Last night, we went to see Jon McLaughlin's Christmas concert in Indy! We have seen Jon together before but this time I was excited because he was bring some special guests. I was lucky enough to snag some VIP tickets to this event. He brought along Matt Wertz and Dave Barnes too and I have been dying to see one of their holiday concerts for a few years. Side note: if you get the chance to buy VIP tickets for a show in the Egyptian Room, do it!
They played all of their fun holiday songs and I was so happy. Jon played a few songs and then he'd had one of his guests come out to play a couple of their songs. He alternated like this until it was time for him once again and on the last rotation, he brought everyone out to play a final number together. It was so fun and what I have always hoped for in a Christmas concert!
We even got to cross off an advent activity! Bonus: Matt Wertz played Santa and generously brought copies of Snow Globe to give out for free! Snow Globe is one of my favorite, if not my favorite, Christmas album so I was thrilled to get this! Here are a few of the fun songs we saw!
Over the weekend we took a trip down near Cincinnati to see Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness. Andrew didn't tour this summer but had a handful of random dates. I saw this event pop up and knew we just had to go! Andrew headlined the Merchants and Music Festival Bands Against Cancer in Fort Thomas, Kentucky. It was a free festival to highlight the merchants of Fort Thomas but also to raise money for a new cancer wing in a hospital there. We hopped in the car and made the three hour trip. It was well worth it. We were pretty close and the sound was so good. This came at the perfect timing after a long few weeks.
I had so much fun! It ended up being rather warm and humid for the end of September but it was worth it. We danced and sang and had a blast. My heart is happy.
Setlist
So Close
The Mixed Tape (Jack's Mannequin cover)
Ohio
High Dive
Island Radio
House in the Trees
Bruised (Jack's Mannequin cover)
Love and Great Buildings
Swim (Jack's Mannequin cover)
Teenage Rockstars
Don't Speak for Me (True)
Paper Rain
I Woke Up in a Car (Something Corporate cover)
Dead Man's Dollar
Dark Blue (Jack's Mannequin cover)
Fire Escape
For dad's birthday we got tickets for the family to see Greensky Bluegrass at Garfield Park the week after his birthday! It was a fun outing and the weather was perfect! It was our second MOKB concert in Indy in three days. We saw Soccer Mommy at the Hi-Fi on Tuesday. That was a great show too. A lot of good music coming through Indy these days.
Set One
White House Blues
What's Left of the Night
Hold On
Run or Die
Like Reflections
All for Money
Grow Bananas
Can't Stop Now
That's What Love Will Make You Do
Set Two
Cathedral Eyes
Jesus on the Mainline
Ashes
Who Is Fredrico? King of the Hill
Fixin' to Run
Room Without a Roof
The Four
Freeborn Man
We spent part of our Labor Day weekend in Nashville. Wyatt was upset when he had heard that the Raconteurs concert in Indy was not only sold out, but also on the same night as John Mayer. A quick search and few clicks later and we had tickets to see them at the Ryman Auditorium on night three of a three night run there. As impulsive as it was, I have to admit that it was an awesome concert in such a great venue. We stayed in Franklin on Friday and Saturday night. We had dinner at the Pharmacy when we arrived on Friday evening. Definitely stop by for a burger if you like burgers. On Saturday, we crammed a lot into our day! We started early by exploring downtown Franklin and grabbing breakfast at the Frothy Monkey. It is such a cute and fun little downtown area. It's definitely more our speed than downtown Nashville.
We took a short jaunt on the Natchez Trace Parkway and then we made our way to the 12 South neighborhood. I was dying to go see the Draper James store in person and check out all the murals and art in the neighborhood. We also stopped in our second White's Mercantile of the day. I love those fun little stores!
After this stop we met Jessica and Danny at Prince's Hot Chicken. We saw this on Mind of a Chef and have been wanting to try it for a few years. Y'all it was hot outside, like 90-95 degrees. The air condition could barely keep up in a lot of places...so hot chicken may not have been the smartest but it was what we did. Wyatt ordered medium to start with but another guest talked him into ordering the hot. I tried the mild (as opposed to plain) and I honestly do not know how Wyatt survived hot! But we are happy to have tried it at one of the originals! That night we had the concert at the Ryman Theater. It was our first time attending a show there. The venue is just so neat. I will definitely try to make it back there some day! The Raconteurs insisted it be an 'unplugged' event for attendees so we got phone cases that locked while in the venue and were completely unplugged. I did however, find this footage on Youtube because the show was recorded and streamed live.
It was such a great show! The band had SO much energy and so did the crowd! I'm glad these guys are back with new music and tour dates. They'll definitely be on our list in the future. On Sunday, we got up and stopped at Loveless Cafe to grab some biscuit mix and jam before heading downtown to go to the Johnny Cash museum. It was so neat but we definitely needed a little more time in there. We had brunch plans with family so we had to drive up to the Old School for brunch. It was so cute! It's in an old school just as the name implies. It's a farm to table place that had a great atmosphere. They even have a dog park! After brunch we made the drive home. It was a fun and quick little getaway.
Setlist
Bored and Razed
Level
Old Enough (with Ashley Monroe) Snippet of Wake Up Little Susie by the Everly Brothers
Only Child
Don't Bother Me
Hands
You Don't Understand Me
Sunday Driver
Now that You're Gone
Top Yourself Snippet of Coal Miner's Daughter by Lorette Lynn
Encore
Consoler of the Lonely
Many Shades of Black
Shine the Light on Me
Sometimes (I Don't Feel Like Trying) Snippet of Rainbow by Kacey Musgraves
Help Me Stranger Snippet of Ramblin' Man by Hank Williams
Carolina Drama
