Anniversary Concert Mash-Up

Last night was quite eventful! Due to some work events, dancer auditions, and traveling, Scott and I planned to celebrate our Two Year Wedding Anniversary a few days early with concert tickets.

The two of us have been quite the live music lovers over the past few years, and I don’t see that changing any time soon.

We had plans (and even reservations) set for a nice anniversary dinner pre-concert. Scott ended up getting home later than planned, and by the time we were both ready to get out the door we knew we would be pushing it to make it to the venue right at concert time.

While we normally wouldn’t mind missing the first few songs, or even the entire opening act for that matter… this one was different. That opening act was who we bought the tickets to see and were excited for the most!

Instead of stressing, we pulled a rain check for dinner and hit up good ‘ol Panera Bread.

Fancy, fancy!

Keeping my eats clean, I went with my standard order of a You Pick 2. Craving the return of their summer salads and a light soup, this made picking the Strawberry & Chicken Poppyseed salad and Low-fat Black Bean soup a no-brainer.

I normally exchange the bread out for wheat, but left it as is thinking I wouldn’t eat either one. I was wrong. Dang you, Panera!

While I enjoyed a soup + salad, Scott dove into their new chilled shrimp & soba noodle salad.

That, my friends, will be the next thing I order there. I stole a bite and wanted to go back for so much more. Yum!

Gavin DeGraw/The Script/Train Concert

It’s concert season up here at The Palace! Since the owners of our arena also own two more concert venues in the area, we have seen a great deal of artists come through this summer.

I have actually worked a few concerts at DTE Energy Music Theatre, but this was my first time attending one as a patron.

I just love the atmosphere and landscaping here. Besides the fact of it being miserably hot outside, the walk around property was quite enjoyable.

We walked up to the theatre as soon as the live music started playing. For being right at start time, the place was packed!

Come to find out, our trip up stairs and across the lawn was just for show.

As a treat, Scott splurged on the pavilion seats to be out of the sun and up close and personal with the artists.

And who exactly was so special there that we needed to see???

Gavin Degraw!

The loooong time HWG readers might remember the time Scott surprised me with a Gavin DeGraw meet and greet! That has to be one of the sweetest things he has ever done, and I will never forget how shocked I was when I found out what we were doing.

Gavin is amazing to hear live and will always rock my socks off!

He has headlined shows of his own, so I thought it was especially cool to see him take on a tour as an opening act.

He seems so down to earth, and just loves to perform. During the end of his set, he even went out to the crowd for two songs. All the way up to the lawn and back, he was a brave soul!

We had a few minutes after Gavin to walk around before The Script came on stage next.

I have always enjoyed their music, but never really knew much more about the group’s history.

They are quite a comical trio from Dublin, Ireland, and also great to see perform live. We could tell they loved being here just as much as we did, and they even took a picture of the crowd to tweet out later.

Good music is awesome, but good people behind it makes me an ultimate fan of their band! Before we knew it, the stage was set for the main act: Train.

Once again, they blew us away. Of course their band got the best lighting and effects of the night, but beyond that the band wowed us in many other ways.

The name of their tour is the Mermaid of Alcatrez Tour, and they encourage their fans to come dressed the part.

In the middle of their set, they brought everyone who dressed as a mermaid on stage for a few songs!

I knew I would recognize a few of their songs, but even the ones I didn’t know I thoroughly enjoyed listening to. All of the artists on this tour together were wonderful!

My favorite moment of the night was when Train invited all of the other artists on stage to close with their final song.

Train sang a few songs with Ashley Monroe during his set, and it was cool to see her and Gavin make another appearance.

They all seemed to have so much fun on stage performing, which makes it even more fun for the crowd.

Another good (hot and sweaty!) one for the books, Mr. Hesington!