Recap: October 13, 2011, Cain’s Ballroom, Tulsa, OK: Gavin DeGraw & David Cook Rock the Hell Out

This recap is going to be a little different from the ones I’ve done in the past. You see, for the first time in over 3 years, I attended a concert and did not even try to meet any of the musicians who performed. So I have a challenge ahead of me: how to write a concert recap without any of the entertaining anecdotes of who said what to whom.

If you are still awake at the end, I will consider this recap successful!

First, some background. You must understand that I did not plan to attend this show at all. When tour dates were released, and we found out that David Cook would be touring with Gavin DeGraw, I had a sneaking suspicion that ticket prices were going to be out of reach for me. Sure enough, I was right. My husband and I recently moved to Oklahoma so he could accept a new job, one with, unfortunately, a sizable salary cut. This cut meant that there is now precious little discretionary income. Concert tickets were out of the question unless they were less than $25 each. The GDG/DC show was not outrageously expensive, but it was out of reach for us.

Therefore, months ago I had resigned myself to the fact that David and Gavin would be coming to Tulsa, and I would not see them. I was a little bummed, but not overwhelmingly disappointed. I had already missed one tour I had desperately wanted to attend this year due to finances, so I guess you could say I was used to it.

Then, three days before the show, a lovely woman named Connie asked me on Twitter if I would like to accept — free of charge — the extra concert ticket she just might wind up having. Relatives of hers were originally slated for the tickets, but it looked now like they might not be able to accept them. I was completely flabbergasted and eagerly said yes, but I knew there was a chance her relatives might be able to use them after all, so I kept my hopes low and assumed that nothing had changed. I checked with Eric before I said yes, and he was fine with my going.

The following morning Connie said guess what? The ticket is yours if you want it! I was floored, in complete shock. I’ve never before had a concert ticket just handed to me! About an hour or so later, Connie asked me if Eric would like to come, too, because she actually had 2 extra tickets. So I texted him and asked if he was interested. He said “sure, but what about a babysitter?” In Ohio, we had three always-eager and often-available babysitters: my mom, my sister, and Stevie, a teenager I knew from church. Here we knew very few people. Fortunately we had begun attending a local church fairly regularly, so I had a couple of contacts. I e-mailed the church’s director of youth ministries and asked if he knew of anyone who might be willing to take on a babysitting assignment. I knew it could be dicey, seeing as how I was requesting a sitter with only 2 days’ notice, but since it was mid-week I actually thought I might have a better chance.

The youth minister gave me the names and numbers of 3 babysitting candidates that he recommended highly, and he even said that if none of them panned out, he could offer more. Fortunately one of them did, a high school senior named Callie. She is very quiet and well-mannered, but great with my daughters. Much different from Stevie (who is extremely talkative!) but equally good.

So the babysitter was chosen, and Eric could come. I hadn’t really wanted to attend my first show at Cain’s Ballroom by myself, so I was really glad he could take Connie’s second ticket.

We have a camera, but the charger is missing (I think it’s packed away and in storage somewhere, oops!), so I just planned to take photos with my cell phone. But the night before the show, I saw @GraceC4David making an emergency callout for a cellcaster for Tulsa. I hated the thought of there being no cellcast, so I tentatively offered my services, saying I would do it if no one else could. Evidently no one else volunteered, because Grace asked me if I would send her my cell phone number, which I did. Grace gave me her cell number and her Skype number. I was quite anxious about cellcasting because I’ve never done it before, and this was the first show I would attend with my couple-months-old Droid. I didn’t know how well the battery would hold up. I could just imagine it dying 3 songs in, lol.

Eric and I left for Tulsa a little while after Callie came to our house, and we arrived just before 6 pm. As we approached Cain’s I saw nearly all my Twitter/DC friends that I knew were attending: Janette (@Curious_JG) and her adorable husband, Diana (@kccatdr), Terri (I don’t know if she’s on Twitter, but we’re Facebook friends), Kim (@kfuller924), Jeannine (@zoo2), and Catherine (@Poniente23). We exchanged hugs and chatted about the VIP Meet & Greet. I have to admit I was quite envious hearing their adventures with David, who I found out was so under-the-weather that he couldn’t talk — he either mimed or whispered conversations with everyone. It occurred to me then that I don’t think I have ever been to a David Cook show where he wasn’t sick. I guess I should warn everyone right now: if I’m coming to a concert, expect David to be sick. I may be a curse.

I couldn’t stay in the VIP line forever, sadly, so I said my good-byes to everyone and headed for the Will-Call window to pick up my tickets. Along the way I was happy to run into my ticket angel, Connie (@connico479). She then pointed out the woman who had actually bought my tickets and hers, a woman named Peggy. So I went and introduced myself to her, thanked her for the tickets, and went inside to pick them up. There was a mild snafu when they didn’t want to release the tickets to me without getting the verbal permission of the person who had originally bought them (weird, because she had given them my name earlier and had my name written on the outside of the envelope), but Peggy went back in with me, and we got it straightened out. It felt great to have those tickets in my hands!

As we awaited the doors to open, a Tulsa radio station came by with a HUGE sign and asked everyone if they could take their photos to be put up on the website. I agreed to do it, mostly because I knew it was most likely the only chance I was going to have to be photographed at Cain’s at all! Here’s the photo:

Eric & me outside Cain's

 

Finally we were let into the Ballroom. The moment we stepped beyond the barrier and onto the floor, I fell in love. There’s something about Cain’s that is so inviting and open. I loved the wood flooring and the huge stage. I noticed there were also a few risers scattered against the walls, presumably for those who felt the need to sit. I planned to do no such thing, of course, but I was glad to see them in case Eric needed to rest his back.

I was surprised when Carolina Liar started their set at 7 p.m., because our ticket and the website said the show would begin at 7:30. I wasn’t complaining though! I enjoyed Carolina Liar’s set. They were energetic and enthusiastic, and the music sounded great (although Eric says their lead singer hit several rank notes. I didn’t notice, to be honest). My favorite thing about Carolina Liar? Their guitarist. He’s an Adam Levine lookalike, which is to say, hot. LOL He’s also very smiley and just plain fun to watch. I admit it, I really didn’t take my eyes off him very often!

Gavin began his set just before (or just after? Ugh, I don’t remember) 8 p.m., and from the moment he came out to the stage until his last note, I was mesmerized. I had gone on a huge Gavin DeGraw kick right before the show (since I wasn’t overly familiar with his music and wanted to become moreso). I had fallen in love with his new CD “Sweeter,” thanks to Spotify, and I had listened to it nonstop. I love his piano-driven rock. Lots of great melodies and harmonies and complex rhythms. And the energy! Once or twice while I watched him perform, I thought, “This man was beaten and hospitalized just a few months ago.” And the reason I told myself that was because I couldn’t believe it to look at him. He held nothing back. He was all over the stage, from one side to the other, sometimes playing piano, sometimes playing guitar, sometimes just holding his microphone and singing his guts out.

The highlights: first, “Chariot.” It was fun to hear the HUGE swell of cheers and screams when the opening piano notes sounded. I think the entire crowd sung it as one, as well. The energy, the enthusiasm, it just sunk into my bones and blood. I had chills. Second, “Soldier.” Gavin began singing this, to the best of my recollection, not long after he talked about how he wanted this show to be a “community of music.” He talked about reading reviews and seeing Gavin fans and David fans attacking one another and each other’s “chosen” musicians. Very profanely (and honestly) Gavin spoke about how he didn’t want any part of that, how he loves David, and David loves him, and there shouldn’t be any of that “ridiculousness” going on. I cheered after every talking point because I’m in SUCH agreement. I hate that kind of fanwarring, I always have. I hate it when it occurs between fans of the same artist and between fans of different artists. I really wish we as a people could learn to tolerate each other’s differences a bit better.

*cough* Sorry… I’ll get off my soapbox now.

Anyway, as I was saying. “Soldier.” This is my favorite Gavin song, and after his speech about unity and community, he said that this next song was about love. I assumed that he was going to sing “In Love With a Girl,” so when he said that the song was about when you want to be a soldier for someone, I screamed with excitement. Something about this song really touches me, and hearing Gavin sing it live was a tremendous experience.

“In Love With a Girl” was actually the next song, and that was a highlight too, because it was one of the songs everyone knew, and so everyone was singing along. The passion of knowing a song and wanting to be a part of that experience with a musician just filled the room, and it was a beautiful feeling.

Another highlight was “Spell It Out.” For this song, the band took a break and departed from the stage, and Gavin took to the piano and sang it acoustically. I love this song, and I loved it even more live. It was beautiful and touching, and Gavin sang it so sweetly. It was a spellbinding moment.

As the third song that everyone knows, “I Don’t Want to Be” was another highlight. Again, that passion and energy filled the room as we all proclaimed along with Gavin, “I don’t want to be anything other than me!”

The final highlight, for me, was “Not Over You.” This is my second-favorite Gavin song, and it was his final song of the evening. I love the driving piano melody, and I love the angst of the lyrics. (My old love of angst and heartache once again rears its head, lol.)

A note about Gavin’s performance style: he is the most theatrical singer I have ever seen live. Having said that, though, I would never call him over-the-top or overwrought. His theatricality is perfectly suited to his music. When I watched him perform last night, I felt like he really feels his music. He lives it when he performs. I don’t feel like I’m watching someone putting on a show for effect. I feel like I’m watching a musician who is being himself, truly himself, on stage. He is incredibly comfortable in his skin.

I plan to buy Gavin’s CD “Sweeter” as soon as possible — hopefully today!

Finally, David Cook took the stage. Watching him come on stage felt like coming home. There is no other musician I have seen as often over the past three years as David, and it had been a long wait to see him again. While other musicians have since surpassed David as my favorite, something in his appearance and his music feels comforting to me. Comforting, but thrilling, at the same time. After all, I had not heard most of these songs live yet.

When I heard the opening notes of “Circadian,” I began whacking Janette on the shoulder. (Poor thing was standing right next to me at the time, lol.) That’s because I hadn’t heard “Circadian” live before, and it was a thrill for me to hear it now. It was the signal to me that I was in for something new, different, delicious, exciting. And so Janette got a sore shoulder. Sorry, Janette.

By the way, the cheers that went up when the stage darkened, signaling that David’s set was about to begin? EXPLOSIVE. I have never heard louder cheers at any show. And don’t forget — I went to a Selena Gomez & the Scene show just under a year ago! Thank you, Tulsa.

As much as I love David, I will confess that the one I couldn’t take my eyes off of was Andy Skib. He looked so good. And I had forgotten just what an incredible performer he is. David, I know that he’s awesome. Andy, I forget sometimes. If you’ve never really watched Andy live, I urge you to tear your eyes off David for one song (I know, it’s hard, but try ) and watch Andy. He pours his passion into his performance, whether he’s playing guitar, playing piano, or singing. One of my favorite moments of the whole show was watching Andy sing the counter melody in the final choruses of “Let Me Fall for You” — “Let me fall, like a stone on the water, let me fall like a plane out of the sky, let me crash, let me burn my heart out, let me learn to fly.” It was the first time I heard him take those vocals, and it gave me chills.

I don’t remember much of David’s legendary banter. I feel like there wasn’t much, probably partially because he was sick. He seemed to thank us, again and again, and say repeatedly, “It is so good to be back in Tulsa.” Which, to be honest, I loved. Sometimes I think David tries so hard to be funny (and he is!), and it makes it all the nicer when you hear him just be heartfelt and sincere and happy. It felt good to see David in that frame of mind, in that relaxed state.

Incidently, I also am quite sure I have never heard David swear so much on stage, lol! First he was dropping a lot of “damn”s. Then a few “hell”s. And then he dropped an s-bomb, and Eric gave me this look like “what has gotten into these musicians tonight??” LOL I personally found it endearing. To me it was just another sign of how relaxed and happy he was. I get the feeling that David usually watches his language on stage, but tonight he seemed to think, “F*** it!”

Musical highlights, in addition to “Let Me Fall for You,” included “Circadian” — the opening number set the mood, powerfully, precisely; “Right Here With You,” a song I personally was excited to hear because it was co-written by some of my musical heroes, including Ryan Star and Johnny Rzeznik; “Heroes,” just because it was awesome to hear the song that had captured my attention in so many previous David Cook shows — again, that feeling of coming home. I also loved hearing “Mr. Sensitive”– he’s changed something with that song. The opening seemed a lot more delicate than I remember hearing in the past, and I enjoyed the change. “We Believe” was the anthemic fist-pumper I imagined when I first heard it on the CD.

Then there were my two favorite David songs: “Goodbye to the Girl,” which was beautiful, poignant, and soulful, and “Rapid Eye Movement,” which closed the show. I had actually requested those two songs via tweet, though I’m pretty sure David always planned to include them and didn’t add them to the setlist on my request. Since REM was the final song, there was a split-second before he began when I wondered if I would be denied. Fortunately I wasn’t, and I was richly rewarded with that driving guitar riff I love so much, the lyrics that are such a glorious mix of angst, despair, and resignation, and the powerhouse vocals that even David’s illness couldn’t seem to quash. I was actually really impressed by David’s vocals all through his set. I knew he wasn’t feeling well, but you really couldn’t tell that he had been forced to whisper and mime his way through his pre-show meet and greet by his performance during the show.

Oh, and about that cellcast: that was a colossal fail. I called Grace’s Skype when the lights dimmed for David’s set, and when I checked my phone a few seconds into “Heroes,” I saw that the call had ended. I also saw I had a text, which was from Grace, who informed me that my sound had been dreadful and so she called the backup cellcaster. I actually wasn’t surprised, because we were getting blasted so hard by the sound at our position on the floor that I wondered if it would interfere with the cellcast. I felt bad that I hadn’t been able to help out, but I understand that Connie (who, in a fun twist, was the backup cellcaster) and her phone did a great job.

On the bright side, the cellcast fail did mean I was free to take photos with my phone. I took only a couple during Gavin’s set, because I was trying to save battery for the cellcast, but during David’s set I took quite a few. You can see them here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2451213247456.143283.1465749134&type=1&l=bc3f229e8f

I could tell you about the girl twice my size who cut in front of me about ¾ of the way through Carolina Liar’s set, which reduced my visibility to approximately zilch; about the many other people who seemed to have no qualms about muscling their way beside and in front of us on the floor when they certainly hadn’t been there at the beginning; about the woman who draped herself against Eric’s front, then weaved around Janette and her husband, declaring herself “REALLY drunk” and extracting a pinkie swear first from Janette that she wouldn’t “kick [her] in the teeth” for hitting on Janette’s husband, then from me that I would “stay married forever” after she found out that Eric and I had been married for 14 years (“That’s a REALLY! LONG! TIME!!!!!”); about the $20 Eric found on the floor (undoubtedly dropped by one of the many drunks who surrounded us) shortly before the end of David’s set; about the hundreds of beer cans and bottles that littered the floor at show’s end; about the two girls passionately making out right in front of Janette and her husband at the end of the show, and about the two other couples I saw making out by their cars after we left Cain’s; or about the security officers who screamed “If you don’t have a pass LEAVE RIGHT NOW!” and the Cain’s employee who declared that the restrooms were “closed” when I asked where I they were on our way toward the door (really, who CLOSES restrooms at the end of a concert?!).

Oops… I guess I just did tell you about all that, didn’t I? My bad.

Oddly enough, whereas I might have taken such experiences (aside from Eric’s discovery of $20, I mean, that was pretty darned cool) and found them mood-dampening, they ultimately served to heighten my feeling that last night, we went to a real, honest-to-goodness, red-blooded rock show.

Somehow, it seems all too fitting that it happened in Tulsa, in my mind the music capital of the Midwest.

I can’t wait to go back.

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