The Nerdy Girlie's Music Monday #10: Bad Suns

If you know The Nerdy Girlie…you know I am passionate and dedicated to the things I love.  One of those things is music.  You can read that much in my Friday's post 5 Songs That Have Changed My Life.  All the bands on that list have my entire heart.

I am always open to finding new music and get super excited when it is something that I can connect with on a different level other than just a fun song.  I long for music to go straight to my heart.  

I'm not sure how I first heard Bad Suns, but I remember playing their EP Transpose over and over again while The Hunny and I searched LA for what would soon be our new home in LA.  I found this oddly perfect since the band originates in LA.

Bear with me as I dive a little deep into my Bad Suns history so you will understand where I'm coming from with this post.  During the height of my LOVE of their EP, I found out that they were going to do a FREE Hornblower cruise show back in San Diego.  I had just moved to LA a week before and was LONGING to return to San Diego.  So when I won tickets, I hopped in my car and drove down for the weekday show on the San Diego Harbor!

The FREE cruise around the harbor was enough to make my heart swoon…the setting sun, the Hotel Del, the Coronado Bay Bridge…it was my city at it's finest hour.  The boat was packed with people there obviously for the free booze and could care less about the band.  Which I'm sure would be disheartening for any band.

When Bad Suns took the stage, I was front and center…and without earplugs.  I ALWAYS have them at shows, this one I didn't {later I found out that I actually did…oops!}.  I'd be fine I thought, we are outside the sound will carry.  It really didn't.  The sound was horrible and I found it really tough to dance through even my favorite of songs.

I'm sure everyone goes to a concert to hear the music and I love that part of the show…live music is amazing, but as a fan I also want to be able to get a vibe off the band and feel like I've seen their personalities shine through.  This first show of Ban Suns…sadly I really didn't.  They had a captive audience…literally since we were out on open water and as a fan I really didn't feel the show.  

Afterwards they said they would be down at the merch table to do a meet and greet, so since I had some awesome pictures of the show, I wanted to get their JUST released FULL album on vinyl, get them to sign it and write up a post for the blog.  Obviously that didn't happen since this is my first time writing about them.  They never came down, I almost got kicked off the boat before following another fan upstairs to get the band to sign the vinyl…which they didn't seem all that thrilled to do.  Did I mention that we had to hunt down a Sharpie as well.

You can imagine, I wasn't in a hurry to see them again anytime soon.  Then The Music Maven, The Gamer Geek and I met up in Las Vegas and The Gamer Geek found out that Bad Suns was having a FREE show there.  I went because I love my Gamer Geek, but otherwise, I would have skipped it.  

Photo by The Gamer Geek

The venue was super chic, near Fremont Street in a place called Container Park.  Guess what the place was made out of?  Old, recycled shipping containers!  The stage was on a large grassy knoll…ok this isn't half bad I thought.  When it was Bad Suns' time to take the stage, The Gamer Geek and I took our signature spots right in front of the stage.  Unfortunately that was also where some other, more vocal fans also made their spot.

I had the pure luck of getting caught in front of some girls who REALLY needed the bands attention and that involved screaming their desires directly into my ear.  Now I can fan girl with the best of them…you guys know that and I TRIED to let them have their fun..but soon it was too much for me, even after their requests were acknowledged.  I left The Gamer Geek to the front and I strolled to the back.

From that moment on, I had a REALLY good time!  I had all the space I needed to dance my fan girl booty off and no one to yell in my ear.  I was in music heaven.  The guys seemed more aware of themselves, they gave off some great personality and lead singer Christo Bowman even pointed at "me" way in the back while I danced away and took pictures, not that I NEED that sort of thing, but it was nice.

NOW this past Sunday night Live Nation asked me to cover Bad Suns' show in Santa Ana for their Ones To Watch site.  See if third time really was a charm in the second part of my review coming this afternoon!