"She is Sara" is a blogger of MCB
She digs fashion - music - thrift stores, poetry and Detroit
She digs fashion - music - thrift stores, poetry and Detroit
She works in Downtown Detroit
and is a full time student at Oakland University
pursuing her English major.
When I took my parents to see Micheal Franti & Spearhead at the Royal Oak music theater this past Tuesday, I never thought it would be my Dad’s first concert. Ever. When he came home from work one evening, he told my Mom to look up “Say hey” on you tube to see who was the mastermind behind the catchy tune, he never thought he would find himself standing an arms width away from the performer, in the middle of a packed music theater as he belted out some of his famous tunes.
The doors opened at 7pm for the show, and knowing how crowded it was for She&Him on the Sunday before, we hauled ass to get there on time in hopes of finding a good seat or even a practical place to stand. When I got to the door and handed over my ticket to be scanned, I was shocked and excited to discover big white notes all over the entrance doors “Camera’s allowed by Artist request”. The Royal Oak music theater is known for it’s NO CAMERAS policy, so after I got inside I begged a friend to drop off my camera so I could capture some of the performance.
The fact that the camera’s were allowed put me in a good mood straight away, as did the 16 oz PBR I bought, but not as much as my second great discovery of the evening, the band One eskimO was opening! I shouted to my parents over the loud broadcast from 9.39 the river “THAT BAND IS AWESOME TOO!” My mom was pretty excited by this news, even though she hadn’t heard any of their music previously, my dad gave me a questionable look, as if inquiring who in the hell would name a band One eskimO, but did manage to nod his head in approval as we made our way to the stage.
We found a decent place to plop our butts and took in the scene as we waited for the opening band to start playing. There was no doubt that this was an all-ages, all types of characters crowd. Just from our view point, a Jerry Garcia look-alike chugged a beer and wrestled a kid at the same time, the “they must be yoga extremists” couple danced around in front of us, bending and twirling and kicking all at once. The mid-twenties “dude, we’re at a concert, let’s get wasted!!” group both drank and spilled their drinks in a corner (ahem, my peoples!) Then there were the prairie-skirt clad women., spread throughout the place n groups of two or three, the old, possibly ex-hippies that somehow snuck pot in the joint (pun intended), old folks, young folks, and even a few senior citizens packed the place in. My personal favorite were the “dorks” as my dad referred to them, both men and women donning Fannie-packs and pleats, and the ever so enchanting Hawaiian t-shirt and cowboy hat combo. My dad had counted thirteen and was scanning the crowd for more and I was a little nervous that he would be more entertained by the people-watching festivities than the actual show when the crowed started cheering away. One eskimO had taken the stage.
I have seen them perform before, in fact, I was sent by the MCB to cover them at the 2010 Winter Blast back in February and I even was lucky enough to interview them. They were pretty good musically, easy on the ears, yet catchy enough to get stuck in your head, as well as being a band who’s CD could be great for a long road trip. I think my dad even recognized “Kandi” their single as it is played more and more often on the radio lately. They performed about 5 or 6 songs, gradually hyping up the audience for the main feature for the night, but the lights stayed pretty dim and for fear of blinding them with my flash, I tried to take pictures without it and only a slight few came out. I didn’t let it distract me from the music though, their melodies rang out through the theater, people swayed and danced everywhere.
After their last song, they thanked everyone with their delightfully thick UK accents and waved to everyone as they excited the stage. Then we began to wait impatiently for Micheal Franti and Spearhead. We waited. And waited. Took a break to pee. Then waited some more. Eventually a drum could be heard banging from the dark stage, screams were let lose! Hooray!!!…….for the sound check guy. Ugh. Finally, the lights went down, and a few band members were seen creeping across the stage, they took up their instruments and began to play around with a tune until a loud laugh and a greeting came from backstage, then a head, covered in dreads and a bright orange scarf was seen, accompanied by a guitar. Mr. Franti had appeared at last.
Within moments the theater was filled with high-energy music and people were dancing like crazy. Some really badly, (cue yoga-enthusiasts) some people jumped up and down like mad, others did the simple head nod, everyone clapped their hands, waved their arms about, and sang along. It wasn’t long before a few audience members shared the stage with the band, shaking and grooving along in front of the crowd, grinning like idiots. Micheal asked them their names and then preceded to thank them for coming to the show. Band members took turns gliding about the stage, entertaining the crowd, they smiled, waved, and danced with the audience, enjoying themselves as much as the patrons themselves.
I heard rumors of Micheal Franti walking all over the place, no matter where it was, completely barefoot. Being as though I was not close enough to the stage to confirm this rumor, I had my doubts. Which were further influenced by all the alcohol abuse on the floor around me, and I wondered to myself who would actually walk through all of that barefoot, when the artist himself walked through the crowd to the center of the room to high-five the audience members and sing another song. He was barefoot. My doubts were subsided.
In-between the fast-paced songs, Micheal told little stories and joked with the crowd. Most noticeably he mentioned his recent bout with appendicitis and his time in the hospital with it. I don’t know what it is about that man, but after hearing his story, appendicitis almost sounded fun. He told us how he would peek through the windows hoping for sunshine every morning and when there wasn’t he would have to find his own sunshine inside the confinements of the hospital. He would find people to laugh and tell stories with, to make the time pass by more pleasantly and warm. Thus this was the introduction to his song “Sound of Sunshine”.
For being someone recently getting over said appendicitis, the man jumped around the stage like he had a spring in his ass and the crowed kept up with him until the finale of the show. After a slower song, complete with waving lit lighters, the band left the stage and the lights went dark. Everyone started screaming and shouting as traditional for an encore, but instead of taking the stage a second time, the band reappeared from the back of the theater, Micheal in tow. They passed right past us, my mom screamed like a teenager at a Jonas Brothers concert, and started up another song. They played the entire song, band and all, in the crowed, high-fiving and encouraging the audience to sing along.
If you thought that was the cherry on top of a fantastic concert, you are wrong. For the very last and final song, they performed their hit single “Say hey”, they very same one my dad and mom watched on you tube months before, a video that I can honestly dub “adorable” but still nothing to the way it was performed that night. Right before they started their song, Adam from One eskimO joined the stage, along with his drums. Then the lights went dark yet again, and a voice was heard. “What I love most about performing in Michigan, is that I am at a night club, on a Tuesday night, a school night, and there are kids everywhere!” cue lights and there must have been a dozen kids on the stage. After encouraging any remaining kids to join them, Micheal kindly reminded the parents to make sure they did not forget their kids. Thus began “Say hey”, with little kids jumping and dancing along to the music and sing the lyrics. I am not sure which was cuter, the two year old boy playing with Adam on his drum set, or the little girl singing “I love you, I love you, I love you” into Mr.Franti’s microphone. Either way, the concert could not have ended on a more adorable note.
I think it is safe to say that both of my parents enjoyed the concert and I even think my dad may consider concerts a choice of entertainment in the forthcoming years. So thank you One eskimO, Micheal Franti, and Spearhead, for making the old man enjoy his first concert, and for making my mom squeal like a little girl.