Back during my first trip to Ulverston in May/June, I was doing my quarterly task of checking to see which musical artists were touring and might be coming to my hometown area. While many of my favorite artists were not touring at that time (Michael Buble, John Mayer, Guster, Tom Petty), I did get an email that a favorite of Mini and I’s, James Morrison, was touring in the UK and tickets could be purchased starting that day for members of the mailing list. I briefly glanced over the dates and locations and saw that he was playing a gig in Manchester on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. As if fate were intervening and trying to force me to go to the show, Katie and John had to be driven to the airport in Manchester Sunday morning, and Mini Deal had to be there Monday morning. I squealed with joy, went online and promptly purchased 3 tickets, not stopping to think if Kevin actually wanted to go to James Morrison. He is one of Mini and I’s favorite and therefore Kevin had to come. (Although I suppose we could have just left Kevin at a pub somewhere, but that’s beside the point).
iTunes first told me about James Morrison 2 years ago when I was searching for new music to buy with my annual iTunes gift card that Kevin always gets me. Since the album I was obsessed with at the time (and still am) was John Mayer’s Continuum album, I decided to use the “Artists You May Like” function and find artists with a similar sound to that particular album. iTunes came up with Amos Lee and James Morrison, so I purchased both albums. While I love both artists, Amos Lee has a more folk-music meets blues feel while James Morrison has a gospel meets blues meets pop feel that makes it easier to listen to. Since Mini and I share music tastes (the only artist she likes that I don’t is Billy Joel. She hates David Bowie…..how is that possible when he rocks?).
Needless to say, Mini and I were extremely excited, but it seemed like fate was going to intervene and keep us from James.
- Problem 1: However, when I went to pack for my trip out here, I searched for my tickets only to realize that they had never sent them to me! However, several people on the James Morrison website had gotten their tickets a month ago. If you want to give yourself an ulcer, try contacting a ticket broker and getting a response. Luckily, I found some woman who took pity on me and agreed to have the box office reprint my tickets and hold them there. I just needed to bring my conformation email and the credit card I purchased them with.
- Problem 2: I didn’t hear back from the ticket people until I was already in Ulverston. Where I had no printer. And no way of printing the conformation. I wound up writing the conformation code down and hoping that was good enough.
- Problem 3: I went into my purse in Chester to get the postcode for our hotel in Manchester for the Sat Nav, when I realized I didn’t have my wallet. The wallet contained my credit card that I purchased the tickets with along with the conformation code. In addition, I had no way of proving who I was as all I had was an Amtrak frequent customer card and a boarding pass. I will admit I had a mini-meltdown in the car on the way to Manchester. I could care less if my wallet was stolen or lost, but I had to see James Morrison!
Once we got to the hotel, we fired up Cailin’s laptop and I got the conformation code from my email (and took a picture of the conformation email with my camera) and set off for the area in hopes that the ticket people would take pity on me (especially since I was still holding back tears). After all my freaking out, they just asked me to tell them the conformation code and handed over the tickets. All those tears for nothing! Kevin was also pleased to find out that OneRepublic was the opening band. At least he would enjoy 45 minutes of the concert.
By the way, OneRepublic was awesome! They never impressed me with their radio hits, especially that annoying Timbaland mix. However, they sound awesome live. I think the studio processes their music too much. Also, I have a soft spot in my heart for rock music that contains instruments other than guitars and drums. They have a piano, cello and violin. (On a side note, Cailin and I LOVED the cello player because he had a huge white boy fro on his head that bounced when he played). Also, after the lead singer hit a freakishly high note, he referenced that he was now singing in Justin Hawking territory. (Probably only John Felty will get this reference, but Justin was the lead singer for The Darkness, one of the greatest British Bands ever with the best music video ever! And no, the video is not from the 80s…) I definitely recommend giving OneRepublic a try.
While I was pleasantly surprised by OneRepublic, I was blown away by James Morrison. First of all, he cut his hair so he looks less like Bob Dylan and more like Milan Lucic, which is much better in my book. He had a great backing band complete with a horn section. However, the best part was how soulful and beautiful his voice was. Sometimes large arenas cause great singers voices to sound crappy, but his sounded just as good as on his albums. He played the perfect mix of popular singles and other tracks. In addition, he played some of his slower pieces without killing the mood. He also played a killer MJ cover, complete with cute dance moves at the beginning. Probably one of the best concerts I have ever been to. The only regret I have is not bringing my camera. The tickets said no cameras so I left mine at the hotel. We had fantastic seats, so I would have gotten some great pictures/videos. However, I did steal some from youtube to try and entice more people into the James Morrison cult. Maybe if we can get him some more American Fans, he’ll tour in the states!
Sorry Michael Buble, you’ve been replaced!
I wouldn't go THAT far.
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