March 25th, 2024
This is gonna be another joint post for two shows I went to consecutively. I have had a strange week of weird mixes of emotions, mostly good, but I had a few setbacks in my personal life that I wasn't really planning for (because when is anyone ever planning to fail at anything), but attending these two shows did help push me through to the other side of it. For now, at least. We will see how I feel about it in a month or so. But for now, I'm gonna talk about Friday and Saturday night!
March 22nd, 2024 -- The Last Dinner Party at Studio at the Factory in Dallas
I found this band the same way everyone else did: I heard "Nothing Matters" and sought out the rest of the album. I remember listening to their EP in my room while reorganizing my ridiculous poster wall arrangement to accommodate for a massive Julien Baker poster I got in a vinyl (which is now on the back of my door, in case you were wondering), and I thought "On Your Side" was so beautifully composed and produced that I went to go look up the band a little further. I watched maybe two 15-second TikToks of the band performing at some of their own shows and I went to pull up the tickets to look at prices. I had the tab open on my computer while I wrote a little bit of something else. Naturally, I took a brief (extensive) phone break from what I was working on, and while I was clicking through Instagram stories semi-mindlessly, I came across my friend Molly's post searching for someone to attend The Last Dinner Party's show with her. We had tickets within 30 minutes of her post being up. I think that may be one of the quickest ticket purchase turnarounds I've ever had for a concert.
I will admit, I was expecting this show to be fun because of who I was going with and the outfit I got to wear, which were both big factors in making my experience so enjoyable for sure, but the set itself exceeded my expectations dramatically. I thought the music would just be a little fun to listen to because I would go to just about any live performance and have a good time, but I left this concert as a huge fan of the band. I was so impressed with each individual member for something different; they are all so unique and expressive, and it was so entertaining to see as an audience member. I loved each band member's sense of personal style and how they each presented themselves as they saw fit for the occasion. None of their outfits were even remotely similar, but they were all dressed appropriately for the show. That being said, I loved that the fans were all so dressed up. Everyone in the crowd looked so cool in their own way, and everyone matched the vibe of the band and the music so well. I love just about nothing more than going to a concert where the fans are dedicated, and every single person here put in the work to be dressed on theme. There was even someone dressed as Caesar, which was both hilarious and perfect for the show. I loved seeing everyone's outfits and getting to wear mine.
This show was put on by a local radio station, so the opener, Remy Reilly, was local talent. She was incredible. She covered a Florence and the Machine song, which is hard to do well, and she did it so effortlessly that it was impressive. I thought she was a great choice of hand-picked opener for this event because she was a fan of TLDP and in the same kind of genre herself, so the crowd seemed to love her. Abigail, the lead singer of The Last Dinner Party, gave her several shoutouts from the stage, commending her performance and kindness, and I thought that was incredibly well-deserved and very sweet.
Someone from the radio show came out to talk in between sets. She said that this was probably going to be our last chance to see The Last Dinner Party in an intimate venue. I couldn't agree more. The venue was packed full, and the show itself had such a good, enigmatic energy to it that I could imagine them playing arenas or stadiums with this same album. Their career has skyrocketed really quickly and really hard for a reason. I loved every minute of this show.
March 23rd, 2024 -- Tiny Habits at the House of Blues (Cambridge Room) in Dallas
This show had a completely different vibe from the one the night before. I knew that going into it, though, because I saw Tiny Habits open for Gracie Abrams exactly one year ago from when I was typing this! My older sister, Addi, has been a fan of theirs since before they announced any kind of tour, and she bought her ticket to see Gracie Abrams last year solely because they were the opener. I was really excited to have the chance to see them again with a full set and full band, especially with all of their new music coming out. They just released "Mudroom," which I think is one of the most beautiful songs they have ever put out and one of my favorite releases so far this year. I knew they would play previews of upcoming releases as well because they are about to drop a few more singles this week, and the newer music did not disappoint. I fell in love with the first unreleased song they played, and Addi raved about the last one. I can't wait to hear the studio versions so soon!
The performances themselves were breathtaking. You can tell the members have so much love for the music and for each other, which always makes for such a fulfilling experience as someone in the crowd. They always sound so amazing, whether the song has a full band backing it or a simple acoustic guitar. The vocals and harmonies carry through to make each song they sing strongly impactful, making the live music experience so raw and meaningful. They did a few covers, some old songs, some new songs, and some unreleased songs. Everything they performed was perfectly arranged and evidently chosen so intentionally. I posted one 20-second video of "Hemenway" on my Instagram story after the show, and I had several people message me about how good Tiny Habits sound in the video. I would recommend them to anyone, but especially any musicians or anyone with a strong appreciation for harmonies/vocal blends in music. They always sound amazing, both live and in recordings. They make a great follow on social media as well.
March 25th, 2024 (again)
Addi has a concert journal where she documents each show she's been to with little notes, pictures, and ticket stubs, and I recently thought I had the brilliant idea of starting one of those myself. But then I realized two things: one, I would immediately forget to keep printing off photos to put inside a little book like that, and two, that's exactly what I do on this page. This blog is like my own digital concert journal. It's the perfect archive of (most) of the shows I've been to in the past year, so I think I'll stick with this. It's working well enough for me right now.
I'm feeling a little better about my week after this reflection/dump of a post. I really did love and need both of these shows after the week I had, and I think they helped lift me up in their own unique ways, despite being so different from one another. That's the beauty of live music! There are so many different experiences to be had and shared. Thanks for reading; if you read this far <3 As always, it means a lot!
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