The Moonshine Jungle Concert

Bruno Mars...he's so hot these days.

When I found out that Bruno Mars was coming to Indy I was so excited. I just had to get a ticket to see his show. Fortunately, my good friend Stephanie felt the same, so there you have it. We were going to see Bruno!

I love going to concerts. LOVE it. But they are super expensive. Bruno's cheap seats were $40 each. Not so bad when you are only buying one ticket. We had "good" bad seats. FIRST ROW...straight out from the stage, the second level balcony and right smack in the middle, first row. He was the size of our thumb, and we could barely see him but there was no one in front of us.

Question: How do you know you are getting old?
Answer: When you are sitting there waiting for the headliner to take the stage and your yawning and saying to your friend "Man, I could go to bed". Then you look at the time and its 9:18 pm. Wow.

(Please note, the videos below were taken on my iPhone. They are not good just warning you, but I wanted to share them.)

After a sub-par opening act - Fitz and the Tantrums, everyone was getting kinda restless. It took Mr. Mars almost an hour to take the stage. But when he did, he made an entrance...

His show was spectacular. He and his band had a lot of energy. Those snazzy little dance moves, hip shakes and smooth slides across the stage, just made the show remarkable. The lights were distracting, but in a good way.

He preformed a good number of his songs from both this first solo album Doo-Wops & Hooligans from 2010 and his 2012 album Unorthodox Jukebox. He definitely has charm. And he is very smooth with the ladies (he warns you of this in his song Runaway Baby).

Bruno was great though, really, he is a gifted artist. He played the electric and acoustic as well as the drums. Like normal, they say their thanks you's and goodbyes and then the place went dark, then after screams and chants from the audience they come out for the encore. Expected, but loved. Here is how Bruno takes the stage for his encore... 

All in all, even though it was a late night (really, it was! I got home at midnight and it was only Monday!) it was an amazing show. I would see Bruno Mars again in a heartbeat if given the chance. Plus, I got to spend the evening with a wonderful friend, that I don't get to spend time with very often!

So tell me, would you like to see Bruno Mars perform live? What is your favorite Bruno Mars song? Did you know his real name is actually Peter? I'm not sure he looks like a Peter. 

-Lauren 

The Civil Wars

I love music. When I find a new band or singer I invest some time by learning about them. I don't go and join their fan club (unless your Justin Timberlake) but i'll do a Google search and find out a little more about them. 

One of my favorite artists/group is The Civil Wars. If you haven't heard of them, check them out. Look them up on Spotify or iTunes. Their first album, which I reviewed as a gift a couple of years ago, is called Barton Hollow was amazing. I played it nonstop for weeks and weeks. 

I absolutely LOVE this album. And I was so excited to learn and their second full length album was releasing this month. Don't you just love when one of your favorite artists releases new work? 

The new album is called The Civil Wars. Want to know why? Because the duo isn't getting along. 

And weren't getting along when recording the album. 

After reading and listening to a recent interview with Joy Williams (the female half of the duo) and listening to the new album, I have to say I've fallen out of love with The Civil Wars and it makes me super sad. 

Finding out that the duo hasn't spoken or seen each other since the recording studio earlier this year, I found myself bummed. After listening to the new album you can hear the tension and the music. I had a really hard time enjoying this album. There were a couple and only a couple songs that I liked, but didn't love any of them. And I'm the person who loves all of the songs. 

So the point in this post, and I'm having a difficult time finding one, is that I'm struggling with my disappointment in The Civil Wars new album. You gotta "mesh" when creating music and knowing that the group isn't "meshing" anymore stinks. I don't know if I'll even listen to the new album a again. But I encourage you to give it a listen and let me know what you think. Can you feel it? Can you hear the tension or am I just a crazy music listener? 

Not that The Civil Wars have hinted at breaking up (that would be a shame - I really hope they get out of this funk...soon) but here is a list of the 10 Messiest Band Breakups found at RollingStones.com - in case you're interested.

***Update***
You can listen/read the NPR interview with Joy Williams that I referenced above. 

-Lauren