Blogocentric Formulations

Do you want to run away together?

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DAY 4

Song: "The Good Kind"
Artist: The Wreckers
Album: Stand Still, Look Pretty (2006)

I almost didn't post this one because in doing so I would have to admit to not only watching the CW series "One Tree Hill" but also driving all the way out to Las Vegas to follow their nationwide concert tour. The one saving grace is that the song is really, really good, and I technically only went to the concert to hear this one band even though they were performing in a lineup with several other acts.

The Wreckers used to be a collaboration between singer/songwriter Michelle Branch (there's a good chance she could have another song featured on my blog this month) and her backup singer Jessica Harp. Branch's previous two albums were distinctly pop/rock, but she teamed up with Harp to try an album with a more country sound. The album is pretty good (they were even nominated for a Grammy for "Leave the Pieces" from this same album), but this is the song I'll always remember because my wife and I drove for four hours to hear it! The concert tour was well before this album (or the One Tree Hill Soundtrack, an album that also features this song) was released, so the only place we could really hear it was live. The concert itself was miserable... if anyone has ever been to a concert at The House of Blues at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Vegas, I don't recommend it. There are no seats, chairs, or tables... it's a cozy venue but you basically have to stand the entire time. For a single act, no problem. For a four-plus hour concert with multiple acts and intermissions? NEVER AGAIN.

It wasn't a particularly pleasant experience at the time, but hey, these are the kind of experiences you remember when you get older, right? That time you drove out to Vegas on a whim to see a single act at a large concert in a terrible venue. I admit that I've never been much of a concert fiend; I've only been to a handful in my life... and very few of them were ones I wanted to see (I was usually content to just go along with someone who was more eager to see the performers than I was). This was one of the ones I really wanted to see, and I mostly wanted to see it for this one song. I certainly didn't go to listen to Gavin DeGraw hog the mic all night!