lot of talking and in the twenty minutes that it took to walk back to our car, he was still talking. We were both so not mad about dipping out early!

Kristen and I were exhausted the following day but that is a small price to pay for a sister’s night on the town. I loved every minute of our time together with my best friend!

What was the last concert you saw? Who would you like to see live? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Aug23

Green Day Concert

Posted on by
Standard
Green Day Concert

Hellooo everyone and happy Hump Day! This past Monday, I went to see Green Day at the Blossom Music Center in good ol’ Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. Unfortunately, I was (and still am) feeling pretty under the weather, so I can’t say that I enjoyed myself as much as I would have liked to. I would by no means say that Green Day is one of my favorite bands or anything, but I don’t dislike them at all. I actually like them quite a bit, but their concert really just missed the mark for me. Let’s discuss:

I will say that the set list for the Revolution Radio tour was excellent. They focused on some old and new favorites that really took you through the thirty years of Green Day’s existence. Opening with newer heavy hitters like “Know Your Enemy”, “Bang Bang”, and “Revolution Radio” then transitioned seamlessly into older jams like “Holiday”, “Hitchin’ a Ride”, and “Minority”. Like I said, the set list really was good. BUT…

The major BUT(T) is the pure bullshit that happened throughout the show. Literally after EVERY SONG there was at least five minutes of dicking around that ranged from Billie Joe making strange noises into the microphone, encouraging everyone to get “fucking crazy”, or making the audience repeat “hey-oooooo” back at him for the thousandth time.

At the beginning, this was funny and entertaining. But, rest assured, that it got very old, very very quickly. I kept wondering if I would have had a better time if I wasn’t feeling so poorly, but I genuinely don’t think that I would have. The constant silliness of what was happening between the songs was just too much.

All of the bullshitting took away from how wonderful the band sounded live, and that’s sad that I’m just now bringing up how amazing they sounded. Everything about their playing was just perfect, even better than on the albums, really. BUT(T), their live performance turned into well over two hours of tom foolery peppered with good music. It was a shame.

It actually pains me to write such a poor review because I was looking forward to this concert so much. Don’t get me wrong, I have mad respect for Green Day. Thirty years of making music is something that should be celebrated. And maybe what they were doing during their show on Monday would have worked twenty years ago…but, sadly, it fell incredibly short of the high expectations that I had.

Am I glad that I went? I guess. Would I recommend seeing them live? If you’re a hardcore fan, then sure. But I can’t say that I would want to see them play again in the future. Whomp whomp.

So there you have it, my review of the Green Day Concert! Who of my readers are Green Day fans? Have you ever been to a concert that disappointed you? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

PS: Sorry for the lack of pictures! We were quite far away from the stage, so getting a good quality shot was impossible.

Featured Image By: NME