Brandi Carlile's Human Tour and Soundcheck

As I've mentioned before, I've been a fan of Brandi Carlile for 23-ish years, since the days of just local Seattle fame. But now her hometown shows are at the Gorge (nope, hate it, never gonna go), unless we're lucky enough for a special fan gig (which are rare), so I have to travel to see her live. When the Human Tour was announced, the trip that worked for me was the last date in San Francisco, in early March. And given how many BC t-shirts I saw on the flights there and back, and how many people sitting near me said they'd come from Seattle, I'm not the only one who does this. I even overheard someone saying they went to SFO because they also hate the Gorge.

But it turned out that was only the first leg of the tour; a short time later, the second half was announced. It included a stop in Vancouver, BC, which is another home city for me, so of course I went to that one, too, at the end of last week.

In both cases, I got the VIP ticket that included a goodie bag, soundcheck, and a backstage tour -- not any meetings with the band or anything, just info about the setup (shrug - I come from performing arts, nothing new) -- because that's what was tied to the best seats. In SanFran, that put me in the fourth row, off to the side, in the perfect location for a Tim Hanseroth super fan. But in Vancouver, it got me row one, just off center. 

I was excited for my front row seat, but it was also surreal, since I hadn't watched a gig unobstructed, leaning on the stagefront barrier, since the tiny local rock shows I saw every weekend in high school. Never as a grown-ass woman, and definitely not in a big-ass arena.

But I didn't get to actually be in the front row (or the fourth row in SF) until the doors officially opened for the show, more than 3 hours after we had to show up to see the soundcheck... which seated us first come, first served. And I'm never gonna be at the head of the line. 

Anyway. In both cases, soundcheck was fun, but Vancouver was more like a party-slash-band rehearsal, with full songs, chatting, taking requests, even singing Happy Birthday to a small kid down front. San Francisco was a true soundcheck: we still got some commentary and made requests, but the majority was partial songs, often repeated, while each performer got their levels right. I guess things had tightened up in the intervening six months. 

Both swag bags were identical, and both backstage tours were also pretty much the same; Vancouver was slightly more interesting to me, though, because it gave me a peek behind the scenes at Rogers Arena where I've seen loads of hockey games through the years. In both cases, after the tour, they sent us to get the best selection at the merch stand, and then we had to wait (for up to an hour) in a small area, until doors opened and we could be released into the rest of the arena. Luckily, in Vancouver I'd met two other women in the VIP check-in lineup, all of us solo and up from different parts of Washington, and we ended up being a little gang for the whole night. For once, I had someone to hang out with while there was nothing to do but wait.

So the shows! Both were amazing, of course. The Brandi Carlile Band regularly goes for two hours, but I think Vancouver may have gone about half an hour beyond that, and they went with all Canadian covers for the night (A Case of You and Uninvited)... except for Dolly (Islands in the Stream with the opener CMAT), because duh. Both gigs included a section of requests in the middle - just Brandi and the Twins. I didn't get called on to give a song at either show, but was happy with the choices, regardless. In SF they were Closer to You and Cannonball, My Song and This Time Tomorrow in Vancouver. 

 

 

I took quite a few pictures at both, but oddly enough, the Vancouver ones weren't that much better than the ones further back. Maybe I was too close, the angle was weird from up under the mic... but I also just didn't take as many. I wanted to enjoy the rare experience without holding a phone in front of my face the whole time. 

Plus, there was a young woman, just to my left in the first row, who was completely stone-faced for the entire show. It reminded me of Robbie Williams, who often says he can be performing in front of 50,000 people having the time of their lives, but he will notice the one person who looks bored, and fixate on them all night. I was going to be someone the band could see having the time of her life, and not block that with a mobile device. I was also slightly to the Phil Hanseroth side of center, and he interacts directly with the audience a lot more than the rest of the band... which you'll miss if you're busy framing photos.

As it turned out, by the time Brandi Carlile Band took the stage, I didn't feel weird about being in the front row, I felt exactly where I was meant to be.

I told my temporary girl gang in Vancouver that, given my start seeing Brandi and the Twins up close in bars and restaurants, being far away in an arena feels wrong. I need to be close, in that same small venue proximity. One of them replied, "She needs you there, too." 

Which was said jokingly, but I'm just going to keep acting as if it's true... no matter how many identical tours and merch bags it takes to be there.

Girls to the front!