Thursday, July 2, 2009

Love at First Listen

Today I was driving in my car and decided to listen to some music. At the moment, I have a limited number of Cd's in my car (just trying to get rid of the clutter in there), but one of the three that I did have in there was the Format's EP cd.


(by the way... i think that nate(on the left) looks like ben stiller)

So I listened to it.. I clapped my hands and stomped my feet.. and just thought back to my first time listening to this band. It truly was... Love at First Listen

It was the fall of 2003 and a band that I LOVE who is no longer a band, Something Corporate, was on a tour of the US.



Tragically, Dallas was not one of the listed cities on their tour. At the time, my friend Kari was working as a nurse in Phoenix, a city that WAS listed on their tour dates. So having the luxury of flight benefits that I miss so much, I asked if she would want to go to the concert with me. She said yes and I headed to Arizona for a roughly 24 hour trip.


I had so much fun with Kari before the concert and we even got to go to my FAVORITE restaurant before the show which only added to the perfect night... Baja Fresh!




The concert took place on October 29th, 2003 at the Marquee Theater in Tempe Arizona ( I had to search all over the internet to find the date and the venue and was sooo happy when I did)




My goal before the concert was to buy a Cd of a band that was opening for Something Corporate so that I would have an idea of what they sounded like and maybe even learn a couple of songs that I could sing along to. And that band was .. Mae



And I loved them too... still do.. actually been listening A LOT to their new stuff. So I was happy to see them.

I was not happy, however, that we had to sit through a local band's set.. The Format.. that I'd never heard of.. when all I wanted was to see Mae and Something Corporate.

Well, The Format came out and started singing On Your Porch. I remember looking at Kari and just thinking... WOW!! They were incredible!!



I totally kicked myself for judging this band that I had never heard of who I had no idea would knock my socks off!


Needless to say, I fell in love right then and there. And I honestly believe that I love them SOO much because of the way things happened. If I had high expectations of them or not been in their hometown I might not love them as much. Just hearing everyone sing along and really get into the music was really amazing. And when they sang the song The First Single there are some clapping parts that fans know to clap at. It was really cool to see so many hands go up and clap at the same times... just made it really fun to be there.



(there weren't this many people, but this is what it felt like)


So that's how I started listening to The Format...




And that's why I love them so much. Unfortunately, they are no longer a band :( which is really tragic. But the good news is... Nate from the Format started a new band... with the singer of the Steel Train.. whom i alsoLOVE... called fun



And their music really lives up to their name... so fun!

Anyway, just thought I would share the story of me and The Format... a band I will forever be a fan of.

3 comments:

Becki R said...

Just thought you need to know that I appreciate you and your music taste--I was a pretty big fan of Something Corporate too (back in the day) and I love those bands that you can fall in love with at first listen! Thanks for sharing, Audi!

Bailey said...

I love that you told our Format story! I make shaun listen to them all the time. I still listen to their cd and clap my hands and stomp my feet! I can't hear them without thinking of Phoenix!!!!

Tara said...

Aw, Audi! How I love going to concerts with you! So fun! Let's go to another sometime, eh? XOXO