Boston Marathon Bombing Benefit Concert

Last Thursday night, my friend Laura and I went to the Boston Marathon bombing benefit concert at The Garden.  I'm not usually a huge 'concert person', but when I heard the line-up and what the money was going toward, I knew I had to try to get tickets.  Travis was going to be in South Carolina at Furman University's new music festival, so I called Laura to see if she'd be my date for the evening (if I could manage to get tickets).  Luckily I managed to snag a few tickets as soon as they went on sale, because 5 minutes later the show was sold out.  (I'm going to go ahead and apologize for the pictures.  You weren't allowed to bring in 'cameras with removable lenses', so I was stuck with my cell phone.)

The evening started with the US Poet Laureate who had written a beautiful poem in honor of the marathon bombings.  How many rock concerts start with a poem read?  Probably not many.  Once he finished, Boston took the stage and started the music for the night!

It honestly felt like I was reliving my childhood.  I have a confession...I love 80's music...like LOVE it.  Growing up, we lived a few doors down from the community swimming pool.  I spent almost every day from open to close at the pool swimming, playing volleyball in the grass (dodging stickers), and hanging out with friends...with the radio blaring.  For this reason, 80's music, NuGrape soda, and Paydays bring me right back to 10 years old at the 'Family Pool'.

The evening's lineup is below, along with a few of the more popular songs they performed.

US Poet Lauret
Boston - Foreplay/Long Time, Peace of Mind, More Than a Feeling
Lenny Clarke (comedian)
Extreme - More than Words
Steve Sweeney (comedian)
J Geils Band - Freeze Frame, Love Stinks
Steven Wright (comedian)
Jason Aldean - She's Country, Dirt Road Anthem
Donny Walburg
Dropkick Murphys - Shippin up to Boston
New Kids on the Block - Hangin' Tough, Step By Step, You Got It (The Right Stuff)
Bell Biv DeVoe - That Girl is Poison
Boys II Men - One Sweet Day
James Taylor - You've Got a Friend, How Sweet It Is
Carole King - So Far Away, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow
Jimmy Buffet - Margaritaville
Dane Cook (comedian)
Aerosmith - Dream On, Sweet Emotion  (Remember when I saw them in the fall?)

Jason Aldean

New Kids on the Block

Boys II Men

The evening was fantastic.  I can't possibly pick a favorite, but especially liked Boston, the NKOTB/Boys II Men/Bell Biv DeVoe set, and James Taylor/Carole King's set.  The only thing I wasn't crazy about was Dane Cook (he wasn't that funny) and Dropkick Murphys.  Dropkick was the only group that did new stuff...everyone else did their greatest hits, which is what you should do at a benefit concert.  I guess they redeemed themselves with Shippin up to Boston.  :)







Want to hear more from the concert?  Boston Inno has a great compilation of videos from the night here.

Aerosmith in Boston

Monday morning, as I was driving to work, I came across a large number of police and news vans in front of the first apartment husband and I lived in when we moved to Boston 6 years ago.  I didn't see an accident and there was no crime scene tape, so I didn't think anything bad had happened.  I also knew it couldn't possibly be a movie filming, because there's an endless number of streets that would be nicer for a film crew to pick, so I called Travis and had him Google what was going on!  Through the magic of the internet, we learned that Aerosmith was doing a covert concert there at noon!

Sorry about the crappy cell phone pictures - I would have brought our real camera if I'd known (and they hadn't been so sneaky about the whole thing)!  You get the idea tho...right?

Since I work about a mile from Commonwealth Ave (where the concert was), I HAD to go, so I trekked down the street at quarter til 12 and waited with Every. Other. Person. In. Allston.  There were SO many people there.  They'd shut down Comm Ave (that's a big deal), the T (subway) and all of the side roads in the area.  People filled both lanes of the street and the access roads as far as you could see.

Just after noon, the Duck Boats came rolling by carrying the Mayor and his crew, the owners of the Celtics & their posse, Tom Brady...and finally Aerosmith!

Turns out, Aerosmith lived in the apartment they performed in front of in the early 70's and wrote most of the songs for the first two albums there.  They practiced in the basement and recorded their first album in that building!  After the concert, they put a plaque on the building, and there was rumor they did a "walk of fame" type thing on the sidewalk in front of the building too.  I'll have to take a stroll down there another day to check those out.

I couldn't stay for too long, since I had to get back to work, but it was such a cool thing to be able to see such an iconic band!  Who would have thought our first apartment was so close to theirs!

As I walked back to the office, with Sweeeeeeeeeeeet Emooooootionnnnnnn blaring through the city, I decided this was definitely the coolest lunch break ever.  :)