The Fray

I couldn't get one of my assistant photographers to cover this gig, I really wasn't wanting to go to this show to be honest. I had a sore throat since Sunday and I was wiped out from being sick. Add to that the misery of it being a Red Room show and I was looking for a way out. Finally I called in to say I probably wouldn't be making it up and they told me it was not longer a Red Room show, that it had sold out of that room and been moved to the main room... This changes things.. a band playing on a tuesday night who I've never heard of, and who doesn't get any radio play in this city at all, pulling a presale that big? I drag my butt up to the Meridian to see what this is all about.
First off, the vast majority of people attending the show are very young girls. I guess the power of Myspace.com cannot be denied when it comes to spreading the word about certain bands. The opening band whose name I can't recall at the moment didn't catch my fancy, the second band whose name also eludes me was a getting warmer at least. Did I mention I have a cold and basically was not firing on all pistons.. I'm not even sure I took pictures of the first two bands. Ok I looked again and I did take a couple, actually very good ones of the 2nd band's guitarist singer. But since I can't remember the name and I've already made this page I'm not gonna post em at this point.. Sorry fans of the openers this time I let you down.
I ended up shooting more pics of patrons than usual, as it seems that every time I turned around someone was saying "get a picture of us" and me being the easy going guy that I am I did so. The band itself was not bad. They kind of remind me of Ben Folds for some reason. Not that I know a lot of Ben Folds stuff but it just is what my mind categorized it as. They put on a good show and added a little bit of and extra attraction tonight, (or at least I think it was added for tonight) this being Valentines day they held a Dating Game with 3 male contestants and a chick who had to pick the best come on line. Actually I think the band and audience ended up doing the real picking. Bachelor number 1 won it hands down after he got them to play "You are so Beautiful" and he sang to the girl.

The other thing that impressed me about this band is they took plenty of time out to take pics and visit with fans after the show. Especially a mom who brought her very young kids to see their first concert. By young I'm guessing 5 to 8 years old maybe. 2006-02-14 fray 6943.jpg gives you an idea of what I mean.
All in all I'm glad I drug my butt out for this show, it was well worth it I think.
satyr
2/14/2006
satyr@satyrgraphs.com